I am going to try to not spoil anything here... Last week I was in Michigan on a family trip. It was a great time. My kids got time with their grandpa who was kind and affectionate and generous, they got time in the cool Michigan air, the cold lake water, the warm sand. But you know that feeling of "being on vacation" and then "needing a vacation from…

I have been considering the celebration of the 50 days of Easter, and upon further reflection, I’ve thought to myself, “Hasn’t Easter already happened? What is the next big holiday for me to look forward to?”  It is easy for me to be focused on the future, to the point that it takes me away from the present.  And that is why I love Holy Week and Eastertide; it…

I was re-listening to the sermon I offered a few weeks ago and wanted to make a quick clarification.  I spoke about how when we choose drunkenness, we start to slip away from our identity as Children of the Light.  To offer a correction, I'm not so sure that we can ever slip away from our identities that Jesus offers us.  Romans 8:31-39 speaks to this: "What, then, shall…

When I first came to The Village, I felt a bit awkward around “the service.”  I didn’t recognize the music, and was unfamiliar with the rhythms.  I was a bit out of place.  But I had been invited to the church to listen to Layne play in the band, so I felt a pull to stay and engage with what was happening around me.  I could tell that the…

Rod, Thank you for mentioning the reality of loss in our community amongst our day of celebration and rejoice.  I am so grateful for your tact and gentleness to address the passing of Miriam's husband, Dennis' stepfather, Dave Hyatt.  Thank you for reminding us of Jesus' call to us, to hold both grief and gratitude simultaneously, so that we can feel met in our sorrows and our joys by…