Nov 29, 2023 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris It is hard to imagine the Christmas season without the soaring strains of George Frederick Handel’s “Messiah” ringing in my ears. Our church’s tradition is to include “The Hallelujah Chorus” in our Christmas Eve service — right after one of the...
Nov 22, 2023 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, News, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris “Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 8:11). I don’t know about you, but I am a chronic forgetter. I make lists, use special apps on my iPhone, fill my desk with multi-colored Post It notes, have people remind me of...
Nov 14, 2023 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris Last week, I suggested that our readings of scripture might reveal more about the preconceived ideas that we bring to the text than they do about the original intent of its authors. That suggestion elicited some interesting responses and...
Nov 7, 2023 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris When I became a Christian, I remember attending a “new members’ class” at my church. In it, they wanted to make sure that we understood what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. They taught us about the importance of “the two great spiritual...
Nov 1, 2023 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris What does it mean to be a disciple, or follower, of Jesus? I have been pondering this question for most of my career as a pastor. Father Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest and one of the great spiritual teachers of the past century. Recently, I...
Oct 25, 2023 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris I love music. I hear it all around me. One of my favorite things to do is to sit on our front porch on a breezy day and listen to the wind chimes. Our particular set is tuned to a pentatonic scale that mirrors the melody of one of my favorite...
