This Christmas morning, I want you to use your imaginations. First, imagine that you know absolutely nothing about God. Second, imagine you’re driving around Appleton. As you drive, you pass a church, whose sign invites you, “Meet God here today!” Your curiosity piqued, you turn into the parking lot and walk inside. As an usher…
Download Life Guide Your teenage son isn’t home yet– 30 minutes late for curfew. What assumptions pop into your head? “He was in a terrible car accident! He’s dead in a ditch somewhere! He’s been kidnapped!” But…5 minutes later, he walks through the door totally fine, just a forgetful teenager. A young woman’s boyfriend hasn’t texted her back in over an hour.…
Download Life Guide Is there a more annoying customer service phrase than, “Your repairman will arrive sometime between the hours of 8am and 4pm”? Whether it’s the plumber coming to fix your sink, the cable guy coming to install your cable, or the dishwasher repairman coming to unshackle you from the nightmare of handwashing your dishes, a vague, unknown arrival time is…
Download Life Guide Last year, the Pew Research Group conducted a two question poll: “Do you believe in Heaven?” and “Do you believe in Hell?” 72% said they believed in Heaven, but only 58% of those same people believed in hell. Why the 14% discrepancy? People want their life to go well, so it’s not surprising that people tailor their beliefs so…
Download Life Guide Today, we’ll be taking a Catechism pop quiz. Maybe some of you had an anxious flashback from adolescence. But don’t worry, this quiz won’t be graded. It will be important for your faith, though. I’ll give you some examples, and you tell me if they broke the First Commandment. If you don’t remember, God’s First Commandment for us is,…
Download Life Guide “How much will this cost me?” As cost-conscious consumers, you probably ask, or at least think that question often. Whether it’s waiting for car repairs, wheeling an overflowing cart to the Festival checkout line, or hearing your daughter say, “I need a new dress for homecoming,” we’re almost constantly asking, “How much will this cost me?” But knowing the…
As a history nerd, I’ve always found the American Civil War fascinating. For me, one of the most intriguing aspects is the many personal relationships between the Union and Confederate armies. There are many stories of father-in-law fighting against son-in-law. Men who stood in each other’s weddings, standing as enemies on the battlefield. Former classmates or colleagues turned foes. Even brother against…
Have you ever heard of Sisyphus? Sisyphus is a character from Greek mythology, a king whose calling card was deceitful craftiness. He was so crafty, that he even managed to pull one over on the gods a couple times. Now, the Greek gods weren’t amused when humans made them look bad, so they punished Sisyphus, making him push a huge boulder up…
Download Life Guide Have you ever hugged a stranger? I’m not talking about someone you kinda know through a friend, or a co- worker you don’t really talk to. I’m talking a “never seen them in my life” stranger. Maybe you haven’t, but it does happen! Pretty often at sporting events actually. If you go to Lambeau for a Packers game this…
Download Life Guide To prepare for this sermon, I Googled “What’s the most important thing you can do for children?” I got around 1.6 billion results! I didn’t have quite enough time to read through all of them, but there were a lot of different opinions. “Eating together as a family.” “Spending quality time together.” “Teaching them to value themselves.” “Lots of…
