River East Church Podcast

On October 18, Mary Anne spoke on the difficult passage of Joshua 24:1-15. In wrestling with these words, she explored the meaning of the oft-forgotten location of Schechem in the Biblical narrative—from Genesis to Jesus.

On October 11, Aaron offered a view of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20) that goes beyond a mere list of rules or a symbol of the culture wars. Taking the lead from Jewish commentators, we instead can see this famous passage as a moment in the unfolding story of God that continues to this day.

On October 4, Mary Anne dove into Exodus 14, the famous story of God splitting the sea so the Israelites can escape from Egypt. This is a tale of transition—of God moving a people from slavery into somethin new—and Mary Anne invites us to see how God calls us to posture ourselves in our own times of transition. AUDIO NOTE: this recording missed the first few seconds of Mary Anne's message—she begi...

This Sunday we were grateful to welcome Jackson Nayaho among us—River East has a long history of supporting Jackson and the Ubuntu Clinic he started in Burundi. In this short meditation, Jackson reflects on how his life interacts with the story of Joseph in Egypt, and the ways God has remained faithful.

It's the jazz liturgy! On September 20, the service wove together spoken words (by Aaron Thiessen) with the musical talents of our very own jazz quartet (Karly Epp on vocals; Bryan Harder on keys; Karl Kohut on bass; Sam Robinson on percussion). Together we explored core values, Acts chapter 10, fourth century arguments about the Trinity, and the experience of God in our postmodern world. A note o...

On September 6, Bryan Harder recycled two short meditations first written by his father, Helmut—a prominent Mennonite theologian who drafted the 1995 Confession of Faith. Though written in the 60s, these meditations highlight the timeless task of wrestling with what one believes... where to hold fast and where to move on.

On August 30, Mary Anne brought this recycled sermon from over the ocean, from her time in Germany. In it, Andrea Schwartz explores the Parable of the Sower, highlighting the wisdom of incompleteness.

On August 23, Gerhard offered a recycled sermon from his sister-in-law, Vernelle Enns Penner. The sermon re-examines the popular conception of 'Doubting Thomas' in John 20:19-29, articulating doubt as an expected—and even welcome —companion to faith.

On August 9, Edgar shared an edited chapter from Diana Eck's book, Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras. The sermon grapples with a central question of interfaith dialogue: If we see someone from another faith fervently praying, is God listening? If we answer 'no,' what does that say about God? If we answer 'yes,' what does that say about what we are doing as Christians?

On August 2nd, Dr. Paul Doerksen recycled this address by Dr. Paul Dyck, first spoken at a Canadian Mennonite University chapel service. Offered at a time of transition for the university, the sermon enourages us to expand our understanding of worship in relation to the academy.

On August 16, Mary Anne offered this sermon from Sarah Godbehere, a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). This sermon wrestles with our approaches to difficult passages of scripture, highlighting how difficult texts can actually be read in very different ways.

On July 26, Connie recycled a sermon by Paul Tillich, first preached after the Second World War. The sermon works to both rehabilitate and hone the traditional language of 'sin' and 'grace,' reframing the Apostle Paul's words in Romans 6:1-10 while still claiming they are indispensible to the life of faith.

On July 19, Aaron was back to recycle a more contemporary sermon, this time by religious scholar and historian Diana Butler Bass. In "Jesus the Ingrate," Butler Bass uses the story of Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) to explore the competing notions of gratitude within the Ancient Near East. Ultimately, Butler Bass claims that Jesus' life of thankfulness also entails a call to subver...

On July 12, Richard offered a heartfelt sermon first preached by his late father, Henry Konrad. First preached more than 30 years ago, the sermon explores Mary, Martha, and the themes of God's grace, acceptance, and love.

Continuing our series of 'recycled' summer sermons, Marilyn offered us the words of Rev. Sarah Thomas, reflecting both on the story of Acts 2, as well as the recent Artemis II mission past the moon. Just as the world came together as these astronauts went further from earth than any humans before, Thomas invites us to consider how God is binding us into a new people through the Spirit.

On June 28, Aaron kicked off our fifth year of offering 'recycled' sermons over the summer months. Going way back to the year 378, Aaron threw us into the deep end with a sermon by Saint Gregory of Nyssa on the sixth beatituded, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." In the sermon, Gregory offers a sweeping vision of what it means to be human, made in God's image—a vision that ma...

May 10, 2026. On this 6th Sunday of easter we are calling The Visible Lines of Joy, guest speaker Jon Brandt does a biblical storytelling of the entire book of Philippians.

May 17, 2026. On this 7th Sunday of Easter, Mary Anne explores how Philippians 2:1-13 offers a way to respond the increasing polarity of our world.

On April 26, Aaron explored the extended story of Paul's and Silas' arrest—and jailbreak—in Philippi (Acts 16:16-34). In this account, we see two disruptions of Roman institutions, but only one leads to ongoing transformation. How should we understand this?

On April 19, Mary Anne unpacked our guiding metaphor for Eastertide this year: the resurrection as a magnetic field. Using the conversion of Saul to Paul as an example (Acts 9:1-19a), we see how the twin 'poles' of Christ suffering and resurrection can create new alignment in us.

On April 12, Krista guided us through John 20:19-31, and the ways the first disciples reacted to the resurrection, and invites us to take another look at so-called 'doubting' Thomas.

On Resurrection Sunday, Aaron offered this sermon on plant intelligence, ghost forests, and Mary Magdalene mistaking the resurrected Christ as the gardener.

This Palm Sunday, Paul Doerksen offered reflections on this strange day in the Christian calendar, a strange and destabilizing mixture of celebration and failure, We are cautioned to avoid misplaced triumphalism—the Hosannas of Palm Sunday are not the Hallelujahs of Easter—Jesus' victory looks different than what anyone expected.

March 22 - John 19:1-16a. Mary Anne explores one of the meanings of why Jesus' death matters. Through a verse by verse approach she examines the story of Jesus’ trial through the lens of Violence, asking how Jesus' death helps protect us from Violence.

March 15, 2026 - John 18:29-47. Michael explores the dialogue between Jesus and Pilate and the conflict between God’s reign and this world's kingdoms.