July 13, 2025
Communities of Belonging
A huge need in people’s lives is to feel a sense of belonging. Jess, Lorna and Janell all share various stories where they have seen or felt this sense of belonging exist. They acknowledge its meaningfulness and how its goodness can trickle outward beyond an individual’s immediate communities. They further reflected on how communities of belonging create a dwelling place for God’s love and peace.
July 6, 2025
Meeting People Where They Are
As we intentionally grow community together Marilyn encourages us to each reflect on how we can both give and ask for support – asking each other questions about what would be most supportive and reflecting so we can invite others to care for us.
June 29, 2025
How About A Little Good News?!
Lorna talks about God’s generosity and gentleness in bringing healing in those areas of her life where she has most often felt fear and anxiety. She shares some ‘good news stories’ from a recent holiday, and the truth of Jesus’ familiar words in Matthew 11, that ‘my yoke is easy and my burden is light’.
June 22, 2025
Sabbatical Reflections: Being Here Is What We Get Right
As Walter’s sabbatical winds down, he shares some reflections from this time. Spoilers: he missed community and rants about AI and dopamine manipulation.
June 16, 2025
A True Fast
Jonathan Schut shares what he’s been learning about how MCC tries to heed the words of Isaiah 58 in its mission of “envisioning communities in right relationship with God, one another, and creation.” He particularly focused on what he learned on a recent trip to Guatemala.
June 8, 2025
Practicing Rest
During our Second Breakfast Potluck, Jess shared a selection of readings about practicing rest, and opened up a conversation about what gets in the way of prioritizing rest in our lives.
June 1, 2025
Beethoven, Joy and Strife
Walter used Beethoven’s example of finding joy in the midst of suffering to talk about the value of celebrating joy even when times are hard. (He was going to start listing all the ways in which we’ve been feeling hardship and loss lately, but the music got him too choked up.)
May 25, 2025
God in You Has Your Back
Walter’s homily shares a conversation that resonated with Jesus’ promise in John 14 that the Advocate would teach us everything. He went on to leave us with the paradox that God is in us and beyond us.
May 18, 2025
The Cost of Safety
Mark explores a story of Jesus’ encounter with a man cast out by a well-off society–a clear illustration of how bringing someone to safety costs someone else their comfort. The gospel story is a challenge particularly to the comfortable: stop protecting our own peace at the expense of others… and start creating safe space, even when it costs.
May 11, 2025
Playfulness – Is There A Point?
Today at 2nd Breakfast, Teena shared some thoughts, videos, and quotes, and invited us to wonder about playfulness.
May 4, 2025
Death & Resurrection
Last Sunday, we were privileged to experience this powerful message from a long-time friend of St. Croix Church, Dr. David Moore. David challenges us to consider the death and resurrection of Jesus as a message of divine solidarity and hope to all the Lazaruses of the world — to all the oppressed, tortured, cast out, and left for dead, Jesus says, “Come out, rise up, this is not the end.”
April 27, 2025
It is Good to See You
This Sunday Bradley Jersak shared a beautiful message with us: When we see each other with the “eyes of flesh,” we’re prone to all sorts of mistaken judgments. And when we see the world through “eyes of flesh,” we become overwhelmed and hopeless because we’re blinded to God’s everywhere presence and the beauty and love and light available all the time. But when we learn to “see with our hearts,” it’s as if the world is transfigured and those around us are precious beacons of light and hope. And how’s this for a future: “And every eye will see him, and he will wipe every tear from our eyes. No more suffering, no more death, because the Lamb will be their Shepherd.