Jesus is the Center of our Faith

Summary

Today Marilyn and I begin a series of sermons on the three central characteristics of Anabaptist Mennonites. About seven years ago Palmer Becker wrote a booklet published by Mennonite Mission Network that tries to describe what an Anabaptist Mennonite is. His description isn’t the only way to characterize our tradition of faith, but for our purposes it’s a durable way. Palmer says our tradition has three core beliefs:
1. Jesus is the center of our faith.
2. Community is the center of our lives.
3. Reconciliation is the center of our work.
Another way of saying these is that we believe in Jesus; we belong to a community; and we behave in a reconciling way. Each Sunday, we’ll take one of these, with today’s focus being “Jesus is the center of our faith.”