by Lisa Degrenia | Dec 14, 2021 | Christmas, Liturgy, Longest Night Service, Uncategorized
By Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com A Blue Christmas Service is offered especially for those hurting during the holidays. It’s often offered December 21, the longest night of the year. Some come because they are mourning the death of a loved one. Some are far...
by Bill Gaultiere | Dec 10, 2021 | Uncategorized
It’s an isolating feeling to be on the outside looking in. We’ve all felt it. Some of us especially feel this way at Christmastime. We might relate to Frank Abagnale in the movie “Catch Me If You Can.” As a teenager and an only child his parent’s divorced. He goes...
by Stuart Strachan Jr. | Dec 7, 2021 | Uncategorized
Just yesterday, while filming our Advent Sermon Series video, it struck me just how important hope is as a Christian virtue. And not just the kind of starry-eyed hope of childhood, but rather something different, something that exists between the poles of naïveté and...
by Bill Gaultiere | Dec 3, 2021 | Uncategorized
In the first Advent God keeps saying, “Fear not!” It’s a word we need to hear today too. Zechariah and Elizabeth were told that after decades of waiting they’d finally have a child in their old age. (Luke 1:5-25) But “Don’t fear being disappointed again.” Mary was a...
by Lisa Degrenia | Nov 29, 2021 | Advent
By Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com First, a Little History “Research by Prof. Haemig of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, points to Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808–1881), a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor, as the...
by Stuart Strachan Jr. | Nov 26, 2021 | Advent
It is a strange thing. At the beginning of our preparation for Christmas, the gospel is about the end of the world. And yet, it is not surprising. For what is already contained in a small beginning is most easily recognized in its great ending. What is truly meant by...
by Stuart Strachan Jr. | Nov 23, 2021 | Advent, The Founder's Desk
As I was trying to think of something to write for this weekly email, I began to wonder if living in this season of life actually prepares us to better experience the Advent season. We live in a time of significant waiting and longing…longing for life to...
by Lisa Degrenia | Nov 19, 2021 | Advent
By Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com Prayer: Shall ONE: A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven...
by Bill Gaultiere | Nov 19, 2021 | Uncategorized
Have you ever had a trauma from your past triggered? I have! “Trauma” may sound dramatic — I wasn’t in a war or abused. As an infant I required stomach surgery to survive. My mom wanted to be with me but wasn’t allowed, so it felt like abandonment. Recently, emotions...
by Lisa Degrenia | Nov 16, 2021 | Thanksgiving
This prayer could be voiced many ways, with or without the scripture that inspired it. This version is for: One voice leading the entire prayer, or A different voice leading each stanza of the prayer. Scripture Reading So let no one boast about human leaders. For all...
