Glimpses of Grace
Pastors are often collectors of stories of God's love made real in the world. These stories can come from what they observe in the life of the church, from what people share, and from their own reflections. Join Pastor Katie from St. John Lutheran Church in Mars, PA as she reflects on the stories she collects in her ministry and how God's love is made real in these everyday stories. Pastor Katie is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Episodes
It's not just worship that offers an opportunity for people of all ages to participate together. Even congregational meetings, where the children technically don't count for votes or quorums, can be a place for children to participate in the work and activity of the church.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
Sometimes it takes a young child who listens very literally to the invitation to "pray with me" to make us pause and remember what it means to pray together in worship.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
When we read scripture in worship, we are all participating in that reading, whether we are the ones reading aloud, we are sitting in our seats listening, or we are reading along silently from the bulletin.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
St. John has an old-fashioned church bell with a big rope attached to it for ringing the bell. This piece of tradition not only ties us to the past, but offers a place to reflect on the joy of all ages worshiping together and God's Word born among us as one of us in the person Jesus.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
After focusing my energy on the Facets of Faith podcast (check out stjohnchurchmars.org/blog for episodes exploring scripture, recordings of sermons, and a 101 series on worship), it's time to come back and reflect on the glimpses of grace I see at St. John. For a while, at least, this podcast will focus on the gifts of all ages together ministry and the ways that this approach to church offers us glimpses of the re...
Sights in the garden in the early days of spring invite reflection on our baptismal promises and the ways God is always making new life in and through us.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
During Lent, St. John is taking a more creative approach to telling and hearing the gospel stories. In this reflection, Pastor Katie explores the way that this way of storytelling reminds us of the life in the stories of scripture that is still speaking to us today.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
Memorization for the sake of memorization might be challenging, but prayers that are memorized and integrated into our faith can provide touchpoints and grounding in our faith in moments of crisis, failed words, and fading memory. Pastor Katie reflects on the gift of having the Lord's Prayer memorized and readily accessible for her and for those for whom she cares.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at s...
If everything we need for worship is in the bulletin, why do we still have the hymnals in the pews? Do people even know what hymnals are anymore? Kids' curiosity apparently can answer both of those questions! Hymnals invite us to explore and to see what there is to see in the words of our faith traditions, and kids are looking with the curiosity that they bring to much of life.
Reels might not be where you first think to go for scriptural inspiration, but a reel shared by a confirmation student invites Pastor Katie to reflect on the imaginative conversation we can have with scripture as we engage with God's Word, God's work, and God's will in our daily lives.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
It has been a year since our last episode. God's grace has been abundant, but telling the stories fell by the wayside. Pastor Katie is eager to get back to sharing stories of Glimpses of God's Grace, beginning with reflecting on how caring for our neighbors in a snow storm is part of our call to love our neighbors, loving them because God first loved us.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurch...
How do you decorate your home? How do your decorations speak to who you are? Pastor Katie reflects on how the stained glass in the church speaks to who we are as God's beloved children and what God is doing in and through us.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
In a leadership meeting, we talked about how we have cake after worship a lot... but it's not about the cake. It's about what happens through the cake. It's about God's grace showing up in a community striving to be a CAKE congregation.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
A little quarter tossed into the prayer basket has become a source of inspiration and a reminder to rely on God's good gift of hope - the hope that is strong and tough, the hope that empowers us to be who God has created us to be, even in the face of the struggles of life.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
How a little girl twirling in the aisle reminds us of the joy we have in God's abundant grace and forgiveness.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
Sometimes it's nice to just let the worship service carry you. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and let God lead the worship, whether you're a tired pastor, a distracted worshiper, or even an antsy teenager.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
We know Siri and Alexa are always listening... do we trust that God is also always listening?
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
A student in a class at church asked a surprising question, reminding all of us the value questions have in our own faith journeys. Whether we are just beginning to explore our faith or we grew up in the question, we can ask the questions.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
God speaks to us through everyday moments and everyday objects. In one children's sermon, the children invited Pastor Katie to teach them about what it means to follow Jesus using their language and the images that were important to them.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit interrupts our scripted moments with moments of joy and celebration at God's Good News. Two baptisms at St. John offered two of these moments.
Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.
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