God at Work: The Practice of Peace in an Unstable World
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Release Date: 06/23/2025
Drawn Towards the Center
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Drawn Towards the Center (John 12:20–33) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this second sermon of the 2026 series Moving Towards the Center, Pastor Donnell Wyche invites the congregation to reflect on faith in a chaotic and fear-filled world. Building on the Epiphany theme of attentiveness, he reminds listeners that the Spirit of God does not operate through fear or coercion, but through presence, desire, and attraction. Gathering together, he says, is itself an act of resistance to isolation and despair, a declaration that we are not...
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Joining God's Unfolding Story
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Joining God’s Unfolding Story ( Matthew 2:1–12) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Pastor Donnell Wyche launches a new year sermon series by inviting the church to “join God’s unfolding story,” beginning with the Epiphany account of the Magi in Matthew 2:1–12. The Magi notice a light breaking into the ordinary pattern of the world and choose to follow it, even without a map, a timeline, or certainty about where it will lead. Their journey becomes a picture of faith as attentiveness—learning to recognize where God is already at work...
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Christmas Eve - The Power of Our "Yes"
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Christmas Eve - The Power of Our "Yes" - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this Christmas message, Pastor Hannah walks listeners through Luke 2, inviting us to slow down and step into the wonder of the first Christmas night. She highlights how God enters the world not through power or prestige, but by interrupting ordinary lives—Mary, Joseph, and later the shepherds—with an unexpected invitation to trust Him. Though none of them seek the spotlight or have the accolades the world celebrates, each responds with a simple but courageous...
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Advent Week Four
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Advent Week Four - Jonathan Hurshman - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am -
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Advent Week Three
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Advent Week Three - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am -
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Advent Week Two
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Advent Week Two - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am -
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Advent Week One: A Genealogy of Hope
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Advent Week One: A Genealogy of Hope - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Pastor Hannah introduces Advent as a season of waiting and reflection, inviting the congregation to remember Jesus’ first coming and anticipate his return. This leads into the reading of Matthew 1, emphasizing that the genealogy is an origin story rich with meaning rather than a list to skip. Pastor Hannah highlights three themes in Jesus’ lineage: it is multi-ethnic, featuring women like Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba; it is full of broken yet beautiful...
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The Parables of Jesus - The Least of These
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus - The Least of These (Matthew 25:31-46) - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this week’s message, Pastor Donnell Wyche concludes our journey through the parables of Jesus by taking us into Matthew 25:31–46—the well-known but often misunderstood story of the sheep and the goats. Rather than presenting a God eager to condemn, Pastor Donnell reminds us that Jesus is revealing the true heart of the Father: one grounded in self-giving love, mercy, and a desire for relationship. Jesus paints a picture of...
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The Parables of Jesus - The Bags of Gold
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: The Bags of Gold - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this week’s message from Ann Arbor Community Church, Pastor Hannah invites listeners to enter into Jesus’ parable of the bags of gold from Matthew 25:14-30 with fresh eyes. Pastor Hannah helps listeners see that the story isn’t primarily about productivity or comparison, but about faithfulness and trust in the character of the master—who represents Jesus. She explains that each servant received what they could handle, revealing a master who knows,...
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The Parables of Jesus: Awake and Waiting
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: Awake and Waiting (Matthew 25:1–13) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this sermon, Pastor Donnell Wyche explores Jesus’ parable of the ten young women waiting for the bridegroom, highlighting how it invites us to live with spiritual readiness, not fear. He reminds listeners that the parable isn’t about purity or moral worth, but about preparation — about having “oil” that lasts through the long night. The wise and foolish alike had lamps and fell asleep, but only those who brought extra oil...
info_outlineGod at Work: The Practice of Peace in an Unstable World - Rev. Donnell T. Wyche - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 10:45am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard
Summary:
In this powerful sermon, Pastor Donnell Wyche invites the community to consider what it means to be a peacemaker in a world marked by instability, injustice, and unpredictability. Rooted in Romans 12:18—“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone”—the message challenges simplistic or false notions of peace. Pastor Donnell reminds us that real peace is not about avoidance, politeness, or keeping quiet; it is an active, justice-rooted, and costly way of living that reflects God’s heart for wholeness and dignity.
Drawing on both scripture and lived experience, Pastor Donnell explores how peace requires posture, participation, and power-awareness. He names the pain of being misunderstood, dismissed, or gaslit, and affirms that some people or systems may not want peace at all. Even so, Christians are called to be people of peace, not doormats. Peace, he emphasizes, should never come at the expense of truth or dignity, and peacemaking may require letting go, speaking up, or even walking away from harmful situations.
The sermon closes with practical wisdom for living peaceably: stay grounded in God’s story, find beauty and stillness, engage scripture deeply, and lean into community. Even when efforts at peace seem to fail, God is present in the trying, the awkwardness, and the tears. God is at work in us and through us—right in the messy, faithful practice of peacemaking.