Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain. I’ve been feeling pretty down lately; and by lately I mean the last 18 months or so. To be fair, I know I’m not alone in that, and without intentionality it can be hard to find a lot worth celebrating these days. So much...
Preparing for Worship - Ashley Robinson, pastoral resident My home has never smelled so good. I came home from a Monday night meeting last week to what felt like Thanksgiving as my friend had begun to prepare enchiladas for a Tuesday lunch feast. Last week, I was...
Preparing for Worship - Jeff Brummel. When I was 16 years old, I decided it was time to be baptized. I had already been serving Trinity Baptist in Springfield, Oregon, as pianist for about a year, and felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit to make public my...
Preparing for Worship - Doug Haney, associate pastor Come to the banquet hall. A place is set for you. O come and sit awhile. This gift is free. In my childhood Baptist church in a small town in north Georgia, the Lord’s Supper was only served four times year and only...
Preparing for Worship - LeAnn Hampton. We abandoned all responsibilities on a recent Saturday to explore small towns in Cook and Montague counties. In the Cook County town of Lindsay (population 1,257), we saw the silhouette of an unusual rooftop just south of...
Preparing for Worship - Abbey Adcox. I’ve been carrying a heaviness with me this week. I wonder if you are as well. The news of the world is heartbreaking and we are bombarded with updates on the devastating earthquake in Haiti, turmoil and violence in...
Preparing for Worship - Jenna Sullivan, pastoral resident. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart! (Psalm 111). Our psalm today speaks of wholehearted gratitude. In our staff meeting this week we practiced gratitude as Heather Mustain asked us to...
Preparing for Worship - Jeff hampton. In worship today we hear the familiar hymn, “This is my Father’s World.” It’s a reminder of the gift we have of this beautiful planet and, if we’ll let it, a call to stewardship. The poem that became the hymn text was...
Preparing for Worship - Mary Kay Jackman. Jesus liked to eat. He liked to eat with all sorts of people: tax collectors, Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, sinners, disciples, strangers, brothers and sisters, friends and not-friends. Food was important to Jesus, and he...
Preparing for Worship - Ralph Manuel, handbell coordinator. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! (Psalm 147:1) Among the many adjustments we all had to make during the fifteen months that our church suspended its in-person...