Sermon Archives

Holy Spirit
July 24, 2022

Catching Glimpses

Catching Glimpses

I was told for this sermon to choose a scripture that means something to me. Perhaps one of the scriptures that I listed my MLI, the form you fill if your someone who is considering ministry in the Mennonite church and there you list some of your favorite scripture passages. And so, my immediate thought […]

June 5, 2022

The Unfinished City

The Unfinished City

It’s Pentecost. And here we are, all together in one place, praying and singing, and listening. But this, all of this, it didn’t happen by accident. Our worship today is not a spontaneous eruption, an extemporaneous production, an extraneous interruption. No, we have planned for this service, this particular service.

June 20, 2021

The Power of One

Only a boy named David, only a little sling, only a boy named David, but he could pray and sing. Only a boy named David, only a rippling brook, only a boy named David, but five little stones he took. And one little stone went in the sling, and the sling went round and round. […]

February 14, 2021

Nourishing Witness

Around the world, every day, women are walking for water. They go to the well, to the river, to the lake, with one hand by their side, with one hand holding the pot above. they walk, slowly, carefully, gracefully, swans stepping through tall green grass. Around the world, every day, women are walking for water. […]

May 31, 2020

Looking for the Spirit of Life

A common phrase lots of people have been using the last few months is “go back to normal.” You’ll hear it in sentences like, “When we go back to normal, I want to take a cruise in the Caribbean,” or “I’m so ready for everything to go back to normal, like it was before the […]

April 19, 2020

This is a dangerous sermon

Everywhere you look, there are warnings reminding you to be careful. On a Starbucks cup: “Careful, the beverage you are about to enjoy is extremely hot.” On a super glue bottle, it says this: “Warning: Bonds instantly. Do not swallow. Do not get in eyes.” A beach ball, for those of you that are wondering, […]

September 22, 2019

From Loneliness to Solitude

About thirty years ago, I began my first pastoral assignment at Lombard Mennonite Church, in Lombard, Illinois. Back then I was an assistant pastor working under the supervision of the two senior pastors, Joe and Emma Richards. One morning in the church office, Joe announced that after lunch, he and I were going to visit […]

June 9, 2019

Holy Disrupted

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. When the day of Pentecost was approaching, they were all together in one place. Sitting.  Waiting. Waiting for something to happen.

May 20, 2018

Stretching, Propelling Spirit-Wind

“Build the Wall! “ Build the wall! Keep the segregating lines clear. Know who is IN and who is OUT. Know who is welcome and who is not. But “something there is that doesn’t love a wall”… I think it’s called the Holy Spirit… THE Spirit of our WALL-WRECKING MESSIAH… The one who breaks down […]

October 22, 2017

Tending Community in God’s Mission

“These sheep don’t need a shepherd, they have fences,” story. 1982 Outspokin/TourMagination Anabaptist/ Mennonite history tour. (explain Outspokin) Today we leave the first book Luke wrote and jump into the middle of his second… “Acts of the Apostles.” The first book contains stories of who Jesus was and what he did while he was at […]

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