History isn’t recorded, it’s interpreted. Melissa begins her sermon this Sunday by telling about the Bible study she is co-leading on the grounds of the state capitol that compares the Confederate monuments with idolatry.
Rather than statues, we need to tell stories to one another. Stories of how God’s love extends to all of creation. Stories of grace and of uncoerced welcome.
This Sunday Melissa wove together an explanation for the Levitical rules for what meat was clean and unclean with both the current climate change crisis and our focus with A Year at the Table.
Human lust for domination over creation is the root cause of climate change. God loves the whole world and is in covenant with creation. Life belongs to God.
Isaac Villegas, pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship, brought the sermon this Sunday. The Exodus passage recalls the first Jewish Passover. The meal was a ritual, reminding them of the liberation from the house of slavery.
“Love is contraband in Hell,
Cause love is an acid
that eats away bars.”
~Assata Shakur
Melissa began her sermon talking about her many visits to A Place at the Table. Unfortunately, the first two minutes were not recorded, so we pick up from her comparison of A Place at the Table with the story of the three strangers who visit Abraham and Sarah at the oaks at Mamre. Abraham welcomes the strangers and brings Abraham and Sarah’s best for them.
What can we learn about the gathering tables in our community? Where is God present or absent? As we break bread at these tables, we’re invited to observe, to be hospitable and take part in the hospitality, and be witness to the divine presence.
Genesis 1
Melissa’s sermon was preceded by viewing a video featuring James Weldon Johnson reciting the poem The Creation. The poetry of Genesis is where we’re starting our “Year at the Table.”
Our lives are dependent upon creation, just as they’re dependent upon a loving, creative God. Every time we eat, we are reminded that we do not control the world. We are reminded that our very existence is a gift.
Melissa continued the series focused on Hebrews in this morning’s message. What is faith in the midst of political distress, in a government hellbent on terrorizing the vulnerable?
It’s the failures of the people talked about in this Hebrews passage that animates our faith to continue on. They provide hope because of their brokenness. If they can be used by God, there is hope for us. We are creatures of grace, and that can give us hope.
Rachel brought the message this morning and began by telling us about recently being locked in the walk-in refrigerator at Anathoth Community Garden. She weaved this story and several readings into the teachings from the Hebrews passage about Christ as our high priest.
Jesus, as our priest, makes us whole, by reminding us that there is a locked door but also by opening it. By reminding us that we’re in a pit, but that God is there to pull us out. He also reminds us that our gifts and efforts are not what saves us, because the gift of Jesus’ life has already done that.
Hebrews 4:14 – 5:10 & Matthew 26:36-40
Melissa works at clearing up misconceptions we often have and reconciling some of our notions of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament and Jesus’ life and crucifixion. We were forgiven long before we knew we needed forgiving.
Matthew 12:46-50, Hebrews 2:10-18
Zinith Barbee provided the sermon this morning, intertwining stories of Wyatt Earp and cowboys, with Jesus, his family, and Pharisees. At the end of the four gospels, we don’t get the OK Corral, we get Golgotha. Jesus is not the new Sheriff in town, he’s the new light and life.
Hans brought the message to us this morning with his typical good humor.
We don’t always hear God speaking to us. The Bible shows many different ways God is revealed to and works through God’s people. Sometimes God speaks immediately upon request, but not often.
We need to be mindful, paying attention, and open to messages even when those messages may not be what we want to hear.
Our guest speaker this Sunday was Meghan Florian. Her message of hope shared of the power of planting and seeing gardens come to fruition, even in times of difficulty and depression. Sometimes what we sow, only with time will others harvest. What seeds of joy and hope are we planting today, as we uproot injustice and sow peace? What might grow if we remain faithful to God’s call?
This Sunday the service used the music of Patty Griffin to tell stories of a God who is present in the messiness of life. What does the Gospel of Jesus Christ have to say to those with their backs against the wall? The scriptures tell us the answer: God is there with her back against the wall, right beside them, and right beside us.
Rachel draws from Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime to recount the power of understanding many languages. Pentecost calls us to welcome others, to be changed, to be vulnerable, to learn new languages.
“The promise of Pentecost is that we are being made into a people, speaking many languages, to praise God and yet understand each other. ”