Becoming Bread Nourished by the roots August 6th Gary Harder Text: John 6:15; 25-35 This will have to be a very serious sermon. A very, very serious sermon. No smiling allowed. You see, if you smile, I will have to smile. That won’t do. If I smile I will reveal to you that one of my front teeth is gone. I don’t want you to know that. My dentist tried glueing it back in several times, but it…
SOWING SEEDS WITH UNDERSTANDING AND PATIENCE June 18th Tera Dyck Texts: 1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13 Mark 4:26-34 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, our rock, and our redeemer. Let me begin by telling you a reoccurring dream I have. I’m in exam time. I’ve studied SO hard for my exam, and I’m feeling quite good about it. In fact, I feel SO good about…
ANSWERING THE CALL June 11th Gary Harder Texts: Isaiah 6:1-8 Romans 8:14-17 Introduction It’s good to be back in this pulpit after five months sitting in the pew. I want to express my deep appreciation to you, my congregation, for giving me this five-month partial sabbatical. What this time has meant for me was, in the first place, no evening meetings – a rich gift all on its own. But a more important piece to me has been…
THE ASCENT TO ACTION May 28th Tera Dyck, Summer Student Minister Texts: Psalm 1 John 17:6-10 Acts 1:1-11; 15-17; 21-26 Luke 24 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, our rock, and our redeemer. Second goodbyes are always very awkward for me. I just don’t like them. The last few days at Canadian Mennonite University in the Katherine Friesen Apartments, more fondly referred to as “the…
Ready – for what? May 14th Jane Pritchard May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer (Ps. 19:14) The four lectionary readings for this Sunday proved a challenge to weave into a sermon. Of course they all reflect in some way our proximity to the Easter events and the coming of the holy Spirit at Pentecost; they don’t have much to say…
The Lord is Our Shepherd May 7th Bock Ki Kim Texts: Psalm 23, 1 John 3:16~24 My home village, where I was born, was surrounded by many mountain peaks. There were about 50 houses in the village. It was a beautiful mountain village. A winding river ran from East to West as a creek merged into the river from the North. There were smooth pebbles and sand along side the creek with pure and clean water, that…
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS April 30th Jonathan Slater Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Although Easter was two weeks ago, today’s scripture reading invites us back to Easter, to the acclamation that Christ is Risen. It is also a text that raises the question of what we mean when we say Christ is Risen: In what sense is Jesus of Nazareth risen? What does it mean for us to proclaim that Christ is risen indeed? I suspect…
FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT April 16th, 2006 – Easter Sunday Shadell Permanand Texts: Acts 10: 34-43 Psalm 118:1-2; 14-24 John 20: 1-18 Introduction “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it” – and I am glad! I’m very glad we’ve finally reached Easter Sunday. It does my soul good! It feels as though I have been waiting and hoping for this Easter Sunday to arrive since Advent began.…
AFTER THE HOSANNAS: TEMPLE-CLEARING AND TRUTH-TELLING April 9th, 2006 – Palm Sunday Tim Schmucker Texts: Psalm 118:19-29 Mark 11:1-11 Jesus’ so-called triumphal entry, on the surface, is a great candidate for the “happily ever after” syndrome. You know the story line. There is suspense, then a grand culmination, and all ends well. Life is great. Happily ever after. The stuff of fairy tales. Girl meets boy, romance blossoms, marriage, children and home, grandchildren, in short –…
THE LUXURY OF LENT April 2nd J.D. Penner Texts: John 12:20-33 Psalm 51:1-12 I must admit that I was excited by the performance of the Canadian athletes at the most recent Olympic Winter Games. Our family got hooked, and watched many of the events. Not being athletic ourselves (unless you include the non-stop energy of a five and three year olds), we admired the ability of the athletes. Whether it was skiing down a hill at the speed…