Title: Fully Alive Date: Jan 11, 2009, the Baptism of our Lord Texts: Gen 1:1-5; Ps 29; Mk 1:4-11 Author: Isaac Villegas “The glory of God is the human being fully alive…” — Irenaeus, 2nd century Last week I finally got around to cutting out a bunch of the dead plants in my front yard—Baptisias,… More
Sermons
Worship is more than preaching. Each worship gathering draws from the wealth of gifts of the community. We have rotations of volunteers who share the responsibilities of preaching, song leading, and service planning. We take turns reading the assigned Scripture readings for the day. The high point of our worship is our time for response and sharing. Since we believe that anyone can offer an interpretation of the Bible, we provide time in our worship for people to offer their own reflections on the Scriptures and the sermon.
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Exactly what you want
Title: Exactly what you want Date: December 28, 2008 Texts: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Luke 2:22-40 Author: Isaac Villegas Sometimes you get exactly what you want. Eric wanted bike gloves and bike pants—those nice spandex kind with the butt padding. I thought he was going to wear them to church as a sermon illustration. He was asked… More
Waiting for what?
Title: Waiting for what? Date: December 21, 2008 (4th Sunday of Advent) Texts: Luke 1:26-38, 47-55 Author: Isaac Villegas What are you waiting for? Think about it. What are you waiting for?—a new job, a child, friends, a paycheck, love, a restored relationship, forgiveness. Or maybe you’re simply waiting for the end of my sermon.… More
Isaiah’s Advent vision, and ours
Title: Isaiah’s Advent vision, and ours Date: December 14, Third Sunday of Advent Texts: Psalm 126; Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28 Author: Tom Lehman The sequence of passages in the Revised Common Lectionary during Advent reminds me every year that the Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas are more varied and complicated… More
Anticipating Glory
Title: Anticipating Glory Date: December 7, 2008 (2nd Sunday of Advent) Texts: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8 Author: Monica Schmucker Growing up with a German mother, advent was a season we celebrated, and so I have long felt that I understand the concept of Advent better than most Americans. I… More
Beware, Keep Alert
Title: Beware, Keep Alert Date: Nov 30, 2008 Texts: Ps 80:1-7, 17-19; Isa 64:1-9; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Author: Chris K. Huebner We come now to the season of Advent. This is, of course, the beginning of the so-called Christian year. And so it would not be inappropriate to greet each other with the… More
Thanksgiving
Title: Thanksgiving Date: November 23, 2008 Texts: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Ps 100; Eph 1:15-23; Matt 25:31-46 Author: Isaac Villegas When Steve and Sandra sit down for dinner, they have to do one thing before they can eat. They have to say what they are grateful for. That shouldn’t be too hard, right? Well, I ate… More
Hope buried or planted?
Title: Hope buried or planted? Date: Nov. 16, 2008 Text: Matthew 25:14-30 Author: Ryan Koch Chiapas, the southern most state in Mexico. To many, Chiapas might seem like one of the last under-explored, abandoned areas in the Western world. For those trying to picture the size of Chiapas, it’s about the size of South Carolina.… More
The Resurrection of the Dead
Title: The Resurrection of the Dead Date: November 9, 2008 Texts: Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25, Psalm 78:1-7, I Thess. 4:13-18, Matt. 25:1-13 Preacher: Julian Forth Almost one thousand years ago, during the Medieval period, was born a theologian by the name of Peter Damian. He was born in Italy and in his late twenties he entered… More
…born of Mary
Title: “…born of Mary” Date: Nov 2, 2008 Texts: Rev 7:9-17, Matt 5:1-12 Author: Isaac Villegas We said the Apostle’s Creed a few moments ago. I asked that it be included in our worship service. Like any good Mennonite, I will admit that there are problems with the Creed. The biggest problem is that it… More
Seeing in the Dark
Title: Seeing in the Dark Date: Oct 26, 2008 Author: Isaac Villegas Texts: Deut 34:1-12, Ps 90, I Thess 2:1-8, Matt 22:34-46 It’s the end for Moses. He led Israel out of Egypt and spent the rest of his life wandering in the wilderness. The Lord takes him up the mountain top of Nebo and… More
God’s own people
Title: God’s own people Date: Oct 19, 2008 Author: Tom Lehman Texts: Psalm 99, Exodus 33:12-23, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Matthew 22:15-22 Today is the last of nine consecutive Sundays for which the lectionary prescribes passages from the book of Exodus. Quite by coincidence, my sermon in August started the series. We have looked at the… More
Images of God
Title: Images of God Date: October 11, 2008 Author: Isaac Villegas Texts: Ex 32:1-14; Ps 106:1-6, 19-23; Phil 4:1-9; Matt 22:1-14 Moses is taking a while up on the mountain. The people of Israel are tired of waiting. They approach Aaron, Moses’ right hand man. “Do something,” they say, “We want God.” It’s a very… More
Liberated For Bondage
Title: Liberated for Bondage Date: October 5th Author: Ryan Koch Texts: Exodus 20.1-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3.4b-14; Matthew 21.33-46 The ten commandments, perhaps no one other text is as well known in the Bible. It is so well known that in pop culture, we find movies, poems, and songs written about it (like songs by… More
Dark sayings
Title: Dark sayings Date: Sept 28, 2008 Author: Isaac Villegas Texts: Ex 17:1-7; Ps 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matt 21:23-32 Psalm 78:2, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” Or as other translations put it, “I will speak secret saying, mysteries, dark sayings.” What… More
Leaving Egypt Behind?
Title: Leaving Egypt Behind? Date: September 21, 2008 Texts: Psalm 105.1-6, 37-45; Exodus 16.2-15; Philippians 1.21-30; Matthew 20.1-16 Author: Ryan Koch Last Friday I went to Charlotte both to see a friend and also to attend the monthly poetry slam in Downtown Charlotte. This summer up in Michigan one of the pastors introduced me to… More
A sermon on protests
These two quotes helped me think through my sermon: Karl Barth, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (pp. 492 and 496): Love of one another ought to be undertaken as the protest against the course of this world, and it ought to continue without interruption…. Love is that denial and demolition of the existing… More
A sermon on Joseph
Title: Control and Faith Date: August 17, 2008 Texts: Genesis 45:1-16; Matthew 15:21-28 Author: Isaac Villegas Self-control. It’s important. Without it we would get ourselves into a whole lot of trouble. I’m sure you can remember when you wish you exercised a little more self-control. For me, I don’t have very much control when it… More
A sermon on Mennonite spirituality
Title: Spirituality from Prison Date: July 20, 2008 Texts: Gen 32:22-32; Matt 11:25-30 Author: Isaac Villegas Alone. It was night, and Jacob was alone. He left his family and possessions behind on the other side of the stream; now he was alone, surrounded by darkness. And the wrestling begins. Jacob isn’t a spiritual superhero. He… More
A sermon on government
Title: Joseph and Slavery Date: July 6th, 2008 Texts: Gen 41:41-57 Author: Isaac Villegas In a lot of ways, the story of Joseph feels like a ‘rags to riches’ story. He’s in a dungeon, but not for long. Soon he’s discovered; Pharaoh hears about his gifts and takes Joseph to the very top of Egyptian… More
Hope and nests, part II
Title: Hope and Nests, part II Date: May 4th, 2008 Texts: Ps 68:1-10, 32-35; Ac 1:6-14; I Pet 4:12-14, 5:6-11; Jn 17:1-11. Nests and hope. That’s what I preached about the last time. I told you about the blue birds who moved into the birdhouse in my front yard near the road. I talked about… More
Nests and hope, part I
Title: Nests and hope Date: April 13, 2008 Texts: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; I Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10 We have two blue birds living in our front yard. Last fall our neighbor gave Katie and me a bird house, and I put it up near the street this past January. That probably wasn’t the best… More
A protest of hope
Title: A Protest of Hope Date: March 20, 2008: Maundy Thursday Texts: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Jerusalem welcomed Jesus as their king, “Blessed is the king of Israel” (John 12:13). And a few days later, on Maundy Thursday, Jesus is in the valley of darkness. Later this night, he will be arrested and his procession to… More
Mud
Title: Mud Date: March 2nd, 2008, 4th Sunday of Lent Texts: I Sam 16:1-13; Ps 23; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41. Mud, made with dirt and saliva. This is such a great story. Jesus heals a blind beggar with his spit. Thursday, around noon, I stopped by the Regulator Bookstore to pick up a book that… More