Wildwords: Sermons From Wildwood Mennonite Church

This Sunday our worship service is a celebration of our church's work through and with the Mennonite Central Committee! As you may recall (through the timey-wimey fog of the pandemic year that was), 2020 marked 100 years of MCC, and we celebrated that long and deep and wide history in one of our Zoom services last fall. As part of the centennial festivities, we also raised over $10,000 for MCC's "New Roots" campaign, and this summer a tree was planted in front of the church building as a living tribute and inspiration for the ongoing work of "Relief, Development and Peace in the name of Christ." All of that was and is excellent, but with our return to in-person worship (in small doses) this fall, we thought it would be appropriate to revisit the MCC Centennial, with a particular focus on the many, many connections between MCC and our congregation specifically. In this service, we heard from multiple MCC volunteers and staff, a braved the wind and rain for a quick trip outside to surround and dedicate our new

An influential Jewish teacher, a Samaritan woman, an ancient well, a failing water filter, the Garden of Eden. What do they have in common and who is willing to dance? Strange questions that the book of John might possibly have some answers to as we continue looking at a path of deeper wisdom. Put on your dancing shoes and follow along as Jesus continues to unsettle age old traditions. Sermon from Dwight Eisler.

A wedding, a garden, an age-old moral quandary, and a 150 GALLONS of the best wine you can imagine--our journey through the gospel of John brings us to John 2, the "water to wine" miracle story. More than just testing out his supernatural abilities, this origin story has Jesus flipping ancient metaphors and unsettling age-old religious traditions... it's BYOB at this point, but there will definitely be something here worth raising your glass to!

"In the beginning was..." The Word? The Christ? The Truth? The Dance? This week's sermon finds us back on the Four Gospel Journey to Radical Transformation (with Alexander Shaia's Heart and Mind), entering the third path in the Gospel of John. What is the nature of the universe and the nature of God, and how is it possible that those could come together in the person of Jesus the Christ? Let's try some metaphors--truth, light and... bacteria??--to help us move further on the path.

We’re back to that first question: Why church? What’s the connection between faith and deeds; faith and service? Other questions might be: Why are we on this earth? What gives meaning and purpose? What does God intend for us? And what are the connections in those questions? Listen to the words of scripture and the voices of other Christ-followers to hear their perspectives and to consider your own. What do you offer?

As we resume in-person worship services for the first time in almost a year, we are paying attention to the mix of emotions and intentions swirling within and around us. Particularly noting that the pandemic is not yet finished with us and that many folks are still participating in worship primarily online. Last week we shared our Gratitude, and this week we held together our Lament. What is Lament? Forrest Gump summed it up nicely: "Mama always said dyin' was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn't."

As (some of us!) make a long-awaited return to in-person worship services, we begin with a service of gratitude reflecting on the many things we are thankful for from the past year-plus. Joe's sermon also considers what it means to be grateful in the middle of a crisis, when every gratitude is accompanied by a shadow.

Remember coming to church in person? Getting dressed up (or at least fully dressed), leaving the house, sharing mediocre church coffee, making (or avoiding) eye contact with real humans... Well, it's almost time for that again at WMC--starting next Sunday, Sept 12. And first, tune in to hear why Joe thinks church might just be worth the effort (even for those of you not paid to be there...)!

This Sunday we explore rules, boundaries, institutions: how they can serve as a grounding for our experiences of God, but how they are merely the human-made containers in which we hold our finite understandings of God.

"Listen: Our God is One" ~ When asked to sum up the core of faith, that's what Jesus said: God is One. And (I'm paraphrasing here...) you are One, and we all are One. Preposterous, given the trainwreck that life on this planet can seem to be sometimes... Or is it possible that we have been seeing things incompletely, missing a larger unity of which we are all a part? That's the Yellow space on the Spiral Dynamics model; the gateway to a brand new tier of consciousness. Or maybe it's not new: perhaps this is what Jesus was trying to tell us all along?

The Spiral Dynamics model describes the last fifty years as a massive shift from Orange to Green as the leading edge of Western society. Green is the space of inclusion, equality, globalism: lifting up the inherent value in each person and story. It's easy to recognize Wildwood as a generally Green church... how did we get here? And what does it mean to be healthy and whole in our Green approach to faith?

Knock-knock! (Who's there?) ORANGE! (Orange who??) Orange you glad this series is almost over???  Okay, don't answer that honestly... but yeah, this week our journey through the Spiral Dynamics model brings us to the Orange spaces of research, technology, logic and productivity. Reason and Science are often positioned as the antithesis to Faith... but does it have to be that way? Bring your notebooks and pocket protectors and let's find out!

This week we are taking a break from the "Faith of Many Colours" theme and will be led by David Schwinghamer and Sean Baergen in examining lessons we have learned in maintaining community through our Covid experience. What have we learned? And how can we do things better in the future?

Feeling Blue?? The Blue we're talking about this week in our journey through Spiral Dynamics theory is all about peace, order, and good government (hey, that's catchy). What does that have to do with faith? And did this (basic!) pastor really manage to go the whole sermon about Blue without a single Eiffel 65 reference? Join us and see! #DaBaDeeDaBaDi

Which stories have shaped our faith? Who are the people whose examples and influence we lean on? Jesus' story includes some pretty unexpected mentions... do we seek out those kinds of influences as well? This week Patrick Preheim, Co-Pastor at Nutana Park Mennonite Church, shares with us his sermon "Story Shaping Story" drawn from Matthew 1:1-17. This sermon was recorded on June 6, 2021 as part of Nutana’s summer sermon series on spiritual guides.

What Colour is your Faith? This summer at Wildwood, we're exploring the model of Spiral Dynamics as a way to understand the many different faith perspectives that are within and around all of us. Week 2 on the Spiral brings us to Purple: How do I get what I need in a world that is beyond my understanding, let alone my control? Grab your magic wands and customer loyalty cards and join us!

What Colour is your Faith? This summer at Wildwood, we're exploring the model of Spiral Dynamics as a way to understand the many different faith perspectives that are within and around all of us. Up first is "Beige: Primal Faith." Stayin' alive, stayin' alive, oh, oh, oh, oh Stayin' aLIIIIIIVE......

I thought Easter was supposed to be a celebration of the Risen Christ! So why is everybody so quiet at the end of Mark's version of the story?? "...and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." Join us for a guided meditation inviting us further into this expected/unexpected end to our series on the gospel of Mark.

What do Luke Skywalker, Erin Brockovich, Harry Potter, Elsa and Anna, Joseph Campbell and Al Pacino have in common? Guest spots in this week's sermon, of course! Beyond the star power, there is a message of finding Hope at the bottom of the Hero's Journey.  Check it out! #nocelebritieswereharmedinthemakingofthismessage

We are pleased this week to have Kerry Reimer join us and share with us about his work at Parkland Restorative Justice and P2P. Kerry also shares his thoughts on divine nature, mystical union and more!