Sermon Archive
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...
A God Who Lives in Tents
Text: 2 Samuel 7:1-17 Watch on YouTube It was when I lived in Jordan as a teenager (see image above) that I was first introduced to communities who were nomadic. These were folks who follow their herds of sheep or goats from place to place in the vast deserts and...
Idols for Our Anxiety
Text: Exodus 32:1-14 I’m sure some of you saw the movie Inside Out - the original, not the new one that came out this past year; I haven’t seen that one yet. Much of the story takes place within the brain, or maybe more accurately the imagined emotional center, of an...
Embodied Memory
Text: Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8 Watch on YouTube here. “Remember this day which is the day that you came out of Egypt, out of the place you were slaves, because the Lord acted with power to bring you out of there.” These are the words that God says after the story of the...