In the service this week, we announced the upcoming “Growing Older Well Retreat” coming up in September, and encouraged every FCCer over the age of 50 to sign up and take part.  In fact, I encourage anyone reading this to consider joining us for a refreshing time of personal reflection and healthy interaction about staying evergreen, even as life’s seasons carry on…

Let me begin with a heartfelt “Thank you!” for the nice vacation that we were able to spend as a family together over the past couple of weeks.  It was great to be able to come back and reconnect with the larger FCC family this weekend, but it was a refreshing and joyful blessing to be able to spend those two weeks with my wife and children…

Gweneth was charged to bring us the Worship through the Word, titled: God’s Second Wonderful Gift to Us. We pondered God’s heaping pile of gifts to us. The gift we focused on today, the Sabbath, can be thought of as unnatural and radical…

I’m getting this Sunday Morning Update out early this week, since Wendy and the kids and I will be taking our vacation starting on Monday.  Poor Wendy is starting her vacation with a nasty cold/flu and fever, so she didn’t join us this week for our worship service…

Before I forget, let me thank all of you who have been praying for our Vacation Bible School for the past few weeks and months…

I’m trying to get this Sunday Morning Update out early this week so that everyone can be praying for this year’s Vacation Bible School, running from Monday the 16th through Friday the 20th…

Well, I hope that you got to celebrate your freedom as an American this week by watching stuff blow up.  If not, I’m sure that life will go on.  But we had a nice (albeit very warm) evening with a couple of FCC families, sitting on comfy chairs and watching the East Peoria fireworks display together…

You’re probably receiving this a day later than you normally would in your week, since Americans were celebrating this week -- so, let me just say Happy Independence Day!

As of this month, we’ve been at First Covenant for 15 years!  That may not seem like a long time in geological terms, but I’ve been serving here for a longer stretch than any other pastor in the church’s 136-year history…

Hello!  It’s nice to be back home, but I have to say that Wendy and I truly enjoyed our 25th Anniversary trip.  A rainy Canada says “Hello!” to all of you as well (and yes, we liked it that way -- it was a solid 30 degree cooler there than it was here in Central Illinois last week).  But before I forget, Happy Father’s Day!

So today was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster of a day!

What do Bill Wenzel, Mark Hidebrand, Jonathan Yoder, Phil Ladd, Bill Braden, Cliff Johnson, Mick Baugher, and so many others have in common?  Well, they all have the misfortune of having known me for years, but they’ve also all signed up, put on a uniform, and put themselves at physical risk to serve our country in the armed forces…

What an eventful Pentecost Sunday!