Sermons & Such
This is the third and final teaching from Pastor Leah Martens in her "Liberating Return" series. This teaching on the "Return to Purpose" looks at how her summer sabbatical and recent current events have impacted her own thinking about her sense of purpose, as well as purpose for Haven. It also draws upon the story of Esther from the Hebrew Bible.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this message, Leah shares the second of three teachings on the "liberating returns" she experienced during her sabbatical. This teaching focuses on the return to significant relationships, and considers how we might adjust the quality of our presence to experience life-giving connection with others we care about.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this message, Leah shares the first of three teachings on the "liberating returns" she experienced during her sabbatical. The first is focused on the return to one's self, and how that also impacts the return to Source. The teaching ends with an exercise to help each of us connect with self and Source.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this Sunday gathering, the community welcomes Pastor Leah Martens back into the space after a 12 week sabbatical and reflects on what has been learned and experienced during the time this summer.
Sylvia Williams shares some of her own journey of liberating spirituality.
(We acknowledges that there were challenges with the audio on this recording, but believe it is still worthwhile to provide a record of this teaching, despite these challenges.)
In this week's talk, Jeanne discusses her liberation journey and invites haven into thinking about what a liberated spiritual community would look like, noting that,
Liberation isn't tied up in a neat bow. It's learning to change that narrative for myself. The hardest thing is that it's full of emotion, but it's a journey that I started several years ago and I commit to it.
Listen to her talk or view the teaching below:
In this week’s message, Leah reflects on singing, performance, being ourselves, and setting aside time for restoration and reconnection, as she will be doing on her summer sabbatical:
“Jesus regularly took time to separate from the group. At times he withdrew by himself. At times he brought his closest followers with him. At times he wanted to pray. Other times it seems that he just needed a break from being ‘on.’ He needed to rest, he needed to eat and drink, and have intimate time with his closest companions. We see this pattern throughout his life, including on the last night before his death. As he prepared for what was to come, Jesus withdrew to the garden, needing to separate from the bigger group, and connect with God and his three closet friends.”
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or view the teaching below:
On this Easter Sunday, Leah recognizes the "resurrection moment" we are in as we continue to recover from the losses of the Covid Pandemic, and also reflects on the complicated nature of the life after loss.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or view the teaching below.
A Traditional Russian Icon of The Good Samaritan. Anonymous artist; dated end of XVIII c. Online source here.
In this final teaching Leah's series on parables, she covers one of the most famous, commonly known as "The Good Samaritan", and considers how a deeper look may make the story more challenging and important than many of us have come to believe.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or view the teaching below.
As "A Story-Shaped Faith" continues, Leah tackles another challenging parable of Jesus, often known as "The Wheat and the Weeds". In it, she explores how we confront the evils in our time without making the problems even bigger.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching.
In this first Sunday of Lent, 2022, Leah continues our series on parables ("A Story-Shaped Faith") with a look at the story commonly known as the Workers and the Vineyard. She also invites the community to go beyond comprehension and move into practice with a set of suggested practices for the week. We will continue to offer suggested practices in services and via email throughout the season of Lent.
Review Leah’s notes and listen to the teaching or view it below.
In this second teaching in the "Story-Shaped Faith" series, Leah considers a familiar parable, "The Prodigal Son", and challenges listeners to be open to viewing it in a new way.
Review Leah’s notes and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Leah begins a new teaching series on the parables of Jesus, called "A Story-Shaped Faith". In this first teaching in the series, Leah considers how the genre of parables were intended to function in the ancient world and what the famous Parable of the Sower might tell us about their import in shaping our spirituality.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
On the first Sunday of the year, Haven meets virtually and considers together the traditional Epiphany story Matthew tells of Magi coming from the East to worship the infant Jesus.
View Leah’s notes here and watch or listen to the teaching below.
In this last teaching in the series, Leah considers what we might learn from Jesus about repairing our relationships after they've been challenged, and how that might help us build friendships that last.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
During the outdoor service on 10/17/21, Leah teaches on the story of Ruth and Naomi and the hope of friendship that might be easy to miss, as we continue our series on "Friendship Matters".
In this second teaching in the "Friendship Matters" series, Leah explores the various circles of friendship and how they are built up, and we hear a special story from four friends who have been there for each other for decades.
Review Leah’s notes or take in the teaching and story through audio or video below. (To watch only the DeWitt and Jensen story, start at minute 29.)
This is the first teaching in a new series, called "Friendship Matters". In this first gathering, we explored a little of what science, voices from history, voices in Haven, and Scripture have to say about friendship. What does "friendship" even mean? Why is it important for us to think about? Why is it challenging? And how might God interact with the whole idea?
Listen to the teaching or watch it below.
