Words of Welcome

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 I want to tell you a story about Elisabeth. She grew up in a Christian family, the granddaughter and niece of pastors, but during her teenage years she wandered into a spiritual wilderness. Now, her story isn’t that exciting. She didn't get addicted to drugs, engage in criminal activity, or even get arrested for her political activities. In fact, outwardly, she was the epitome of success. No, she went to college, got a good job, and climbed the corporate ladder. And yet, her journey away from God began in a familiar way. She met a young man in high school, fell in love, and in short order her beau displaced God. As their relationship deepened, her faith and her church got pushed further and further away from her heart. Instead, she focused on sports activities, parties, and school, and then on a successful career in the business world. But then her world began to crumble. After building her life around this young man for thirteen years, even following him from t...

Proverbs 8:22-31 When you see the Grand Canyon, a Hawaiian sunset, or Crater Lake for the first time, I doubt that science questions will pop into your mind. You’ll probably say something like, "wow, isn’t that beautiful!" And then, after taking in the sights for a bit and likely taking a few pictures, you may finally stop to think about how these things of beauty came to be. The first reaction is aesthetic and even spiritual; the second is scientific. Science deals with the how and faith deals with the wow! Those two different reactions suggest that there’s more than one way to look at things. Neither one is right nor wrong, they’re just different. The scientific angle is extremely important, and it should be honored. But it doesn’t always tell the whole story. That’s where faith comes in. They’re not competitors, they’re complements. For centuries now people have been arguing about the relationship of religion and science. Some people believe they’re opposed to each other, ...