Just These Lines Pastor Blog

4th Sunday of Easter | Mother’s Day Just these lines, my friends … … to say that it is still appropriate for me to say, “Happy Easter” because Easter is a season in the church and not simply a day. In fact, every Sunday is a little Easter according to the liturgical calendar. Alister McGrath refers to the resurrection of...

3rd Sunday of Easter Just these lines, my friends … … to say the early followers of Jesus developed a church calendar so that Christians worldwide could join together in celebrating Christian seasons regardless of where they lived. The calendar follows a pattern: Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time. As you know, on Sunday, April 17 we...

2nd Sunday of Easter Just these lines, my friends … … to say what a Holy Week 2022: crowds of people gathering for worship for the first time in three years (since 2019); people (Home2Home) helping families with no furniture; a beautiful butterfly release featuring the beautiful banner made by Wendy Barall (photos below); one of the best Maundy Thursday...

Easter Sunday Just these lines, my friends … … to say these holy days are filled with so much: a donkey on Palm Sunday worship, children waving palm branches, memorable moments in Jerusalem Marketplace Family Worship, a sermon about the tears of Palm Sunday (you can watch here) and an interfaith prayer vigil on behalf of the suffering people of...

Palm Sunday Just these lines, my friends … … to say that it has been a big week around the church: Sam Hatcher and his bees at Seasoned to Perfection (STP), forty-three on Saturday at the Methodist Men Breakfast, Charlie’s Heart Carnival at Stumptown Park, a great turnout for the Congregational Rainbow Photo with Inclusive Grace (below), a lovely Muslim couple at...

5th Sunday in Lent Just these lines, my friends … … to say that our time in worship this week was so rich: hopeful prayers from our pastors, the reading of a challenging parable by two of our laity, our delightful Flute Choir, amazing energy from our Praise Team and an extraordinary moment of worship with our Sanctuary Choir in...

4th Sunday in Lent Just these lines, my friends … … to say thank you for all our worship leaders from Sunday: Kathy White, Craig Estep, DeAnna Clink, Dimitriy Soloshenko, Tim Martin, John Woodall, Joel Mullis, Tom Amann, Carl Roberts, The Melody Makers, Children’s Chime Choir (led by Karen Price & Tina Fincher) and Children’s Choir (led by Abigail Okland)...

3rd Sunday in Lent Just these lines, my friends … … to say that we heard wonderful witnesses from our two Martin Luther King Jr. scholarship recipients in church on Sunday. Indya Burns and Timothy Little hail from the Mt. Moriah/Crestdale community of Matthews. These scholarships are made possible by your Global Impact support and several community-minded churches here in...

2nd Sunday in Lent Just these lines, my friends … … to say that last few days have marked the beginning of the season of Lent in the Christian faith. As many of us celebrate special dates on calendars, so does the church. In Christianity, we observe particular dates that cause us to reflect on Jesus’ life and ministry and...