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Preaching event at the prayer service for Christian unity at Copper Cliff United Church. on 1/21/2015. All clergy of the Copper Cliff ministerial give a short take on the state of Christian unity in light of John 4.1-42;  “The Woman At The Well.” Preacher in order of appearance: Rev. Glen Miller – Anglican Church of Canada Rev. Kristin Luana Baumann – Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada Rev. James Clarke – United Church of Canada Rev. Olaf Baumann – Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada  

Rev. Kristin Luana Baumann, Deutsche Weihnachtspredigt, St. Matthew & St. Timothy in Sudbury ON, am 14. 12. 2014 The sermon was held at the service for the German speaking community in Sudbury, ON on 12/14/2014.

Remembrance Day 2014 . 100 years ago at the Marne the primordial catastrophe of the 20th century turns “War As Usual” into the industrialized slaughterhouse of modernity.

Ecumenical Podcast of the Copper Cliff Ministerial. Rev. Glen Miller - Anglican Church of Canada Rev. Kristin Luana Baumann - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada Rev. James Clarke - United Church of Canada Mrs. Beverly van der Jagt - Anglican Church of Canada Rev. Olaf Baumann - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Canada must move away from the idea that Canada has an ‘aboriginal problem’, and acknowledge that Canada has a ‘Canadian problem’. Colonial history is complex and it involves all peoples. All Canadians are part of the problem, as well as the solution. The story told in the sermon is a narration of "Linking Arms, the Haudenausee Context of the Covenant Chain", by Richard Hill, Grand River Tuscarora, found in "Mamow Be-Mo-Tay-Tah – Let us Walk Together", a truth and reconciliation resource published by the Canadian Council of Churches in 2009. Click here for the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People.”

Want to make a profit? Invest in slaves! Since 1860 the number of slaves went up by 2 Million. The price rose from $ 135 in 1860 to $ 140 today. When we consider the complexity of human trafficking, it is easy to despair. The problem is so huge that nothing less than a total recalibration of our global economy seems required, which may be why jubilee and Sabbath years were declared necessary by God (See Lev. 25). All of us are part of unjust systems of commerce and exploitative patterns of life that feed human trafficking. But recognizing this can also give us a place to begin working with God to build relationships, policies, and practices that make us accountable to one another and help us love our neighbor in all that we do. HUMAN TRAFFICKING SUNDAY Ev. Luth. Parish of St. Matthew and St. Timothy Aug. 24th, 2014 These are suggestions taken from a bulletin insert the Salvation Army prepared for a Weekend of Prayer in September 2012. Check out their other resources at http://salvationist.ca/action-support/human-trafficking/ Think before you buy In 2011 the UN estimated that 150 million children aged 5-14 in developing countries were involved in child labour. Take a few minutes exploring slaveryfootprint.org - it’s a stark commentary on how we all contribute to this problem. Reach out to youth A lack of community resources for youth – from childcare to recreational programs – can yield a breeding ground for exploitation and vulnerability. Building relationships, especially with vulnerable youth, can make an immeasurable difference – in people’s lives and in your community. What can you and your faith community do to make a difference this way? Advocate for justice Many trafficked persons live in fear of speaking out and advocating for their personal rights and freedoms. Believe it or not, writing a letter or speaking with your elected officials is one of the most effective ways of advocacy. Information on letter-writing can be found at www.bit.ly/ObXJbZ Form relationships with the vulnerable No one likes feeling helpless. Think of a time that you felt helpless, lost or vulnerable. There are people in our communities who live these feelings daily. Caring and supportive relationships can go a long way toward ensuring the vulnerable do not become entangled in unhealthy activities and networks Fight injustice The most vulnerable experience injustice in ways we can’t begin to fathom. Even our food choices can make a difference. Oxfam has come up with five practical actions for all of us to consider (www.bit.ly/Q7mZah), noting “If enough people act, the reverberations will be felt right along the food chain.” Imagine a world without trafficking Human trafficking is second only to drug trafficking as the largest criminal activity in the world. (Ref: RCMP Criminal Intelligence, Project Seclusion: Human Trafficking in Canada, Ottawa, 2010) Most change movements start with a dream of a better world. Let your imagination be your guide. Champion prevention Did you know that the likelihood of someone being trafficked rises exponentially if they live in poverty without a supportive community? Find out what programs exist in your neighbourhood or city that work with the dispossessed. There may even be some operating out of your church community. Are there ways in which you can become involved or supportive of them? Keep praying Do include petitions for enslaved people and for justice in world economy in your daily prayers.

The husband who batters his wife breaks the marriage vows, not the wife who leaves him. Domestic violence and abuse is a gross violation of not only the victim of the violence and the immediate family; it also violates the spiritual integrity of the whole community of faith and each of its members. This communal aspect of domestic violence has long been neglected in faith communities. Church can be a place of help and healing for the victimized. It can also do harm by protecting perpetrators rather than victims, promoting wrong theology which ultimately keeps people in dangerous situations, or minimizing the problem. I hope this podcast can be one step in making our church community a place of safety and healing. Clinging To the Threshold of Hope A Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Kevin E. Frederick, Presbyterian Church, USA, adapted by Rev. Kristin Luana Baumann   Right Relations Preaching Series. Right Relations are about creating strong and healthy relationships in all aspects of our life. God’s command to love God, self and other is a holistic command. God asks us to put love first, always. This has consequences to how we relate to creation, what job choices we make, how we spend our money, what public policies we support, and, of course, how we take care of ourselves, our families, and all other people. The preaching series does not cover all possible topics, but focuses on three areas of individual and societal importance. I will ask us to put our attention to three wounds in our personal and community life, so to promote awareness and healing: The first Sunday is about Domestic Violence. The second Sunday is about Human Trafficking. The third Sunday is about Reconciliation between First Nations and Canadian government and larger society.

Rev. Kristin Luana Baumann – sermon on John 18.28-40 – St. Matthew & St. Timothy, Sudbury, ON, 3/30/2014 John 18:28   Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.  29 So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”  30 They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”  31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.”  32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) John 18:33   Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”  36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”  37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.  39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”  40 They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

Rev. Kristin Luana Baumann – sermon on John 11.1-44 – St. Matthew & St. Timothy, Sudbury, ON, 3/23/2014 John 11.1-44 John 11:1   Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.  3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”  4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”  5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,  6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. John 11:7   Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”  8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”  9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.  10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.”  11 After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.”  12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”  13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep.  14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.  15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”  16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” John 11:17   When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.  18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,  19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.  20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.  21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”  23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”  24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,  26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” John 11:28   When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”  29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.  30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.  31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.  32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.  34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”  35 Jesus began to weep.  36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”  37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” John 11:38   Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord,

Rev. Olaf Baumann - sermon on John 13.1-17 - St. Matthew & St. Timothy, Sudbury, ON - 3/16/2014 John 13:1-17 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." 12After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.  

Rev. Kristin Luana Baumann - St. Matthew & St. Timothy, Sudbury, ON - 3/9/2014   John 11:1-44 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" 9Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." 11After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." 12The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." 13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." 16Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." 17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." 23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." 28When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?

  John 10:1-18Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.7So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."

Rev. Olaf Baumann – sermon on John 9.1-41 – St. Matthew & St. Timothy, Sudbury, ON, 03/02/2014     John 9:1-41 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, 7saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" 9Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 10But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." 12They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." 13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." 16Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. 17So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet." 18The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." 25He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 26They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" 28Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 30The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out. 35Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." 37Jesus said to him, "You have seen him,

Rev. Olaf Baumann – sermon on John 4:46-54 - St. Matthew & St. Timothy, Sudbury, ON, 02/16/2014  John 4:46-54 46Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." 49The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my little boy dies." 50Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, "Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him." 53The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.  

Are the roots of Todd Akin's 'legitimate rape' comment really religious? The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/23/legitimate-rape-todd-akin-remarks_n_1823218.html) traces back the notion of women's bodies shutting down fertility to experiments conducted in Nazi death camps. This sermon reminds us of true Christian witnesses like Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Junior, Desmond Tutu and Mother Teresa. They promote true Christian love and equal rights for all. Ultra-right-winged American politicians like Todd Akin might be promoting a world view fed by fascist thought, but they certainly do not promote the ways of Jesus Christ.