“For you were called to freedom, brothers (and sisters).  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  Galatians 5:13

The 250^th anniversary of our country is just ahead.  What an opportunity to count the blessings of the USA and our citizenship!  This summer we don’t have to leave our borders to vacation in the created beauty of America.  We are blessed with freedoms and liberties that many throughout our world are denied.  We Americans have every reason to sing about how God has “shed His grace” on us all for these man years!

It’s important for us to remember our many blessings because we can so easily take them for granted or use them selfishly.  What we do with what we have is a reflection of the kind of people we are.  God doesn’t give us all of these good things just to serve our own needs and wants.  We are to use them for the good of others.

God in His Word reminds us that we are called to freedom.  Jesus lived for us, died in our place, rose again from the dead, and sends His Holy Spirit so that through faith we are freed from guilt, sin and death.  We are freed from self-serving life to serve our families, our neighbors, our community in the name of Jesus.  May we who have been freed from sin and death be the servants of others, blessed to be Christ’s blessing!  Have a wonderful 4^th of July! 

Love in Jesus, Pastor Craig

What an opportunity we have this Sunday:  Faith in Action!!  Faith is not just something we believe in our minds or feel in our hearts; it is something we live out each day.   James 2:26 says:  “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”  Now don’t get me wrong, faith is a gift from God, received through Spirit-filled Baptism and God’s Word.  Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

         Yet, while faith in Jesus is a gift, it connects us to a love that always takes loving action as Jesus did!  Good works always follow faith!  Yes, God has prepared all kinds of good deeds for us so that our faith in Jesus is seen.  As Christians, we are called to live out our faith, to be Jesus’  hands and feet in a world that needs His love. Putting faith into action means Jesus empowering us to serve, give, forgive, and love others, even when it’s inconvenient or challenging.  This Sunday is a God prepared opportunity for us to carry Jesus into our community, living out our faith!  Remember, we have a brief worship at 9:30am in the church, going out to our projects by 10:15am.  After serving our community, we gather for pizza back at the church.  So, in the words of John 3:18, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”   Your fellow “little child,”    Pastor Craig

“Whom Are We Seeking?!”

With the confusion and alarm of the empty tomb, all Mary Magdalene can do is weep!  Her first take on the empty tomb did not bring comfort.  It could only mean that a grave robber, for his own profit, had hastily taken the body of Jesus.  Her blurry, tear-reddened eyes are blind to Jesus.  She assumed that he could only be the gardener.

She entered the territory of death with no hope of finding a resurrected Jesus.  She knew that the jaws of death, once closed, do not relinquish their prey.  She came hoping only to do that which she was unable to do Good Friday at sundown: anoint the body of Jesus to lessen the stench of death.

Only as Jesus calls her by name does she recognize Him.  Only then does her grief turn to joy.  She held onto Him and would not let Him go until Jesus encouraged her that she must.  He has come for all and had to complete His mission by the ascension so the Holy Spirit would bring Jesus’ presence at once to all who believe.  Our loving God has brought Jesus from the dead, who, by His own blood, has purchased and won Mary and of us to be His own and receive the profit of His work.

We don’t seek Him in an ancient burial ground with a thief’s profit in mind.  With gifted faith in our hearts we seek Him exactly where He has promised to be, this Easter and the whole year through – in His Word and in His Supper.  In the midst of death we have life – now and forever!  Alleluia, Christ is risen…!!

Pastor Craig

          Adam and Eve took the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil into their hands after listening to the deception of the crafty serpent. Since that time, the devil has attempted to hold humanity in his clutches like a strong man. No mere human being can escape the thralls of this bondage—that is, until one stronger than the strong man comes, binds him, and plunders his possessions. By the “finger of God” (Luke 11:20), Christ has bound the devil in order to bring us into His loving care. Jesus overcame the devil’s temptation in the desert and cast out demons, and He was faithful to go all the way the cross to defeat the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Though the devil still “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” his days are numbered; thus, we humble ourselves “under the mighty hand of God” that protects His church until Christ’s return (1 Peter 5:6–11).

          Join us Wednesday, March 4th as the Lord reaches His hand out to us through His Word and the fellowship we share.  A Soup Lunch is at 12 p.m. with our devotion at 1 p.m.  A repeat devotion will be at 7 p.m. for those unable to make it during the day.  Lord, take our hands and lead us!!  Pastor Craig

Each state in the United States has at least one or more nicknames by which it is commonly known.  I come from Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, the birthplace of the Laker’s basketball team (after all, how many Lakes does LA have?).  Ohio is known as the “Buckeye State” (if you look it up you’ll find it’s a tree with a neat nut that many feel brings good luck).  Connecticut is known as the “Land of Steady Habits”, based on the state’s reputation for hardworking residents.

Steady habits can either make or break us, right?  We all have habits we would love to leave behind and relegate to the rear-view mirror of life.  A sedentary life stye, overeating and drinking, smoking, a negative mindset, and so on.  As a New year begins, those bad habits that break us are formed into resolutions that we hope will place them behind us in the year now past.

Steady habits, though, can be an important formative element for our lives, especially as faith in Jesus is at the center.  Many years back we had a Rally Day theme that revolved around Holy Habits, with learning stations that each represented one.  In the Word, Prayer, Songs of Praise, and Sharing Jesus marked the encouraging activities that sent everyone away with intentionality to continue those Christ-centered habits that help to form Christ-centered living!

The writer to the Hebrews especially reminds us of a Holy Habit foundational to our Christian lives.  One of the best habits a person can cultivate is faithfully joining God’s people to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, the One who left His home to make His home in us.  He has saved us, dying on the cross for our sins and rising again to be received by each of us through the gift of faith.  Even in the early church people would forgo gathering with God’s people because of the busy-ness (business) of life.  Being a disciple calls for discipline in the best sense of the term.  This New Year, 2026, invites us to cultivate steady, holy habits for life, among which regular worship of God with His people is at the top of the list.

May the Holy Spirit give us joy in filling 2026 with Holy Habits and fruit-filled living for Jesus’ sake!  A blessed New Year to all!  Pastor Craig