A PERSONAL PRAYER God, I know we talk, but sometimes I think I am doing it wrong. Sometimes I feel like I am just talking to the wall.  Sometimes I feel like I am faking it. Sometimes my prayers are just ramblings in my head. Sometimes I can't even concentrate long enough to think of what to say. Sometimes I forget to intentionally pray. Sometimes I just repeat words I know from memory, because it is all I can come up with. Does this actually do anything? I confess that I get frustrated when the things I pray [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God, you seem to be meddling in every single part of my life. First how I spend my time and talent. Then my relationships. Now it is my money.  And there is something about Jesus talking about my finances that really makes me uncomfortable. What does that say about me? I'm not sure I want to know. Perhaps I am the "rich young man who went away sorrowful, for he had [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER It is time for confession, God - sometimes people bug me. The ongoing give and take of life, negotiating the agendas of other folks, taking the time to listen to different opinions, turning the other cheek and forgiving and peacemaking and all that - it can get exhausting. God, can't you make all the people who disagree with me move away? Can't you make everyone else change? It is so hard to work together... in our world, in our country, in the workplace, in the family, even in the church. Sometimes I think I should [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God of love, Use me as you see fit. I want to be "useful to the master," (2 Timothy 2:21), to make a difference, to be your instrument that moves the world a little bit closer to the way it was created to be, the way it one day will be once again. I know that you have put your light in my heart, and no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand where it lights up the house. And I pray for my church, that St. Luke's [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER I love you, God. So thank you today for people to love, as I act out my love for you. Thank you today for people who love me. Thank you for a place to belong, a community where I am welcomed, pursued, valued. Thank you for showing up in our midst, the Holy Spirit binding us together. I confess, God, that sometimes I get confused about what matters. I find myself focusing on tasks to be done, milestones to be reached, instead of the people who join me in the work. Too often, I look [...]

Please come this Sunday, September 16, to our Fall Gathering: Catch the Vision event in the Fellowship Hall at 6:30 p.m. The Get Connected Fair will be held just before and after, beginning and 5:30 p.m. We will be looking together at St. Luke's dreams and goals for 2019, praying together about God's purpose for us and considering ways we can join in the work together. Please come! A PERSONAL PRAYER God, The alarm went off this morning and I was excited to get out of bed. I knew there was work to do. I felt an urgency, [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. Friends, It's Fall Kickoff Sunday at St. Luke's! (Cheers from the crowd.) I hope you plan to be here. I am beginning a new sermon series aimed at building your life and your family on a solid foundation - "Starting with Middle C." Over the next three weeks, we will be going to the basics. Convictions - in what do you believe with all your heart? Commitment - for what are you willing to [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER Gracious God, Sometimes, it seems like much more distant past than one year ago. Sometimes, it seems like it was just yesterday. Many of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing, a newsreel that we can play back in our minds. I wondered if Dee and I would be stuck in Los Angeles after a week with our daughter, and while everyone else was escaping Houston, we [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God of us all, I feel like there is fracturing all around me. We are pulling apart, separating into camps, •  unable to see any truth or goodness in people with whom we disagree, •  unwilling to give certain others the benefit of the doubt, •  quickly sizing up the color of the jersey of people we meet, •  speaking much but listening little, •  failing to see others as part [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER Gracious God, Today, I want to see the amazing gifts all around me. The letter of James reminds me that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." (1:17) I know what is the proper response to a gift - to appreciate it, to enjoy it, to experience it fully, and most of all to be grateful for it. This very day is that kind of gift, coming down for me from your gracious and generous nature. I pray for a heart and mind to receive [...]