The season of Lent has officially begun. While much of the country celebrated Valentine’s Day this past Wednesday, in the church, we also celebrated Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. I know, Valentine’s Day seems like more fun, but the truth is, Valentine’s Day, a day all about love, is a great day to also celebrate Ash Wednesday.
On Ash Wednesday, we are reminded of our own…
Posted by dwhetter |
So have you been watching the Olympics? They can be addictive. Aside from hockey, though, I really don’t know anything about most of the winter sports. Although, I may know nothing about these sports, I still marvel at the abilities of those athletes. Did you see Mirai Nagasu? She is the first American female to land a triple axel in the Olympics. I get dizzy just thinking about doing…
Posted by dwhetter |
One of the things I don’t like about using lectionary readings is that we often read stories out of order, or begin in the middle of a story, and today is a perfect example of what I mean. Our gospel lesson today begins with the phrase “Six days later…” If you haven’t been reading the whole story from the beginning, you must be asking the question, what happened six days earlier?…
Dear Salem Family,
Lent is just around the corner. Lent is a time for reflection.
Now, we are going to be in a very real place with this letter. I invite you to join me in the real. There are many changes happening for me in my personal and professional life, at this very moment. I am getting married in less than 20 days. I am looking for a job. I am going to have to make some…
Posted by dwhetter |
We are creatures of habit, aren’t we? Now, I say this not as a negative, but as an honest statement of how we live our lives. In fact, I would argue that without habits we might not be able to function. Psychologists tell us that we all have an enormous amount of activities, or behaviors, that we must do every day. These behaviors include things like eating, speaking, working, playing……
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.…
Posted by dwhetter |
We have spent three of the last four weeks reading through the beginning of Mark’s Gospel and just here in the first chapter we have heard many voices speak out in this story. Three weeks ago, Mark began his Gospel with a voice of “one crying in the wilderness,” (1:3) John the Baptist, and in that same story we heard the voice of God proclaim, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you…
Posted by hlewis |
I was lucky enough to grow up going to church every Sunday. My dad was an Army officer and we moved every 1-3 years, so church was a place we could immediately be welcomed into a new community of friends everywhere we lived.
Interestingly, it was the years we lived farthest away that shaped my life the most. My dad was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, for my 5th-7th grade…
Posted by dwhetter |
Last week we heard John’s version of how Jesus began to call his disciples and now today we hear Mark’s version of the same story. Now, before I go any further, I want to answer the burning question that most likely many of you are wondering and that at least one of you will most likely ask me at the end of the service. The answer I have is “yes!”. The question is “Pastor, is…
By now, I hope you have read through the letter Council sent out last Friday, January 12, 2018. If you haven’t yet had time to read it, please do so, because it is filled with information about our future and the decisions that we need to make as a congregation at our annual meeting. As you will see, your leadership has been forced to make some very tough decisions, such as eliminating…