Title: Available Date: June 28, 2009 Texts: 2 Sam 1:1, 17-27; Ps 130; Mark 5:21-43 Author: Isaac Villegas “God made everything that is made for love; and the same love sustains everything, and shall do so for ever.” ~ Julian of Norwich I’ve never seen a grown man beg like Jairus. He came to Jesus […]
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David and Goliath
Title: David and Goliath Date: June 21, 2009 Texts: I Sam 17:32-49, Mk 4:35-41 Author: Isaac Villegas I used to play a lot of soccer growing up. I was part of a club team, which basically means High School soccer wasn’t good enough for us. We played all year round, traveling all over the country […]
Hoto pare bristi hoi: letter from Nathan
Nathan Charles MCC Bangladesh June 9,2008 It’s storm season. It’s almost over from what I understand, but we’re kind of on the edge of the end of storm season and about to move into the rainy season. During storm season localized thunderstorms spin up and create mischief before moving on. For me these storms are […]
Closer: sermon on the Trinity
Title: Closer Date: June 7, 2009 (Trinity Sunday) Texts: Isa 6:1-8, Ps 29, Rom 8:12-17 Author: Isaac Villegas In April, celebrities took over downtown Durham. Hollywood came to town. They were filming a movie called Main Street. Most of the young ladies were very interested in the star of this movie, which is Orlando Bloom. […]
The miracle of communion
Title: The miracle of communion (Pentecost) Date: May 31, 2009 Texts: Rom 8:22-27, Ac 2:1-21 Author: Isaac Villegas I’ve been thinking a lot about Ben’s sermon last week, his sermon on Ascension. And the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Jesus goes away, that he ascends to the Father, that […]
Love one another
Title: Love one another Date: May 17, 2009 Text: John 15:9-17 Author: Monica Schmucker Love. Our lectionary texts seem to be marinating us in passages on love these past few weeks. Our gospel text this week comes from one of my favorite parts of John. These scenes are an intimate portrait of Jesus with his […]
Abide in me
Title: Abide in me Texts: John 15:1-8, Acts 8:26-40, I John 4:7-21 Date: May 10, 2009 Author: Isaac Villegas “Abide in me.” Jesus says that’s what we are supposed to do. “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither […]
The broken body of Christ
No one is proud of weakness. We don’t like to put our brokenness on display. But the Lord’s Table confronts us with our wounded bodies. The brokenness of Christ’s body confronts us with the wounds in our own life. In this short article, Isaac reflects on the way our congregations are broken and distributed as […]
Who are you?
Title: Who are you? Date: May 3, 2009 Texts: Acts 4:5-12; I Jn 3:16-24 Author: Isaac Villegas Who are you? There are a number of ways to answer that question. You can give your name: Hi, I’m Isaac. Or maybe your job, or talk about your parents, or about where you’re from. Who are you? […]
The boundaries of God’s love
Title: The boundaries of God’s love Date: April 26, 2009 (3rd Sunday of Easter) Texts: Psalm 4, Acts 3:12-19, 1 John 3:1-7, Luke 24:36b-48 Author: Thomas Lehman When I started to prepare this message I was drawn to the passage from 1 John Ch. 3. Verse two deserves special mention before I take up the […]
Those who haven’t seen
Title: Those who have not seen Date: April 19 (Easter 2) Texts: Acts 4:32-35, Ps 133, I Jn 1:1-2:2, Jn 20:19-31 Author: Isaac Villegas “if the church does not live by miracles she does not live at all.” ~ John H. Yoder Last week was Easter. And we heard the story of Mary’s encounter with […]
To practice love: Maundy Thursday
Title: To practice love Date: April 9, 2009; Maundy Thursday, foot-washing service Texts: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Author: Isaac Villegas In a few minutes you will walk up here and stand in line, waiting your turn to wash feet and have your feet washed. You will sit down on a chair. Take off your shoes. Then […]
The way of the donkey
Title: The Way of the Donkey Date: April 5, 2009 Texts: Phil 2:5-11, Mk 11:1-11 Author: Isaac Villegas What’s with the donkey? This is the most important publicity moment in Jesus’ life. And he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. We all know that image matters. People notice the details when you’re important. Just think […]
Ekano Ami Besto: letter from Nathan
To every thing there is a season, turn, turn turn. Bangladesh is one of MCC’s oldest projects. There’s a plaque in the Dhaka commemorating the first volunteer in West Bengal back in 1946. At one point MCC Bangladesh had over 300 National staff and something like 70 Expatriate service workers or Bideshi’s, but a few […]
Love heals
Title: Love Heals Date: March 22, 2009 Texts: Num 21:4-9, Eph 2:1-10, Jn 3:14-21 Author: Isaac Villegas “What would not have been assumed would not have been healed.” ~ Gregory of Nazianzus “The God who created us without us will not save us without us.” ~ Augustine What a strange story. The people encounter poisonous […]
Anger
Title: Jesus comes with a whip Date: March 15, 2008 (3rd Sunday of Lent) Texts: Ex 20:1-17, Jn 2:13-22 Author: Isaac Villegas Jesus, like any good Jew, takes a trip to the temple in Jerusalem for Passover. And when he finally gets there, after his long trip, he is disgusted. It’s not the holy place […]
Work: Ash Wed sermon
Title: Work Date: February 25, 2009 (Ash Wednesday) Texts: Genesis 3:17-19 Author: Isaac Villegas Work. The alarm clock wakes you up on Monday morning. You lie there for a few minutes, getting ready to do it all over again this week. Or it’s Friday: you get home after the week of work, you are tired, […]
Roadside Jesus
Has God abandoned us? The world seems like a desolate place. But the Scriptures tell us that Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us.” Where can we find this One who gives life? Isaac suggests that the Christ shows up among those who gather at the edges of our comfortable world. Here’s a passage from his […]
Now what?
Title: Now what? Date: February 15, 2009 Texts: Psalm 30, I Cor 9:24-27, Mk 1:40-45 Author: Isaac Villegas My dad grew up running. Not from the law; just running. He ran track when he was a kid in Colombia. And he was good at it. His coach said he had a future. So my dad […]
Emergent church; Mennonite churches
The February 16th (2009) issue of the Mennonite Weekly Review features an article on the Eastern Carolina District’s local ecumenical conversations. The best part about it is that there’s a wonderful picture of a few folks at Chapel Hill Mennonite. Follow this link: Emerging Churches find treasures in Anabaptism.
A short and joyful history
Title: A Short and Joyful History Date: Feb. 8, 2009 Author: Tom Lehman OPENNG PRAYER. O Lord, guide our thoughts, that we might better understand you, and better understand ourselves as your children. In today’s lectionary reading from the first letter to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul describes his missionary strategy, and makes […]
Demons: Malcolm X and exorcisms
Title: Demons Date: February 1, 2009 Text: Mark 1:21-28 Author: Isaac Villegas I usually rent movies from the shelves of the new release section. But last week I quickly glanced at that section and got bored. So I walked around some of the other shelves and a movie caught my eye. Now, I’m a sucker […]
Guided by Voices
Title: Voices Date: January 18, 2009 Texts: I Sam 3:1-20; Jn 1:43-51 Author: Isaac Villegas “In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing.” “If I ever become a saint, I will surely be one of darkness.” — […]
Ami Kushi : Nathan in Bangladesh
One of the Charles family traditions that my Grandmother started is that instead of exchanging Christmas gifts we share a story about something which happened to us during the year. This is the story I wrote a little belatedly this year and decided to send it out as my latest update. “It’s the simple things” […]