Weekly Sermons, Announcements and Events
First Mennonite Church May 19, 2019 The God in the Book of Job (Part II) Job 16: 1-22 In 2004, I was in Heredia, Costa Rica, teaching for a week for SEMILLA, the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary. In Costa Rica there is a time in the year when you can almost set your clock at … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church May 12, 2019 God in the Book of Job (Part I) Text: Job 1:1-2:10 In my last two sermons I spoke about our need to seek God and of the power of his presence. For today, I could have chosen to speak about God’s sovereignty or righteousness or wisdom and there would … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church May 5, 2019 Living in the Presence of God Psalm 139:1-12; Proverbs 15: 3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. (Proverbs 15: 3) Among the pillars of the Christian confession is that God never changes, that he is almighty, and that he is … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church April 28, 2019 Seeking God Texts: Isaiah 55:6-9, Hebrews 11:1-6 From the very beginning, God has been the greatest seeker of humankind. In Genesis we read of God seeking Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. Later in the book, we find God coming to see what humans were … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church April 21, 2019 Easter: Meaning and Evidence Text: 1Corinthians 15:1-7 This week I read the story of a grandfather who wanted to know how much his four-year-old granddaughter knew about the Easter story. When he saw little Julie playing in the backyard with her friends, he asked them, “Who knows why we … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church April 14, 2019 Taking the Body of Jesus Text: Mark 14:22-72 Today we are continuing our journey with Jesus as he goes to Golgotha and then to his rising up on the third day. Easter Sunday is this coming Sunday. (But let us be mindful that every Sunday is the Lord’s Day; … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church April 7, 2019 I Am the Resurrection John 11:1-45 Every time I officiate a funeral service, I quote the words of Jesus from two verses of this story. As we can see, the story of Lazarus’ resurrection is both a story of grief and exceeding joy, of love and empathy, and of … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church March 31, 2019 Stand Up and Raise Your Head Text: Luke 21:25-36 Luke precedes the passion narratives with Jesus’ eschatological teaching. Eschatology is the study about the end of time. In dealing with this passage, I want to avoid the typical temptation there is when studying eschatological material—the attempt of answering the … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church March 24, 2019 Jesus, Loved and Hated Text John 12:9-19; Luke 11: 39-40; Matthew 12:10-11 For many years two of my very good friends worked tirelessly for a Christian institution. Work made them go away from home for weeks at a time, sacrificing their time and families many times. They worked long … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church March 17, 2019 A Cross-bearing People Text: Matthew 16:21-28 From Matthew’s perspective, Jesus came to a point in his life where he openly began telling his disciples what awaited him. The future that awaited Jesus was a scary one and one which the disciples were not expecting. The disciples were expecting either … [Read more…]