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Reflection: The navel of the universe  3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we…

Reflection: An unexpected souvenir  He humbled himself and became obedient unto death – even death on a cross.  Philippians 2:8  My most unexpected souvenir of our trip to the Holy Land is a small tattoo on my right wrist. As my shocked children would attest, I am probably one of the least likely candidates for…

A life of praise  “My mouth is filled with your praise declaring your splendor all day long.”  Psalm 71:8  Leon and I sat down and tried to come up with his favorite Bible verse and decided we would go with a verse that re-minds me of Leon, his life experience and his personality. Psalm 71…

Gravitating to God in times of need  Many people gravitate to God in times of need, and I am no exception. My dad, Frank O. Gebhardt II, died January 2013. I grew up in the church and have always considered myself a Christian, but at the time my dad died I was not regularly attending…

The Lord has planned a path for each of us  This is the day that the Lord has made; rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24  Expressing my thoughts through the written word is unusual for me. So I asked the Lord if this was something He was leading me to do, and this…

Walk humbly  Tucked away into the book by the minor prophet Micah is one of my favorite verses, and one that should command our study and compliance. “He hath shewed thee O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of three but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly…

Meeting Jesus at the communion table  Matthew 28:20b  Last January, on the NC Synod’s tour of the Holy Land, we went to the Mount of Beatitudes on the north western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is the site that has been acknow-ledged as the place where Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount.…

Reflection: You can see both suffering and resurrection in Bethlehem  “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”  John 11:25  Lent is a time of remembering Christ’s suffering and resurrection. You can see both suffering…

God rescued me from the pit  O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I…