The Extravagant Disciple
Dan Schrock
This is a story of extravagance, of a woman named Mary who dumped very expensive perfume on someone’s dirty feet and then promptly wiped it off. You might call this action absurd, wasteful, or outrageous. Jesus, however, calls it discipleship. To understand why Mary was extravagant, look back to chapter 11. Lazarus, the brother of […]
Crossing the Chasm
Dan Schrock
A friend of mine was recently asked to speak at a major denominational meeting. For his talk, he chose a topic he was passionate about. It was a topic he knew really, really well because he had been thinking about it for at least 10 years. So when he sat down to write his speech, […]
Repent
Dan Schrock
Most news reports focus on sad, evil events. “Three People Die in Weekend Crash” says the headline on the front page of the paper. Listen to the news on your car radio and you might hear something like, “Today in western Kansas, a tornado ripped through several towns. As emergency workers rushed to the scene, […]
A Noble and Generous Spirit
Dan Schrock
What is the nastiest thing that ever happened to you? What events in your life caused you the most suffering, the most pain, the most misery? What grand injustice came to you, stirring up enormous frustration and intense anger inside you?
Becoming Aware and Giving Our Consent
Dan Schrock
On a cold Sunday morning in February 1971, I was baptized at a small mission church. Since our church was so tiny, I was the only one baptized that day. When the time came, I knelt at the front of the sanctuary; the pastor poured water on my head; pronounced the words of baptism; then […]
Augustus vs. Jesus
Dan Schrock
As followers of Jesus, there is one great sociological fact that we must deal with. It’s this: we live in the world’s richest, most powerful country. It doesn’t matter whether we like it or not. It doesn’t matter whether we’re glad about it or sad about it. It’s a fact of life. The United States […]
Conformed Resistance
Dan Schrock
Many Christians would like to think that these United States of America are a Christian nation. If we vote Christians into the various offices of our local and state governments, if we choose Christians to sit in Congress, if we elect a Christian president, and if that president nominates Christian judges and justices to the […]
Using Leverage in Obedience to God
Dan Schrock
Our biblical text for today is an ancient story, crafted at least 2,500 years ago but set in a timeline at least 3,200 years ago. The main characters are an unnamed king at the top of the nation, two lowly Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah, and a God who works in hidden yet detectable […]
From Exclusion to Inclusion: Eunuchs in the Bible
Dan Schrock
Today we begin a series of three sermons on the biblical basis for including LGBTQ persons in congregational life. What biblical texts and themes offer us a rationale for welcoming LGBTQ persons into the full range of congregational life and ministry? This is a big topic and three sermons will not be enough to explore […]
Stages of Discipleship
Dan Schrock
We Mennonites are big on discipleship. It’s one of the main vocabulary words we use in our conversations with each other. As best as we can, we want to follow Jesus. Discipleship is one of our signature ideas, one of our special strengths. However, there’s one aspect of discipleship that we don’t talk about very […]
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