Believe it! The snow fall was so beautiful yesterday. And this morning dawned clear and bright.
Patty and I walked into church. Two worshipers were already there, and we ended up with 10 for the 8:30 service! At the 11:00 service there were 28!
A quiet morning, of informal worship and sharing of friendship.
Wherever I’ve served, I’ve always [...]
Snow? In Williamsburg??
Pictures Have Been Added!
I’ve illustrated my previous blogs with pictures. Check out the blogs again!
To the other side of the Sea of Galilee
In the lectionary I use for daily prayer, this morning’s gospel reading is from John 6. The chapter begins, “After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee …”
In the gospel stories set in this location, Jesus is frequently crossing to the other side of the Sea of [...]
The Golan Heights, Sepphoris, and Nazareth
Before going on this trip, I thought all of Israel was desert. (That’s what you see in all those cheesy movies about Jesus, isn’t it?) But Israel, a country about the same size as New Jersey, features an amazing variety of geography. Within a few hours of driving, there is desert, the Dead Sea (the [...]
Ah, Jet Lag
Several hours of being wide-awake last night.
The gift of wakefulness is an opportunity to read another short story by Alice Munro. Last night I came across this paragraph from her exquisite story, “Runaway,” in which a woman is describing a recent trip to Greece:
“Where I was, this little village, this little tiny village with my [...]
Two Days in Galilee
I’m writing this from home. There was a problem getting onto the Internet at our last hotel, in Tiberius, so I’m sorry that I haven’t been timely. It’s also the evening of the day I’ve gotten home. So, we’ll see how long I last and how coherent the writing is, with the jet lag and [...]
An extra day at Ein Gedi
Something extremely unusual happened last night. It rained. All night. And, since Ein Gedi is right next to the Salt/Dead Sea, which is the lowest elevation on the entire earth, all of Israel (well, as far north and west as Jerusalem) drains into the Sea.
There is one main north-south road in this part of the [...]
Shabbat Shalom
Sabbath peace, from the Kibbutz Ein Gedi, on the Dead Sea.
This is a wonderful day off from the relentless schedule of the tour. I slept eight and a half hours last night — until 7:30 AM — and spent a leisurely hour and a half doing Morning Prayer and reading the Bible and thinking [...]
Two Days in Jerusalem
We’ve spent two FULL days in the holy city of Jerusalem, under the expert guidance of Dr. Monte Luker, Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, in Columbia, SC. (The two other professors along provide occasional commentary.)
We have spent time on Temple Mount (where the temple was during Jesus’ time; where the [...]
Climbing Mt. Sinai
I’m in Jerusalem!
We’ve been in Egypt the past four days. We were in Cairo the first two, and I felt like it was warp speed touring. We saw the Egyptian Museum, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and some other sites, but I didn’t feel like we spent enough time at any of them. It was interesting [...]
Latest Sermons
- Please click on sermons under "Pastor" () on July 31, 2010.
SSLC RSS Feed
- Where sermons come from July 20, 2010Here’s the way it works. Weeks earlier, I’ve gone through the lectionary, paying attention to which of the three passage catches my attention. I jot down a few ideas of why the passage seems important. Then, on the Monday of the week that the passage is going to be read, I do my work with the commentaries, [...] […]Pastor
- Listening July 20, 2010For the second morning in a row, this morning, when the clock struck 4:00, I was instantly awake and alert. The verse that has come to mind is from 1 Samuel 3: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” I think it’s part of the discernment process in our search process for a new staff member. We’ve [...] […]Pastor
- George Steinbrenner July 14, 2010How interesting to read all the nice things being said about George Steinbrenner, now that he’s died. (Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a “George Steinbrenner Ruined Baseball” T-Shirt in a good while, since his quieter son took over.) Since I think of life in terms of Christianity, I keep returning to Paul’s lists [...] […]Pastor
- Under Judgment July 13, 2010It rained last night! The roads were too wet for me to ride my bike. (This is something that I did not realize until I was dressed, had filled a water bottle, had topped off the air in the tires, and had walked the bike down the driveway, and actually looked at the [...] […]Pastor
- Well, we need the rain … July 10, 2010The alarm went off a few minutes before 6:00 this morning. I needed time to prepare, before leaving for a 54-mile bicycle ride in Sussex County beginning at 9:00 this morning. To get to the starting point of the ride, in Waverly, I would need to be on the 7:40 ferry across the James; the 8:00 [...] […]Pastor
- We’re funny that way July 7, 2010So. Here in Virginia, June, 2010 was the second hottest June. Ever. And, June 2010 was the dryest June. Ever. Does that prove “global warming?” Nope. But isn’t it funny, that for weeks and weeks there hasn’t been a single letter or essay in the “Virginia Gazette” from those who think “global warming” is a hoax? (You [...] […]Pastor
- How I Spent My Summer (afternoon) June 25, 2010Sitting with the husband of a young woman who is on a ventilator, in the ICU, being tended by the very same nurse who took care of me when I was in the same ICU on a ventilator. Yup. That’s how I spent this afternoon: being present and prayerful for those in need, while trying not to be [...] […]Pastor
- Daily Centering June 23, 2010As the 5th century turned to the 6th, Christianity had been legal for nearly 200 years and many in the Church had become lazy. Many did not feel a sense of compelling mission from the Spirit. Resting on its comfortable position as an accepted institution in society, as the Roman empire crumbled in its own [...] […]Pastor
- A Member of the Family June 16, 2010I have officated at 184 funerals and memorial services. I have journeyed with many of those families through the illnesses of their loved ones, sitting at bedsides, offering prayers as their loved ones have died. With others, I’ve responded to the news of tragic accidents, helping them to deal first with the shock that God [...] […]Pastor
- Christian Community June 14, 2010What a significant congregational meeting we had yesterday. Big decisions on a $500,000 renovation project for our church building, including enlarging the narthex. A capital funds campaign for the next three years. Our leaders presented excellent information to give basis for the decisions. Some of us disagreed with the proposals. We shared honest opin […]Pastor
- Where sermons come from July 20, 2010
Sunday Schedule
- 08:30 AM - Holy Communion 09:45 AM - Faith Formation 11:00 AM - Holy Communion
Recent Entries
- Where sermons come from
- Listening
- George Steinbrenner
- Under Judgment
- Well, we need the rain …
- We’re funny that way
- How I Spent My Summer (afternoon)
- Daily Centering
- A Member of the Family
- Christian Community
Downloads
- Preschool Registration Form (24.6 KiB, 167 hits)
- 2010 VBS Registration Form (97.4 KiB, 126 hits)
- Proposed Narthex Floorplan (412.5 KiB, 86 hits)
- Site Plan for St. Stephen (382.8 KiB, 69 hits)
- North Elevation of St. Stephen (403.7 KiB, 68 hits)
- June 2010 Calendar (29.8 KiB, 44 hits)
- July 2010 Quill (1.1 MiB, 44 hits)
- July 2010 Calendar (27.3 KiB, 30 hits)
Blogroll
- Are You New or Returning to Church?
- Bible Study of Sunday Passages
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Journal of Lutheran Ethics
- Peninsula Pastoral Counseling Center
- Prayer Guidance
- Spiritual Guidance For Anyone Seeking A Path To God
- Virginia Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Young Adults! Who Is God Creating You To Be?

