One of the beautiful aspects of our congregation is that people besides me preach on a fairly regular basis. This coming Sunday the intelligent and thoughtful Joe Casad will continue our worship series on Jesus’ disciples by focusing on the crowd. Have you ever noticed how much “the crowd” shows up as a character in…
This prayer of confession and assurance of pardon is adapted from the Message version of Ephesians 2:1-10. Holy God, there is always a temptation to be mired in that old stagnant life of sin. We let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell us how to live. We fill our lungs…
This Sunday I will be preaching on Martha, the busy hostess and astute theologian. But I know many of you are working on World Communion services, so here are some links to previous posts: Artwork and Call to Worship A Great Thanksgiving Liturgy A sermon on Ephesians 2:11-22 Other communion calls to worship are here…
Our disciple of the week is Peter! I love the Peter stories . . . maybe because I have a highly impulsive child who would totally step out of the boat, offer to build houses on the mountain, and make big promises with the best of intentions and the worst follow-through. So, here is our…
This week, the disciple we are focusing on is Thomas. It is interesting to note his three speaking parts in the Gospel of John. In chapter 11, when Jesus suggests they go to back to Judea the disciples remind him that the last time he was there people tried to stone him. When he insists…
God of justice and compassion, God of Republicans and Democrats and Independents, God of the poor and the 1% and the middle class, in the heat of this election year we pray for our nation, our churches, and ourselves. In the midst of meanness and deception, may our words be kind and true. In the…
Here at Peace Mennonite we’re starting a series on the disciples that will take us through to Advent. This week’s disciple is Judas–who is fun to begin with, plus his story works well with communion Sunday. Call to Worship As Jesus requested, the table has been prepared, and all are welcome at the meal.…
This coming Sunday, we are beginning a worship series on Jesus’ disciples–so I’m starting it off with the call stories in Matthew 4:18-22 and 9:9. The idea in the first responsive line in the call to worship is to have each person say his or her own name. This will take some prior explanation by…
This call to worship is based on Matthew 14:25-33, the story of Peter walking to Jesus on the water. Such a beautiful story. Holy Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Even now after the sermons, the healings, the miraculous feeding Even now in the ghostly pre-dawn glow Even now as the wind riles the waves and this…
Here is the call to worship we are using this week. I wrote it to go along with our reading from Mark 8:27-33, but it is not at all specific to that scripture. We come as seekers, Unsure of what we seek. We come as followers, Not understanding the One we follow. We come…
Spacious Faith 