Posts by Mark Lautenschlager (Page 7)

Hey Church! We have so much to celebrate in worship this weekend! It is our third Sunday in Advent, we will light the Shepherds’ candle to remember how they were told of Jesus’ birth, Tom will preach on the third “Emmanuel Song” from Isaiah 11, we will…

Hey Church! Today’s reflection is on pain. It has been heavy on my mind as of late, so I hope something of my own experience on the subject will engender a timely word of encouragement to some of you who suffer. If this is not written for you, perhaps it is written for your ministry to a friend or neighbor.  We all experience pain in various forms and degrees. For…

Hey Church! This Sunday we will leave the season of Pentecost behind (be honest, who remembered that we were still in Pentecost?) and enter into the four-week season of Advent. The four Sundays preceding Christmas have traditionally been a time when Christians long for Christ’s coming (“advent” means “appearance; arrival; coming”)–both…

Hey Church! This weekend I want to encourage you to bring your authentic self to God in worship. It is all too easy for us to “play church” on Sundays in a way that doesn’t result in a genuine encounter with the Holy Spirit. We don’t do this on purpose, of course. At some point along the way, we believed the lie that church is a place that requires…

Hey Church! This weekend, as you prepare your hearts and minds for Sunday morning, I want to encourage you to set aside a pocket of time to meditate on the lyrics copied below. Watch the videos, learn the melodies (extra credit if you learn the harmonies), and read through the words we will be singing together in church. What scriptures come to mind as you listen and…