Sermons by Darryl G. Klassen

FINANCIAL DISCIPLESHIP: WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FOLLOWER OF JESUS   Managing our money is challenging these days. Post-Covid, prices have risen on groceries and fuel, going out to a restaurant is not as fun as it used to be with smaller portions and higher prices, and then there’s high interest rates. Young adults find it particularly challenging to get ahead. Consciously or subconsciously, money is always on our minds. We need money to live; we can’t deny it.             I witnessed an odd scene in downtown Chicago a few years ago. A man, whom I could only assume was homeless if not jobless, was begging money from passersby. One fellow took offense at being asked for money and shouted, “I have no money. I work a steady job and I’m broke. Why don’t you get a job?” To which the homeless man shouted back, “If I got a job, I would be broke like you, so what’s the point?”              For the follower of Jesus, money matters. It is as much a part of our discipleship as any other aspect of fo

FOLLOWING JESUS IN A VIOLENT WORLD   Nonviolence is not a “Mennonite thing,” it is a “Jesus thing.” “Nonviolence” best describes what Jesus lived out and modeled for his disciples.             While we were in Tennessee recently visiting Sharon’s college roommate, we were informed that Tennessee was an “open carry” state (we didn't ask for this information; it was offered without inquiry). That means that people could walk around with guns on their hips. We asked if that meant in church too. Our friend said, “yes.” It was a shocking revelation. Not that people brought guns to church, I knew that, but that carrying a gun was so intensely married to faith in Christ. That was shocking! Evangelicals are the biggest gun proponents in the US. To me, that is incongruent with following Jesus.              Even more revealing is that evangelicals support military intervention in global crises. Military historian, Andrew Bacevich recently said, “Were it not for the support offered by several

THE POLITICS OF A JESUS FOLLOWER               In a democracy, we have been trained to believe that when leaders make bad decisions that we have the right to resist or critique their choices. This is true, but does this conflict with our testimony as Christians? Paul wrote in Romans 13:1,  “…be subject to the governing authorities…”              When Paul wrote these words, who was in power in Rome? Nero! A man who hated Christians. He had Christians rounded up, dipped in tallow, tied to stakes, and burned like candles in his garden. He set fire to Rome and blamed the Christians. This was a time when abortion was rampant, homosexuality was accepted as normal, and everyone worshiped emperors like gods. And Paul tells the believers to be subject to the governing authorities?              How do we as Christians engage with the political life of our nation? I do not propose to answer this question. Answers are focused on solving a problem. I want to give you biblical principles to help yo