Church guide

Sermon Snippet: "I think that if we’re honest about our own lives, there are times when we look at the mission to which Jesus calls us and we wonder if we’re really up for the task. We wonder if we really want to face the difficulty entailed by living out our call as disciples of Jesus. Because risking rejection, going where we may not be wanted, and stopping by the side of the road to tend to our wounded enemy seems really tough. Especially when it’s not gentiles and Samaritans Jesus is asking us to tend to and embrace, but Muslims and migrants and people on the other side of the political aisle." (On Luke 10:1–16)

Sermon Snippet: "We individually and collectively have much to lament, but how often do we create space to share our grief? Beyond the occasional funeral, when do we acknowledge our deep sadness over our own struggles and the struggles of this world? . . . Our worship and liturgies often focus on feel-good songs and expressions of joy. When we do not create space for lament, we tell people that there is no place for them to face their struggles in the midst of this community. I believe that we are being faithful when church is a space where we can fully live into the lament of our hearts."

Sermon Snippet: "On this Pentecost Sunday, we confirm our young people in the faith, and we also confirm our own commitment to being the people of God in this world, ready to respond to God’s call on our lives. We confirm that we do in fact want the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives and in our worship, recognizing that to welcome God is to cede control. We confirm our openness to the gifts the Spirit of God gives us, even if these gifts are not those the world recognizes. We confirm that we are God’s, claimed by the seal of God’s Holy Spirit in baptism, supported by the community of which we are a part, and sent out by God’s Spirit to do the work of God in the world. We confirm our commitment to spreading the gospel, the good news of God’s love, wherever we may go."

Sermon Snippet: "Our vocation as disciples calls us to proclaim the reconciliation of God, human beings, and the whole creation in Christ. The reconciliation we proclaim is God’s love for all God has created. We do this by testifying to hope in the face of great uncertainty, by proclaiming that peace is more powerful than conflict and violence, and by joining in God’s love of this world through service and compassionate action. Jesus doesn’t leave us in a world devoid of hope. Jesus leaves us in a world that God loves and will never forsake."

"Social Statements are teaching documents that can help us think through difficult but important issues. They are not written to tell us what to do but are for study and conversation. They are designed to aid us in understanding how we are to live our lives in love and service to our neighbors as people of faith. The forthcoming statement, entitled "Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Lutheran Call to Action," speaks to the bigger picture of sexism and patriarchy in the church and society and identifies ways in which we can respond to such injustices. . . Our conversations about any social statement are going to reflect a diverse range of experiences and points of view. And yet, we come together in our desire to serve God with one another and to be church together. That means continually lifting up the voices and stories of all God’s people and remembering those who have, at times, been underrepresented in our church." See the draft of the statement here: https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/FSJ_LCAction_RecommendedProposedStmntIRs_forAugCWA.pdf?_ga=2.109818563.735319886.1559075600-1105446046.1559075600

Sermon Snippet: "Being an Easter people doesn’t mean we get a free pass from pain. It means we can still sing Alleluia! in the middle of whatever dark room we’re in—even if that dark room is the valley of the shadow of death itself—because we know that the pain isn’t the end. The end of our story is only a new beginning: the resurrection of all things. Our bodies and all creation made new." — Kathleen Kerr

We are very happy to announce that Emmaus has installed a hearing loop for persons with hearing aids with t-coil functionality in our sanctuary. Our fellowship hall will be fully equipped soon, too! https://www.hearinglink.org/living/loops-equipment/hearing-loops/what-is-a-hearing-loop/

With thanks to Jeff Lehn for posting the following: "Stunning and sobering piece performed by the New Zealand Youth Choir. The piece is entitled "Waerenga-a-Hika," written by Tuirina Wehi and arranged by Robert Wiremu. Sung in English and Maori, it was performed in honor of the attack in Christchurch on March 15." We continue to remember those lost in this attack, and we continue to stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters in the aftermath. You are not alone, and we will not be silent.

The kids had a great time this past Sunday making pretzels.

Sermon Snippet: "Thankfully, we are never alone in the valley, facing human suffering on our own. Fortunately for us, on this side of the transfiguration, we are accompanied in the valley by Jesus. We do not have a glory-seeking Lord who took the first rocket back to heaven with Moses and Elijah. No, we have a Lord who shed glory in order to come back down into the valley of our human existence. We have a Lord who bears with us and helps us in our times of need, whether we, like the disciples, are at times faithless and curved in on ourselves or whether we are simply struggling with the difficulties of life. We have a Lord who reminds us of our power to respond to the suffering and needs of those around us. We have a Lord who strengthens us as we live out his compassionate and love-filled ministry to the world."

Sermon Snippet: "Jesus challenges our priorities and our comforts, no matter how normal or justifiable or reasonable they may seem to be. If you’ve been in church for any amount of time, you’ll have been made uncomfortable a time or two, because Jesus’ words aren’t always comfortable. Fortunately, there’s something about Jesus, about the community that gathers in his name, that keeps us coming back for more. Perhaps it is liturgy or spiritual insight, perhaps it is a sense of collective mission, or perhaps it is simply a warm greeting and a place to be known. The answer will vary for everyone. But the thing that unites is our response to God’s call. Together, we choose to submit ourselves, week in and week out, to the transforming power of Jesus’s message."

Sermon Snippet: "Author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once wrote, 'Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.' Paul’s invitation to the Corinthians (in 1 Corinthians 13) and to us to love as fully as we can is an invitation to see ourselves and others through the lens of our hearts, through the lens of God’s complete love for us. When love is our starting place, our relationships are transformed, our reactions to others are softened, and our commitment to community is strengthened. That doesn’t mean we will always agree or get along one hundred percent of the time. But we will be rooted in God’s perfect love. And God will help us to love and someday fully know God, even as we are loved and fully known by God."

Come join us for Whiskey & Theology tomorrow, Thursday the 31st, at 7:00pm! Message me for details.

Sermon Snippet: "While some of the injustices that prophets have taken on through the years are so clearly worth fighting for (for example, we look back at Jim Crow laws and segregation and know how wrong they were), some of the issues of our time create more tension in our communities. Today is Reconciling in Christ Sunday, which means that we remind ourselves of our dedication to welcoming all people into our church regardless of age, race, ethnicity, physical or mental abilities, marital status, sexual orientations, gender identities, theological perspectives, or economic circumstance. We join thousands of other Lutheran churches in our country in publicly proclaiming this statement of welcome. Engaging the issue of welcome, particularly of LGBTQ people, has at times been a struggle for our church and the ELCA. And yet, at the root of this struggle, the same question remains, 'Where does it hurt? Where in our church are people being left out of God’s will of abundant life for all?'"

Sermon Snippet: "In the divine logic of the cross, it makes perfect sense for Jesus to give himself to heal the rupture between God and humanity, the hostility between neighbors, or co-workers, or fellow citizens, or fellow humans. "Love your neighbor as yourself," which at first seems like an arbitrary, impossible command, is, at the end of the day, the only thing that can save us from devouring each other and ourselves."

Sermon Snippet: "This act of John submerging Jesus in the Jordan River in the name of God was meant to affirm Jesus’ place as God’s Son and to center him in his role as Messiah, the one who would bring the good news of the coming kingdom of God into the world. As the Messiah, Jesus didn’t come to usher in a time of rainbows and butterflies. He arrived to shake up the world as we know it. Isaiah prophesied that the dawn of God’s reign would be characterized by the outpouring of God’s Spirit on God’s chosen one, through whom God would bless the Earth and bring about justice and peace. And that meant hard work: healing the sick, forgiving sins, proclaiming release to the captives, befriending the outcast, speaking peace to the distressed, feeding the hungry, confronting oppression, and overcoming death."

Sermon Snippet: "Epiphany is about far more than the magi’s celebration of God’s appearance in Jesus. Epiphany is about being attuned to God’s interventions in our everyday lives. Epiphany is about a sacred attunement, an orientation of ourselves toward the potential inbreaking of the divine."

Sermon Snippet: "The value of the John’s prophetic voice is that it calls us beyond the normal. It calls us beyond what is comfortable. John leads us to ask: How do we respond to the prophet’s call and how do we play a role in that vision? Fortunately, it does not involve eating locusts and wild honey. It does, however, involve gathering to remind ourselves of who we are. Through worship and service, we enact Isaiah’s vision by living out the future for which we hope. We commit ourselves to thinking ethically about the world; we keep our eyes on God's vision, knowing that God is on the way. . . . The call to repent and to make straight the highway of our God means that we consider God’s intentions for the world in how we vote, how we relate to our neighbors, and how we do or do not spend our dollars. . . . We keep this vision in front of us as we seek to care for the earth, interrupt systems of racism and violence, and spread God’s love wherever we can. Most of all it means that we face the future with hope, because hope paves the way for the Lord."

"The church is one of the last institutions in our society where Christians of diverse beliefs and backgrounds can and should be able to come together to worship and pursue the way of Jesus. This does not mean we paper over differences, and this does not mean we shy away from tough topics, like how we as a church should support immigrants, refugees, and the vulnerable, or how we as a church should respond to environmental degradation, issues of gender equality, or even abortion. We do not go along to get along; we do not shy away from engaging each other in meaningful conversation. What it does mean is that we resist reflexive partisanship and instead go deeper. We constantly redirect each other back to the central question posed to us by our text today (John 18:33-38): Who do we say that Jesus is? What is the truth to which we testify?"

Our congregation met and surpassed the goal of collecting 500 food items for FISH in November, earning an additional $500 donation from Thrivent for FISH. Our final count was 536 items delivered to FISH after worship on Sunday, November 25th. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this challenge.

Thank you for sharing your Gift from God with our congregation, Peninsula Girls Chorus!

Today was filled with worship, song, food, sharing, and celebration. Let the season of Easter begin!