Ankeny UCC

A Welcoming Church Family Exploring Progressive Christian Theology

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A Welcoming Church Family Exploring Progressive Christian Theology
Church Identity 2022, Plague Year

Welcoming Questioning

April 24, 2022
The story of Thomas's encounter with the risen Christ shows us not only what our own reactions to good news can often look like, but the hope that there is…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 20:19-31
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Plague Year, Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church

Resurrection in All Its Forms

April 17, 2022
Christ is Risen! In a new body that reminds us resurrection is not restoration, but the beginning of something new.
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 20:1-18
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Inspired, Plague Year

Inspired by the Fish Stories

August 29, 2021
Jesus's instructions to us are to look outside ourselves, outside our comfort, and find his promise and support in the work that we do to bring all people into our…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 21:1-13
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Inspired, Plague Year

Inspired by Gospel Stories

August 22, 2021
People who grow up as Christians sometimes miss out on the experience of encountering the Gospel for the first time. For the woman at the well, being known and seen…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 4:7-24
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Bleating and Baaing

April 7, 2019
The core of the social gospel reminds us that it's not our job to judge others, but to do what we can to ease suffering. A fitting 250th sermon posted…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 25:31-46
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Violence-Conquering Love

April 1, 2018
In Christ's death, we see his humanity. In his Resurrection, we see that our identities are not centered in violence, but in the love of God. Christ's story, and ours,…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 20:1-18
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4, Speaking Christian

God With Us (2018)

March 25, 2018
All of Christianity goes through the cross. The cross is not the end of the story. The suffering of Christ is not the whole of Christ's story. But Christ's story…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 19:16b-22
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4, Speaking Christian

Ironic Condemnation

March 18, 2018
The condemnation of Jesus is full of ironies. But it's also full of the unspoken fears in empire. The crowd's fear of suffering the same fate as Jesus; Pilate's fear…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 19:1-16a
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4, Speaking Christian

Righteous Justice

March 11, 2018
What is right action? What is righteousness? In the midst of Jesus's trial, we see people representing the power in Jerusalem all around him, afraid to take ownership of their…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 18:28-40
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4, Speaking Christian

Finding Our Identities

March 4, 2018
Sin are those forces, external and internal, that keep us from seeing and living our identities. When we are separated from our identities and see our identities twisted, always remember…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 18:12-27
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

The Compassionate Servant

February 25, 2018
The story of people written off as having no chance in the Olympics nonetheless winning reminds us of Jesus's choice to be a servant to his disciples. None of us…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 13:1-17
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Facing the Awful Smell

February 18, 2018
Asking questions is the most holy work we can do. Believing in Christ means working to build the sovereign realm of God together, easing suffering. Mourning, and then acting, just…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 11:1-44
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Choosing Not to See

February 11, 2018
In John's account of Jesus's healing of the man born blind, we see the message of the transfiguration: yes, God does great works. Let us go down among the people,…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 9:1-41
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Water in the Desert

February 4, 2018
Water is a recurring theme in John's gospel. As we look at the Samaritan woman, outcast and alone but seemingly blameless, we see the radical message that Jesus's water is…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 4:1-41
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Loving the Light

January 28, 2018
Jesus's dialogue with Nicodemus in John gives us context to some famous Bible verses. One of those messages to us is to be careful of assuming that those we like…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 3:1-21
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Rebuilding

January 21, 2018
As Jesus tells the denizens of the Temple that he can build it up in 3 days, we are reminded that the church is the people of God, and that…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 2:13-25
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Asking Good Questions

January 7, 2018
The Evangelist lays out his vision for the only way to understand Jesus: come and see.   (note: there was a medical emergency in the church during the sermon)
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 1:35-52
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Christmas Testimony

December 31, 2017
John's Gospel is all about telling what we see. The corollary is to listen when people tell us what they see. That's different from our disagreements over the implications of…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: John 1:19-34
Service Type: Sunday Worship

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