The Bread and the Circus
Mark Schloneger
A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So [Elisha] repeated, […]
Overwhelmed by God
Joanne Gallardo
The first Sunday of every November is All Saints Sunday, also known as All Souls Sunday. I have now been with you here at Berkey long enough for the lectionary to come back around to me, and the Revelation reading for this week is a text I have already preached on! While I’m sure none […]
Building Our Capacity for Trust
Dan Schrock
I am not speaking anything new when I say that our level of collective anxiety may be higher than at any point in the last 50 years. The sources of our collective anxiety are many. Example: 4 million acres have burned on the west coast, with a gigafire called the “August Complex” raging in northern […]
The Things of God: Presidents, Protests, and the Church
Mark Schloneger
I don’t know how I came into possession of this book, this particular copy of The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. I know it was before I became a member of Berkey, but, beyond that, I know nothing of how this book wound up on my bookshelf, who gave it or returned it […]
-ish
Mark Schloneger
Then God spoke all of these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, […]
This Little Light of Mine
Joanne Gallardo
The Great Commission is one of the most challenging direct commands from Jesus in the New Testament. If you thought loving your neighbor as yourself was difficult, if you thought loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength was difficult, if you thought not casting the first stone was difficult, Jesus’ final […]
Reconciling in a Pandemic
Dan Schrock
Today is the third in a series of four Sundays on being the church during a pandemic. The people who planned this series observed that, “our congregation’s routines, structures, and gatherings have been disrupted.” They asked the pastors to craft sermons about “the practices, rituals, and structures that will serve us well into the future.” […]
the Church, formed
Mark Schloneger
Before I begin, I want you to know that I prepared this sermon in Berkey’s first and second grade Sunday school classroom. When I opened the door, chimes hanging on the door welcomed me inside. You know what? I’d like chimes to ring whenever I enter a room. I felt good in that space. I […]
the Church, gathered
Mark Schloneger
In the verses just preceding our passage from Matthew, Jesus told his disciples to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples were confused by that, at first, they thought Jesus was talking about bread. But they soon figured it out. Those Pharisees and Sadducees were the religious leaders of that […]
A Two-Handed Theology
Joanne Gallardo
I have had a really difficult time loving my neighbor lately. I mean that both in the literal and more metaphorical sense. I don’t understand the point of view of my actual neighbor. She tells me about how our current pandemic has been planned, because she saw “Plandemic” before the media shut it down. She […]
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