Sun. Apr. 25, 2010 (John Klassen)

John Klassen (Professor Emeritus at Trinity Western and member of the Langley Mennonite Fellowship) spoke on the lectionary text from Rev. 7.9-17, "Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb." Psalm 100 tells of the whole earth embracing God, while the day's gospel reading (John 10.22-44) reports the considerable hostility Jesus experienced shortly before his assassination. By contrast, the author of Revelations returns to the theme of God (and now the Lamb) being victorious. St John's generation had experienced several volcanoes and earthquakes, a disastrous civil war, knew of the utter destruction of the temple, and may even have been directly affected by the subsequent disbursement of Jewish believers. All of this was disheartening, and not unlike what some of our older Mennonites have seen in their time. Although Rome never had a general persecution of Christians (contrary to what many non-historians like to think), there were occasional local persecutions of various ethnicities and persuasions. So St John was writing to the Christians of his day, essentially saying that, from time to time, you will seem to be powerless, but, the Lamb that was slain (offering a non-violent response to his troubles) is now victorious--as you will also be eventually. Although chapter 6 assumes the Lamb will bring destruction, chapter 7 offers the opposite stance, saying that an unlimited number of peoples drawn from across the entire world will be robed in white, victory palms in hand. For they too "came out of the great ordeal" and kept the faith by standing up to their particular 'Rome' (the world of political, economic, social, and military power). They were victorious not because they organized into armies but because they kept the faith, accepting the Lamb and his ways. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Apr. 25th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Apr. 18, 2010 (Walter Bergen)

Walter Bergen spoke on the theme of Holy Labour. With Janet, Walter served as the very first Residence Coordinators of the Menno Simons Centre, establishing both the tone and practices which make it what it now is. Since their two years with the fledgling PGIMF, they served MCC in Russia for several years and then worked for a number of Mennonite organizations before Walter turned to organic farming in the Valley. Walter, a consummate storyteller, first told of Amish friends in Wayne County, OH, a farming family formerly facing financial disaster. They decided to turn to woodworking in creative ways which both honoured their beliefs in the simple lifestyle, family and God's earth. This was not just a way to get income, it was, as Walter described it, but a type of Holy Labour in which these believers lived out their faith while being businessmen. Walter then told of George Herbert (author of A Country Parson). Herbert realized that practicing proper husbandry was difficult in the 1700s, and that many work-related practices were not right. He then worked locally to invite farmers to share the excesses of their crops with the local needy and to spend profits on husbandry rather than drink (gin was the scourge of 18th century England). He advocated maintaining clearly-marked land boundaries so that those who were bullies would stop harvesting crops which others had planted. Genesis 2 admonishes people to take care of the earth and its life. Holy Labour happens when we combine this responsibility with our understanding of scriptures and faith. This is the best way to honour our God, our resources and our neighbours. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Apr. 18th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Apr. 11, 2010 (Dick Benner)

We were pleased to have as our speaker Dick Benner, journalist, former columnist for the "Mennonite Weekly Review", journalism teacher at Eastern Mennonite University, and now the Editor of the "Canadian Mennonite". Dick spoke on "Holy Doubt", using the morning's gospel reading, John 20.19-31, the story of 'doubting' Thomas (whom Lutherans call 'believing' Thomas). We know little about this Thomas, one of the disparate loose group of 'disciples' whose personalities could not have been more varied. These guys didn't get it was Jesus was with them, so they were even more confused by the reappearances of Jesus. None of the men believed Mary's resurrection tale, and Thomas likewise did not believe the stories of his buddies. But to his credit, Thomas stayed with the group, despite the absence of tangible proof. Healthy faith requires healthy questioning, debate and the rethinking of our faith. This holds true today as Mennonites hold varied view of how we are to live our faith, whether to embrace nationalism and increasingly accept militarism and materialism. Jesus gave Thomas room for his doubts--because they were so important to his faith journey. Thomas later became a most remarkable believer, becoming a missionary to India, and his confession, "my Lord and my God" was the most profound anyone had yet articulated. [As someone once wrote, "the opposite of faith is not doubt, it is certainty". JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Apr. 11th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.