This post is excerpted from a sermon on Matthew 28:1-15, preached at Peace Mennonite Church on April 16, 2017. When we talk about witnesses to the resurrection, we almost always—and only—talk about the women. The faithful women were the ones who heard the angel message, saw the empty tomb, and went to tell people that…
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Holy One, Today, our hearts break for the people of Syria, and we fear for the state of our world. Assad tortures and kills his own people, desperately grasping at power with weapons, threats, force. Some Syrians join extremist groups, hoping guns and bombs will lead them to freedom and peace. Many Syrians flee. They…
Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever. . . . Save us—Hosanna in Hebrew—Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. (Psalm 118) This is the hymn that…
This week I saw a vision of bones. Well, more of an image than a vision. One might call it a photograph. There was a long table with colorful cloths folded and placed along both sides. On each folded cloth was a human skull. These were skulls of Native Americans. Bones that had been collected…
This call to worship is based on Psalm 130: In the wilderness we cry out to our God. In the wilderness our souls wait. In the wilderness we hope in God’s word. In the wilderness we know God’s steadfast love. And so, in the wilderness we worship together.
This call to worship is based on Psalm 78:12-20, which echoes the week’s lectionary reading from Exodus (17:1-7) Can God spread a table in the wilderness? In the sight of our ancestors, God worked marvels. Can God spread a table in the wilderness? In the land of Egypt God divided the sea and let them…
Based on Psalm 121 In the wilderness, we will lift up our eyes. In the wilderness, our help comes from God: Our God who made the wilderness; Our God who inhabits the wilderness. God is our keeper; God is our shade and shelter. Let us praise God together. You may also be interested in this…
As a white Christian, I felt privileged to be part of a small inter-faith gathering recently where several women shared a bit of their own stories. One said that her sister went back to Iran to care for their parents. That had been the plan for a long time, and she followed through. But nobody…
James, John, and Peter must have been quite star-struck on the Mount of Transfiguration as they watched these three heroes of the faith talk together. Moses, who had survived a death sentence, who had confronted an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew slave, who had told Pharaoh to let God’s people go, who had called forth the…
Spacious Faith 