St. Peter's Lutheran Church

Author: Rev. Craig Ross

  • One Saint

    One Saint

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    Since my age regularly reminds me that I have far more miles on my odometer in the past, than I have left in the future … yes, because I am “seasoned” … there are certain times of the year that I look to the days of old, more than I do to the future.  All…

  • Covid Discipleship

    Covid Discipleship

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    I spend the morning mostly alone in my office at church, where I type, read a commentary in preparation for the Sunday sermon, answer emails, and participate in a mercifully short Zoom meeting.  The time passes quickly.  I have a couple of cups of coffee which springs me from the solitary confinement of my office,…

  • Second Grade Teachers

    Second Grade Teachers

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    I’m standing behind my grandson, watching his iPad screen over his shoulder.  The picture that heads today’s devotion is not what I saw … but put the kiddos in a Zoom screen and it could have been.  I was watching his 2nd grade math class as he Zoomed in from our home.  His mom’s friend…

  • The Eyes of St. Francis

    The Eyes of St. Francis

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.   –Francis of Assisi (circa 1182-1226) Compassion and pity are not the soup of the day in the social buffet that is life in America these…

  • Right Before My Eyes

    Right Before My Eyes

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God. Job 19:25-26 I’m making a communion visit yesterday with one of our church members under hospice care.  She has led a…

  • Faithful Tardigrades

    Faithful Tardigrades

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ~~ Romans 8:24, NRSV Are you a Cosmos fan?  Will you watch the new “Possible Worlds” premier (Season 3 of the Cosmos franchise) on Fox tonight?  (Maybe you already caught it on the Nat. Geo. Channel where it has aired…

  • Different But the Same

    Different But the Same

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    Our thanks go out to Adam Lefever Hughes for offering this weeks’ devotion. Justin the Martyr, a 2nd-century convert to Christianity wrote some of the earliest accounts we have of how early Christians conducted their worship. He writes: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together…

  • Labor

    Labor

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. —1 Corinthians 15.58 We find ourselves less than a week away from Labor Day, the federal holiday that is just over 135 years old … created to celebrate…

  • Hope in the Face of Death

    Hope in the Face of Death

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    I know we often lose, and that the death or destruction of another is infinitely more real and unbearable than one’s own.  I think I know how many times one has to start again, and how often one feels that one cannot start again.  And yet, on pain of death, one can never remain where…

  • Seed Sowing

    Seed Sowing

    —

    by

    Rev. Craig Ross
    in ,

    Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ~~Matthew 13:8 One of the blessings of being a pastor in a healthy and vibrant church community, is that I occasionally get the chance to “overhear” stories about people doing modest things that have a…