Recent Posts
It’s Gonna Be Super! - Congregational Meeting, 2026
It’s gonna be an amazing Sunday for at least a couple of reasons: First, a bunch of us Americans will gather together to watch the New England Patriots play the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl LX (aka 60 for non Romans : ) While the Patriots will be trying become the first team with seven Super Bowl wins, I’m more excited for an entirely different reason – our annual Congregational Meeting!
This year’s meeting will contain some unprecedented good news
Prayer Time – To Remove or To Redeem?
Whenever I learn of a difficult new diagnosis, or encounter the pain of heavy loss, or unforeseen trouble or suffering, my first instinct is to ask God to make the tough circumstances go away. “God, please remove the cancer/suffering/pain…” I’m not apologizing for praying this way - Jesus indeed is the healer of our every ill - but I do recognize that my “God remove this” prayers are largely motivated by my impatient flesh that simply wants the tough stuff to go away.
Snow Day - Cold Day
Nature’s power will be on full display for much of this weekend across North America. While I prefer to witness God’s grandeur in the form of a horizon full of mountains or the powerful lolling of ocean waves, experiencing temperatures on my morning walk today of -8 Fahrenheit with a mind-and-body-numbing wind chill of -20 was AWESOME...
All Things New… or All New Things?
The way we celebrate the holidays can create some unfortunate, unintended consequences. As a kid, I thought of Christmas first-and-foremost as the season of… new things! New toys. New stuff. New clothes. God did a new thing in Jesus. The wisemen brought him presents. That’s what it’s all about, right?! God seems to be in the business of giving his people new things.
Whoops.
Year-End Reflections
Dear Friends,
God’s Spirit has been faithfully enlivening our congregation for more than 75 years! Through floods, fires, times of plenty and want – God has been so faithful to Elmhurst CRC. But, this last year has been unprecedented in terms of the outpouring of generosity as we, God’s people, have given our Hearts Ablaze pledges, tithes, and offerings to God through the church and ministries of Elmhurst CRC...
Feeling Sad at Christmas
t’s the hap-, happiest season of all…
I’ve had those words and their jaunty melody earworming in my mind over the last few weeks. It’s a little ironic, because of all the Christmases in my life, I’m not particularly feeling it this year. Is it OK for pastors to be a little sad sometimes, even at Christmas?! It happens.