Wildwords: Sermons From Wildwood Mennonite Church

Like most labels, the labels for 'victim' and 'offender' are not black and white. Justice is complex. Often pain and suffering unchecked is what leads to violence. Parkland Restorative Justice's director, Heather Driedger, shares insights on what these two labels mean in the context of restorative justice and the work she does with inmates and individuals integrating back into the community.

Whether 16th or 21st century believers, becoming Anabaptist Christians remains an important if sometimes costly choice. What are the core commitments to which our faith family heritage continues to call us?

Feasts, Pharisees, missions trips, ants, grasshoppers, Jesus, potlucks, and chocolate-covered cherries... It's a Thanksgiving smorgasbord of a sermon at Wildwood! #gotguilt?

"The Church is dying" -a frequent assessment in our society. Is there hope for the church? Where can it be found? Emily shares her journey from former church cynic to discovering fresh hope for the church.

My sisters and brothers, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Such faith has no power to save. If any are in need of clothes and have no food to live on, and one of you says to them, “Goodbye and good luck. Stay warm and well-fed,” without giving them the bare necessities of life, then what good is this? So it is with faith. If good deeds don’t go with it, faith is dead... ...Be assured, then, that faith without works is as dead as a body without a spirit. Hear what Graham shared with us about one of his favourite scripture passages, James 2:14-26.

White Supremacy at Wildwood?!! Look carefully, it's closer to home than you think... Let's learn from the representatives WMC sent to the NAIITS 2018 Symposium. Go to our Wildwood Mennonite Church website or Facebook page for links to listen in on some of the full talks at NAIITS from a diverse group of presenters.

We were pleased to have Gaylord and Lois share with us about their Canadian Foodgrains Bank learning tour to Ethiopia this past winter.

How's your spirituality working for ya? Does that word even make sense, beyond a vague notion that it's in the same ballpark as religion but somehow better? (Like, spirituality = religion for hipsters?) Also, do you have space for a friendly pastor in your fantasy football league?

Repent!!! (Umm, no thanks?) Change Yourself for the Better! (Yeah...that seems nicer, but still pretty hard to know where to begin.) Never fear, The Enneagram is here with a healthy dose of self-awareness and alternative ways of being yourself! (I hope the content is better than the sales pitch?) Guess you'll have to listen to find out. :)

How do we make sense of God? How do we understand God? How have people over time tried to think and talk about God? Maybe we'll find a new idea that will help us in our relationship with God. Listen as Rick shares his musings about God.

“Be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 We were privileged to have Vic share with us his thoughts on growing in courage to have faith in love.

"Don't worry, be happy!" It's finally time to talk about the Enneagram Type Nines! But before you get toooo comfortable, be aware that there might be a bit more going on under the surface than "Hakuna Matata" would have you believe... and that's a good thing!

Katniss Everdeen. Samwise Gamgee. Queen Elsa. Marlin the Clownfish. Sansa Stark. Ron Weasley. C3P0. Piglet. Even ("Holy Penetrating Self-Awareness, Batman!"), Robin. All the best fictional characters are Sixes, and their strength is surprising only to themselves. For those of us who are non-fiction Sixes, how can we learn to turn our fear into strength?

Enneagram Type 8 - What does God have in common with Beyonce? Listen for stories of Independent Women who show just how fierce God can be.

Time to talk about Enneagram Type One in our "Stained Glass: Nine Windows of Divine Light" series. The expectations around this one are enormous! #sermonfail #dobetternexttime

"Always look on the bright side of life!" If you're a Monty Python fan you'll have this song in your head for the next week! You're welcome. If you're a Type 7 on the Enneagram this might be your theme song. Listen to find out more from our resident Type 7, Grant.

This sermon is called "The Many-Breasted God." Now that we have your attention...read on for the "Type Two" episode in our Enneagram worship series.

"God is Effective/Our God Get's It Done, and so do we..." Type 3 Achievers have also been created in the image of God. What aspects of God’s nature become evident in Abigail, Naaman and other Type 3s? What more do we, especially Type 3’s, need to learn from God’s way of “taking care of business” and “getting it done”? And, how many Type 3’s does it take to screw in a light bulb? Listen to find out what Ken has to say about these things and to hear what Tom shares from a "3" perspective.

"God is Sublime/May the Fours Be With You" Ever wondered what it’s like to feel all the feelings in a day? Or to see significance in the smallest sign? (There are no coincidences.) Take a listen to this conversation between Katie Wiebe and Joel Kroeker as they share what it’s like being a Four on the Enneagram; from dark emotions to creativity, they cover it all and then some!

"Windows of Divine Light" Ever feel like prayer is just talking to yourself, that maybe God is a projection of your own personality? Or maybe prayer feels more like trying to access The Force, that God is more of an abstract energy flowing through everything? Well...yes and no, and no and yes. Come for the questions, stay for the spiral prayer exercise.