Weekly Sermons, Announcements and Events
First Mennonite Church August 20, 2023 Grieving, Yet Full of Compassion Text: Matthew 14:1-21 Last Sunday, in Raymond’s prayer, before we started our Sunday school lesson, he prayed, “Lord, as we consider this familiar passage, we ask you to open our eyes to see things in your Word that we have not seen before.” I … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church August 13, 2023 Shh! Do Not Judge! Some of the most misused words of Jesus are found in Matthew seven, verse one: “Do not judge.” Oftentimes, people quote this verse in an attempt to avoid being confronted about their mistakes or sins. Any attempt at showing them their mistakes is seen as … [Read more…]
Pastor Caley Otman, from First Mennonite Church, Reedley, CA, preached this sermon from Matthew 14:22-33, but the text is not available.
First Mennonite Church July 30, 2023 An Ode to the Word of the Lord Text: Psalm 119:129-136 If you noticed, my preaching this month has been from passages in the book of Psalms. Today, I will be closing this short series by focusing our attention on the segment the psalmist dedicated to the Law of … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church July 23, 2023 A Different Kind of Hunting: Hunting for God Psalm 63:1-8 My dad was an avid hunter; he still hunts but not much as he used to do. He is 83 now. He told me that he started at the age of fourteen. In those days, he said, you did … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church July 16, 2023 Listen, All Peoples! Text: Psalm 49:1-20 What a grim picture, right? It does not sound too encouraging! What could be the purpose of this passage in the Bible? For one, it takes wisdom to live wisely. And two, we should never lose sight of the bigger picture in life. … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church July 9, 2023 Who Holds Your Fate? Text: Psalm 16:1-11 Yokoi Kenji, the Colombian/Japanese corporate coach and lecturer says, “Not all will be well always. Time will come when there will be something that is not right in life.” The late theologian and novelist, Frederick Buechner, describes that truth with more vivid … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church July 2, 2023 Remember to Praise Text: Psalm 103:1-5 Psalms 103 is one of the most familiar Psalms in the Bible. The portion we will be considering this morning gets elaborated furthermore in the rest of the chapter. Although parts of the poem seem to exaggerate God’s actions in the world, we … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church June 25, 2023 Persistent on Behalf of Others Text: Luke 11:1-8 Madeleine’s cat’s name is Beans. And he and I have a before-bedtime ritual. I’d call, “Beans, do you want to go to your room?” And there, Beans follows me to the garage and I give him a bit of food, scratch … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church June 18, 2023 (Persistence Rewarded) Persistence. And, Something More? Text: Matthew 15:21-28 15:21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 15:22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter … [Read more…]