Believe

Preacher: Nathan Hosler Scripture: John 3:1-17; Matthew 17:1-9; Matthew 25:31-46 A couple of years ago, when kiddo was 5, we took a family trip to Costa Rica. Part of the trip was to visit the cloud rainforests. And part of this portion of the trip was to do a forest canopy zipline tour. We would…

Do Not Be Afraid

Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Matthew 17:1-9 I spent some time in Western North Carolina this week, a year and a half after Hurricane Helene blew through and changed nearly every aspect of the place. I was down there because my boyfriend, Jay, finally got a call from contractors who were surveying property damage that had…

Do justice, Love kindness, Walk humbly

Scripture: Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 5:1-12 Preacher: Nate Hosler One summer morning in 1708, a group of 8 individuals were baptized in the Eder River in Schwarzenau, Germany. After careful Bible study and consideration of the early church, this group determined that they should be baptized (again). Having been baptized as infants into the state church,…

Salt and Light

Preacher: Julia Baker Scripture: Matthew 5:13-20 I love the winter ocean. My boots crunch over the frozen sand where crystals of waves, salt in movement have frozen. A churned gray-blue sea and sky. Even the light is more subtle, catching flecks of freeze and illuminating them from within. Standing on the lip edge of the…

Invitation

Preacher: Christie Dahlin Scripture: John 1: 29-42 I am in the midst of starting a Mennonite church in Portland, Maine. After being a pastor at an established church in Boise for a couple years it is a very different experience to try to start something new.  While there has been some exciting movement,  some good…

Jesus Gets in Line

Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17 Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ baptism well into the scene of John hanging out by the Jordan River. John has been out here in the Galilee, baptizing people from Jerusalem and Judea and all over the region for, he is preaching, the repentance of sins. People streamed out…

Cliffhangers, stargazers, and a murderous tyrant

Preacher: Jenn Hosler Scripture: Matthew 2:1-18 Have you ever been engrossed in a really great book or TV series or multi-part movie, only to hit the end and the next part isn’t available? During this winter break, the final episodes of Stranger Things released, and I was talking with a family member about the series….

The Holy Innocents

Preacher: Julia Baker Scripture: Matthew 2:13-23 When I saw that the gospel lectionary passage for this 3rd day of Christmas was The Holy Innocents  — I wanted to pass.  The story of King Herod and his plan to get rid of the infant Jesus before he can grow up to be a threat. Jesus is…

Glittering Leaf- Love a Child

Preacher: Nathan Hosler Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Luke 2:1-20 A Mystery As I thought of love and the coming Christ child, the red leaf glittered.  How and why? I wondered. There is almost a metallic character as the morning sunlight passed through. What is it that makes this growing energy-producing panel, which I mundanely…

New Life from a Stump (Holy Hope)

Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10 This week, I was catching up with a parent at my kid’s school, knowing that they had visited their older adult parents over Thanksgiving and that they were tasked with hosting an extended-family-Thanksgiving. I asked how it went and he said, “I don’t know why we always put it…