April 2019 | St. Luke's United Methodist Church

26 04, 2019

Gratitude in Hard Times

Sally Penning2019-04-26T08:53:58-05:00April 26th, 2019|Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

A PERSONAL PRAYER God of love, Sometimes, I win. Sometimes I lose. Sometimes the blues get ahold of me, ah just when I thought I had made it. (With thanksgiving to Carole King, "Sweet Seasons." But all you boomers knew that.) It is so easy to give thanks in the good times. My heart is overwhelmed with how you have blessed me. Thanksgiving flows naturally from my heart filled with gratitude. But there are days things aren't going so well. I am so grateful that those are few and far between, but who knows what life will bring. I can [...]

19 04, 2019

Good Friday? An Even Better Sunday!

Sally Penning2019-04-19T08:55:55-05:00April 19th, 2019|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

A PERSONAL PRAYER God of indescribable, unfathomable, incomprehensible love, As dawn broke on Friday morning, your beloved Son was on the way to the court of the pavements between the fortress and the temple. The long prayer of agony in the garden was accomplished. The betrayal was complete. The arrest was carried out. The midnight trial was over. Peter's denial was so fresh on his mind. Still ahead was the unfaithfulness of the crowd, the treachery of the religious leaders, the weak will of Pilate, the scourge and the thorns and beatings, the long walk with a crosspiece [...]

12 04, 2019

Small Acts of Great Love, by Rachel Fisher

Sally Penning2019-04-12T09:50:52-05:00April 12th, 2019|All blogs, We Tell Our Stories|0 Comments

A recent study from The Society for Human Resource Management found that "94 percent of millennials want to use their skills to benefit a cause” and “57 percent wish that there were more company-wide service days.” As someone of that generation, I can attest that the pressure to “make a difference” is tremendous. We all want to do great things that create a better world. Unfortunately, I do not have superpowers. Nor do I have Bill and Melinda Gates’ bank account. But what I do have...are doughnuts. In St. Luke’s 40 Daily Acts of Grace and Mercy: A [...]

12 04, 2019

Save us!

Sally Penning2019-04-12T09:37:06-05:00April 12th, 2019|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

A PERSONAL PRAYER God of grace, Just like every year, I am trying to figure out what to say about Palm Sunday. There will be hosannas and palm branches waving, church family picnics and children's choirs singing and such happy worship. It all reminds me of donkeys and parades, children making a pathway of green for your entrance into Jerusalem. Yet there is something that seems shallow about Palm Sunday. I will say Jesus is king, but do I really mean it? Do I recognize his complete authority over me? Do I recognize that nothing I have belongs [...]

5 04, 2019

It’s not supposed to be easy

Sally Penning2019-04-05T09:56:10-05:00April 5th, 2019|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

A PERSONAL PRAYER Dear Jesus, The other day after a sermon about the idols we worship, someone confessed to me that he has made "comfort and happiness" his god. I thought a lot about that. I think I can make the same confession. So many times I long for life to be easy. I find myself wondering why everything seems challenging, why nothing just flows along nicely without any bumps and bruises along the way. I think, "well, I must be doing something wrong. If I was doing it right, then life would be going smoothly." Ah, but now I see it. It isn't supposed [...]