Sermon Archives

Joanne Gallardo
March 1, 2020

Just as I am

As I have said in previous sermons, I love angry Jesus. As an Enneagram 8 (and if you’re wondering about the Enneagram, just wait, because we have a Sunday School series starting up this week about it), I see so much of myself in angry Jesus. Most of this stems from my “Am I the […]

February 2, 2020

Empathy, Vulnerability, and Immanuel

Back when I worked as a case manager, Brene Brown came into my consciousness with her work on empathy. Empathy was talked about so much in our social work circles, in fact, that we often made jokes about it. Empathy is a learned skill, we were told. Empathy is learning another’s world view. As Brene […]

January 5, 2020

Stars, Signs and Salvation

We and the church have both, collectively, made it another year. While technically the new decade starts in 2021 people are talking about this year, 2020, as a brand-new page in our history. One of the many big things about 2020 is that it’s an election year, a big one. In a few months, and […]

December 1, 2019

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

I can’t get enough of apocalyptic Christianity. I think this may be about the fact that the Bible says that the day and the hour of the end of days is unknown, and yet so many people are so anxious about it they predict it. And while that sort of “end-times” prophecy may seem to […]

November 3, 2019

#blessed

Blessed. Or bless-ed. We use this word a whole lot. We throw it around as easily and as quickly as we do “awesome” or “fantastic.” If you follow #blessed on Instagram, you’ll find 117 million posts! If you follow #blessed with the emoji of two hands giving a high five which 9 out of 10 […]

September 1, 2019

From Scarcity to Abundance

If I mention “The Fyre Festival,” how many of you know what I’m talking about? The Fyre festival was supposed to be the best music festival on the planet. For thousands of dollars, you could hop on a private jet to Pablo Escobar’s island, rent out a fancy villa, listen to hot musical groups while […]

July 7, 2019

Good Grief

I took a brief break from the Lectionary for this week and decided instead to focus on the story of Lazarus. I hesitated doing so, wondering if I was the only one particularly attached to grief lately. However, 2 things happened a few weeks ago as well as this past week. Deb Detweiler was mentioned […]

June 2, 2019

Family Ties that Bind

Over Memorial Day weekend I spent some time with Mennonite friends at a cabin on Lake Michigan. After the full disclosure about the mice problem and apologizing for no WiFi, I was reminded that “we are all family here.” And so the weekend progressed. Our lives were shared, jokes were made, and we participated in […]

May 12, 2019

Enemies, Shepherds, and Divine Promises

One of the first passages from the Bible that children learn is the 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. This Psalm stays with us through adulthood. For many, this is a passage chosen for memorial services. But why this Psalm? What makes it so important to us that we take […]

April 28, 2019

Putting Faith in Doubt

It is really difficult to give a sermon on belief and unbelief after this week. It’s actually been really difficult to do anything this week. Deb Detweiler was my academic advisor, my professor, my voice teacher, my choir director, and my friend, not to mention a fellow member of my congregation. My life was better […]

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