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Body Builders

Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C, January 24, 2016
A new year means renewed attention to health, exercise, and overall wellness. The antidote to flabby faith is simple: exercise the body through regular, basic faith practices, strive for the greater gifts, honor all members, and welcome the stranger to the table. (Photo: Spirit Fire, Creative Commons)

Too Busy for Your Own Good?

Before I broke busy in my own life, I proudly wore my busy badge of honor. I was the queen of busy. I even had the tiara and sash to go with it. Busyness made me feel productive and needed, and I overlooked the havoc it was wreaking in my life. But contrary to what many of us have been told, we can’t handle it all, nor should we. So how do we know when we are reaching our limits? (Photo © mtkang – Fotolia.com)

Grant Honors Legacy of Roger Smith

To say Roger Smith was passionate about stewardship is an understatement. For more than 30 years he served the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and a predecessor body in the area of stewardship education. After retiring in 2008, Smith served as president of the Stewardship of Life Institute (SOLI) board, was a financial coach […]

Steadfast

Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year C, January 17, 2016
We may not be in exile ourselves, but we can welcome the refugee and open our arms to the stranger. We may not feel forsaken, but we can hold out our hand to the one who is and offer friendship and support. (Photo: Kelly Short, Creative Commons)

Rich Church/Poor Church

Why do some churches seem to struggle financially year after year, while other congregations of similar size and circumstance have all the resources they need? It could be that the well-resourced congregations understand the primary reasons why people give their time, talent and treasure, and they organize and focus their efforts accordingly. This article from MinistryMatters explains. (Photo by Ignorant Walking, used by Creative Commons license.)

Lament, Repent, Relent

Lectionary Reflection for the Baptism of our Lord, Year C, January 10, 2016
This Sunday’s lessons, combined with recent events, offers preachers and teachers a real opportunity to “wade deeper” into the waters of our baptismal identity. We also have ideas for time with children and youth. (Photo: THX0477, Creative Commons)

Blessed Be!

Lectionary Reflection for the Second Sunday of Christmas, Year C January 3, 2016 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and […]

Stewarding and Growing the Faith

Lectionary Reflection for the First Sunday of Christmas, Year C December 27, 2015 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 This Sunday we’ll be only two days out from celebrating Christmas Day in all its […]

Stewards of the Message and the Margins

Lectionary Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C
December 20, 2015
Luke Skywalker graces the silver screen again, but it is Luke’s gospel that brings us a real blockbuster and a countercultural hero in an unlikely Prince of Peace. So sing with Mary and rejoice with Elizabeth because God is once again up to something new. (Photo: JD Hancock, Creative Commons)

Surgeon General: Happiness is Healthy

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is on a mission to bring you health through happiness, peace and love.“Happiness” is not an emotion, an inherited disposition that is awarded to a select few, or even dependent on events that happen to you in life. Rather, Murthy argues that happiness is a perspective, and that everyone can create it for themselves with four simple, free approaches: gratitude exercises, meditation, physical activity and social connectedness. (Photo: paulisson miura, Creative Commons)