Sermons

Worship | Coming of Age Celebration | February 27

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...

Worship | February 20

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...

Worship | February 13

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

...

Worship | February 6

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...

Worship | January 30

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...

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