Seattle Mennonite Church Sermons

What to do with the story in Numbers of God sending poisonous snakes to mortally wound the Israelites in the desert? What on earth could this story have to say to us? Listen as Pastor Megan takes a crack at seeking understanding and a word of good news in this strangest of biblical tales.

As Christians we've inherited a rather confused message about "The Law." Historically Christians have loved the Ten Commandments, even advocating for their physical presence at our public places (hello ... separation of church and state??), while dismissing the rest of The Law as made irrelevant in light of the freedom offered by Jesus (hello ... Christian supersessionism??). Listen...

Pastor Amy tells anew the story of a queerly named God who gives new names and new identities to Abram and Sarai and calls them into new identities in ways they cannot comprehend. Like them we are called to understand that our bodies and biology do not determine the path and promise God has for us. As a welcoming and affirming church, can we think anew of how our queer kindred receive as a gift th...

Pastor Megan leads us in lament for victims of gun violence, specifically the 17 precious youth and adults gunned down by a teenager with an assault rifle in Parkland, Florida this past week. And then she reflects on the very first covenant described by the Bible - a unilateral covenant God makes to all creation to never again destroy, even when fed up with humanity's unquenchable thirst for...

Pastor Megan invites us - like Jesus did when he retreated for prayer in the dark early morning hours - to dwell with the Psalms as we begin to process together having heard a challenging word from our Peace Lecture guests last Sunday, Waziyatawin and John Stoesz.

WHAT DOES JUSTICE LOOK LIKE? The Struggles for Liberation in Indigenous Homelands. Speakers Wazitayawin and John Stoesz shared with us the experience of the Dakota struggle for land justice in Minnesota, and explored its application for communities like ours in the Pacific Northwest. In their morning presentation, "Naming Injustice to Find Justice," Wazitayawin and John Stoesz' ques...

WHAT DOES JUSTICE LOOK LIKE? The Struggles for Liberation in Indigenous Homelands. Speakers Wazitayawin and John Stoesz shared with us the experience of the Dakota struggle for land justice in Minnesota, and explored its application for communities like ours in the Pacific Northwest. In their morning presentation, "Naming Injustice to Find Justice," Wazitayawin and John Stoesz' ques...

WHAT DOES JUSTICE LOOK LIKE? The Struggles for Liberation in Indigenous Homelands. Speakers Wazitayawin and John Stoesz shared with us the experience of the Dakota struggle for land justice in Minnesota, and explored its application for communities like ours in the Pacific Northwest. In their morning presentation, "Naming Injustice to Find Justice," Wazitayawin and John Stoesz' ques...

WHAT DOES JUSTICE LOOK LIKE? The Struggles for Liberation in Indigenous Homelands. Speakers Wazitayawin and John Stoesz shared with us the experience of the Dakota struggle for land justice in Minnesota, and explored its application for communities like ours in the Pacific Northwest. In their morning presentation, "Naming Injustice to Find Justice," Wazitayawin and John Stoesz' ques...

Pastor Megan preaches about Zebedee left standing in the boat when his sons leave to follow Jesus. [Please note there's a long silence in the middle of this recording. It is not accidental.]Photo by Trevor Cole on Unsplash

Pastor Amy explores the way the 'light' of empire, exemplified by the violent and cruel reign of Herod is of a fundamentally different nature than the light of the star guiding the magi. Like the song says, "Jesus is now our star divine, brighter and brighter he will shine." May Jesus be our guiding star.

How to preach joy on the week when one of our beloved friends has died ... and far too young?

Hymnal: A Worship Book 653

Advent, again, begins with a bang. An apocalyptic bang. We are welcomed into this season with the startling yet strangely familiar words of Jesus from Mark's "little apocalypse." Pastor Megan invites us to consider how we simultaneously inhabit two entirely different seasons in this month: Advent with our faith community, and the "holiday season" with the rest of the world...

We look at Micah 6 – the full chapter in which beloved verse 8 (“What does God require of you? But to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”) finds a home. Pastor Megan invites us to reflect on the heart of God’s Jubilee vision, found in these familiar and beloved words of the prophet.

We look at Micah 6 - the full chapter in which beloved verse 8 ("What does God require of you? But to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.") finds a home. The setting for that most familiar and beloved verse - a verse that beautifully and aptly describes the heart of God's Jubilee vision - is a courtroom drama. Listen as Pastor Megan invites us to reflect on the...

When you learn to follow Jesus, you might act a little strange. As we celebrate All Saints day, we look to the strange saints and weirdos who followed Jesus against what our culture tells us is normal and right.

Pastor Megan wraps up our worship series with Paul's letter to the Corinthians by reflecting a bit on Paul's final messages to his friends in Corinth.

Pastor Megan continues our worship adventure with the church at Corinth with a reflection on chapter 12, Paul's use of the familiar Greco-Roman body metaphor with a significant subversive twist for the church, and his call for the church to not just be LIKE family, but to actually BE family. Listen to hear more about unique manifestations of the Spirit and knife sharpeners.

Pastor Amy reflects on men and women, hair and head coverings, praying and prophesying. What does it mean to be faithful?

Pastor Megan continues our adventure with the congregation at Corinth by reflecting on Paul's mixed metaphors (are we God's field or God's building?!), and the distractions that keep us from claiming our foundational unity.

The communion table has greater implications than just the gathering on a Sunday morning. The way we share food together around the Lord's table should be reflective of the way we share all our resources in community and with our neighbors.

Pastor Megan kicks off our 6-week series on 1 Corinthians reflecting on what it's like to read someone else's mail from 2000 years ago and across the globe, what resonance there might be between ancient Corinth and our own contemporary Seattle, and what it means for Paul (and us!) to proclaim "Christ crucified."

Pastor Megan reflects on the parable of the day laborers from Matthew 20.1-16, the lack of fairness in life (no one said it would be...), and the (sometimes annoying) generosity of God.