Sermons

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...

Worship | January 16

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...

Worship | January 9

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...

Worship | Epiphany | January 2

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...

Worship | Christmas | December 26

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.” ...

Sermons

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

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