Advent Devotional: What’s Life Like for You These Days?
by Tanner Olson What’s life like for you these days?That’s the question I’ve been asking my friends lately. It seems as though the older I get, the heavier life becomes.Death, disease, disappointment, and brokenness seem to dominate the conversation.Before, we used to talk about what life would become — the possibilities, the dreams, the […]
Advent Devotion: (How) Do I Fit in? Matthew Chapter 1
By Anne Tinetti There are a lot of ways to participate in the Christmas accounts in the gospels. Some of us might celebrate the beginning of new life within us, like Mary. Some of us perhaps come to the story from an unexpected origin or a long way off, like the magi. Of course, […]
Empty
Written by Rev. Chris Paavola Empty isn’t usually a word we associate with good things. Like when the gas tank is empty, or when the bank account is empty, or when my kids put an empty cereal box back in the cabinet. (I don’t know why they do that.) Christians, however, have historically used a […]
Hosanna, Hallelujah! Jesus, Coming Light, Draw Near: A Christmas Devotion by Shelly Schwalm
Hosanna, Hallelujah! Jesus, Coming Light, draw near. Early winter mornings are brutal, aren’t they? When I’m out of bed earlier than I’d like on a dark, 4-degree Minnesota morning, the dawn seems to drag its feet worse than I do and weighs differently. The people of the Bible were very acquainted with darkness. Darkness concealed […]
Where Shepherds Lately Knelt: A Reflection by Pat Leege
As an organist, I find it hard to choose any one Advent or Christmas hymn as a favorite. I have many favorites. One of the more contemporary hymns that unite Advent and Christmas is Where Shepherds Lately Knelt, text by Jaroslav Vajda, sung to the tune Manager Song by Carl Schalk. This song has a […]