Seattle Mennonite Church Sermons SMC preachers

Pastor Amy shares moments and memories of God's love and favor over the 18 years of her ministry at Seattle Mennonite.

Sermon begins at 5:28
Luke 1.46-55, 4.14-22
Resources
Pokemon and Christian discipleshipYouth play super giant dutch blitzImage: Artwork by Amy EppHymn: 549, Be Thou My Vision. Irish Traditional Mary Elizabeth Byrne trans. Martin Shaw harmony. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

 A Psalm of praise becomes a Psalm of lament as the City of Seattle cites and fines our congregation for the humans who have found refuge on our property after relentlessly being swept from public parks and lands. As our friend Rachael Weasley so poignantly sings, “How can our anger give life?” Of the many names for God, right now I need these most of all: God is Warrior Protectrix. God is shelter. God is good news for the poor. God is love. ~Pastor Megan

Sermon begins at minute marker 6:02
Psalm 89
Resources
Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated (2021). Specifically: “Introduction” (xii), “Appendix: God Names and Divine Titles” (329-330), and Psalm 89.1-8, 14 (322-323; text below).“How Can Our Anger” by Rachael Weasley, Songs of Contemplation for Activists and Christians, now also published in Voices Together, 792 (MennoMedia, 2020).“Daughters of Hope” by Rachael Weasley, Songs of Contemplation for Travelers and Troublemakers; includes this quote from Augustine, 354-430 C.E. “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”“If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving.” James Baldwin, posted by blackliturgies (Cole Arthur Riley) on Instagram, August 2023.Austin Channing Brown, in an Instagram post on August 6, 2023: “Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being… Focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change… Anger expressed and translated into action in the service of our vision and our future is a liberating and strengthening act of clarification.”Seattle Mennonite Church Congregational CovenantImage: “A (partial) name tag for God” - created in worship by Seattle Mennonite Church.Hymn: VT 134 Bring Many Names (WESTCHASE) ©1989 Hope Publishing Company.Text: Brian Wren Music: Carlton Young Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.Psalm 89.1-8, 14 (trans. Rev. Dr. Wilda C. Gafney)
I will sing of the love of the FOUNT OF LIFE forever;
with my mouth I will make known  your faithfulness from across the generations.
When I declare that your faithful love is established forever;
your faithfulness is established in the heavens,
[and you responded,] “I have inscribed a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn an oath to the descendants of Bathsheba:
“I will establish your line forever,
your throne that I will build, will be to all generations.”
The heavens confess your wonders, O WOMB OF CREATION,
and to your faithfulness in the congregation of the holy ones;
For who in the skies can be compared to the WOMB OF LIFE?
Who is like the MOTHER OF ALL among the children of the gods?
A dread God in the council of the holy ones,
great and terrible above all who surround her.
WARRIOR PROTECTRIX, who is mighty like you?
YOU

Joy & Justice are the twin children of Jubilee. They go together like (love and marriage?) a horse and carriage… “You can’t have one without the other!” As we seek to be God’s Jubilee people for one another and the world, may we continuously form one another in the ways of joy and of justice.

Sermon begins at minute marker 4:12
Psalm 146
Resources
“Ella’s Song,” written by Bernice Johnson Reagon in honor of her mentor, Ella Baker; performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock. “​​We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated (2021).Voices Together, 107.Jubilee texts throughout the Bible, a sampling: Exodus 23, Leviticus 25 and 27, Deuteronomy 15, 1 Samuel 2.1-10 (Hannah’s song), Psalm 113, Psalm 146, Isaiah 61, Jeremiah 34, Luke 1.46-55 (Mary’s song), Luke 4.14-30 (Jesus’ first public teaching)Image: a still from the GORGEOUS video of “Ella’s Song,” produced and performed by the Resistance Revival Chorus. “The Resistance Revival Chorus (RRC) is a collective of more than 60 women, and non-binary singers, who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices.”Hymn: Arise Your Light is Come. Ruth Duck (USA), 1974, © 1992 GIA Publications, Inc. William Henry Walter (USA), 1894; desc. Diana McLeod (Canada), © 1995 Diana McLeod. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

“I implore you to exercise your power to help a friend (me!) to end this war. It matters to me.” When Sue spoke these words to a room full of Mennonites gathered to learn more about the (forgotten) Korean War near the 70 year anniversary of armistice, which paused the fighting but kept the war alive, Pastor Megan knew she’d been called in. She had been called in to bear witness to Sue’s bold truth-telling and to act in solidarity with her friend. What’s next? We will figure that out together, because we have been given to one another in the receiving and claiming and building of Christ’s peace. May it be so.

Sermon begins at minute marker 6:11
1 Samuel 4.2, 5–11, 19–22; John 14.25–31

Resources
Yujin Kim, “Belonging in peace: A young adult reflects on her family and the Korean divide,” June 20, 2023.Sue Park-Hur and Austin Headrick, “Remembering the Forgotten War,” workshop presented at MennoCon in Kansas City, July 5, 2023.Anabaptist World (Vol. 4, No. 9), July 7, 2023. Multiple articles by Tim Huber: “Still Seeking Peace, 70 Years After War in Korea” (p. 8-11), “The church’s role in South Korea’s militarization” (p. 12-13), “Working for peace, one relationship at a time” (p. 14-16), “Fear, Love, and Walls that Divide” (p. 17).Image: detail from Yujin Kim’s artwork - both pieces can be viewed in their entirety by clicking the “Belonging in peace” link above. Artist’s statement on the piece featured here: “This artwork complements the illustration of the broken Korean Peninsula. The shape of the Korean Peninsula is filled with fish and waves. The divided land is now a body of water. Water is a symbol of freedom and solidarity because there are no borders in water. The fish represent people who are moving freely without any restraint, hesitation or fear. The illustration incorporates the style of Minhwa, the traditional Korean folk art. Minhwa was a tool for all people, free from rank or title, to express their honest desire and good wishes for others. Overall, the illustration expresses my honest hope and longing for peace in the Korean Peninsula.”

Join us as Bob Pauw uses stories from Luke and Acts to illuminate stories of the people he has known in his work. He shares his heartfelt conviction that he has been blessed to walk with a living Jesus. Bob is an immigration lawyer who works with the least of these and finds it a blessing to walk with them. 


Sermon begins at minute marker 5:44Luke 4:14-20; Luke 5:1-11; Luke 8:42-48; Luke 23:32-43; Acts 3:1-10Image: Photo by ATC Comm Photo on pexelsHymn: English text © 1982, Willard F. Jabusch. All rights reserved. Administered by OCP. Music and Spanish text © 1979, Cesáreo Gabaráin. Published by OCP. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

The early Jesus Way community held resources in common and - in that sharing - were able to meet the needs of all. The book of Acts reports that the Holy One daily added to the numbers of this early Jesus Way community “those who were being saved”. Which causes us to wonder: Saved FROM what? And saved TO or FOR what?

Sermon begins at minute marker 5:21
Matthew 15.29–39, Acts 2.43–47

Resources
A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated (2021).Image: “kindness” - contribution from a young person in our community, responding to the question of what we are saved TO.Hymn: 387, We Are One in the Spirit. Text: Peter Scholtes (USA), 1966; Spanish trans. Federico J. Pagura (Argentina); German trans. Anton Schulte (Germany) and Bernd Schlottoff (Germany); French trans. Claire-Lise de Benoît (Switzerland). Music: Peter Scholtes, 1966; arr. Richard D. Wetzel (USA). © 1966 F.E.L. Publications, assigned to The Lorenz Corp., 1991, (admin. Music Services) Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.