First Mennonite Church October 30, 2016 Introduction: Today I want to start a new sermon series. This time I want to work on several well-known Bible stories. As you well know, the beauty in the biblical stories lies in the non-sanitized accounts of ordinary men and women. These stories are simple, direct and in many … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church October 23, 2016 Followers of Jesus Have Dual Citizenship (Some have more but not less) Texts: Luke 22: 24-27, Psalm 33 24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church October 16, 2016 Worship in Daily Life Text: 1Corinthinas 10:23-11:1 Today, I want to conclude the series on worship. As we have been reminded, worship is an act we direct towards something or someone. In the context of our faith worship is directed towards God. The Bible is not only abundantly clear … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church October 2, 2016 Worship, Rest and Witness Text: Matthew 11:28-30 If you were to do a mental list of everything you did this week, how long would that list be? Your list might include home chores, which itself is a long list of activities. In your list you would have: exercising, doing … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church September 25, 2016 Let Worship Flow and Justice Roll Down Text: Amos 5: 18-24 Among prominent evangelicals there is one who is often in the news. He openly condemns the socio-political trends of American society and the politicians who he believes promotes them. He gathers Christians to prayer rallies and often proclaims … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church September 18, 2016 Text: Colossians 3:1-11 Worship: A Transforming Act A picture of heavenly worship is found in Revelations 7. The countless worshipers of all tribes, languages, and nations are robed in white. The angels and all those around the throne of the Lamb fall on their faces to worship God. What … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church September 4, 2016 “Sunday Gathering: The Tip of the Iceberg of Worship” Text: Psalm 96; Romans 12:1-2; 9-21. I would not do justice to the book of Psalms if I do not speak about the very purpose for which it was written. The book of Psalm is a book of songs and … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church August 28, 2016 Eternity: “Not where, but with Whom” Luke 16:19-31 In light of the chain of questions the psalmist asks God in chapter 88 of Psalms as to whether there is activity after death, last Sunday I said I was going to explore the issue about what the Bible says of … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church August 21, 2016 When Death Knocks on the Door Text: Psalm 88; Mark 15:33-41 If Psalm 23 is the most familiar psalm in the Bible and if Psalm 100 is the most joyous, Psalm 88 is the saddest psalm of all. Some believe that this psalm was born out of Israel’s exile … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church August 14, 2016 A Simple Act That Has Great Meaning Text: Psalm 84:1-12 There are some visible actions that we engage in and although they are very simple they have meaning which goes beyond the ordinary acts itself. Take for instance Communion. We eat an ordinary morsel of bread and drink what … [Read more…]