March 22nd Sunday Morning Worship!

Church is still open! Face-to-face worship is suspended, but we are still in the business of worship, discipleship, witness, and service. We pray that this video will build your faith in the amazing grace of Jesus Christ and encourage you to be a presence of peace in a panicked world.

Pastor Paige preaches on John 9:1-41, and our director of music, Gail Kelso, plays the piano to uplift your spirit.

We hope this blesses you, and we encourage you to share this post with family and friends. Jesus is the light of the world, and he can open our eyes to hope and possibility even in days such as these!

Bible Stories and Activities for Families

Reading together is a great way to spend time while homebound. Bible stories offer a lot of variety along with the promise of God’s love, which is reassuring for children in anxious times. The Spark Story Bible has a question or activity at the end of each story that would be great for families to discuss together. You could read a story every day and see how far you get before our days return to normal.

For older children, the paperback Spark Bible (regular Bible) has stickers in the back and reflection questions throughout all the books of the Bible. The first few pages of the Bible explain ways to use the stickers and other tools on each page. For a family read-along in a “regular” Bible, I recommend starting with a chapter or shorter section a day from the gospels of Mark, Matthew, or Luke. That way, you’ll cover a lot of stories and read the whole story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

For any story that you read together from any Bible you have at home, here are some good questions for conversation. You can adapt these questions for the ages of your children and youth. These are also good for individual reflection or for writing in a journal. Younger children could draw their responses. 

What word or phrase stands out to you?

What stories or memories does this passage remind you of?

What confuses or challenges you in this passage?

What delights you or fills you with comfort or hope in this passage?

What is God up to in this passage?

How does this passage apply to your life today?

You can always act out a Bible story, too! Any dress up clothes or props you have on hand could work well for that! For reading the Bible online, https://www.biblegateway.com is a good resource. The translation we use in worship at Reformation is the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Let me know what Bible stories you discover!—Pastor Paige

Psalm 46 for a Season of Social Distance

Psalm 46, the inspiration for Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” is very relevant to these days of COVID-19. We hope this is an encouragement to you!

Keeping Spiritually Connected While Socially Distanced

These are not normal times! As you probably know, in order to care for the well-being of our wider community, especially the most vulnerable, we have suspended all public worship services and meetings, at least until after Palm Sunday.

But the Church of Jesus Christ is still open! We still have a mission to follow Jesus and embody his love to our world. We (Pastor Eric and Pastor Paige) want to give you resources to keep growing in faith, to be encouraged, and to be able to share the peace and strength of Jesus with others.

These days do not have to be defined by everything we can’t do and everything we are afraid of. They can be times to intentionally slow down and focus on the things that matter most: our relationship with Jesus, our spiritual health, and our relationships with other people. This blog, “Socially Distanced, Spiritually Connected,” will be the place where we gather resources for your spiritual health. Video reflections, recordings of sermons and prayers for Sunday morning worship at home, and tools for you to use in daily disciplines and special activities will show up here. We encourage you to check back here regularly.

Reformation family, know that your pastors are praying for you, and you can still reach us by email or phone (at the church or at home). This is indeed a troubling time, but we believe God can use it as a time when his Holy Spirit brings about great growth in our faith, hope, love, witness, and mission. Be not afraid!