As we enter Friedland’s anniversary month, I want to share some words written on the fireplace in the church pavilion: “ORIGINAL SITE OF FRIEDLAND MORAVIAN CHURCH, ESTABLISHED 1775. THE NEW CHURCH OCCUPIED DECEMBER 1952. OLD CHURCH DEMOLISHED IN 1959. Stones from the foundation of the old church used in building this pit, fireplace, and chimney.”…
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes…
Pastor John Writes: Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.…
In the past few years I have discovered the joy of sea shanties. Sea shanties are the short songs that were sung by crew members of sailing ships back in the day. Today we might think of these songs simply as catchy entertaining tunes, but they served a practical purpose to the sailors who originally sang…
Pastor John Writes: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 Ecclesiastes 3 is a passage people often read at the transition from one year to the next, in part because every year, whether we like it or not, brings the things listed in Ecclesiastes: birth and…
In a recent sermon, I talked about how the church is like a Viking Ship. I want to re-visit this concept as we prepare to wrap up 2021 and embark into 2022. Now before Covid 19, I felt like our ship had some pretty good momentum going. But when everything in the world shut down,…
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Pastor John Writes: In 1978, Henry Smith wrote a song entitled, “Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart” which reminds us: “Give thanks with a grateful heart; Give thanks to the…
When I lived in Pennsylvania, my wife and I both worked at St. Luke’s hospital, which was named after Luke because he was a physician himself. October 18th happens to be the feast day for St. Luke. “According to Christian tradition, he was a Syrian from Antioch, a doctor by profession and neither Jewish nor…
Pastor John Writes: When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, Jesus said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell…
While I am not usually a big fan of sports, I have found myself glued to the Olympic Games this year. It amazes me that so many people are able to come together from so many different places around the world for a single event. Despite all of the division and conflict we see too…