Matthew 5: 43-48

With the recent American bombing of Iran, we now move into a time filled with tension, fear, calls for war, and calls for reprisal. As Christians we must remember that we are called to a different path than the world. Melissa Florer-Bixler preaches on our Covenant Sunday that we must pay close attention to Jesus' first teachings after his temptation in the desert; we must love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. Yet the gift of peace that God has given us must be worked out through imperfect vessels, namely pacifists like Mennonites and other Christians who hold the ideal of peace close to heart. And how do we figure out this way of peace? Church is where we gather every Sunday to conduct our experiments of peace. There we try, sometimes fail, learn, and share with each other as we try to pass on God's gift of peace to others. As an intentional community of believers we take the risk of being hurt by each other for the opportunity to heal and to be healed.

Romans 5: 1-5

On Trinity Sunday Melissa Florer-Bixler preached on the words of Paul in Romans. Paul didn't focus on what the makeup of the Trinity is, but who the persons of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are. Essentially, God is not vengeful, cruel, or indifferent. God, through the trinity, is the giver of gifts. Jesus is the gift that redeems our sins, and the Holy Spirit is our guide and the wellspring of our hope. Who God is, not what, instructs us on how we should treat each other, our neighbors, and how we build together a faithful Church body. If God is the giver of precious gifts, then we must live a life of radical gift giving and receiving that does not count the cost.

1 Corinthians 3:11

This Sunday RMC's own Jordan Morehouse preached on the foundations of our faith. We often use scripture, tradition, and faith practices to justify all manner of evils against our neighbors. Jordan reminds us that we must be ready to change our actions and views when we see that time honored parts of our theology fail to show God's love in its fullness. As we face uncomfortable inconsistencies in our politics, traditions, and theologies, it can be especially difficult to find God's purpose amidst all of the fear and confusion of our current social, political, and economic environment. Today's scripture and sermon instruct us to look to the life and words of Jesus to help us to interpret what parts of our faith need tearing down and what parts are a solid foundation to build upon, instead of clinging to what we have constructed that is not working to build God's kingdom.

Scripture: Isaiah 12:1-6

Melissa opened her sermon sharing about a man who helped rescue a friend who was attacked by a shark. He swam directly toward the injured swimmer, putting himself in direct vicinity with the shark. The backstory behind most people who show real bravery in the midst of danger is that they have long been cultivating disciplines, convictions and patterns, sometimes over a lifetime.

The same can be said about the Israelites that Isaiah is speaking to in the passage above. While things are really bleak, they are from a long line of people who have trusted God, who left their homes, who gave up their gods to follow the Lord. In other words, they were trained for this. It's not just doing what God says, it's about knowing God.

The first Anabaptists were willing to "swim toward sharks" in their quest to follow Jesus. Who would be willing to die to follow Jesus as a member of this Anabaptist group?

The message also featured the testimony of one our community who will be baptized in a couple of weeks. Grant shared his confession of faith with us.

Scripture: John 15:1-10

"Abide" is central to John's gospel. Abide is the orientation of our lives to Jesus, but also of Jesus's life with us.

Jesus tells his disciples that he will abide with them, even as he goes away. In this goodbye it's interesting that Jesus actually never tells the disciples that they ought to bear fruit. It's actually the work of God to bear fruit. Our job, our only role, is to abide.

Sabbath is the way we abide. Why do we yield our time around the Lord's day? Because Sabbath is an invitation to rest. Because God rests. But God doesn't need rest. Rest is the time to delight in the pleasure of what God creates.

Scripture: Matthew 18:1-5

The disciples of Jesus have "power problems." Who's going to be greatest? Who's going to sit next to him? And as usual, Jesus has to gently put them in their place. He tells them,

Unless you turn around and become like a child you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus brings attention to children because of their social rank--at the very bottom of the hierarchy.

Melissa held up the Presbyterian minister and children's TV icon, Mr. Rogers, as someone who took seriously the experiences of children. He treated them with dignity. Jesus tells his disciples to convert to children but Mr. Rogers shows us what that might look like.

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-8

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

It's easy to "weaponize" this teaching in Proverbs, to make us believe that the rational or scientific reasoning may be suspect. That can open us up to a lot of hucksters peddling whatever they have decided is God's truth.

Wisdom comes from patient, attentive discernment of the questions that are always before us. Because wisdom intersects with community, wisdom asks, is it good for the body of Jesus? Is it good for all of us? We turn our lives towards the way God is shaping and forming the reign of God, not through violence and coercion. But instead through the constant enduring love of God that's made known to us in Jesus.

Jeremiah 17: 5-8

This week RMC's Miguel Cruz preached the sermon in Spanish. The English voice you will hear is that of the live translator in the sanctuary. Due to the nature of the recording tech, there is some residual audio of Miguel's voice in the background. ** Preaching from Jeremiah, Miguel asks us to test and examine ourselves deeply when we ask the question: where does our help come from when encounter injustice, strife, and hostility in the world? If our answer is that we rely on our own power, skills, and intellect to confront these modern ills and idols, we almost certainly doom ourselves to perpetual dissatisfaction, even if our desires are righteous. We must realize that we owe every ability we have and every good thing we might do to God's goodness and mercy. The scriptures say that our hope comes from the Lord, and that means allowing God lead us instead of relying on our own strength. By giving up, we win.