Wildwords: Sermons From Wildwood Mennonite Church

Salt, fire, and a butcher block. No, it's not barbecue season at Wildwood. Well, it is, but this is definitely not that! Were talking about a bizarre teaching from Jesus, inviting his followers to cut off their arms, get salted, and burn that Eternal Flame (Mark 9:43-50, for realz). Or something like that... it's really quite confusing. Never fear, Rev. Sherlock is on the case! Join us, and pass the salt!

Join us this week as Josephine challenges us to face our privilege, to listen and learn, and to move through suffering collectively.

It's almost lakes-and-boats season in Saskatchewan! Time for a refresher on proper storm safety protocol--because if you call on Jesus to save you from drowning, you might not get the gentle saviour you were hoping for... Also in this episode: Joe settles the SkyDome / Rogers Centre debate, once and for all.

A deranged emperor. A wild-man prophet. And one of the world's great artists, introduced to himself by a time-travelling Doctor. Because an epic story like the gospel of Mark deserves an epic introduction. Join us!

"Emotions are tunnels. If you go all the way through them, you get to  the light at the end. Exhaustion happens when we get stuck in an  emotion.” ~ Emily and Amelia Nagoski. Remember that scene in the garden,  when the disciples kept falling asleep while Jesus prayed? Might there  have been some emotional baggage behind that exhaustion? And if so, what  hope can that give us when we feel too tired to carry on?

Are you tired of the same old, same old? Ready for a feast? Are you ready to rise from the depths of where you’ve been? Easter resurrection invites us to a new life - a more fulfilling life. Jesus' all-inclusive feast is set before us – and you are called by name. You – yes, YOU – are invited to this feast!

This week's theme has us thinking about the power of moving water and its ability to either help or hinder us in travelling forward.  As we celebrate Palm Sunday, we have the chance to reflect on the currents that brought Jesus into Jerusalem.  These included the celebratory energy of the crowds moving him forward and the current of God that shaped his entire life.  You are encouraged to ponder the many currents of energy swirling through your life, and to look for and feel the effects of God's current in the world. *At the beginning, picture people performing swiftwater entries into rushing rapids.

Spring weather got you itching to get your hands in the dirt of your garden? Easy, pardner, plantin' season is still a long way off! How about a nice, soil-themed sermon to soothe that spring fever?  Join us for a conversation about amaryllis bulbs, regenerative farming, and the ancient call to tending our internal soil.

As we wade into the murky waters of wilderness, let’s do our best to remember the promise we celebrate in baptism, of a God calling us into life. But if that’s a hard hope to cling to, remember the words of Anne Lamott “The opposite of faith is not doubt: It is certainty.”

Still waiting for the release of Top Gun 2? This is definitely not that... but week 3 of our Lent series invites us to take to the skies in search of Wisdom. So please place your copies of Psalm 19 under the seat in front of you, raise your tray tables and securely fasten your seat belt--it's time to buzz the tower!

"If you would save your life, you'll lose it. But if you lose your life for my sake, you'll save it. What would you gain if you were to win the whole world but lose your self in the process?" A provocative challenge from Jesus (Mark 8:31-28). Are we meant to literally follow him to the cross and our own deaths for the greater good? And if not that extreme, then what?

Lent 2021 begins with a global disaster (of course it does....) Well, a story about one, anyway--Noah and the Great Flood. What's so inspirational about a vengeful god destroying the planet, you ask? Besides the cute animals, obviously...

Our theme this Sunday is "Called to Hear" which follows the theme of the Mennonite Church Saskatchewan Annual Delegate Sessions coming up next month. Our "guest speaker" this Sunday is Josh Wallace, Church Engagement Minister at MC Sask. He shares a sermon on The Call of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-21).

In times of change, how does our understanding of God deepen and shift? Do we hold fast to the traditions that have sustained us this far or do we adapt and create new ways of thinking and being for the new times? In this middle section of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17-48), Jesus demonstrates how to hold together tradition and growth. What would that look like for you in 2021?

Does the pandemic have you feeling #blessed? Me either. So what is Jesus up to when he promises that "Blessed are the spiritually bankrupt, for theirs is the kin-dom of the heavens"? (Also, what the heck is a kin-dom?) Follow us up The Mountain to find out! #blessedarethecheesemakers

Psalm 19 says the law of God is perfect. But what if the law of the land is far from the justice that God longs for? And what is the church’s responsibility to engage the law of the land, especially when it impacts those that Jesus is particularly concerned with— the vulnerable? Despite rumors of political non-engagement, Mennonites have wrestled with the laws of the land for generations, not only advocating for change, but helping bring it about. Today, Indigenous peoples are calling on governments and faith communities to adopt and comply with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (TRC Calls to Action 43 & 48).

Remember a week ago when everybody was excited to bid farewell to 2020, just certain that 2021 was going to be So. Much. Better. Well.... how's that working out for ya? Not so much? Take heart, you're not alone. Join us to hear about Tamar, and Rehoboam, and Josiah, and others who have felt like they'd reached the end of their story, yet found something more on the other side. #toosoon #imiss2020?

In this week's worship, we took a look back at the past year through the lens of Ecclesiastes 3: "There is a time for everything; a season for every purpose under heaven." In lieu of a sermon, Joe led us through a guided reflection exercise on that famous poem. inviting us to consider the many different times that we found ourselves in and the possibility that God was with us in and through them all.

Happy Solstice! Grab your yule logs and christmas lights and join us for Wildwood After Dark! (For our international followers, that's like 4:30pm these days...) Join us "On the Road to Revelation" for one more Advent Sunday journey. #nowledge

Advent 3: "On the Road to Restoration." If we can't go back to the way things were, what does it mean to be restored? When the world feels broken (still), when I feel broken (still), is it denial to hold to the prophetic call for a better way, to believe that indeed "If anyone is in Christ the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Cor 5:17)? Can we really be remade "good as new"?