Archive for the ‘Pastors Corner’ Category

Considering Our Church Name

Most people can say what their names mean and why their parents gave it to them. A name says something about a person, place, or thing. In a name we can trace origins and history, get a glimpse of what the one who did the naming thought about the future of the one who was Read more…

In Full Bloom and It’s About Time!

  It’s about time….for growing. Spring has busted out all over. It’s warm. We knew that Spring had to come….eventually. Now that it is here, God’s marvelous creation is in display, full bloom. There are seasons in the church year as well, variations in what we emphasize and experience. Lent was a time of solemnity Read more…

SONGS OF HOLY WEEK

This year Holy Week is the last week in March. This is the holiest week of the Christian year due to the Triduum, a Latin term referring to the “Threedays” of Holy Thursday (also called “Maundy Thursday”), Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. A renewed emphasis has been placed on the Triduum in recent years, along Read more…

Drinking Deeply from the Psalms

Lent is Upon Us Every year at this time the church enters the season of Lent. Lent is the six weeks before Easter, its name refers to the lengthening of days during the spring. Lent brings many traditions with it, such as individuals giving up something and/or fasting. The intention behind Lenten practices is to Read more…

Auld Lang Syne and New Things

The classic song we sing each New Year’s Eve is from the Scottish Poet Robert Burns. Auld Lang Syne translated directly means “Old Long Since”, but we might better understand the phrase as “times gone by”.  The poem asks “should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?” Should we forget our past friends and times gone by? By Read more…

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

We often lament the lack of positive stories in the media. The news commonly vacillates between the poles of depressing and trivial: international strife, economic tensions, and celebrity marriage woes. This steady drone purrs in the background of our lives while we go to work, pay bills, and care for our loved ones.

Thanksgiving and All That Jazz

Anyone who has stopped by the church on a given Tuesday evening has been treated to beautiful sounds of music emanating from our sanctuary: lively horns blending with saxophones and drums.  Not long after its founding in 2005, the Peachtree Band of Jazz has been rehearsing at Amazing Grace. To show their appreciation for the Read more…

Are You Rich or Poor?

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Like most all people, I have moments of thinking what I could do if only I had more money. Things such as taking a trip, making Read more…

Theme and Variations in The Book of Acts

When watching a really good Jazz ensemble, my favorite part is at the end when often times each member of the combo takes turns playing lead. The melody has been established and explored, at the end each member takes a turn playing: the saxophone, the guitarist, the piano, the bass and the drums. Having established Read more…

Some Thoughts about Sanctuary Seating

Once when worshipping at a church in Germany my wife and I were distracted by how uncomfortable the pews were. In talking to our guide afterword, she told us the century the church first installed the pews, and that the congregation continues to be grateful they don’t have to stand for worship like they used Read more…