CMC Service 2-27-22 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.

Sermon Manuscript

Seeking shalom in a strange land | Coming of Age
Text: Jeremiah 29:1-14
Speaker: Joel Miller

Disoriented.  Unsettled.  Uprooted.  Displaced.  Exile.

These are some of the words we might use to describe what these past two years have felt like.  The pandemic years.  Even if we personally feel a little more settled these days, our society is still feeling the effects.  In our schools.  In the workforce.  In the economy.  In our politics.  Now a war in Ukraine makes it feel all the more uneasy.

Uprooted, Displaced, Exile. 

These are some of the words that describe the people on the receiving end of a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah is writing from Jerusalem, and his letter is going all the way over to Babylon, in the East, where his fellow Judeans have been exiled.  The life they knew was over – their king dethroned, their temple destroyed, their land conquered, their houses flattened. 

And the life they were currently living in Babylon had no clear direction.  Was this temporary or long term?  Could this actually be their new home, or should they be striving to return to what used to be home?  And who should they listen to to give them guidance?

Disoriented.  Unsettled.  Uprooted.

These are words we use when we are going through a significant life transition.  Like moving away from home for the first time.  Like retirement, or getting married or divorced.  Like losing a beloved pet.  Like falling in or out of love.

And…this universal human experience of transitioning from childhood to…something else.  Different cultures have different…

CMC Service 2/20/2022 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.

Sermon manuscript:

Text: Luke 6:27-38

Speaker: Mark Rupp

Title: Life, Unscripted

A friend of mine from college recently wrote and published a book called, The Funny Thing About Forgiveness: What Every Leader Needs to Know About Improv, Culture and the World’s Least Favorite F Word.  I haven’t talked to Andrea Flack-Wetherald since back when she was Andrea Flack, but I knew through semi-regular Facebook updates that in the last few years she had taken up improv comedy as a hobby.  What I didn’t realize until I started seeing updates about her book was that she had taken her love of improv and combined it with her training as a social worker to create a method of conflict engagement and leadership development she calls Mindful Improv. 

Andrea’s book and much of her work is geared toward leaders in corporate work-place type settings, but she recognizes that the methods and goals behind Mindful Improv are much farther reaching than the office or the boardroom.  She even boldly claims that the ultimate goal is nothing short of world peace. 

If I wasn’t already interested, this claim definitely caught my attention. 

As I read her book, I realized that while her focus may be directed at a very specific audience, the methods she suggests do, indeed, get at some very foundational elements of relationship building, conflict transformation, and what it means to live from a place of our values.  If those aren’t some of the building blocks for world peace, I don’t know what is.

As Andrea…

The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.

Sermon Manuscript | Blessings and woes on the plain

Text: Luke 6:17-26

Speaker: Joel Miller

Being married to a Kansan means that about once a year our family packs up the minivan and heads west to be with our Kansas people.  Being married to a Western Kansan means that after we cross the state line in Kansas City, we’ve still got a solid four a half hours of Kansas ahead of us before we arrive.

When I tell this to people, a regular response is that Kansas is that place they have gone through to get to the mountains.  And while I can’t disagree that the Rocky Mountains are indeed glorious, I usually try to slip in a good word about the beauty of the Great Plains. 

I couldn’t help thinking about plains and mountains and the relationship between them while reading this passage from Luke. 

Mennonites and other folks point to the Sermon on the Mount as a core teaching of our faith.  And rightly so.  Matthew dedicates three consecutive chapters to this block of teaching, beginning with the beatitudes.  “Blessed are the poor in the spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” followed by eight other declarations of blessedness.  Matthew portrays Jesus as a new Moses, and so, like Moses on Mt Sinai, Jesus’ teaching takes place on a mountainside.    

Luke’s version of this sermon appears in chapter six and begins this way: “(Jesus) went down with them and stood on a level place.  A large crowd of his disciples was there and a number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of…

CMC Worship Service 02/06/2022.mov from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.

Sermon | Here I am.  (Don’t) send me. 

Texts: Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5:1-11

Speaker: Joel Miller

There’s something compelling about call stories.  These are the experiences that move us to go on and do things we feel we must do, in service to the world. 

I learned early on that pastors are frequently asked to tell their call story.  So when did you feel called to be a pastor?  This is perhaps because, of all people, pastors are expected to know why we’re doing what we’re doing.  Or maybe it’s because most people assume nobody would actually want to be a pastor unless they’re really called.  You know, unless God made them do it. 

My typical answer to this question starts with the time around sixth grade when I was asked to preach a sermon at our little church. Not quite knowing what I was getting myself into, I decided to tackle the entire book of Job.  I had a growing interest in the Bible and spirituality in high school and was encouraged by people I admired to consider being a pastor.  There’s a lot more to it than that, but those were the early seeds.  It’s always meant a lot to me that calling, if we’re going to stick with that term, comes from community and not just something I decided I wanted to do.  Or maybe I’m still just trying to figure out the meaning of Job.   

With Desmond Tutu’s recent death there have been a number of replays of interviews he had…

The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.

Sermon Notes “Called for Such a time as this…”
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Renée P Wormack-Keels
 

Good morning and I am so grateful for this opportunity to share with you.
Your Pastor is indeed “gracious” to offer a chance to speak with you.

The primary text that is found in Jeremiah – is often referred to as a “call
narrative.” The second text from Esther is also a familiar text that reports an
explanation for being “chosen” for service. Numerous call narratives throughout
the biblical story.

I am sure that you have had opportunities to study and examine both passages
for their historical and biblical context.

But for our time together, I would like to share some of my reflection on what it
means to be called into service in times like these. These are, indeed, challenging
times. There will always be challenging times.

God is always calling people of faith to specific action, to special work to bring
about the kingdom of God. It can be scary. We can feel that we are not qualified
for the task….God equips those who are called…

The Baptist preacher in me calls me to offer three points and a closing…

1. Hearing the call – I am deeply convinced that the people of God, when open
to the spirit, hear God calling us forth in all seasons of time. I am often in
awe, and at times, amazed when we are placed in a situation, or an
opportunity is provided to optimize the kingdom purposes of God. Wayside
opportunities to make the difference in another person’s life.

a. To hear the call, one of my friends reminds us that to hear, that being
“woke” or awakened being aware is an…