Christ Our Shepherd Lenten Devotion Series 2023 Possibilities: Breaking Outside Your Bubble March 6, 2023 Today’s Lenten devotional is written by Melissa Jacobson. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. How many times have you felt called to step outside your comfort zone, but the fear …
Christ Our Shepherd Lenten Devotion Series 2023 Possibilities: Forgiving Yourself and Others March 3, 2023 Today’s devotional comes to us from Ashleigh Spatz, one of our newer members. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 If …
Christ Our Shepherd Lenten Devotion Series 2023 Possibilities: Forgiving Yourself and Others 1 March 2023 Pastor Fritz Dear Faith Friend, “With God all things are possible!” This radical promise from Matthew 19.26 inspires our Lenten POSSIBILITIES series. God surely offers all kinds of wonderful possibilities through which our lives can improve today, and by which we offer more joy and support to those around …
Christ Our Shepherd Lenten Devotion Series 2023 Forgiving Yourself and Others February 27, 2023 Thank you to Linda Barbour for this Lenten devotional. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Matthew …
Possibilities 22 February 2023 Today, on Ash Wednesday, we mark ashes on each other’s foreheads. Ashes are full of possibilities. Ashes imply possibilities that old growth, for which we might be thankful, is making way for new experiences. Ashes accompanied by the declaration, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return” make it possible to be freed from …
Good News 15 February 2023 Evangelical = Good News. COS is part of the ELCA, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Today, perhaps most Americans think of evangelicals as judgmental Christians. But Lutherans back in 1988 chose “evangelical” as the very first term in our new church’s name. Why? Perhaps to ensure that all future ELCA Lutherans were constantly …
What Language? 8 February 2023 Pig Latin. Sign language. Morse code. So many fascinating languages exist. Out of the 7000 languages thought to be spoken around the globe, English is the most prolific with 1.13 billion folks using it, but most as a second or third language. Chinese, the language most humans use as their tongue from birth, has 13 …
Windshields and Rearview Mirrors 25 January 2023 I agree with the adage that healthy people spend more time looking forward through their windshields than looking back in their rearview mirrors. One of my favorite passages is when the Easter angel tells the women that Jesus is up ahead of them in Galilee. As people of faith, we are always moving …
Kitchen Table 18 January 2023 Dear Friend in Faith, One of my favorite COS trips was our Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Montgomery, Alabama, that we took years ago. Our group included high schoolers and seniors alike as we grew in our appreciation of this justice aspect of our baptismal journeys. Our tour guide was legendary Lutheran pastor, Bob Graetz, one …
Wrapping Up 11 January 2023 Wrapping Up. The UGA Bulldogs just wrapped up a perfect season Monday night with back-to-back championships! Go Dawgs! Many of you are wrapping up your Christmas season, finally putting away the ornaments until next year. At COS, as we eagerly follow Jesus into a new year, we pause to “wrap up” 2022 and count God’s …
