Sermon Archive
Baptism Has Consequences
Text: Luke 3:1-22 I haven’t been at Evergreen for a baptism. I’m looking forward to the day when that’s something that I get to participate in with you. So I don’t know how you’ve celebrated that or what kind of weight gets put on the practice of baptism in...
Tween-age Turning Point
Text: Luke 2:41-52 Sometimes when I do yoga, my yoga teacher will say “Okay, same, same but different,” when we’re about to do a similar cycle of poses but with some variations or movement changes. I thought of that when I was reflecting on the story of the boy...
Notice, Wonder, Connect: Anna and Simeon in the Temple
Text: Luke 2:25-40 Amy reflects on the teen parents Mary and Joseph encountering their elders in the temple. Like them, we too benefit from living in community across generations, sharing faith and seeing God's potential in each other. --
Sing for Joy and Liberation!
Texts: Isaiah 61:1-11, Luke 1:46-55 It is the third Sunday of Advent! We’ve lit the pink candle, which is pink in recognition of Gaudete Sunday, a celebration of the joy that Christmas is imminent. Gaudete meaning “joy.” And before I go on, I’m going to turn it back...
Even Now, Turn Toward Peace
Text: Joel 2:12-13, 21-29 Today is the second Sunday of Advent. In the liturgical calendar, it’s often the Sunday that centers the theme of Peace. And once again, it’s not obvious from the Biblical text and story how peace figures into it. Did you all know that...
Practicing Hope
Texts: Daniel 6:6-27, Luke 1:5-20 It’s Advent! This is a season of waiting and wonder. A season of anticipation. A season of hope. Today in particular, the tradition of the church is the Sunday to reflect on hope; subsequent Sundays will focus on Peace, Joy and...
The Word of God Cannot Be Burned (or Banned)
Text: Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28; 31:31-34 We’ve spent a couple of weeks now with Biblical prophets. People called by God to a particular task. Me met Jonah, who was (very) reluctant but eventually did proclaim a call to repentance in Nineveh. And both Nineveh and...
Called Amid Chaos
Text: Isaiah 6:1-13 Our text and story for today have inspired a lot of hymns, including the one we just sang. And many others. A few weeks ago I talked about how Mennonites don’t really build ‘temples’ the way other denominations do. But I do think we make a...
Who Deserves Mercy?
Jonah 1:1-17; 3:1-10, 4:1-11 Jonah is a familiar story. One where if we have heard it too many times we forget its main purpose. We know in the ending that Nineveh repents and Jonah is a whiny baby. But what I would like us to do is pretend we are reading this story...
Our Foundation is Peace, Our Temple is Earth
1 Kings 5:1-5; 8:27-30, 41-43 Watch on YouTube here. There were three parts of this scripture that resonated in me as I prepared this week, and they are these: Now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side, without enemies or misfortune. So I’m planning to...