Wildwords: Sermons From Wildwood Mennonite Church

Remember those classic Christmas carols, "Repent the Herald Angels Sing," "We Three Kings, Repenting We Are" and, of course, "Repenting Around the Christmas Tree"? Me neither. So what in the world is a theme like "On the Road...to Repentance" doing in the middle of our Advent series?? (hint: it has nothing to do with whatever Mommy and Santa Clause were doing underneath the mistletoe last night...) Stop what you're doing, turn around, and listen to this! You won't regret it... ;)

"Ready or not, here I come!" Remember the thrill of that cry in childhood games of hide and seek? That's also the cry of Advent, but somewhere amidst the familiarity and tradition the advent-ure tends to get lost... What if God is up to something totally awesome and unexpected this year?? (yeah, turns out the prophet Isaiah was an OG of clickbait!)

Did you ever want to be Hamlet? Would you rather play the part of Hamlet or of St. Paul? Let me break it to you: You are not Hamlet; you are called to live your life as YOU! Check out the sermon to find out what difference it makes and to discover how that is a good thing!

This week we explore the theme of Peace in Practice. We are thankful to have Heather and Ben share some reflections and clips from the podcast "Reconcile. Everyday Conversations" which they cohost.

Our sermon this week is a pre-recorded sermon from Rod Suderman, pastor at First Mennonite Church in Saskatoon. From Rod: “I used the controversy around wearing face masks as my main example to my basic message:  When crucified Jesus was raised from the dead, the world shifted on its axis, says Paul. A whole new world was initiated. To be a Christian is to have had one’s eyes opened to a new reality—God’s realm breaking into our world. Christ expects us to live according to this new reality, living into the world as it is and will be rather than merely conforming to the old dying and defeated world. In Christ, it’s a whole new world; now we’re to live like it.”

"You are my Beloved, my own. On you, my favor rests." Is that what you hear when you step into the water (or find yourself up to your neck in it involuntarily...)? A celebration of baptism and membership. Come and see.

What does it mean to be "People of God's Peace" when the conflict is coming from inside the church? We'd rather be the peacemakers that go out to help the world deal with its problems... but the truth is that our house is just as messy as the rest of the world--if not more. What do we do with that complicated reality?

Inner Peace. Sure sounds nice, but how do we get there? Psalm 23 has brought a sense of calm and comfort to people of faith for generations, so that sounds like a good place to start. Picture your favourite green pastures and still waters and join us for a journey (that may or may not include a brief interlude through the valley of the shadow of death...).

Happy Thanksgiving! Grab a turkey leg, loosen those pajama pants and sit back for a tale of woe from the ancient Hebrews... When it comes to searching for Peace, for better or worse, their story is our story. Okay, so it's mostly for worse...but can we make it better? Come and see! And bring your voter registration card!

What do peace and Revelation have in common? Anyone love games? How about Paul and a beach good-bye party? Dwight will try and weave them all together as well a story about his parents and see if this has anything to do with being a peace driven church. Shalom!

"In the Name of the Prince of Peace: Stomp! His! Face!" Ummm... is God really the God of Peace when that's pretty much a direct quote from Scripture? (Romans 16:20, if you're curious). So what are we supposed to do with the violence apparently done by, or at least done in the name of, the God of Peace?

"We Are People of God's Peace" - our "church founder" Menno Simons declared it so in 1552, and that has been central to the Mennonite identity ever since. But what does that mean, exactly? And what do we do when we don't all agree about that, much less manage to live up to our high ideals? School's back in session; time for a little bit of Peace Church 101!

This Sunday at Wildwood we are celebrating 100 Years of Mennonite Central Committee and Wildwood's participation in serving together with MCC. We are pleased to have Eileen Klassen Hamm, Executive Director of MCC SK and part of our WMC family share with us on the themes of creation, abundance, hospitality & reconciliation.

Goldfish? "Some thoughts, delivered on a significant occasion" from a literary giant? A bit of unnecessary biblical Greek? And was that a very weak attempt at a Yoda voice I heard in there? Yep, it's sermon time at Wildwood... The Realm of God is within/among/in the midst of you! And even the nonsense is somehow "on fire with the same force that lit the stars" (David Foster Wallace) Grab your marshmallow sticks and join us! Watch "This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace here: https://youtu.be/eC7xzavzEKY

Our guest speaker from the internet this week is Erna Kim Hackett, with a sermon on Psalm 139. Most of us have heard that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made," but do we let that awareness permeate and transform the way we see ourselves? And do we let that knowledge shape our relationships with everyone and everything else? Grab some knitting needles and join us! You can watch Erna Kim Hackett's sermon titled "Love" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g29ihatalm8.

"...then Jesus told them a parable: Look at the fig tree, or any other tree." What does a common, ordinary tree have to do with what surely sounds like a prophecy about the end of the world? And wow, that's a pretty dire prophecy, all violence and destruction! Where is God when the whole world is on fire?

Mustard…Rapeseed…Canola…. Regardless, a tiny seed can grow into a huge shrub! And it really doesn’t matter - unless you’re cooking with it! In this time of pandemic, and maybe because of it, what seeds of hope for the world would you like to plant?

The Parable of the Rich Fool is a cutting indictment of... something...  Wealth? A lack of faith? Greed? This week's exploration of The Realm of God considers what it means to be on the watch for "all kinds of greed."

Our worship this week invites us to expand our horizons beyond our Living Skies to consider the all-encompassing global Body of Christ. Our sermon this week is a pre-recorded sermon from Mennonite Church Canada International Witness Director Jeannette Hanson. “The Kingdom of God is like a banyan tree,” originally recorded in May for Morden Mennonite Church, looks at Ephesians 2:17-22 and shares how each expression of church enlivens the whole, using examples from International Witness ministries around the world.

Buried (pirate?) treasure? Pearls and fishes? Storage Wars? This week's 4-pack of parables has a bit of everything... including the GOAT, Michael Jordan! Click on to find out what the Realm of God is Like This week.