Worship | January 9
The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.
Sermon: Is it really that simple?
Speaker: Gretchen Geyer
Texts: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22; Matthew 5:44, 6:34, 16:24
Good morning everyone – Throughout this sermon, I am occasionally going to say the phrase
‘reflect and meditate on the word blank’ and in the place of blank, I’ll insert a specific word. Then I’ll
leave about 10 seconds for you all to think of whatever images, ideas, or other words come to mind
when I say that word. So let’s begin. Reflect and meditate on the word water. [Count to 10]
On June 13, 2008, while I was living with my parents in Iowa, a massive rain storm headed
towards our area. We watched as the storm clouds moved in and the rains started to pour down. While
my parent’s home was safe, a mere 30 minutes away, the city of Cedar Rapids was not so fortunate. The
water from the rains wreaked havoc on the city. The Cedar River, the river that runs through the city
crested at 31 feet which is an incredible 11 feet higher than was ever previously recorded. The waters
reached 10 square miles throughout the city. These waters impacted 5400 homes and dislocated 18,000
residents.
On that same day, my parents and I used water in our home on numerous occasions without
giving it a second thought, as I’m sure many of you do as well in your daily lives. We drank water from
our faucet, we used water to clean up the dishes after our meals, we used water to flush the toilet and
to wash our hands. How can it be that water, an element of life, that seems so simple at the outset and
one that is…
Worship | Epiphany | January 2
The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.
Sermon | A Multitude of Camels
Texts: Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12
Speaker: Mark Rupp
One of the biggest losses for me during this pandemic has been the necessary cancellation of the extended family gatherings for my mother’s side of the family. We have still been able to gather with my brothers and their families while being as safe as possible, but I have deeply missed the chaotic large group gatherings with cousins and cousin’s kids running through legs and under tables, aunts making the rounds to catch up on all the family gossip, uncles quietly falling asleep in a chair until someone dares to change the TV channel, and the occasional significant other brought along for the first time who always ends up looking overwhelmed trying to remember so many names.
My mother is one of six siblings, each of which has multiple children, many with their own growing families. The pandemic has made me lose the exact count of all the babies my various cousins have been having over the last two years, but at this point I think these family gatherings end up pushing close to 100 people when everyone is there.
And nothing better sums up and symbolizes this large family chaos better than the much loved tradition we have of playing Christmas Bingo. This tradition started many years ago when we finally outgrew the ability to do direct gift exchanges. Instead, one of my aunts designed bingo cards using all the Christmas clip art she could find (of course Jesus was the free space because Jesus is free for everyone),…
Worship | Christmas | December 26
Essentials: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, Immanuel, Epiphany
CMC Service 12-26-21.mp4 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.
The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.
Sermon | God with us, Us with God
Text: Luke 1:39-56
Speaker: Joel Miller
In April 1977 a group of mothers gathered in the Plaza de Mayo outside the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a demonstration of women whose adult children had gone missing under the current military dictatorship. They demanded the release of their loved ones but were instead expelled from the public square.
This was the first public action of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Later that year they decided to join the annual pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lujan, a Basilica with a statue of the Virgin Mary. They wore white headscarves with the names and birth dates of their missing children along with the words “Aparicion con Vida,” “Alive reappearance.” This was their hope and their demand for their children who were desaparecidos, disappeared. In the following years The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo continued telling their stories and speaking out against the repressive military government, at great risk to themselves.
At the height of their protests the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo marched with posters containing the words of Mary’s Magnificat:
Él hace proezas con su brazo:
dispersa a los soberbios de corazón,
God has shown strength with his arm
He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts
derriba del trono a los poderosos
y enaltece a los humildes,
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly
a los hambrientos los colma de bienes
y…
Christmas Eve Service | December 24
CMC Christmas Eve 2021 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.
The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.
…
Worship | Advent 4 | December 19
The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.
Sermon: An essential story
Text: Luke 1:26-38
Speaker: Joel Miller
Song: STS 11 No wind at the window, v. 1
“No wind at the window, no knock at the door; no light from the lampstand, no foot on the floor; no dream born of tiredness, no ghost raised by fear: just an angel and a woman and a voice in her ear.”
In this Advent season focused on the essentials, we have now reached the essential story. Not that the others aren’t important – Jesus calling to be watchful for the coming of the Human One, John the Baptist’s claim that one more powerful than he is coming, the hopeful words of the prophets Isaiah and Micah, even the birth of Jesus – these are all part of the holy drama of the season. But for any of those prophetic words to be fulfilled, for Jesus to be born in the first place, it took a young woman willing to birth Christ into the world. It took Mary, young Mary, and her encounter with the angel who told her to not be afraid. The messenger who invited her to partner with God, at great risk to herself. And it took Mary’s acceptance of this strange burden to bring forth the one whose kin-dom shall have no end.
On this forth week of Advent, the final Sunday before Christmas, we light the candle of love, and we ponder this essential story.
I suppose the other three gospels might beg to differ on its essentialness. Matthew does mention that Mary was “found to be with child by the Holy Spirit,” but proceeds to focus on the…
