I could not have imagined a better introduction to Acts than an all-fellowship retreat focused on community and the Holy Spirit. And, of course, I didn’t plan it. While I was working on our fall teaching series, a different group was finding an available date and location, planning communal meals, and praying about discussion topics. Like fellow devout Jews
Read MoreEditor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Renée’s July 2 teaching on Genesis 31. I was tempted to skip the verses where Jacob talks about the sheep. I figured it would help make the teaching shorter, and we already talked about the sheep last week during the children’s teaching. But as a white pastor,
Read MoreThis past Sunday, we continued our celebration of the resurrection of Easter with a joyous service of baptisms. Three members of the NCF community—Anna, Patrick, and Theo—were baptized after they shared part of their personal testimonies and Renée shared a teaching about the meaning of baptism. An excerpt of that teaching follows. (You can listen
Read MoreHoly Week. Palm Sunday. Blood Drive. They go together, right? Or does it seem that “one of these three is not like the others….”? Are we having a Blood Drive at church? During the service? Really? Our challenge this Lent has been to “double down” on community. Singing with other neighborhood churches. Studying a book
Read MoreToday, Ash Wednesday, begins my favorite season. I am still surprised by the gift of it, having come into acquaintance with Lent not through my family of origin, but gradually, after leaving home. Anticipation of Lent is vulnerable and exciting; what does the Lord have in store this year? For me it is always different—sometimes adding
Read MoreAs we prepare our hearts for Jesus to come as a baby, I am still puzzling over the gospel reading from the first Sunday of Advent. Jesus compares himself to a thief in the night, breaking in at an unexpected hour. I wonder, how are babies and thieves alike? They do often come at night. Or
Read MoreAs you do all this [love your neighbor as yourself], you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Romans 13:11 Wake up. Then stay woke. Stay what? I was surprised to hear “stay woke” in my head when I encountered the epistle reading
Read MoreI didn’t grow up with TV. My parents weren’t into it, the reception in rural Montana was terrible, and there were better things to do. Of course, I binge-watched at my grandparents and got hooked on occasional shows in college, but TV was easy for me to give up once the kids came along. Until we started
Read MoreI grew up listening to Bob Dylan on 8-track tapes in our Chevy station wagon as we crisscrossed Montana to attend every Noxon HS basketball game, lulled to sleep by the familiar voice and then awakening to it later as we bumped down our rocky dirt road arriving home. My parents had given away all
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