Blog (Page 2)
News and thoughts
Pastor’s Column – Apr 2024
Ever since I was a little boyI believed in something good.And so I did my best to go to Sunday school,Every Sunday like I shouldAnd I remember the day when I had to leaveAnd I thought it was all a stageI let fear and anger get hold on meAnd they locked me in their cageBut when love came creeping through the window paneAll I could do was wonder whyI swore I did not deserve it but still, it came,And now…
Pastor’s Column – Mar 2024
In a world of noise, confusion and conflict it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom. In Silence God ceases to be an object and becomes an experience. Thomas merton 4’ 33’’ is a world-famous song composed by John Cage. It was composed in 1952 for any instrument or combination of instruments. It is divided into three movements, and when you add the total time of each movement together…
Pastor’s Column – Feb 2024
Tune my heart.Like an old violin,like a worn down piano,I have been left out in all manners of weather;I have been left alone for far too long.So like a concertmasterwith a steady hand,tune me up.Listen and learnthe cracked keys,the broken strings.Memorize the forgotten intervalsthat even I did not know.And then, when we’re ready,When this creaky heart is tuned,teach me a new son. Rev. Sarah A. Speed In school, I played the trumpet in the concert band. Before every rehearsal, before…
Pastor’s Column – Jan 2024
They set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Matthew 2:8-11 At Christmastime, the church I grew up in always decorated their sanctuary with German Stars. Perhaps you…
Pastor’s Column – Dec 2023
This beautiful poem offers our spirit a way to move into the season of Advent. Advent is a time of waiting. It is living and praying on the edge, just before we are healed, just before we overcome a major life hurdle, just before justice becomes a reality in the world. It is the moment where we are just hanging on and we question whether we are strong enough. We may even question whether God is strong enough. “For humans,…
Pastor’s Column – Oct 2023
When the pandemic first began and social distancing was widely practiced, Jessica and I would go on many walks. As creatures of habit, we usually stuck to the same route that went through an old cemetery. On those walks we were surprised to observe that there was nearly always someone in the cemetery. Some sat silently next to graves while others arranged flowers, cleaned off headstones, or carefully placed luminaries out of respect. From an observers standpoint it was done…
Pastor’s Column – Oct 2023
As I write from our kitchen table, a white spotted doe is grazing not but 10 feet beyond our glass door. Her fur is ruffled and nose is black. She immediately noticed me, but clearly I am no threat to her. Afterall this is Lancaster. Jessica and I were once walking through aneighborhood when we witnessed three deer staring at someone’s backyard shed as if they were waiting on someone who was late for an important appointment. They were. Sure…
Sermons of Grace Podcasts
For many years now, audio recordings of the sermons from our worship services have been available as podcasts directly from our website, on Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. They are also available via the FaithStreet app. I’m pleased to share that as of today, we are also available on Amazon Music and Audible. So, for those of you who would like to follow us this way, we now have another option.
Pastor’s Column – Aug 2023
O Lord, how manifold are your works! There is the sea, great and wide; creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. There go the ships and Leviathan that you formed to play it.” psalm 104 If you get a chance today or this week, I encourage you to read psalm 104 in its entirety. It is best read in the sanctuary of nature. Take a seat near an open window or go out on the patio.…
Pastor’s Column – July 2023
So let’s strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up. Romans 14:19 Just imagine if everyone took these words seriously? Imagine if this was the bedrock of all our relationships? Imagine if this was the way our society created public policy or law? Imagine if religion took this seriously? I wish it did, but looking at the world, even Christianity in the United States, it is clear that we often don’t strive for…