Blog | St. Philip Lutheran Church and School

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2 days ago
7 min

When in Doubt, Shout! By Pastor Thomas Engel

Since it is has been mostly a steamy summer, we could meet down at Lake Michigan where it is a little cooler for worship. And while we ar...

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Andrea Bateman

Aug 4
7 min

"Blame Thrower" or "Credit Grabber" by Pastor Thomas Engel

With staying at home more these days, we have had the chance to catch up with our favorite television shows. The Emmy nominations came ou...

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Andrea Bateman

Jul 27
6 min

Made Right at the Right Time - By Pastor Thomas Engel

Hitting a baseball and doing well in life have something in common. It is all about timing. Back in my days in Little League, I was not a...

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Andrea Bateman

Jul 20
7 min

Hope in a Not-So-Easy World - By Pastor Thomas Engel

In sales, when it is difficult to persuade someone to buy something, they call it a “tough sell.” An example can be when a cable company ...

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Andrea Bateman

Jul 13
6 min

Trusting Your Life - By Pastor Thomas Engel

Playing games like Go Fish with a young child can get a little tricky. Children have fragile egos that need to be developed. It does not ...

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Andrea Bateman

Jul 6
7 min

Working on it - By Pastor Thomas Engel

Sports fans! Did you hear the news? Soon, we will be hearing the crack of a bat again, but I am disappointed that it is not in time for t...

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Andrea Bateman

Jun 29
7 min

At A Cost - By Pastor Thomas Engel

Like most kids, my nine-year-old great-niece wants a hamster. So, my niece, trying to teach a lesson about responsibility, gave the usual...

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Andrea Bateman

Jun 23
6 min

At God's Disposal - By Pastor Thomas Engel

How are you with predictions? Do you have strong gut feelings about how a situation is going to turn out? What is your level of intuition...

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Andrea Bateman

Jun 15
9 min

Back to Basics - By Pastor Thomas Engel

I have to say that I miss my “Cubbies” this summer. We are approaching mid-June, and I am seeing that my whole summer routine is off. Wit...

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Andrea Bateman

Jun 8
11 min

Got Regrets? - By Pastor Thomas Engel

Do you have a list of would’ve, could’ve, and should’ves? If you do have a list, how long is it? Are there some regrets that keep rolling...

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Andrea Bateman

Jun 2
8 min

Gifted - By Pastor Thomas Engel

As we have been staying home more lately, we have had time to brush up on our talents. Have you been juggling, singing, tap dancing, or f...

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Andrea Bateman

Apr 27
5 min

Something Unspectacular - By Pastor Thomas Engel

An empty tomb. Soldiers were ordered to seal the entrance, but the seal had been broken. Running to the tomb, Peter sees the heavy stone ...

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Andrea Bateman

Apr 20
8 min

That's Why It's Called Faith - By Pastor Thomas Engel

“April is the cruelest month” in T.S. Eliot’s 1921 poem, “The Waste Land,” because, as spring brought signs of new life and renewal, Euro...

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Andrea Bateman

Apr 13
6 min

A Festival without Festivities - By Pastor Thomas Engel

In seminary, when I was taking the class that taught how to put a sermon together, I remember the professor saying that if you talk about...

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Andrea Bateman

Apr 6
8 min

Worse before Better - By Pastor Thomas Engel

There’s a commercial for Hershey’s candy bars that tells a little story that I think we can all relate to. A teenage girl is sitting on t...

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Andrea Bateman

Mar 30
11 min

Resilience - By Pastor Thomas Engel

I would like to start with the ending of last Sunday’s message. The conclusion went something like this: “Since we are living by the grac...

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Andrea Bateman

Mar 23
6 min

Things are Always Changing - By Pastor Tom Engel

At the start of this week, I began with my usual morning routine of making a cup of coffee. But my morning cup of coffee was the only par...

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Andrea Bateman

Mar 10
6 min

Now, We Go! - By Pastor Thomas Engel

Looking at the call of Abram in Genesis 12: 1-12, we see small word combinations that set the stage for Abram’s journey to a new land whe...

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Andrea Bateman

Feb 18
7 min

So, So Many Choices - By Pastor Tom Engel

I was teaching the fourth and fifth-grade religion class, and the theme for the day was about choices and their consequences. To get the ...

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Andrea Bateman

Feb 10
6 min

Doing What's Hard - By Pastor Tom Engel

Even before the beginning of the first of the year, I was getting emails from Christian based companies that were promoting materials lik...

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