Seattle Mennonite Church Sermons

http://www.seattlemennonite.org SMC preachers

Seattle Mennonite Church is an active Anabaptist Mennonite Christian congregation working faithfully at following Jesus in our urban context. All are welcome! Listen in to our Sunday morning sermons to get a sense of who we are.

October 14, 2018
Hannah Notess

SMC Storytellers - Hannah Notess

Hannah shares her experience in community, benefiting from the fruit that other's planted and nurtured, and in turn sowing seeds that will grow plants from which others can harv...
October 14, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Final Words

We continue our journey with the Narrative Lectionary into Joshua. Pastor Megan reflects on Joshua's final oration to his beloved people. You'll have to listen to figure out wha...
October 09, 2018
SMC preachers

SMC Storytellers - Bob Pauw

On his 40th Anniversary with his late wife Linda, Bob reflects on the way community has made God present over his and Linda's relationship with our church.
October 09, 2018
Katherine Jameson Pitts

How Do You Feel About Boundaries?

The ten commandments. They are often co-opted by institutions and governments as a litmus test for political affiliation. What they were in context was a covenant: identifyin...
September 30, 2018
Pastor Amy Epp

The Bad Guy Needs to Die

Pastor Amy explores why the destruction of Pharaoh's army is so important to the story of the deliverance of the people of Israel and how, when it's used as a recurring chorus o...
September 23, 2018
Megan M Ramer

A Can of Worms & Immigration Stories

What a week to hear this story! Listen as Pastor Megan exposes some of the troubling and resonant layers of our Genesis story of Joseph and Potiphar's unnamed wife. And yet heed...
September 16, 2018
Megan M Ramer

A Call No One Would Want

Pastor Megan explores the extreme vulnerability Abram & Sarai must have experienced as part of their call to leave their land and kindred.
September 09, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Wrestled Claims About God

On this first Sunday of our Narrative Lectionary adventure, we start at the very beginning: Genesis. Pastor Megan wrestles with how Creator God becomes Destroyer God in the stor...
September 09, 2018
Melissa Kelly

Choosing Armor

SMC member Melissa Kelly invites us to consider what the armor of God, fighting racism, the Deathstar takedown and attachment parenting have in common. And how we are called on...
September 02, 2018
Pastor Amy Epp

Holy Desire, Sacred Sensuality

The explicit desire expressed in the Song of Songs can make us squirm, which is why we don't hear it in worship very often. But this book gives voice to human longing and and e...
August 19, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Forgiveness

Pastor Megan reflects on the people we carry around within us, "releasing" and "retaining" the sins of others, and the ongoing practice of forgiveness.
August 05, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Sustenance

On this Sunday, Pastor Megan shared the words of Jan Richardson, offering them as sustenance. © Jan Richardson, “The Gastronomical Jesus,” Reading from the Gospels, Year B, Prop...
August 02, 2018
Thalia Neufeld

Bathed in the Spirit

Summer Ministry Intern Thalia Neufeld dives into the way the Holy Spirit moves throughout Scripture and her understanding of the Spirit's work in the world. She also relates he...
July 22, 2018
Pastor Amy Epp

Hometown Reject

Jesus and his message of God's reign of love were rejected in the town where he grew up. That rejection pivoted Jesus into a ministry that was even larger and more broad, full ...
July 15, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Church Meeting Brings ... Hope?!!

A large groups of SMCers traveled to Boise this summer and had a great time! Pastor Megan reports on the annual meeting of Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference that took place...
June 24, 2018
Erica Lea-Simka

Fire & Brimstone

We welcomed Erica Lea-Simka, pastor of Albuquerque Mennonite Church in Albuquerque NM, to preach for our Pride Sunday worship.
June 17, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Seeds Grow

Pastor Megan reflects on the most "boring" of all parables in which nothings happens ... or is it EVERYthing happens? Listen for punch lines like: "the smallest of all seeds whi...
June 10, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Misfits

Reflecting on Mark's story of Jesus facing accusers very early in his ministry, Pastor Megan explore how "Scribes ... they're just like us!", has a few words to say about the su...
May 27, 2018
Megan M Ramer

A Collage of God

On Trinity-ish / Trinity-PLUS Sunday, Pastor Megan shares snapshots of some of the MANY names for God and images of God that make up her limited yet growing collage of who God is.
May 20, 2018
SMC preachers

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

The Holy Spirit is active and expansive and there is no getting away from her. God's promise is to breathe into our dry bones and enliven what feels barren, to bring life where...
May 13, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Goodbyes

All goodbyes are not created equal. Listen as Pastor Megan reflects on a couple of the goodbyes she's experienced, her semi-obsession with good goodbyes, and what we can learn a...
April 29, 2018
Melanie Nuefeld

Building Social Capital

Pastor Melanie reflects on the story of the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip from the book of Acts, listening for some resonance with our Community Ministries here in the Lake City n...
April 22, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Other Sheep

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold, Jesus said. I must bring them also… So there will be one flock, one shepherd. Pastor Megan reflects on those other metaphor...
April 08, 2018
Megan M Ramer

In Strides Jesus

Pastor Megan reflects on fearful disciples gathered behind locked doors in Jerusalem. Through the locked doors of their fear, in strides Jesus. Speaking a word of peace, in stri...
April 01, 2018
Jonathan Neufeld

Can anything good come out of a trap house?

Pastor Jonathan reflects on when life goes sideways and finding hope amidst the impossible and fearful. Sharing stories of the unexpected uprising of life in our own community, ...
March 25, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Cross and the Lynching Tree

Jesus' carefully calculated and lampooning political march into Jerusalem helped ensure that he would need to be crucified, along with many other brave prophets before and after...
March 18, 2018
Jason Rust

Glory & Death

Jason Rust preaches for us - reflecting on glory and death and earthiness and bodies and Mary Oliver poetry and unplanted seeds and lassitude and recklessness in love. You'll ju...
March 11, 2018
Megan M Ramer

A Slithering Slew of Venomous Vipers

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 ...
March 07, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Small Things Matter

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 ...
February 25, 2018
Pastor Amy Epp

Names That Are True

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 comprehen...
February 18, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Lament & A Rainbow Promise for All

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 t...
February 04, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Joining My Voice

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 c...
January 28, 2018
Waziyatawin

Naming Injustice to Find Justice: Genocide

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 ...
January 28, 2018
John Stoesz

Naming Injustice to Find Justice: Ethnicide

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 ...
January 28, 2018
Waziyatawin

Naming Injustice to Find Justice: Ecocide

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 ...
January 28, 2018
John Stoesz

Naming Injustice to Find Justice: Land Left & Return

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 ...
January 21, 2018
Megan M Ramer

Zebedee: Abandoned

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...
January 09, 2018
SMC preachers

Light Quality

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 ...
December 17, 2017
Megan M Ramer

Joy in the midst of chaos

How to preach joy on the week when one of our beloved friends has died ... and far too young?
December 11, 2017
Seattle Mennonite Church

God be with you till we meet again
December 06, 2017
Seattle Mennonite Church

Abide with me

Hymnal: A Worship Book 653
December 03, 2017
Megan M Ramer

Hope in the midst of chaos

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....
November 19, 2017
Megan M Ramer

What God Requires

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. P...
November 12, 2017
Megan M Ramer

A Plaintiff God

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. T...
November 05, 2017
Pastor Amy Marie Epp

Stranger Things

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 cu...
October 22, 2017
Megan M Ramer

Final Messages

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.
October 15, 2017
Megan M Ramer

Family

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 ...
October 09, 2017
SMC preachers

Over Her Own Head.mp3

Pastor Amy reflects on men and women, hair and head coverings, praying and prophesying. What does it mean to be faithful?
October 01, 2017
Megan M Ramer

Foundation

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...
September 24, 2017
Pastor Amy Epp

Food: Communion Economics

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...