Cynthia Lapp
Hope in the Journey: YHWH is Our Justice
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
The word of God in scripture is very present in our worship today. It is a lot to digest and understand: a beseeching prayer in the Psalm; words of hope from Jeremiah; apocalyptic images and advice from Luke; gratitude and blessing in Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica. Instead of trying to tackle all […]
Visions of a Royal Reign
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
The Lord be with you. (and also with you.) I am grateful to be back among you after missing two Sundays, one for travel after the Women Doing Theology Conference and then last week because I was sick. Gathering for worship with you anchors me and reminds me who I am and what I am […]
“I want to see”: Resilience, Survival, and Hope
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
Mennonite Heritage Sunday: Lamenting the Doctrine of Discovery It is three and half weeks since my second cataract surgery. I see more clearly than I have for many years: colors and patterns that eluded me, now delight and surprise me. What is still hard to see or what I would rather not see is the injustice […]
God’s Word: Living and Active
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
God’s word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. Hebrews 4 Carry the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6 Swords do not play a big role in my life. My kids were not really into sword play – and anyway, those would have been Nerf swords right? […]
Faith In Action
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
It is pledge season, and not just for National Public Radio stations and PBS television stations. Churches all over the country are putting together their budgets and gathering pledges. In this way, we Mennonites who have been known to say we are “in the world but not of the world,” well, we may be more […]
The Whole Armor of God
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
The whole armor of God. Such a strange idea and image for Anabaptists who are proud to claim we are people of peace. It all sounds way too militaristic for our delicate, pacifist ears, doesn’t it. Other than wrestling my younger brothers to the ground and fighting until there were tears all around, I had […]
Fragments
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
When I read this oh-so-familiar story again this week, it seemed like there was nothing here. I mean where am I going to get food for my people? What could there possibly be here that we don’t already know? Is there anything filling in this loaves and fishes text? Soon there seemed to be meaning […]
Meanwhile, In The Palace . . .
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
It has been a while since we looked at the bible. The three week series “It’s not in the bible, but…” was great. It is helpful and good to hear from each other about our everyday spirituality and what keeps us moving forward, even if it is not strictly in the bible. Today we return […]
Give Thanks For Small Things
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
Give thanks for small things. I am grateful for an ancient text that seems to describe and understand the world we live in. I am grateful to find some meaning in the midst of the chaos and injustice in this country. I am grateful for a text that helps give some guidance when the world […]
Do We Really Want A King?
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
We are living through a particularly poignant season where we do well to ponder our Christian faith with new urgency. And though the biblical text may seem archaic and outdated, it does not get old. We are predictable as humans; we keep replaying and reliving the story, over and over again; the text is history […]