Cynthia Lapp
Recognizing The Paraclete
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
This beautiful passage from John feels ethereal and mystical – love and comfort and the Spirit of truth, “the world neither sees her nor recognizes her; but you can recognize her,” “you will know that I am in God, And you are in me and I am in you.” Like the passage from John that […]
Hospitality in the Face of Fear
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
It is three Sundays after Easter; we are meant to be reading about Jesus the Good Shepherd. (And you can do that: John 10 and Psalm 23 are always there for you.) But I am circling back to last week’s lectionary text which we skipped over. I can’t seem to leave the resurrection stories behind, […]
Wounded and Risen Christ
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
It is good to be together again celebrating resurrection even though it feels like we are still living in the tomb, in the midst of death. Death is all around us, creeping toward us, and yet we live in the midst of creation, in this gorgeous spring where Christ is revealed in so much life. […]
Palm Sunday Reflection
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
Our element today from creation is fire; our biblical story is from John about footwashing -with water. It is easy to see that water puts out fire – but today, in the midst of the pandemic, at the beginning of Holy Week, instead of water putting out fire, these two combined point to suffering. I […]
Ordinary Transfiguration
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
For the past three weeks we have been hearing passages from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as found in the gospel of Matthew. Today we skip ahead in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ life to another experience that happened on a mountain, the transfiguration. For the writer of Matthew, Jesus is the new Moses. Since Moses […]
On The Border
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
I have been back from New Mexico and Texas, from the borderlands, for two weeks. Thank you for your prayers and support as I traveled. Your care and concern accompanied me. It was a wonderful trip and yet it is sometimes difficult to know how to talk meaningfully about my experience there. The lectionary passage […]
The Power and Humility of Baptism
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
I remember my baptism. I was scared to choose it and scared not to choose it. My questions and doubts about the way things were explained (or unexplained) in church overwhelmed me. But, as the pastor’s kid, I felt I had to see the membership class through to completion along with the others in the […]
Epiphany 20/20
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
The epiphany season is the hinge point of a new year, when things can come into new focus. It is one more gift of the season; a chance to look back and look forward. Matthew does this: he starts his account of Jesus’ life with a look back at Jesus’ ancestors, from Abraham through to […]
Waiting For Who?
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
(sung) Wait on the Lord, God’s time is near. Wait on the Lord, be strong, take heart. It’s the third Sunday of Advent and we are still waiting. What are we waiting for? John the Baptizer is waiting, though his situation is much less comfortable than what most of us experience. John is in prison. […]
What Are We Waiting For?
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
What are you waiting for? This is the question we will be asking together this Advent and Christmas season. (A bunch of other Mennonites across the country are also asking this question.) What are we waiting for? On the one hand, it is simple, we are waiting for Christmas. Of course. On the other hand, […]