As we finish up Epiphany, we finish up thinking about the people that we’re praying for on Sundays in specific categories. There is one segment of people that we should be praying for that aren’t “disconnected from the Church or God,” however – and that is other witnesses. We are called to be witnesses of…

For the past few weeks we have been talking about the people that we can be praying for on Sunday mornings here at University Lutheran when we pray for “those who are disconnected from God and the Church”. The last category of people who are disconnected are “the Seeking”. People who are seeking are looking…

“Hey, would you mind telling me some more about what you believe?” That question is likely to get us thinking, get our blood pressure to rise, get us wondering how we respond. There’s excitement in the question, but there is maybe some trepidation as well – “am I going to answer this in the right…

This Epiphany, we’re asking you to consider the people around you that are disconnected from God and/or the Church. We’re asking you to think about them and asking the question: is this person unreceptive, curious, or seeking? Today we’re going to talk about the people in our lives who are unreceptive to the Gospel. Being…

RSVP – it stands for “Répondez s’il vous plaît,” a command that says (nicely), “Please respond.” Throughout the season of Epiphany (starting January 6 and ending this year on February 17), we will be using those four French words as the unifying principle of what we’re talking about in worship and beyond. The idea of…

Almost is a funny word. It’s one of those “glass half full/half empty” things. Almost can mean “oh, it’s almost here….but not yet (pout, pout)” or it can mean “IT’S ALMOST HERE!!! (running around the room in joyous energy). Almost can mean, “oh, you almost got it (the grade, the promotion, the spot on the…

Growing up as a little boy, I was culturally conditioned against the color pink. That was for girls. It was not for me. I remember one time my grandmother bought me a pink shirt, and when my parents told me I had to wear it – I felt like they might as well had told…

We all piled into the van. We pulled out of the driveway and someone asked if the radio could be turned on. The van is almost always set at 88.1, the Christian music station, partially because it’s just simpler not having to worry about having to explain Sabrina Carpenter’s lyrics to the kids. The radio…

One Wednesday a month, my daughters’ school hosts this thing called “All Pro Dads”. When we get together, we talk about something that I would call a “virtue”. In the past we have talked about compassion, resilience, consistency, and other things. Today we talked about “Determination”. As we talked about this virtue, I started to…

This coming Sunday at University Lutheran, we’re going to be installing new members. These are folks that have been with us for different amounts of time, but definitely since our last new member celebration. The way it normally happens is that I notice that someone has been coming to worship pretty regularly. When I notice…