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: When the plant talks back

Text: Exodus 3:1-14

Speaker: Joel Miller

This past week I stood in this very spot several times, looking around, imagining, remembering….  Mostly to practice not crying.  Not that I mind crying in public, not a problem, it just makes it hard to talk.  Along with the three-month Sabbatical, it’s been a year and a half since I’ve been a part of this here.  So there’s that.  And then there was this hope I had, fantasy really, that this end of summer time, more than “Hey, I’m back”, was going to be a much fuller “Hey, we’re back” – celebrating being on the other side of the biggest challenges of this pandemic.  Which is not the case.  So, there’s that too. 

So here we are, and “here” is many places.  And “we,” by God’s grace, is still one body, held together in spiritual and cosmic union in Christ.

Today and next week I do want to bring forward some of what I thought about and worked on during the Sabbatical, first through this Exodus story of Moses and the burning bush, and next week with the gospel story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman.  I assure you the Sabbatical had plenty of time for play and doing things entirely unrelated to church, including this new thing we discovered called weekend trips out of town.  Highly recommended, in moderation. 

But I did have roughly half of the Sabbatical for study and creation of some materials for what I hope to become an annual offering at CMC – a small group of adults, young and old going deeper into…

Due to technical difficulties, we do not have the first part of the service recorded. The recording picks up during children’s time but as usual, does not include the time for sharing.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859.

Gathering in God’s Name

Cultivating beloved community.  This was a worship theme that was born in part out of a hope that by the time we got to the series we would be in the process of returning to in-person worship services.  I suppose that hope has become somewhat of a reality, but I also recognize that this transition has been and continues to be more difficult than we probably would have guessed way back in that long-ago oh-so-naive time period known as just a few months ago. 

Regardless of how far we are into this transition, this worship series has coincided nicely with the start of that transition back to in-person services; however, we should not see them overlapping so much as to give the impression that cultivating beloved community only happens in person.  Whatever the next few weeks, months, or even years hold for us, it seems as though some form of hybrid community is here to stay.  And while it was hardly ever easy, the pandemic has shown us just how much we need connection to sustain us and just how much beloved community can be cultivated in lots of different ways. 

So while this series has coincided with the return to in-person services, it was perhaps equally as much born out of a recognition that the pandemic has caused many of us to reassess the relationships in our lives.  Maybe we found ourselves asking which friendships are most important for us to maintain even…

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.

Order of Worship

Prelude

Land Acknowledgement

Welcome

We acknowledge we are gathering on land where Miami, Osage, Shawnee, and other Indigenous peoples have lived and labored, fought and loved. We continue to work and pray for justice and conciliation.     

Call to Worship

As we gather, virtually and in-person, we collectively take a full and nourishing in-breath.

God, for our bodies, we give thanks.

Together, we exhale, releasing what needs to be released.

God, for our bodies, we give thanks.

As we inhale, we send oxygen to the parts of our body needing it most.

God, for our bodies, we give thanks.

As we exhale, we breathe out vibrance and passion, sharing our energy where it is needed.

God, for our bodies, we give thanks.

May we be present in our precious bodies. May we notice the stories our bodies carry. May we notice the sensations throughout our bodies. May we honor the sacred and holy wisdom of our bodies.

God, for our bodies, we give thanks.

Peace Candle

VT 1 | Summoned by the God Who Made Us

Children’s Time

Offering/Dedication Prayer

VT 61 | You Are Holy, You Are Whole

Scripture 1 Kings 2:10-12,1 Kings 3:3-14, NIV; John 6:51-58, NRSV

Sermon | Why Mennonites Can’t Dance: Co-Creating Embodied Resilience for the Beloved Community

Silent Reflection

Song | I’ve Got Peace Like a River

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Pastoral Prayer

Passing the Peace

Extinguishing the Peace Candle

VT 827 | Move in Our Midst

Benediction

Announcements

Thanks to everyone who helped lead today’s service

Sermon: Amanda K Gross    

Worship Leader: Bethany Davey

Music Coordination: Phil Yoder

Children’s Time: Bethany Davey

Peace Candle: Julie & Phil Hart

Scripture Reading: Oliver & Eva Davey

Sound: Jim Myers & Tom Blosser

Camera Operator: Joel Copeland

Zoom Host: Elisa Leahy

Greeter: Mark Rupp

Worship Table: Chaska Yoder

Usher & Sanctuarian: Bill Plessinger

…

Order of Worship

Prelude

Welcome 

Land Acknowledgement 

We acknowledge we are gathering on land where Miami, Osage, Shawnee, and other Indigenous peoples have lived and labored, fought, and loved. We continue to work and pray for justice and conciliation.      

Call to Worship

God who opens doors and dismantles barriers to cultivate beloved community

Open our hearts and minds this morning that we may contribute more fully

to this beloved community

That we might live as neighbors and friends, no longer strangers or enemies

Open our hearts to the transforming power of your love for self AND others

That we might forgive and reconcile, build each other up rather than tear down

That we might be your people, one body connected by one Spirit

To extend your grace and kingdom to all the world

Peace Candle 

VT 692 | Kyrie eleison

Children’s Time 

Offering/Dedication Prayer

VT 558 | Lord, I Want to Be a Christian

Scripture | Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon | Called to Sacrifice?: A Model for Beloved Community

Silent Reflection

VT136 | Santo (Holy)

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Pastoral Prayer 

Passing the Peace

Extinguishing the Peace Candle 

VT 621 | My Hope is Built

Benediction 

Announcements 

Cookie Sunday | 11:00 am

Thanks to everyone who helped lead today’s service

Sermon: Chaska Yoder

Worship Leader: Julie Hart

Music coordination: Paul Knapke

Children’s Time: Mark Rupp

Peace Candle, Scripture Reading: Elizabeth Martin

Sound: Tom Blosser

Camera Operator: Joel Copeland

Zoom Host: Mike Ryan-Simkins

Greeter, Worship Table: Ruth Massey

Usher & Sanctuarian: Dan Halterman 

…

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.

Order of Worship | August 1 | Cultivating Beloved Community 

Prelude

Welcome 

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge we are gathering on land where Miami, Osage, Shawnee, and other Indigenous peoples have lived and labored, fought, and loved. We continue to work and pray for justice and conciliation.      

Call to Worship

We join today with those worshiping all over the world, especially those in Thailand, Sudan and Colombia.

Some gather outdoors, some in churches, some at home.

We gather because here we find the one who gives us hope.

Hope for healing, hope for unity.

We gather under the banner of Beloved Community

Because all are children of the one who loves us.

We gather protected by vaccines, masks and distance.

We gather so that we can feel close to each other.

We are here because we have struggled with our own endurance.

In the end, we have been blessed with strength and hope.

We have come, let us worship God.

Let us celebrate the reality and becoming a Beloved Community.

Peace Candle 

As we worship in place today, we light a Peace Candle in our home. May this flame be a sign of our prayer for peace within us, among us, to the ends of the earth. The flame joins us in spirit across distance, along with our sister church in Armenia, Colombia.

VT 10 | Here in This Place

Children’s Time/Senior Blanket Blessing 

Offering/Dedication Prayer

VT 485 | Put Peace into Each Other’s Hands

Mission Moment: Colombia…