Those Glorious Nights
Dan Schrock
Most Christians whom I know love daylight and fear darkness. Jenny and I had neighbors twelve years ago who were fine Christian people—members of one of the local Missionary churches here in town. One day shortly after they moved in their new home, they decided to install night lights at the front and back corners […]
As for me and my Household..
Allan Dueck
In early February Bethany’s faculty joined some 500 teachers at a conference center just outside Washington, DC, for the Mennonite Educators’ Conference. Keynote speaker Kenda Creasy Dean talked about Christian faith in America today, and she identified a set of ten pedagogical approaches – ways of teaching – that facilitate faith development in young people […]
Stuck
Dan Schrock
There you are, stuck. Maybe you’re stuck at work. One woman I’m acquainted with felt trapped in her work at a church-related organization. This organization did great work in the community for the sake of Christ, and was known far and wide for doing competent, compassionate work. Her stuckness came from the fact that the […]
Joseph’ Sexual Harassment
Dan Schrock
This story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife is a clear-cut case of sexual harassment in the workplace. Sometimes we think the Bible has an ancient feel to it, that its stories come from so far away and so long ago that they don’t have any congruence with our context and our situation. Despite the fact […]
Blessed and Sent
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
With this sermon, we begin our narrative lectionary. The narrative lectionary follows the overarching Biblical story of God and God’s people. Preaching from this lectionary will hopefully give all of us a sense of how God has been at work throughout history and of how the story of God and God’s people continues today. Our […]
Loss and Redemption
Dan Schrock
The story of Ruth and Naomi is a story of profound, painful loss. In previous sermons this month, we’ve talked in some detail about the losses they experienced. Now in chapter 4, the story turns wonderfully toward redemption: Ruth and Naomi bounce back into the good life. Ruth marries a sterling man named Boaz; they […]
A Search for Security
Dan Schrock
In the story of Ruth and Naomi, the overarching concern is for economic security, and its close cousin, food security. When their husbands die in chapter 1, Naomi and Ruth lose the income their husbands had brought into the household. With fewer economic resources, Naomi and Ruth are now more vulnerable to poverty and hunger. […]
Behind the Scenes
Dan Schrock
A while back I was listening to a man vent his frustrations about God. “I get so frustrated trying to relate to God!” this man exclaimed. “God is much harder to communicate with than anyone else I know. When I want to communicate with people, I go and visit them, phone them, email them, or […]
Love in Action
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
“In the days when the judges ruled….” Right away, this little book of Ruth begins with a whole lot of trouble. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a lot of trouble in the land of Israel. After Joshua died, another generation grew up after him, who did not know the Lord or […]
A Time for Everything
Ginny Martin
Ecclesiastes is an unusual book of the Bible. It covers everything in life with bluntness, humor, and questioning. If you are an individual of doubt, then you could read this book. Here is some background information from the NRSV Harper Collins Study Bible (c1989, 986-988). Ecclesiastes stems from the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew […]
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