Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 28th, 2009 No Comments »
Feasting is a communal celebration. Using Deuteronomy 26:1-11 as his text, Pastor Phil Kniss outlined how Jewish feasts - there are many of them - underscored how dependent the people were on God’s goodness and on each other in community. As Americans and as Mennonites, we are feast-impaired. Pastor Phil called us to develop that sense of celebration in our lives, and the congregation then celebrated communion as a first step.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 21st, 2009 No Comments »
This is a temporary podcast, to provide PVMC members who missed the June 21 service access to the full worship service recording. This podcast will be taken down in several weeks. After that, persons will need to borrow the CD recording from the church library.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 21st, 2009 No Comments »
In the third sermon in our series on Faith and Food, Pastor Phil Kniss preached on the topic, “Faith, Food, and Money.” He focused on questions of food and justice, from the standpoint of the Bible’s frequent insistence that God’s people share food with the hungry, and their resources with the poor. God’s desire, emphasized in both the Old and New Testaments, are that the poor are given sufficient food and other basic necessities of life, that they may live a full and meaningful life. Regardless what economic theory or food production and distribution model is to our liking, we should defend it on biblical grounds: “Are the poor being lifted up?” “Are the hungry being fed?”
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 21st, 2009 No Comments »
This is a temporary podcast, to provide PVMC members who missed the June 21 service the ability to hear the faith statements of the four new members received, as well as the farewells from two members who will be leaving the area. This podcast will be taken down in several weeks. After that, persons will need to borrow the CD recording from the church library.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 14th, 2009 No Comments »
Continuing our series on Faith and Food, Pastor Phil Kniss turned our attention toward Faith, Food, and Time. With Eccleiastes 3:1-15 as a base, Pastor Phil had us look at how our view of time shapes how we experience food. The preparing and sharing of food can be a deeply spiritual undertaking, if we clear the time to allow that to happen. Throughout this service, Candace Willis was working up front preparing a soup which became our blessing and sending activity at the end of the service. Pastor Phil challenged the whole congregation to sit at a table (meant to be eaten at) for three meals a day, at least one meal being with family or friends, for this entire coming week. For some this will be a new and challenging endeavor, for others it is the routine. In any case, as we do this, we must remember that all that we have and share is a gift from God.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 7th, 2009 No Comments »
Beginning a new series looking at faith and food, Pastor Barbara Moyer Lehman began by looking at faith, food and health, and asked the question, “How do we care for our bodies as Christians?” I Corinthians 6:19-20 gives us some guidance. We are to view our bodies as a temple for the Holy Spirit. The tempataion for us to use and abuse our bodies is as strong for us today as it was for the people in Corinth to whom Paul was writing. But we are not our own, we have been shaped to honor God with our bodies.
How do we interpret the phrase “to eat well?” Is this about abundance or moderation? It is not just about what we eat, but why we eat, and with whom we eat, that can bring our faith into shaping our food practices. Pastor Barbara challenged us to eat less, more often, with more friends. Make a toast occasionally, in addition to saying a prayer. Raise a glass, look your guests in the eye, and offer a word of encouragement and hope. Then food moves from only nourishing our bodies to nourishing our souls.
Read Full Post »
