Ankeny UCC

A Welcoming Church Family Exploring Progressive Christian Theology

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A Welcoming Church Family Exploring Progressive Christian Theology
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Saving Life

May 26, 2019
As the church and minister prepare to go on sabbatical, Paul exhorts us to be assured of God's love, because God loved us and came in the form of Jesus…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Romans 5:1-11
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Church Identity 2019, Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Caring Within (2019)

May 19, 2019
On our Sunday recognizing servant leaders and graduates, we talk about our core identity as a church that Cares Within. Sometimes that means listening, sometimes that means leading, sometimes that…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Romans 1:8-17
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Church Identity 2019, Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Exploring Progressive Christian Theology (2019)

May 5, 2019
Defining the boundaries of Progressive Christian Theology can be hard, often because it's all about asking questions and understanding that the answers may be unsatisfying. But we should never stop…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Acts 10:1-48
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

A Welcoming Church Family (2019)

April 28, 2019
To kick off our 2019 sermon series on our church identity, we take a look at the great commission and our call to make disciples of all the nations. Welcome…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 28:16-20
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Rising Up

April 21, 2019
The empty cross gives us the freedom to imagine new worlds, create new hopes, and live with the presence of Christ among us to build God's sovereign realm together. It…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 28:1-10
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Tables Turned

April 14, 2019
The conflict between the triumph of the palms and the suffering and death of Jesus during Holy Week looms over our worship on the last day of Lent. What are…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 21:1-17
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 1 (2018-19)

Risk-Free Return

March 31, 2019
Our life stories have many treasures. Sharing them multiplies them, building our faith and the community around us.
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 25:14-28
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

The Little Choices

March 24, 2019
Matthew's recounting of Jesus's teachings about discipleship continue with a troubling example of welcome and rejection at a wedding feast. Once we are part of a Christian community, how do…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 22:1-14
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

What Others Get

March 17, 2019
Jesus's parable of the vineyard shows us the resentment that can build when we think others deserve what we have less than we do. But much of that resentment comes…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 20:8-16
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

The Unknown Debt

March 10, 2019
One of the amazing predictions Jesus makes is that, in our church life, we're going to sin against one another. The question is whether than sin is an invitation to…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 18:15-35
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Moses, Elijah, and Us

March 3, 2019
Jesus was changed on the mountaintop, giving us hope that we, too, could be transformed. In the unlikely world of race and sports, we see people change through confession, testimony,…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 16:24-17:8
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Be Not Afraid

February 24, 2019
What unifies the stories of the Death of John the Baptist, the Feeding of the 5,000, and Jesus walking on water? Jesus's response to the palpable fear of his disciples:…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 14:13-33
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

The Narrow Gate

February 10, 2019
When Jesus tells us to enter through the narrow gate, one of the things he's talking about is the real work of reconciliation. When tastes change and things we used…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 7
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Forgiving Sins

February 3, 2019
In the prayer Jesus teaches us, we ask that God provide "our daily bread." What is that? How can we know? When we are giving to others, it makes us…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 6:7-21
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Happy Blessings

January 27, 2019
Sometimes, in the pressure to be entrepreneurial of today's world, we miss our opportunities to shine by mastering the work in front of us, working with and serving others whatever…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 5:1-23
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Growing Alone

January 20, 2019
Matthew reminds us that Jesus's time in the wilderness came at the beginning of his ministry, and not at the end. As we head into a sabbatical year, we wonder,…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 4:1-17
Service Type: Sunday Worship
Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (2018-19)

Pleasing Happiness

January 13, 2019
Jesus's Baptism by John reminds us of the sign of hope Noah received after the flood, and prepares us for Jesus's servant leadership at the time of death. But it…
Preacher : Nathan Willard
Passage: Matthew 3:1-17
Service Type: Sunday Worship

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