GOOD TROUBLE: DISOBEYING THE POWERS FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Matthew 16:13-20 Jennifer Hosler A leader stands up and says, “They are taking over. They are ruining our country. They are overrunning our cities. They are plotting, they are seeking to undermine our values and our prosperity. Those people must be stopped, must be controlled, must be contained, so that we…

WAS IT GOD: CHARLOTTESVILLE VS. EGYPT

  Genesis 45:1-15, Psalm 133, Matthew 15:10-28 Nate Hosler Though the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville and counter protest—which included many clergy, including some Brethren pastors—happened over a week ago it remains on our minds. In part, this is because of the responses, lack of responses, and responses to responses that have happened this week. While…

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

1 Kings 19:9-18, Matthew 14:22-33 Jeff Davidson My original plan was to talk about this passage in light of our discernment process with the Brethren Nutrition Program. I’ve moved away from that specific focus over the course of the last couple of weeks, but my conclusion still applies to that process and to the discussion…

LISTEN TO HIM!

Exodus 34:29-35 & Luke 9:28-36 Micah Bales When I was in college, I visited Mexico for the first time as a foreign exchange student with Brethren Colleges Abroad. I spent seven months there, living mostly in the eastern city of Xalapa, Veracruz – where Xalapeno peppers come from. But first, I spent several weeks studying…

BLUE, PURPLE, AND CRIMSON YARNS

Exodus 35:4-34 Monica McFadden In my first ever art history class in college (World Art I), my wild professor, Scott Montgomery (who looked exactly like you want your art professor to look—long white Dumbledore hair and beard, barefoot but wearing a suit), introduced the class to the very beginnings of Christian art. Back when Christianity…

THE FARTHEST LIMITS OF THE SEA

Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24; Genesis 28:10-19a Jennifer Hosler Have you ever run from God? Have you ever felt emotionally and spiritually unsettled, disturbed, not knowing what you needed—and then realized that God is providing exactly what you need? I have. Psalm 139, which we used as a call to worship, is one of my favorite psalms….

RISK HOPE

Hebrews 10:19-25 Jeff Davidson Ming, one of our cats, and I have a ritual. When I get up I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, take a shower, and get dressed. When I come out of the bathroom to get dressed, Ming lays down in the middle of the floor, between me and my…

O PRISONERS OF HOPE

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67, Zechariah 9:9-12, Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Nate Hosler Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!     Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you;     triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey,     on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim     and the…

FROM DEATH TO LIFE

Genesis 22:1-14 & Romans 6:12-23 Micah Bales This is a tough passage to preach on. It’s one of the most iconic stories of the Bible – the time that Abraham and Isaac went up to that mountain, and Abraham only thought only one of them was coming back.   God told Abraham to take his…

ROOTS

Jeremiah 20:7-13 Monica McFadden While I was studying abroad in London this past year, I got completely hooked on the Netflix series “The Crown.” If you haven’t heard of it, the show follows the newly coronated Queen Elizabeth II and her experience acclimating to her role as Queen, including the many struggles involved with politics,…