Level Ground Mennonite Church: Recent Episodes
Level Ground Mennonite Church
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
Reflection Questions: Looking back, who are those who have been salt and light in your life? How have their actions and way of being through everyday ordinariness to life-altering difficulties pointed you to God?
As an heir and representative of God's kingdom, how are you being nudged to live into Christ's call to be a part of his distinct and visible community on earth?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 5:6
Reflection Questions: How do you discern God's will and wisdom for your life? Can you think of a time when you wrestled and waited with Scripture in a desire to live rightly?
In what ways is God nudging you today to increase your appetite for loving as he loves, loving what he loves?
How are you pursuing him with all your heart, soul and strength?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 5:5
Reflection Questions:
What has been your understanding of meekness?
How have you seen God's power or Kingdom, manifest through gentleness?
In what way is God inviting you to follow Him in His path of gentleness today?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 5:4
Reflection Questions: Can you think of a time when you experienced God’s comfort in the midst of a great loss or lament? Or what is something that you are mourning right now?
How do your feelings about grief change if you reframe it as sacred kingdom-coming space?
In what ways are you being nudged to extend to others the comfort you have received from God?
Speaker: Keith St. Jean
Scripture: John 15:1-5
Reflection Questions:
In what areas of life have you noticed significant growth? What did that growth require from you? Are there things that you had to give up (good or bad) in order to fully engage with that growth?
Are there times in your life when you felt that you were truly loved? What impact did that love have on you? How has that experience of love influenced how you treat the people in your life?
Speaker: Andrew Haak
Scripture: John 10:11-21
Reflection Questions:
In what ways has Jesus been a shepherd to you? How does his example and teaching shape your imagination of what the church can be?
How do you discern the Shepherd’s voice? What rival or distracting voices do you sort through?
Speaker: Andrew Haak
Scripture: John 10:1-10
Reflection Questions:
When was a time you were excluded or exploited?
In what situations are you prone to be a gatekeeper? What compels you to do this?
In what ways have you experienced welcome and compassion through Jesus? How does living into the reality that Jesus is our gate shape our community?
Speaker: Andrew Haak
Scripture: John 8:12
Reflection Questions:
What are the areas of your life that have experienced the light of Jesus bringing direction, comfort, and truth?
Where are you still experiencing darkness and shadow?
How is God nudging you to participate in His mission of being His light in the world?
Speaker: Andrew Haak
Scripture: John 6:35
Reflection Questions:
What has God done to sustain you through your life, especially the difficult seasons? How have you experienced Jesus being your daily bread?
In what ways does the practice of communion nourish your faith?
How does living in the present change with the knowledge that you have eternal life with God?
Speaker: Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Reflection Questions: How does Jesus' message of patience and hope meet you as we wait for his kingdom to come its fullness?
What is God growing in you? What fruit has been formed in your life as a result of being a part of his kingdom?
Speaker: Keith St. Jean
Scripture: Luke 14:16-24
Reflection Questions:
Do you realize that you are guests at a party not because of anything you bring but because of the generosity, compassion, and love of the host?
How does that realization shape your worldview and how you "live, move and have your being?"
"Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) "I came so that they could have life-indeed so that they could live life to the fullest." (John 10:10) How do these verses reflect the invitation to the party and its lasting impact in your life?
Speaker: Jesse Nickel
Scripture: Luke 16:19-3
Reflection Questions:
- How does this parable make you feel? Do you find it challenging or encouraging? Why?
- What surprises you about Jesus, or what has surprised you in the past? Do you find anything that Jesus said or did shocking or offensive?
- Do you find yourself motivated to do “the right thing” by the prospect of eternal punishment or reward? How does this parable challenge such motivations?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 13:31-32
Reflection Questions:
What small ways do you see the kingdom of heaven been sown in your life and in our community? How are you trusting that God’s kingdom is advancing and growing, even if it doesn’t look like in the moment?
In what ways are you participating in the global realities of God’s kingdom? How are you expressing hospitality and inviting others to find rest, safety and welcome in God’s family tree?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 7:24-29
Reflection Questions:
In what ways has Jesus been a rock for you? Can you think of a time when acted upon his instruction: what did that lead to?
What is the current state of your foundation? How are you being nudged to respond to Jesus' words today?
Speaker: Keith St. Jean
Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15Reflection Questions:
How would you describe the state of your “soil” right now? Are you fertile ground, or hard, rocky, or thorny? What in your life is bringing about this state? If you would like to, what can you do to bring about a change in the state of your soil?
Thinking about the sower in the story, why would he scatter the seed indiscriminately without regard for the type of soil it falls on? What does that tell us about God and about ourselves?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:14-30Reflection Questions:
In what way(s) have you experienced the joy of justice?
What does the good news of Jesus mean to you in your current season or circumstance? How are you feeling nudged to respond?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 and Isaiah 7:1-17
Reflection Questions: Does trusting in God come easy for you or is it difficult? C
an you think of a time when you had to choose between trusting in God or taking a different approach?
What does it look like for you to put your hope in Jesus this Christmas season?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: James 3:17-18
Reflection Questions:What do you look for in wisdom? How do you discern godly wisdom from everything else?
Can you think of a time in your own life when sowing peace lead to a harvest of righteousness? Where are you currently sowing peace? What does that look like? How does it feel to wait for peace to come to fruition?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Luke 22:7-38
Reflection Questions:How does seeing the brokenness that gathered at the Last Supper shape how you imagine living out the Lord's Table?
In what ways have you experienced your brokenness being welcomed by Jesus and redeemed by him?
How are you being nudged to follow Christ's example of humility in service and sacrifice around the Lord's Table?
Speaker: Keith St. Jean
Scripture: Didache 1:1-5 & Philippians 2:5-11
Reflection Questions:
What is your most dominant image of God? Where did that image come from? How does this image affect how you treat yourself, the people around you, and all of creation?
How has Christ shown you that God is love? Are there key moments in your life that illustrate this truth? How can you participate with the God who is love?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7
Reflection Questions:
How have you experienced prayerful thanksgiving leading to God's peace?
Can you think of a time where you were prompted to be thankful in the midst of a conflict? Was this a positive or negative experience? What made it so?
What is something you can express to God today in a prayer of thanksgiving?
Speaker: Pastor Josh Willms
Scripture: Psalm 88 & Lamentations 3
Reflection Questions:
Think back on a time when you experienced great loss or pain. What was that grief like for you? Did you feel pressure from yourself or others to get past or get over grieving that loss?
How does the rawness of Psalm 88 echo the pain and emptiness that you or someone you know has experienced?
How might you provide a safe space for someone who is grieving to express their lament to God?
How does reading Lamentations 3 help you grieve a loss? How can expressing words like this or helping someone else express such words give space to lament the brokenness in our world together?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Scripture: Luke 18:9-14
Reflection Questions: How have you experienced confession bringing connection and restoration with God and others?
In what way are you being invited to prayerful acknowledge your need for God today?
Speaker: Shel Boese
Commissioning and Installation of Andrew Haak and Josh Willms as Pastors of Level Ground.
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
Where have your difficult experiences in life taken you? What doors or paths have challenging circumstances opened for you?
How have you experienced God in the middle of a storm? What words of comfort or promise have helped carry you through hardship?
In what ways can you draw inspiration from Paul’s example? How would living as though you were in your last chapter change how you lived today?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
Can you think of a time when you had to wrestle a difficult decision with God? Who are the people in your life that you trust to discern this with?
How has encouragement and hospitality been extended to you on your journey? Who has walked with you and stuck with you through times of great difficulty?
Conversely, who are those that you have welcomed into your family and home as they have journeyed through your life? How might God be inviting you to come alongside someone as they face hardship and uncertainty?
Speaker: Jesse Nickel
Reflection Questions:
How have you experienced the Shalom, the Peace of God in your life through Jesus?
Do you have stories of reconciliation or restoration?
In what ways have you experienced disunity, division, or polarization?
Do you struggle with the urge to just write some people off?
Or do you feel written off by others?
If you imagine a community defined by Shalom, what comes to your mind? And how does that make you feel?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
What does turning to Jesus today look like for you? How would you describe what it means to follow Jesus? What were the gaps in understanding that were filled along the way as you grew in faith?
How have you experienced the power of God in your life? In what ways has that power led to confession, witness and transformed lives?
Speaker: Keith St. Jean
Reflection Questions:
In what ways has suffering shaped you? How could you see your suffering as being filled with potential?
How do you see your suffering as compost instead of garbage?
Has the community of God's people provided comfort for you in your suffering?
How could you be a comfort to the people around you?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions: What are the longings, questions, and profound insights about God that we can discover in our society?
How might we affirm and satisfy these by highlighting their fulfilment in Christ?
What are the present day idols that exist, those things that attract our devotion, affections, and trust?
How might Christ be inviting you into fuller alignment with him?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
What difficulties have you endured either coming to Christ or remaining with him? How has obstacles, troubles and suffering shaped your understanding of Christ and faith?
What are some of the ways you have seen a church respond to tension and turmoil? What did you learn from that situation?
Preacher: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
How have you experienced freedom, freedom from darkness and the things that enslaved you? In what ways are you still waiting for freedom?
How have you seen the church link together those who otherwise would never be connected to one another? What are some ways a shared commitment to Jesus has connected you to others in a way you didn't think possible?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
How have you seen churches make decisions and work through disagreement? Was this a positive or negative experience for you?
In what ways has the Spirit guided you through a time or situation that required discernment? What is something that you are in the process of discerning right now?
Speaker: Pastor Josh Willms
Reflection Questions:
How do you see the early church embodying the practices of Reconciliation, The Lord's Table, and Kingdom Prayer?
What does it look like for you to live out these practises in daily life?
Can you think of a time that God answered your earnest prayer? What does that look like?
Speaker: Pastor Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
In what ways do you observe gifts of the Spirit at work in our LGMC community?
How have you been equipped by the Spirit to participate in God's work and witness?
To where and to whom is the Spirit guiding you?
Speaker: Jesse Nickel
Reflection Questions:
Looking back at your own life, where and how do you see God at work in it?
Where have you been participating in God's story?
Reflecting on your own life, the story you live each day, where might you notice the fingerprints of the Creator?
What distracts you from noticing God's presence in the world around you?
What stories have shifted the way you understand your identity, the world, and your place within it? How has the story of Jesus impacted your story?
Preacher: Keith St. Jean
Reflection Questions:
“A proper community is a commonwealth: a place, a resource, an economy. It answers the needs, practical as well as social and spiritual, of its members - among them the need to need one another.”
Wendell Berry
- When you have a need, whether it be financial, spiritual, social, or any other, what is the first place you think to go for help? Why there?
- According to Wendell Berry all our needs can be met in a “proper” community. According to Luke in a transformed Christ-following community there should not be a needy person among us. What are some ways that we have been living this out at Level Ground and what are some new ways that we can begin to live into this economy of grace?
Preacher: Andrew Haak
Reflection Questions:
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What is it about this description of the early church that you find exciting or appealing?
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Where are the challenges in living this out?
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How are you being nudged to respond today?
Preacher: Gareth Brandt
Exploring what it means to be 'pentecostal' Anabaptists.
Reflection Questions1. What are some ways that you have seen the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifest through others?
2. How does it make you feel to know that God’s Spirit is for everyone, and that includes you?
Preacher: Andrew
Reflection Questions:
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How have you experienced the gift of the Holy Spirit in your life?
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What does being Christ's witness and partner in His kingdom building look like to you?
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How has Jesus been made visible to you through His people?
Preacher: Clifford
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Kevin
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Josh
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Preacher: Monika
The recording was started about 1/3 into the sermon, apologies.
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Preacher: Jesse
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Ronald
Apologies for the delayed start to the recording
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Josh
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Preacher: Levi
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Mark
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Keith
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Andrew
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Preacher: Monika
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Preacher: Keith
(this passage shifts slightly from the Lectionary schedule; comments shared in response to the message have been edited out for privacy reasons)
The revisioning committee reflects on the past, future and present of LGMC as our congregation transitions into a season of discernment, decision making and direction setting.
For the sake of privacy, comments from the floor at the end of the gathering have been omitted.
* apologies for the poor recording quality; sounds cleaner with headphones. transcripts of what was shared is available upon request.
In this final episode (from Mitch) I sit down with Lydia Fawcett to discuss how difficult it can be to connect with people and groups during this time. In addition, we discuss how easy it can be to still have meaningful discussions or interactions throughout our shared experiences.
Sunday morning sermon with Pastor Josh and Mitch! Continuing in our one another statement series as we discuss what it looks like to bear one another's burdens.
In this episode I sit down with David Fawcett and Nina Kroeker my wife! We talk about how living together in a house with 5 adults can be both challenging and rewarding. Especially during a global pandemic!
This is the first ever podcast style sermon! Andrew Haak and Mitch Kroeker discuss what it looks like to show hospitality to one another during this crazy season of the global pandemic. This sermon was recorded for release on August 23rd 2020.
In this episode, I sit down with fellow LGMC summer intern, Trevor Renshaw to discuss how the youth ministry has been moving forward despite the current global pandemic.
The guest of this week is none other than Levi Dahl. Levi is a self-employed landscaper who's business is focues on zero emissions. This episode we talk about quarantine, the global pandemic and how these come in contact with environmentalism.
Levi's Business Lawn Cycle: https://www.lawncycle.ca/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawncycle/
Today I (Mitch Kroeker) sit down with Sol Theissen as we discuss how the pandemic and quarantine have changed how we work, and especially those who were considered essential workers.
On this first episode of the LGMC Podcast I (Mitch Kroeker) sit down with Andrew Haak, one of our wonderful pastors at Level Ground Mennonite Church and discuss how his family has been dealing with the pandemic and also how quarantine as affected the church.
Quick introduction to the new podcast brought to you by Level Ground Mennonite Church! Join us starting on Monday July 27th as we discuss how the global quarantine has effected the lives of the members of our community, and how different experiances have changed for better or for worse.