Sermon Archives

September 11, 2016

An Anniversary . . . and a Future

15 years ago this morning, at 8:45, a passenger jet from Boston crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, tearing a hole in the building and setting it on fire. 18 minutes later another passenger jet, also from Boston, crashed into the south tower of the World Trade […]

September 4, 2016

A Circle of Grace

Raise your hands above your head and then bring your arms slowly down keeping them outstretched. Extending your arms in front of you and then behind you embrace all of the space around you knowing that God is in this space with you. Then slowly reach down to your feet. This is your Circle of […]

August 21, 2016

From Suffering to Glory

Many of us in this congregation know a thing or two about suffering. We’ve lived through car accidents that damaged major parts of our bodies. We’ve miscarried children. We’ve endured the surgeries, radiations, and chemotherapies of cancer. We’ve trekked through the desolate territory of cold, bitter relationships. We’ve sat beside people we love who have […]

August 14, 2016

Fully Committed God

I know a man who has had a hard life. He and his immediate family members have experienced bipolar disorder, two nasty divorces, long periods of being out of work, chronic physical illness, and a car accident that killed the driver. Because of these chronic conditions and misfortunes, this poor man’s life has often been […]

August 7, 2016

Resisting Racism

When I was 12 years old, my parents adopted another child. One morning in May 1971, I went to school without a brother; that same day when I came home from school, there he was, my new brother, who had been born in the Goshen hospital just 3 days before. Matthew is biracial: his biological […]

July 31, 2016

Strong and Courageous

We Mennonites should spend more time learning from the book of Daniel. More than most books of the Bible, Daniel gives us ideas for living and working in an empire. How can we be faithful to God while living in an empire that does not share our vision or our values? That is the overarching […]

July 24, 2016

The Heart and Soul of God’s Reputation

While living in Miami in my early 20s, I was mentored by a man named Leroy, who cared very much about his reputation in the community. Leroy cared about his reputation because he was both a businessman and a pastor. Leroy believed his success as a businessman depended mostly on how other people evaluated his […]

July 17, 2016

A Response to Graces

To understand this story, let us read it in its proper literary context. Let us go all the way back to Genesis 12, when Abraham and Sarah, then known as Abram and Sarai, first received their call to ministry. In summoning them to ministry, God was both blunt and specific. God said: “Go . . […]

July 3, 2016

A God who Sees and Hears

For the last 2 years, I’ve been part of a group of 10 women pastors from IN-MI conference and Central District conference, who get together about 4 times a year to discuss a book we’ve read. We have deliberately chosen to read theologians who are not white men. Some of our richest, and most challenging, […]

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