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 of salvation, a people oppressed need a God who is powerful enough to conquer armies.  And also Disney.

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 the call to mark (Just)Peace Sunday with our Mennonite kindred across the country and world by reflecting on the sorry state of our immigration system here in the U.S. What might Joseph's story have to offer those of us distressed and those of us whose lives are disrupted by the vulnerabilities of migration?

Pastor Megan explores the extreme vulnerability Abram & Sarai must have experienced as part of their call to leave their land and kindred.

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 story of the flood, and the re-covenanting that takes place after. [Image: The Deluge, by Nicolas Poussin]

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 as followers of Jesus to take off the armor of empire and put on the armor of God.

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 expression to the the desire between two lovers. It's been explained away by making it about God's love for humankind but really it's about two lovers who are really into each other - and that can tell us something about God too.

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

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, Proper 13 / Ordinary 18 / Pentecost +9: John 6.24-35, www.paintedprayerbook.com/2009/07/27/the-gastronomical-jesus/. [Photo by Ales Krivec on Unsplash]

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 her experience with the !explore internship program at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and how the collective experience with other young people doing ministry work shapes the way she understands the work of the Spirit in her life.