Forest Hills Mennonite Church

We're all living through what one cultural commentator calls "a bitter age," one marked by divisiveness, polarization, and distrust. As followers of Jesus, what might change if we drew on an ancient roadmap for flourishing together, cultivating and sharing the fruit of the Spirit by practicing love, joy, peace, patience, and more? This Sunday, we embark on a nine-week journey into God's vision for...

Jesus wants us well-rested. That's the promise we find in Matthew's Gospel, and its implications can radically reshape our lives. Pastor Jon is joined by Nita Landis, a spiritual companion, writer, and retreat leader, for a conversation about real rest. 

At Jesus' baptism, the evidence of God's presence couldn't be clearer: a voice from heaven announcing "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." As others begin to follow Jesus, though, their experiences are far more ordinary and every day, yet they still choose the path of discipleship. 

George Washington quoted Scripture frequently, and he quoted from the prophet Micah more than any other Biblical author. Looking ahead to God's preferred future, Micah envisions that "everyone will sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one will make them afraid." Is it possible for us to live into this vision?

"Is there enough?" All of have an automatic, often subconscious answer to that question, but we might not always be aware of the forces and ideas shaping our assumptions. Pastor Jon explores the subconscious ways we learn to interpret the world as a place of scarcity—and how God's goodness teaches another story. 

Dr. Nancy Heisey explores the letter to the Ephesians, and God's desire to invite real flesh and blood human beings into the common good. 

After the events of this past weekend, Pastor Jon offers some perspectives on how we remain faithful to Jesus during tumultuous times. 

Christian worship practices throughout history have an experiential richness that can seem to be lacking from some post-Enlightenment or Protestant expressions. What are some benefits of embracing liturgical traditions in worship?

Oil, in the ancient world, was rich with symbolism and significance. From celebrating abundance to practicing hospitality, for experiencing joy to seeking health, oil was an important part of daily life. How might we experience the richness of that tradition today?

The Psalms remind us of how good and pleasant it is for kinfolk to live together in unity. Our experiences of worship, however, sometimes serve to remind us of our differences rather than bringing us closer together. How does our mentality about worship allow us to move closer to unity?

Almost 5% of the Psalms are characterized as "penitential" or "confessional" Psalms—prayers offered to God after transgressions or sins. While we tend to think of confession as a primarily private matter, the Psalms invite us to consider the practice of corporate confession in gathered worship. 

W. David O. Taylor says that Christian worship suffers from theologies that "prioritize the interior and invisible activities of the heart and mind, where the 'real' action of worship is believed to occur." Scripture, in contrast, presents a vision of worship overflowing with physicality, as God's people stand, bow, kneel, dance, clap, sing, shout, and raise their hands before their creator. 

The Psalms are an ancient songbook overflowing with expressions of praise to God. Within their rich diversity, what can we learn about our own practices of worship today? 

Why does God save us?

How does God save us? Drawing from Acts and Romans, Pastor Jon walks though the significance of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for salvation.

What is the right verb tense for salvation? Do we speak of salvation in the past ("when were you saved?") or in the future, as something we have yet to experience? The Biblical story shows us how Jesus unfolds salvation both within time and across time.

Existence is a fundamentally relational phenomenon: everything that is exists in and through a complex web of relationships. Since God created a relational cosmos, then salvation must be relational, too.

Most people with even a passing awareness of Christianity know that it has something to do with "salvation": getting saved, being saved, accepting Jesus as savior. But do we have a shared sense of what we mean when we talk about salvation? This message launches us into a five week exploration of what salvation is and how we understand it.

So much of Jesus' teaching, particularly in the Gospel of Luke, focuses on finances and economics. Following Jesus has profound implications for how we make, spend, save, and share our money. Chad Martin, Executive Director of Chestnut Street Housing, invites us into Jesus' good news of a year of jubilee. 

If God truly raised Jesus from the dead, then we have the chance to rethink everything we've assumed to be true about the world. 

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus' disciples herald his arrival into Jerusalem by acclaiming him as "king." What does it mean to affirm that Jesus' life, teachings, death, burial, and resurrection all contribute to his enthronement as King?

Is "revolutionary" an appropriate category for understanding the life and actions of Jesus? While some modern scholars think so, the true revolution Jesus brought about wasn't with swords and spears but within hearts and minds. 

Hannah Arendt once claimed that, "The discoverer of the role of forgiveness in the realm of human affairs was Jesus of Nazareth." Learning to forgive like Jesus is a core part of Christian faith and practice. 

Jesus practices and models an extravagant generosity. How can we better pattern our lives after his? 

The incarnation means that Jesus steps into all of the messiness of human existence—including our politics. What can we learn from how navigates the political complexities of his day?