Sermons

jul 17-Up to 4K from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

The first 10 minutes of the service are unavailable due to internet issues.

Credits:

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.

Holy Spirit, Come with Power - Voices Together #57. Text: Anne Neufeld Rupp (USA), ©1970 Anne Neufeld Rupp. Used with permission of Byron Rupp (current copyright holder). Music: attr. B.F. White (USA), The Sacred Harp, 1844; harm. Joan Fyock Norris (USA), © 1989 Joan Fyock Norris. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, license #A-727859. All rights reserved.

Gott Ist gegenwärtig (God Is Here among Us) – Voices Together #62. Text: Gerhard Tersteegen (present-day Germany), Geistliches Blumengärtlein, 1729; trans. The Hymnal, 1940, alt.; Music: Joachim Neander (present-day Germany), Alpha und Omega, Glaub-und Liebesübung, 1680. Public domain.

Worship | July 10

CMC Worship07:10:2022.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 Manuscript

Saved by a Samaritan
Text: Luke 10:25-37
Speaker: Joel Miller

There’s a story in the book of 2 Chronicles that gets told about as often as other stories from 2 Chronicles – not much. It happens during the days of King Ahaz. Ahaz was one of the bad kings of Jerusalem. Chronicles has two categories for kings. Either they “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,” like David and Solomon. Like Jotham, Ahaz’s father. And Hezekiah Ahaz’s son. Or they “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” Like King Jehorah. Like Ahaz. In Chronicles, when Jerusalem has a king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, good things happen – like a building campaign. Like military victories, or years of peace in the land. When Jerusalem has a king who did...

Worship | July 3

CMC service 7-3-22 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
Texts: Acts 4:32–37; 2 Cor 8:1-15
Guest Speaker: Alison Casella Brookins

Interdependence Sunday

So. Happy Independence day weekend. The favorite Mennonite holiday celebrating the

beginning of a war, commemorated every year by the setting of off tiny bombs all night

for a whole weekend (or, where I live in Chicago, for a month), the holiday when babies

can’t sleep and dogs go on poop strike.

When I’m explaining Mennonites, I often say: “Our denomination holds its meeting

every other year over the 4th of July weekend in a conference center in the hottest place

in the country. No one else is holding their conference in the sweltering heat of a holiday

weekend, so it’s inexpensive. This demonstrates our core values: not aligning too closely

with...

Worship | June 26

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: Of mantles, discipleship, and NYC
Texts: 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14; Luke 9:51-62
Speaker: Joel Miller

For spring break this year Abbie and I took Eve and Lily to New York City. Ila had some special time with her grandparents in Bellefontaine. Despite spring break being a break from school, I found myself unable to resist the urge to be our high school daughters’ self-appointed teacher for the week. Especially in regards to how that city that plays such a large role in their culture.

The first time we got on the subway I pointed to the white brick-pattern tiles lining the cavernous walls. “You know those tiles in our shower at home?” I asked. This is why we call them subway tiles. New York City. I hadn’t planned this little lesson. It just kind of happened.

The girls...

Worship | Pride Sunday | June 19

CMC 6/19/22 Worship Service 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: Bodied Biodiversity
Texts: John 20:24-29; Genesis 1:1-13
Speaker: Bethany Davey

I have the unique privilege of preaching on Juneteenth and Pride Sunday, both of
which celebrate and affirm collective liberation from colonial oppression. While
the work of liberation is ongoing, lifelong and absolutely collective, it is essential
that we take a breath, pause and celebrate those who have paved the way for these
days to become a possibility. Juneteenth and Pride Sunday are possible because
ancestors and generations of dreamers and activists dared to imagine a reality that
defied colonization, that defied empire.

Queerness, which we intentionally celebrate this month, defies empire. Queerness
is in direct opposition to the homogenous nature of colonialism that thrives within
white supremacist heteronormativity and favors Eurowhite, cisgender, heterosexual
ways of being. Were colonization to have...

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