Prayer for July 28, 2020: Please pray with me.  God of grace, God of mercy, thank you.  Thank you for grace and mercy.  You are not a God of karma.  You don’t give us what we deserve.  That’s a relief.  We’d be screwed otherwise.  No, instead you give us...

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH1xUOJwQMo&w=560&h=315]...

Prayer for July 27, 2020: Please pray with me.  God of the unexpected, you surprise us all the time.  We have ridiculous expectations about you.  And you don’t seem to care what our expectations are.  I wonder why that is.  Maybe because we are not in charge – you...

(I preached this sermon on Sunday, July 26, 2020.  You can see the entire service on the church website – www.ststephenlc.org) When I took my first preaching class, I remember being told by the professor a few important “rules.”  First, don’t worry about trying to knock it out of...

This is another interview from the Sleep out in the Park event I participated in.  The event’s purpose was to raise awareness about homelessness in the pandemic and what is being done to help people get out of homelessness.  This interview was with Karen and Thomas from Operation Veterans...

Prayer for July 24, 2020: Please pray with me.  God of hope, we need you now more than ever.  We need hope.  In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes “Now hope that is seen is not hope.”  Give us real hope.  We don’t need empty rhetoric or promises,...

Prayer for July 23, 2020: Please pray with me.  God of grace, God of mercy, come to us and give us grace and mercy.  We thank you for prodding us to take risks – to risk caring, to risk taking action, to risk being vulnerable, to risk living our...

This was the first interview of the Sleep out in the Park event I did.  It was with Crystal Houser.  We talked about the Truck Stop Ministry that our congregation does with those experiencing homelessness and the challenges that are faced in the midst of the pandemic.  Enjoy the...

A small group of folks gathered Monday evening into Tuesday morning to do a unique event – Sleep out in the Park.  The point of the event was to raise awareness of the challenges around homelessness, especially in light of the pandemic. Doing sleep outs to raise awareness around...

Prayer for July 22, 2020: Please pray with me.  God who favors the poor, why is this title of your controversial?  There are many who don’t like the idea that you favor the poor.  Televangists who are successful and wealthy don’t like to talk about you favoring the poor....