Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Religion


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 25 of 452

  • Sermonette: Hosanna in the highest

    Pastor Amy Kippen|Mar 18, 2024

    As we approach the beginning of Holy Week, our hearts are filled with anticipation and reverence for the profound journey that lies ahead. Palm Sunday marks the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, a moment of celebration and jubilation for the people gathered there. Yet, woven within the palm branches and shouts of "Hosanna!" lies a deeper significance – a reminder of the paradoxical nature of Jesus' mission and our own call to remain humble in the midst of our complicated world. As we wave our palm branches and join in the chorus of...

  • Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

    Kathy O'Connor|Mar 18, 2024

    This is a continuation of Block 3 of St. John's Cemetery. This part includes three more of the 12 unmarked graves in Block 3 – John Monahan, Alice DeGree and Crescentia Weimals. John Monahan: John Monahan was born in September of 1853 in Ireland. The 1900 census states that he immigrated in 1883 and was living in Superior Township, Eddy County, N.D. and owned their own farmhouse. Living with him was his wife Catherine and six children; Rose, Susie and Lizzie, all born in Ireland, Kathryn, born in Ohio, and Edward and Mary born in North...

  • Sermonette: Should we get what we deserve?

    Pastor Amy Kippen|Mar 11, 2024

    Grumbling seems to be a part of our human nature. We see it way back in the Old Testament, when the Israelites grumbled, telling Moses they would have been better off if they had stayed slaves in Egypt. In chapter 20 of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard workers and there is lots of grumbling there too! They grumble because they are convinced that they are not getting what they deserve. Their gripe is made clear in verse 10, where we read, “They thought they would receive more.” Clint Eastwood was in a movie back...

  • Sermonette: We believe. So what?

    Pastor Amy Kippen|Mar 4, 2024

    Several years back. I was leading a youth summer trip to Montana. After riding all day on our charter bus, we finally reached our destination. As we were unloading all our stuff from the bus into the church building, I passed by the front doors several times. On each there was a decal with a cross that said, “We Believe.” That’s nice, I thought. But as I passed it again and again, something happened. I have no idea why on this particular day, when I had certainly seen and said the words “we believe” thousands of times in my life, my...

  • Living on Purpose: It's time to do some spring cleaning

    Billy Holland|Feb 26, 2024

    Do you believe there is such a thing as good and evil, God and Satan? When something good happens do you thank God because you believe He blessed you? What about when something bad happens? In Jeremiah 29:11 the God of the Bible says, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Looking at this carefully, we notice that our life was mapped out before we were born, and our creator had every intention...

  • Living on Purpose: When emotions attempt to control us

    Billy Holland|Feb 19, 2024

    How often do you hear it's not what happens to us, but how we respond? We know we will face trials in this life, so it only makes sense to prepare how we are going to react when they arrive. The way we perceive develops our thoughts and views, but what if our thoughts are wrong? The most important factor to prevent our emotions from controlling us is to realize we decide what we think about. When we bow down to our feelings they become our master. The Bible demands for our mind to be renewed...

  • Sermonette: Run the race

    Pastor Joe Greiner|Feb 19, 2024

    Currently in Sunday school at my church, we are working through the Book of Acts. This week, we arrived at Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders in chapter 20. In verse 24, Paul states that his entire difficult life will be worth it if only he can finish the race. This struck me because I am a runner. I did a quick word search and found that Paul talks about his run and/or race nine separate times across eight different letters! This was surprising to me that Paul uses the reference so many different places. Obviously, the ‘running the...

  • Living on Purpose: Grace that is greater than all our sin

    Billy Holland|Feb 12, 2024

    Since you were conceived God has wanted your attention. He has never neglected or ignored you. If you were to write down all the blessings and victories He has given over the years, they would prove He has been guiding and helping you all along. How could any of us even consider we were created by chance? The truth is that God specifically called you and has many wonderful things planned for your future. You are His masterpiece. I’ve noticed in my life, that even though I know these things...

  • Sermonette: God even uses the love pentagon

    Pastor Joe Greiner|Jan 29, 2024

    “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” That is how God is often referred to. He is the God that Jewish forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob called upon. The God who promised Abraham he’d be a great nation – despite Abraham only having one son of the promise. The God who promised Isaac he’d be a great nation – despite again, only one son of the promise. It’s Jacob where God finally begins to make a nation with Abraham’s family through the 12 sons of Jacob. But have you ever read the chapter when the first 11 sons are born? It’s...

  • Sermonette: 1 Timothy 4

    Pastor Joe Greiner|Jan 22, 2024

    When I was younger, I used to be blown away by the complexity of the Bible. This is a book that covers thousands of years of history, contains hundreds if not thousands of prominent characters, and explains the roots of two of the world’s largest religions. It is also written in three different languages and many different writing styles. Everything from the stories of Genesis, the commands of Leviticus, the prophecies of Ezekiel, the poetry of Psalms, the short sayings of Proverbs and the letters of Paul. Then, three years ago, I became a...

  • Living on Purpose: Loving God is far beyond religious knowledge

    Billy Holland|Jan 22, 2024

    Our regular readers know this column is about the Christian life, but you certainly do not need to be a Christian or even a religious person to at least consider the content as thought-provoking. Everyone has their own philosophies and interpretations about spiritual topics, and this is understandable since we all have a choice to believe whatever we want. Only God knows everything and He is perfect in all His ways. I will add that no theologian or Bible scholar is correct about every doctrine...

  • Sermonette: God doesn't owe us an explanation

    Pastor Joe Greiner|Jan 15, 2024

    Read the Book of Job. Seriously, if you haven’t read that book of the Bible yet, go read it. Leave my sermonette, read the book and come back. I won’t promise it’s easy or short, but I will promise that it’s got some great truths in it. You won’t regret it. The main character of the book of Job is, unsurprisingly, Job! Job is a good man, and not “humangood” – Job is regarded as righteous in God’s eyes. However, one day he loses everything. All his animals, all his servants, all his children and even his health. One day he has...

  • Living on Purpose: Calculating the cost of being close to God

    Billy Holland|Jan 15, 2024

    We talked about taking a stand for Christ last week, but being a Christian is also a walk which in the light of scripture refers to conduct. Ephesians the second chapter mentions how we once walked with the world fulfilling the lust of our flesh, and Romans the sixth chapter talks about how once we are transformed by His saving power we now walk in a new spiritually transformed identity. While these passages help explain our salvation experience, what about how we are to walk after we are saved?...

  • Sermonette: Corn

    Pastor Joe Greiner|Jan 8, 2024

    So, here’s a hypothetical situation for you. Imagine the researchers at NDSU came up with a new type of corn seed. We’ll call it corn seed X. Now, what makes corn seed X so incredible is that it can survive the frigid North Dakota winters. Not only survive, but be able to produce. Instead of planting in the spring, and getting a harvest in the fall; one can plant corn seed X in the spring, get an average harvest in the fall, and then it will also produce all the way through the next year. And all the years that follow. Plant once, and then...

  • Sermonette: Jesus prays

    Pastor Joe Greiner|Jan 1, 2024

    Recently, I was studying Jesus’ use of prayer and I came across a very intriguing verse that I’ve probably read a million times, but never noticed before: Luke 6:12. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” (NIV) Now what makes this verse significant to me is the context. Luke is perfectly clear that the very morning after Jesus’ marathon prayer he selected his 12 disciples. Prior to this, there was probably a small crowd following Jesus around, but afterward there was “the...

  • Living on Purpose: Every day is a new opportunity to begin again

    Billy Holland|Jan 1, 2024

    I hope everyone is having blessed holidays with family and friends. Spending time with those you love is much more meaningful than all the customs and traditions. The same is true with our spiritual lives, as it comes down to our personal relationship with God and the peace and joy we have living in His presence. I’ve spoken with several people over the last few weeks who have no family and spend holidays alone. However, they rejoice in the hope that comes from knowing God and trusting Him in...

  • Sermonette: Dec. 25, 2023

    Pr. Jeff Halvorson|Dec 25, 2023

    Greetings Brothers and Sisters In Christ. We continue with our Advent story this week. Last week we discussed the four outer candles on our Advent wreath. This week we focus on the center candle, the Jesus candle. The four outer candles, Hope, Peace, Joy and Love are fine all by themselves, each representing great and beautiful attributes. But in the center, the Jesus candle puts them all together. In our Christian lives, none of the other four candles matter if we don’t have Jesus at our center. Jesus is the “Reason for the Season.” As...

  • Living on Purpose: Rebellion hides behind the mask of pretending

    Billy Holland|Dec 18, 2023

    Last week we talked about how common it is for many Christians to talk about how they love, worship and serve God, but could some of this be their imagination? Maybe a misunderstanding or could it be a deception? There are sobering Bible passages that talk about our works on earth and our heavenly rewards such as Matthew 7:21-23. “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then...

  • Sermonette: Dec. 18, 2023

    Pastor Jeff Halvorson|Dec 18, 2023

    Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We continue with our Advent story this week. Let’s take a closer look at the Advent wreath. As I mentioned last week, our wreath has five candles; four on the outside and one in the middle. The outer candles are either purple or blue and many churches have three of those and a fourth one that is pink. There is a center candle that is white and is called the Jesus candle. The four outer ones are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. The Hope candle is not the word hope we use in everyday conversation. I hope I...

  • Sermonette: Dec. 11, 2023

    Pastor Jeff Halvorson|Dec 11, 2023

    With two exceptions, my weekly sermons are based on scripture. The exceptions are Advent and Lent. The ways in which we celebrate these two holiday seasons are based on tradition. Advent is the beginning of our church calendar year. We use this season to prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Lent is the time leading up to Holy Week, when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday. You will not find mention of these two seasons in scripture. However, both of these events hold an important part in our church...

  • Living on Purpose: Does the sin we commit in secret only hurt us?

    Billy Holland|Dec 11, 2023

    The sin of Achan found in Joshua 6:17-19 is a powerful example of how one person committing evil in private can negatively affect their family, church congregation or place of employment. “Now brother, what people do is their own business and it has nothing to do with me. If people want to cheat others, or lie, curse and steal, or watch porn, what’s that to me?” I can tell you what God’s word says about it. Being dedicated to others through the bond of our word, and especially if we are...

  • Sermonette: The Annunciation

    Pastor Amy Kippen|Dec 4, 2023

    Today, I want to delve into the wondrous and awe-inspiring event known as the Annunciation – a moment that forever changed the course of history and brought forth the Savior of the world. The Annunciation is a powerful testament to the mysterious and beautiful ways in which God works in our lives. In the Gospel of Luke, we find the account of the angel Gabriel appearing to the young virgin named Mary, announcing that she would conceive and bear the Son of God. The angel's words, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God."...

  • Living on Purpose: Loving God is knowing His will and doing it

    Billy Holland|Dec 4, 2023

    Most of us have heard the 1969 song, “More Today than Yesterday” by the band Spiral Staircase. The chorus says, “I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow.” I had not heard it for a while, but I’m sensitive to music and often a song will trigger my emotions and then I start asking the Lord about what is the hidden message within the music. It’s a catchy tune that has a happy bounce to it, much like what someone feels when they are in love. However, despite thi...

  • Sermonette: Community

    Amy Kippen|Nov 27, 2023

    Beloved Community of God, Pastor Amy writing to you today about community! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means for all of us to be a community together, and also reflecting on how much this community has truly become my home over these last years. In 1 Peter 4:8–11, Peter explores the profound significance and transformative power of community in our Christian journey. 1 Peter 4:8: "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." In this verse, Peter implores us to place love at the...

  • Living on Purpose: Giving thanks with an attitude of gratitude

    Billy Holland|Nov 27, 2023

    We just celebrated Veterans Day and we are so thankful for being able to live in a country where we are not being held under the terror of a dictator. Our son is a Marine and we have always been very proud of him. He was injured in the service and has suffered every day since, but he keeps pressing forward and does the best he can. My family has personally suffered loss from war and has a deep appreciation for the sacrifice these men and women have made to protect our country. My uncle, Kenny...

Page Down

Rendered 03/18/2024 20:38