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

Texts: Nehemiah 8:1-10; Luke 4:14-21

Speaker: Joel Miller

“What season are we in now?”  It was an earnest question from the administrative side of the church office, directed at me.

The intent was to discern whether we need a new icon for worship slides, a new word or phrase declaring a theme.  Something to give order to these disordered days. 

“Depends who you ask,” I reply.  “Some liturgical calendars call the whole season between Christmas and Lent Epiphany.  Others just call it Ordinary Time, same as the long stretch in the summer.”   

After further discussion during which we voiced our personal preferences whether to think of this as Epiphany or Ordinary Time, I mentioned that it kind of doesn’t matter since we’ll be going with the lectionary readings week to week without an overall theme. 

It’s one of the perks of being Mennonite.  We get to pick and choose when to emphasize the liturgical season, when to just stick with the assigned readings, and when to do our own thing entirely like a multi-week series on racism, creation care, or learning our new hymnal.

But it is the kind of question that lingers in the mind: “What season are we in now?” 

Well, it’s certainly winter.  This past week’s snowfall coincided with extra days off school between quarters for Columbus City Schools.  The first snow fort of the year was constructed in our backyard and survived the midweek warmish spell.   

The month of January always invites a season of looking back on the past year and looking ahead.  While I was with the youth up at Camp Friedenswald enjoying an even more…

CMC Service 1-16-22.mp4 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 | Wine and a whip 

Text: John 2:1-12: 13-22

Speaker: Joel Miller

In the second chapter of his gospel, John puts two stories back to back that seemingly don’t have much to do with each other.   

The first is when Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding in Cana.  The second is when Jesus clears, or cleanses, the temple in Jerusalem.

None of the other gospels record the water into wine story.  All three of the other gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke include the clearing of the temple.  But they each put it toward the end rather than beginning of the story, right after Jesus enters Jerusalem in his triumphal entry during the final week of his life.  In their telling, this dramatic public act of temple disruption serves to convince the powers that be that Jesus has finally gone too far and must be dealt with forcefully. 

So John includes a unique story, then puts a pivotal commonly told story at the front, rather than back end, of Jesus’ ministry.

Looking at these two stories together would make for a good elementary school compare-and-contrast assignment.  So let’s all get in touch with our fifth grade selves for a bit and give it a whirl.

One takes place in the small Galilean village of Cana.  The other is in the holy city of Jerusalem.

One is a wedding celebration.  One is an annual pilgrimage festival.

One is about the creation of something new – wine from water.  The other is about the potential destruction of a long standing institution.

In one,…

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: Is it really that simple?

Speaker: Gretchen Geyer

Texts: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22; Matthew 5:44, 6:34, 16:24

Good morning everyone – Throughout this sermon, I am occasionally going to say the phrase
‘reflect and meditate on the word blank’ and in the place of blank, I’ll insert a specific word. Then I’ll
leave about 10 seconds for you all to think of whatever images, ideas, or other words come to mind
when I say that word. So let’s begin. Reflect and meditate on the word water. [Count to 10]

On June 13, 2008, while I was living with my parents in Iowa, a massive rain storm headed
towards our area. We watched as the storm clouds moved in and the rains started to pour down. While
my parent’s home was safe, a mere 30 minutes away, the city of Cedar Rapids was not so fortunate. The
water from the rains wreaked havoc on the city. The Cedar River, the river that runs through the city
crested at 31 feet which is an incredible 11 feet higher than was ever previously recorded. The waters
reached 10 square miles throughout the city. These waters impacted 5400 homes and dislocated 18,000
residents.

On that same day, my parents and I used water in our home on numerous occasions without
giving it a second thought, as I’m sure many of you do as well in your daily lives. We drank water from
our faucet, we used water to clean up the dishes after our meals, we used water to flush the toilet and
to wash our hands. How can it be that water, an element of life, that seems so simple at the outset and
one that is…

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 | A Multitude of Camels

Texts: Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12

Speaker: Mark Rupp

One of the biggest losses for me during this pandemic has been the necessary cancellation of the extended family gatherings for my mother’s side of the family. We have still been able to gather with my brothers and their families while being as safe as possible, but I have deeply missed the chaotic large group gatherings with cousins and cousin’s kids running through legs and under tables, aunts making the rounds to catch up on all the family gossip, uncles quietly falling asleep in a chair until someone dares to change the TV channel, and the occasional significant other brought along for the first time who always ends up looking overwhelmed trying to remember so many names. 

My mother is one of six siblings, each of which has multiple children, many with their own growing families. The pandemic has made me lose the exact count of all the babies my various cousins have been having over the last two years, but at this point I think these family gatherings end up pushing close to 100 people when everyone is there. 

And nothing better sums up and symbolizes this large family chaos better than the much loved tradition we have of playing Christmas Bingo. This tradition started many years ago when we finally outgrew the ability to do direct gift exchanges. Instead, one of my aunts designed bingo cards using all the Christmas clip art she could find (of course Jesus was the free space because Jesus is free for everyone),…

Essentials: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, Immanuel, Epiphany

CMC Service 12-26-21.mp4 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 | God with us, Us with God

Text: Luke 1:39-56

Speaker: Joel Miller

In April 1977 a group of mothers gathered in the Plaza de Mayo outside the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  It was a demonstration of women whose adult children had gone missing under the current military dictatorship.  They demanded the release of their loved ones but were instead expelled from the public square. 

This was the first public action of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.  Later that year they  decided to join the annual pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lujan, a Basilica with a statue of the Virgin Mary.  They wore white headscarves with the names and birth dates of their missing children along with the words “Aparicion con Vida,” “Alive reappearance.”  This was their hope and their demand for their children who were desaparecidos, disappeared.  In the following years The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo continued telling their stories and speaking out against the repressive military government, at great risk to themselves. 

At the height of their protests the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo marched with posters containing the words of Mary’s Magnificat:

Él hace proezas con su brazo:
dispersa a los soberbios de corazón,

     God has shown strength with his arm
     He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts

derriba del trono a los poderosos
y enaltece a los humildes,

     God has brought down the powerful from their thrones
     and lifted up the lowly

a los hambrientos los colma de bienes
y…