Office Hours: 8:30 am to 1:30 pm Wed.-Fri.
828 W. Main St., Grass Valley • (530) 273-9631
A Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
“She put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” – Mark 12:44 God loves the vulnerable: Widows, orphans, the poor – the Bible tells us again and again that they hold a special place in God’s heart. We, too, are to protect and help them. But today’s reading leads us deeper: […]
All Saints Day celebrates our dear departed ones. Today we honor their memory: At the altar this morning, we name them, shed our tears of sorrow, and ring a bell to remind us that their souls live eternally with God. They have “fought the good fight of faith,” living their lives in service to God and […]
Today we celebrate Reformation Sunday. Jesus often asks his followers to re-form themselves into his image – but reform at any level can be a tough thing to ask. In today’s gospel, a blind man named Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus for mercy and for healing. Jesus heals his physical malady – and immediately, Bartimaeus […]
Go ahead. Make God laugh. Two of Jesus’ closest friends, James and John, had big plans for themselves – and they wanted Jesus to give them the OK to move ahead with their big ideas. Now who does that sound like? Jesus saw, again and again, that even the people who knew him best usually […]
Give it all! What does it mean to take up the cross of Jesus and follow him? Didn’t Jesus die for us? How does following Jesus lead us to the cross? Jesus takes us to more questions: Who do we say Jesus is? And if we follow Jesus, then who are we? Who am I? In […]
Even Jesus needed a break. He seems out of character in today’s reading from Mark when he talks to the non-Jewish woman who asks for healing for her daughter. We read that Jesus was trying to get away from the crowds. Could he be tired? God’s own Son – worn out, burned out, needing a […]
Bread and wisdom… These themes repeat in our Bible readings this week. Even Jesus’ closest followers had trouble understanding Jesus’ message when he compared himself to bread – Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Life. We pray that God give us also the wisdom to understand! We pray that the Holy Spirit enter into us, […]
Feel like something’s missing? Jesus promises that, when you walk his Path, you’ll never be hungry again. What’s really amazing? The more you let Jesus feed you, the more you find that this world’s bread – the material things we think we’re hungry for – isn’t what fills you up. Eat with us here at […]
“Welcome, Pastor Eileen!” Are you hungry? Food – physical and spiritual – comes to us from God’s abundant and lavish hands. Today’s Gospel reading likens Jesus, God’s Anointed One, to the manna that God miraculously sent to the nomadic Israelites each morning during the 40 years they wandered in the wilderness. Come to worship, where […]
“Be filled with the fullness of God.” Leftovers always taste better, right? The flavors have gone through the food, and we look forward to getting some more of that good stuff. Leftovers also are a sign of abundance – we had our fill, and still, there’s more. What a miracle! Today’s Bible lessons talk a […]