[This is an excerpt from a sermon I preached on 1 Peter. My husband, who does not usually provide sermon commentary, said, “It was gimmicky, but you pulled it off.” Clearly he was deeply moved in the Spirit by my words.] Dear Peter, I just wanted to write to you as one church leader…
This week’s prayer of confession comes out of our current series on the shorter epistles, thinking about World Communion Sunday, speaking with the MCUSA Executive Board, and . . . you know . . . life in the church. Prayer of Confession God of each of us, God of all of us, Being church is…
[This reflection is excerpted from a sermon I preached on Hebrews 12:18-29. You can find the full text here and the audio here.] Generally, I find the section headings in Bibles less than helpful. But the section heading for this week’s scripture stopped me in my tracks: “The Mountain of Fear and the…
*This reflection is excerpted from a sermon based on Matthew 18:15-20 that I preached about three years ago. (Funny how the lectionary works like that!) – – – – – The Greek word that gets translated as “church”–ekklesia–shows up on only two occasions in the Gospels. Both in Matthew. The first is: “You are Peter,…
*As of March 1, 2015, there is an official resolution that has been submitted to the MC USA Resolutions Committee. My original “aspirational resolution” was the starting point for the work that many people did to bring into existence the “Becoming a Just Church” resolution. Some of you already know how I feel about the…
The other day as I was clicking around online, I came across a blog written by a fellow Mennonite pastor. I liked what she had to say in her most recent entry, so clicked on the little button near the top of my screen that said “Follow this Blog.” I follow several blogs and some…
Moses has a thousand reasons to stay right there with the sheep, not the least of which is the fact that, as far as he knows, Pharaoh still wants him dead. But with or without a warrant hanging over our heads, speaking truth to power is hard. It’s not something most people do readily. It’s…
Some of you may find this hard to believe, but I enjoy being in conversation with conservative Mennonites (at least the ones who don’t condemn me to hell as they bludgeon me with Leviticus). When I find the right dialog partners–or they find me–and when I listen well and open myself to the Holy Spirit,…
For those following the Lectionary, here is a call to worship for this Sunday inspired by the Exodus reading: In this act of worshipwe lay down our fears;we refuse our oppressors;we deny the forces of death.In this act of worshipwe know God’s protection;we receive Divine power;we are embraced by the Giver of life.Let us worship…
Reflection on Exodus 2:1-10 {This reflection is excerpted from a longer sermon that I preached on June 22, 2014} {You might also be interested in this reflection I wrote for Practicing Families today–connecting the story of Moses with racial violence and oppression in our own time; also, this call to worship.} In Sunday School, this story of…
Spacious Faith 