Jesus Escamilla knows the power of prayer. For the past 15-plus years, the pastor has seen God answer prayers repeatedly for his congregation, San Gabriel Lutheran in Alvarado, Texas. “What…
Focal verse “While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is…
Hands waving through screens, two fingers in a peace sign, elbow bumps and the nodding of heads are ways we’ve passed the peace during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like so much…
On a Monday afternoon in late July, James Colver and Shepherd, 9, were kicking back and relaxing at a hotel. James said he was tired—but a “good kind of tired”—as…
Leighton, an eager third-grader, held up his Bible for me to see. “Look what I did!” he exclaimed, pressing it into my hands. The previous Sunday in worship, third-graders and…
Focal verse “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same…
How did 260 goats end up being blessed at St. Paul Lutheran Family in Carson City, Nevada? “It was a pretty big ordeal,” said Chad Adamik, pastor of St. Paul….
Oregonians are waiting for “The Big One.” Every few hundred years, the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a tectonic plate boundary off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, causes huge earthquakes. The…
Where are the young people? How will we pass on the faith to future generations? What can we do to bring youth to church? These questions can be heard in…
One night the book I was reading to our kids at bedtime led to a conversation about how some kids mock others to make themselves feel better. Low self-esteem can…
Focal verse Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:16). Reflection Every year our area churches host…
The morning after the 2016 presidential election, Bruce MacKenzie had a line from the “Prayer of St. Francis” running through his mind: “To be understood as to understand.” “When a…
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