Dave Buerstetta on striving to do justice and love others while walking humbly with God
In the car together last night, my daughter implored me to stop playing Christmas music as she is "over it." It seems she is not alone. Here on the 28th of December, most of the world has moved on from Christmas. The radio stations dedicated to Christmas and holiday (and, let's be honest, odd "winter") …
Merry Christmas! The closest thing I have to a consistent tradition on this blog is this Christmas day offering.Each Christmas I post the Isaiah passage below (which is a reading for Christmas Eve worship every year); John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)," which I find the world's best and most challenging Christmas song; and …
I'm sure you, like me, are devastated by the news of the latest mass shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas. This time involving elementary school children. I'm sure you, like me, are sick and tired of political leaders offering "thoughts and prayers" but refusing to take any other action. Still, as people of faith, prayer …
I know many of you, many of us, need to be reminded of God’s love today. We need to be reminded of God’s love today because this pandemic has put us through so much — is putting us through so much. It is not over yet and we must continue to wear masks and keep …
An annual Christmas Day post is about the only tradition I've managed to maintain over the years on this here blog. I'm determined to make another tradition out of writing about Holy Saturday (the day between "Good Friday" and "Easter" on the Christian liturgical calendar). It is to me the most honest day of the …
Happy New Year! I must admit that Sunday feels like a lot longer ago than 5 days. (Or is it 6 days ago? Depends on how you count it I suppose.) And Christmas Day really feels like a lot more than a week ago, even though we are still in the midst of the (in)famous …
Merry Christmas! The closest thing I have to a tradition on this blog is this Christmas day offering. Each Christmas I post the Isaiah passage below (which is a reading for Christmas Eve worship every year); John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)," which I find the world's best and most challenging Christmas song; and …
Our sermon series, “Privilege and Promise: This is America” concluded a few weeks back with a powerful sermon from Pastor Danita and an insightful special guest on the Zoom chat following worship. By the end of that Zoom call, I felt encouraged and hopeful about the leader of the Woodridge Police Department, the culture that …
Sometimes the pieces fall into place. Look, I know there are plenty of reasons to be infuriated with a whole lot of Christian churches and people: White supremacy and nationalism; spreading QAnon nonsense; supporting Trump, to name three of the worst. But at Woodridge UMC we are doing our very best to be as open, …
We said from the beginning that our sermon series, “Privilege and Promise: This is America,” would make us all uncomfortable. We said from the beginning that this series would make us incensed and mournful. We said from the beginning that this series would challenge us but also, we hoped, teach us. We said from the …
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 