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Here you will find the weekly sermons and talks from Pasadena Mennonite Church, an Anabaptist community in the Los Angeles area. We are committed to centering ourselves on Jesus, walking the path he leads us, and learning to be formed into a community of his peace and justice. We are all on this journey at different places and trying to help each other along the way.
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PMC’s Justice and Service Commission invites us into ministry around affordable housing, indigenous rights, peacemaking amidst war and world conflicts such as in Gaza, and political advocacy in these and other areas. Justice is aspirational but also is possible, so the commission places Justice before Service in its name as a reminder to seek justi…
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Cara Pfeiffer uses the story of the woman caught in adultery, John 8:1-11, to share the practical peacemaking steps Jesus took in that encounter to deescalate the situation and to protect a vulnerable woman. Questions for thought: What everyday conflicts in your life could be deescalated with practices of pause and non-threatening body language? Wh…
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Executive Conference Minister of Pasadena Southwest Mennonite Conference, Stanley Green, spoke into our Anabaptist Basics series on October 16th. His sermon on the Spirit and spirituality was entitled Spirituality and the Profane. Stanley talks about he and his wife, Ursula, being among four other couples that founded Pasadena Mennonite with retire…
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On September 11th, we were honored to hear from Sarah Augustine, a Pueblo (Tewa) descendant and the author of The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery (Herald Press, 2021). This is the first week in a back to basics series called Anabaptist Academy, and centers around Jesus and Justice. We were privileged to h…
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Mike Rewers decided to step into the pulpit after 25 years of listening due of his love of empathy — both in receiving empathy and in helping others to extend it. And we give less empathy when we’re blind to what is happening. The topic of empathy was week 6 of the 9-week Peaceful Practices we’ve been going through as a congregation. Mike, a therap…
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We were privileged to share a worship service this week with our host church, Conexión. Juan Pablo Plaza brought the message from this English/Spanish congregation, while Frank Scoffield Nellessen translated for non-Spanish listeners. In speaking to two communities together, Juan Pablo referenced the wisdom of Acts and the early church. but rather …
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Photo by Vadim Bogulov, Unspash. “What a time in the U.S. to be asked to talk about conflict resolution,” says Kathleen Klompien-Wedberg as she begins her sermon relating to our Peaceful Practices Curriculum. She notes that the past few weeks have seen the world in a time of war and aggression on multiple fronts. Yet our passage in Matthew 18:10-22…
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“Curiosity is a tough choice for us to make as adults,” says Lisa Thornton as she began our first week of sermons related to a curriculum entitled “Peaceful Practices — A guide to healthy communication in conflict.” And though the curriculum talks about how children tend to have a natural curiosity about the world around them, Lisa finds curiosity …
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Rob Muthiah began began Pentecost Sunday by saying that we could learn from our Pentecostal siblings in terms of a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Pentecost Sunday celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in a new way following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Rob reviews how the Spirit of God is present in creation, throughout the Old Test…
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