As a Christian community, called to peacemaking and reconciliation, we affirm that people of any race, ethnic identity, gender, who are gay or straight, of any ability, age, or economic status, are welcome to full participation in our congregation.
Melissa shared The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) in its original form and as it might play out right here at Raleigh Mennonite. This version as acted out had a Bishop, a philanthropist, an activist and a payday lender. The first three were smug in their righteousness and celebrated that […]
The parable is The Prodigal Son but Melissa’s sermon focused on the older brother. The brother that stayed behind, served his father, tended the fields and flock and waited for his inheritance. He’s working in the field when his brother returns having squandered the inheritance he demanded while his father was still alive. Facing starvation […]
God has a way of turning bad news into good news. Easter, the “good news” comes on the heals of some very bad news. This year’s bad news was the pandemic. It affected everything, including being able to meet in person on Easter Sunday. Yet in the mist of the bad news there is “good […]
I Samuel 7:1-11, 16 & Luke 1:26-38 – On the Road to Revelation God selected Mary, a young woman to deliver the Lord Jesus in to the world. She was afraid and then heard a an angel’s voice “Greetings you who highly favored, the Lord is with you”. She heard the voice again “Don’t be […]
A commitment to live without harming others, a commitment to shared life and eating around a common table regardless of class status. These are the ways the Thessalonians receive and live out God’s life in Jesus. With practices that sound harmless but change everything, threaten people in power and turn the world upside down. Despite […]
Rachel shares her joys, pains and insights of keeping Bees. Bees only survive by working together in community. In Philippians 1:21-30 Paul doesn’t offer Jesus as a path to prosperity nor does he advocate seeking suffering. Instead he is honest that following Jesus is filled with beauty, joy and community but comes at a cost.
Karin shared she feels the love of God when singing hymns with a choir. She noted that currently in the US we live with a mentality of scarcity. A sense that providing even basic needs like heath care to others will limit our own access. We even extend this to God’s love for us, forgetting […]
