Breathe the Breath
Dan Schrock
In the United States at the present time, fear of the other is perhaps more powerful than it’s been in recent memory. We hear people demean others who look different, act different, or think different. National rhetoric urges us to be afraid of “radical Islamic terrorism,” or to be suspicious about “enemies of the people,” […]
We See
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
It’s bad enough being a kid and having your mother give you a spit bath, but to be an adult, and have some complete stranger wipe their spit on your face, well, that’s just going a bit too far! And it wasn’t just spit, but spit mixed with dirt to make mud! What was Jesus […]
Looking to Jesus
Dan Schrock
Once in a while, you will hear people say that the Bible doesn’t deal with politics. The Bible only deals with spiritual things, they claim, and has nothing to say about economics, race relations, refugees, and especially politics. For these people, the Bible only addresses spiritual issues. The Bible isn’t political. But we who read […]
Hope for the Struggle
Dan Schrock
Over the last four months I’ve participated in a number of conversations with other Mennonites about the new reality here in the United States. In these conversations people name at least three aspects of our new reality, which I list here in no particular order. The reigning political climate openly vilifies immigrants and refugees, some […]
Taking Jesus Seriously and Ourselves Less Seriously
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
One day, years ago, the phone rang, and the caller said, “Mrs. Froese?”, when I answered. Now, whenever I hear someone call me Mrs. Froese, or in some way mispronounce or stumble over my name, I assume that this is a marketing call, I don’t know them, more importantly, they don’t know me, and I […]
Keeping Sabbath, Practicing Trust, Living Shalom
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
This sermon is in many ways part 2 of my sermon a few weeks ago on chaos. In fact, I had intended to include aspects of Sabbath in that sermon, but for various reasons, not least of which was the length of the sermon, I dropped the Sabbath aspect. The discussion in the sermon response […]
Chaos, Creation and Sabbath: A Divine Dance of Trust and Hope
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
First, thank you for giving your pastors sabbaticals! While some of the fruit of sabbatical may not be apparent for a while, the immediate effects are a feeling of renewal. It was pure gift—I frequently used the word ‘decadent’—to have the time and space to be removed from the daily life of the congregation in […]
God’s Counter-Move
Dan Schrock
For most Americans, Christmas ended two weeks ago. The holiday meals have been eaten, the presents have been opened, the carols have been sung, and most of the decorations have been taken down. For most people, Christmas is over. We in this building are different. We who read the gospel of Matthew and call ourselves […]
New Day, New Management
Ron Guengerich
Today, January 1, begins a new year. But what is really new today? The naming of this day as beginning the new year is just an arbitrary designation. Nothing much is really new today. It is just another Sunday. It is just another holiday in the Western world. But what does it mean that something […]
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