Sermon Archives

peace
February 17, 2019

For This Reason

For this reason. Those are the first three words of our scripture text this morning. For this reason, Paul writes, he prays to God for the church in Ephesus. Tomorrow, I’ll be traveling to Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in Pennsylvania for a meeting of the Values-Based Leadership Program. This has been helpful for me to […]

December 30, 2018

Augustus vs. Jesus

As followers of Jesus, there is one great sociological fact that we must deal with. It’s this: we live in the world’s richest, most powerful country. It doesn’t matter whether we like it or not. It doesn’t matter whether we’re glad about it or sad about it. It’s a fact of life. The United States […]

December 9, 2018

Speechless Wonder

MAKE READY FOR THE CHRIST, WHOSE SMILE, LIKE LIGHTENING, SETS FORTH THE SONG OF EVERLASTING GLORY THAT NOW SLEEPS IN YOUR PAPER FLESH…LIKE DYNAMITE! This is Advent and these words from Thomas Merton shape our calling: to Make ready for the Christ…to prepare for the birthing God has in store within each of us & […]

March 11, 2018

Wild Courage

Today we are in the wilderness with the people who’ve been liberated! With those who have been FREED … With those whom God has FED everyday for forty years, With those who have been trusting the CLOUD of Presence to be out ahead and lead into the PROMISE. We are here with these who’ve stayed […]

September 24, 2017

Tending the Mission of God in the World

Some years ago, I had the privilege of participating in several consultations that our denomination was a part of that was led by Church Innovations, a church consulting organization based at Luther Seminary in St Paul, Minnesota. The leadership for Church Innovations was a group of PhD and professor types that were trying hard to […]

May 24, 2015

Pursuing Peace, Living Hope

There are so many stories and events from around the world that can leave us feeling hopeless and discouraged. These stories, which we hear and see on the news and internet, which we read in the papers, are all about what’s wrong in the world, where the latest natural disaster has happened, how many casualties […]

December 7, 2014

Mary, Breaker of Codes and Conventions

One of my favorite novels is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, set in South Carolina in 1964. In it a white teenager, Lily, struggling to make sense of her hazy memories from the afternoon her mother was killed, and living with a father who is abusive, runs away from home with […]

April 13, 2014

The Arrest

Most of us have kissed—or been kissed—at one time or another. When our sons were small, I probably I kissed each of them at least a thousand times, plus however many times Jenny kissed them. We don’t kiss our sons anymore—a fact for which they are profoundly grateful—although Jenny and I still kiss each other […]

March 23, 2014

Boundaries, Buckets and Blessings

The Jews and Samaritans had been estranged for a long time. It all started when those who had been in exile and those who had not been in exile, couldn’t agree on where the temple should be. Initially, it was a mild estrangement, but around 200 BCE, it grew in intensity. It ended with the […]

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 […]

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