WildWords: Sermons from Wildwood Mennonite Church Wildwood Mennonite Church

What do lotus flowers, butterflies and honey bees have in common? Following our Sunday Brunch on this last Sunday of the month, Peter Lippmann shared with us some thoughts on patience drawn from Psalm 37:3-7 and Philippians 4:8.

We were excited to work with Amanda Dodge, Program Director with MCC SK, to have a guest speaker from India join us this Sunday live via Zoom, as part of MCC's "Climate Action for Peace" campaign.

Our speaker, Pabrita Paramanya, is an MCC staffer working in development and agriculture. Pabrita’s presentation covered identification of regions in eastern Indian where he works with MCC & partners, discussion of climate change adaptation and mitigation work there, and stories of affected people/families.

The presentation was followed by an opportunity for a Q&A period.

How are we meant to read the Bible? Anabaptists take the Bible seriously as a guide for faith and life. Of course, that’s the claim of most every Christian church--so what makes an Anabaptist perspective different? Our tradition claims faithfulness to a simple, straightforward understanding of Scripture, to an interpretation guided by community, and to Jesus as the embodiment of the Word of God. What does that mean to you?

Following our Sunday Brunch on this last Sunday of the month, Kari Thronberg shared with us some thoughts on self-esteem drawn from Psalm 139.

Jesus is the center of our faith. While our ways of living this out are many, Mennonites are followers of Jesus. We study his teachings, we follow his example, and we keep him at the center of our theology. This plays out in different ways in different settings, but this relationship with Jesus holds us together and is the basis for our shared values moving forward. What's your particular flavour of Jesus? And what is this squirrel doing in here?

An Anabaptist faith is rooted in the story of a particular place and time: the “radical reformation” of 16th century Western Europe. As political and religious shifts raced across the region, a small community of religious radicals challenged the state-sanctioned Christian hierarchies and formed their own churches based around a simple reading of Scripture, the non-violent Way of Jesus, and adult baptism. In spite of intense persecution, the movement spread and the religious denominations they began, including Mennonites, have carried on for 500 years in communities around the globe.