by Hans Jorgensen | Apr 1, 2021 | Devotions
In Mark 16 we hear that the women found the tomb empty, and left with trembling and fear. Can you hear how confusing this new life was to the women?What does Easter mean to you? Ask a friend or family member what they think. Listen slowly.What does it mean that women...
by Hans Jorgensen | Mar 26, 2021 | Devotions
In Mark 11, as Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, there is a raucous welcome. There is a time for joy at the humble way that Jesus promises God’s love!Palm Sunday invites us into Holy Week with a crowd that welcomes Jesus in fanfare and expectation. What are the...
by Hans Jorgensen | Mar 11, 2021 | Devotions
John 3:17 says, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through him.”There is a lot in that little verse of the gospel for this Sunday. Even though I can look at the world and feel judgmental, that is...
by Hans Jorgensen | Mar 4, 2021 | Devotions
In Exodus 20, God tells Moses, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”Before God shares the Ten Commandments to guide the people, it begins in a word of covenant and grace. God is the liberator, who brings out of slavery and oppression. Did...
by Hans Jorgensen | Feb 25, 2021 | Devotions
In Mark 8, Jesus said: “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”Dying and rising are at the heart of our Lenten journey. Yet this truth is...
by Hans Jorgensen | Feb 19, 2021 | Devotions
In Mark 1 as we begin the season of Lent, we hear: “Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.”So many important things in scripture happen around water. What “water” stories do you...
by Hans Jorgensen | Feb 11, 2021 | Devotions
In Mark 9, Jesus is transfigured on a mountain, and a voice says, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.”The Transfiguration story has so many delightful parts to it. For one thing, it connects to Jesus’ baptism, where he also heard a voice saying he was...
by Hans Jorgensen | Feb 5, 2021 | Devotions
In Mark 1:35, Jesus got up “while it was still very dark and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”Do you ever go out to a quiet or deserted place to pray? What is that like? We live in a time of many stimuli – sounds and machines that are humming around...
by Hans Jorgensen | Jan 29, 2021 | Devotions
In Mark 1, it says “Jesus taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”What does it mean for someone as “having authority?” Sometimes there is external authority – someone outside ourselves that we trust and listen to. In Lutheran churches,...
by Hans Jorgensen | Jan 22, 2021 | Devotions
In Jonah 3:1, it says, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time…”The first time Jonah heard God’s word, he went the other direction. Jonah didn’t want to do what God called him to do. Have you ever had times where you knew what was right, but you didn’t have...
