Sermon Archives

commitment
May 11, 2014

That Some Would be Pastors

I thought I would start by introducing myself for those who may not know me. I’m from Iowa, went to a private college in Iowa before coming to Associated Mennonite (now Anabaptist Mennonite) Biblical Seminary in Elkhart where I met and married my wife, Missy Kauffman Schrock – who, now works for AMBS. Since seminary […]

April 6, 2014

Words

Sometimes words seem so cheap. Have you noticed this? Once I attended a conference where we were treated to a guest preacher who had been flown in from several states away. He was fairly well-known with wide name recognition. Early in the worship service we in the audience sat expectantly, waiting until the moment when […]

February 9, 2014

God’s Presence . . . and Ours

Until today, I’ve never prepared a sermon on gay and lesbian relationships for this congregation. I’ve avoided this topic because the issue has been so contentious and emotional for Mennonites in the last 30 years. In families, congregations, conferences, and in the denomination, we have vociferously disagreed with each otherover this. In 2011 during the […]

December 22, 2013

Dreaming and Trusting with Joseph

Picture the conversation between Mary and Joseph. Mary says, “Joseph, we need to talk.” And Joseph might then be thinking, “Now what have I done?!” When she says, “I’m pregnant,” he knows that in fact, he hasn’t done anything, and in this case, that is the problem. Because if he isn’t the father, then who […]

December 15, 2013

Waiting at the door with Elizabeth and Mary

All of this happens in the doorway. Mary arrives at Elizabeth’s house ‐ the cousins exchange greetings. We could ask the same question of Mary that Mary asked of the angel some months ago. When the angel came to Mary she wondered what kind of greeting this might be. Now we get a strange greeting […]

October 27, 2013

The Prayer God Wants

I continue to be a Christian partly because Jesus is such a keen observer of the human heart. Even after more than 40 years of trying to follow Jesus, I continue to learn from Jesus insights into myself and others that I probably wouldn’t get anywhere else. He and the Bible offer a vast storehouse […]

October 20, 2013

Prayer, Justice and Persistent Hope

When she learned of the death threats against her, Malala Yousafzai thought about how she would respond if a Talib came to kill her. She first thought she would hit him with her shoe, but then she thought, “If you hit a Talib, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You […]

August 18, 2013

Pyromaniac

Today the gospel of Luke confronts us with some very difficult words of Jesus. Jesus sounds as though he’s come to bust up the nuclear family: 51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52From now on five in one household will be […]

May 26, 2013

Partner and Lord

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that […]