When I was in marching band in high school, I had a friend who, whenever he would mess up – whether that was playing the wrong note(s), or doing the wrong steps in our field show – would say, “Sorry! It’s my first day!” Now, of course, it wasn’t actually his first day, which is …
Dear People of Bethlehem, Parables were the bread and butter of Jesus’ public ministry, and they are one of the reasons that his teachings are still relevant to us today. A parable is just a fancy word for a metaphor, or a story, that teaches us about something. And with Jesus, that “something” was usually …
I recently saw a reel on Instagram that talked about something called the Surfer Mentality which says: “Enjoy every ride while it lasts, there’s always another wave coming soon.” Now, of course, blanket statements like this can’t be applied to every situation in life. But taken with a grain of salt, and not as the …
Easter Greetings Dear Resurrection People! I would start this message with a “Spoilers!” disclaimer, since you are most likely reading this before we have completed our journey through Holy Week, but that would be a little silly given that Jesus’ death and resurrection is such an integral part of who we are as a people …
As you may have recently heard, we just finished cleaning out and organizing the attic in the sanctuary. If you haven’t seen the highlight video of that process yet, make sure to scroll down to the Stewardship Stream article – you’re in for a treat! And as I mentioned at the annual meeting, we have …
The topic of grief has been on mind a lot lately, and I don’t appear to be the only one. Pastor Laura and I recently returned from our fall continuing education conference put on by the synod where the topic was “Grief: Reflecting on Loss, Love, and Leadership.” And here at Bethlehem we have had …
Dear People of Bethlehem, Blessings in this Fall season. We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your faithful giving to Bethlehem, just as we do each Sunday. But in this single letter we send out each fall, it is also time to look together with you, toward all that lies ahead. What …
In the process of writing a sermon for Sunday morning there is often quite a bit that ends up on the cutting room floor. Whether it’s cut for time, or because the sermon ended up going in a slightly different direction (they have a way of developing and changing even as you are writing them), …
The Pacifica Synod Assembly was held in Irvine, CA two weeks ago. Before we dive into the specifics of what all happened over those three days, I want to take a cue from Bob Michelet. When he shared about the assembly during worship on the Sunday after the assembly, he wisely reminded us that part of being …
Springtime Greetings Dear People of Bethlehem, Like most people, I tend to associate spring with nature – budding flowers, new stems shooting up from previously snow-covered plots (my Midwestern roots still clearly have an influence), and the glorious green of new growth. I recently learned something interesting about plant behavior, specifically about how trees communicate …