Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ~ Ephesians 6:10-11 During the first lockdown last year it was a challenge to keep our children engaged and active. As we struggled to deal with the changing landscape of school, work and daily life we had to find new ways to entertain and engage with our children as we balanced work on top of all of that. Our youngest daughter … [Read more...]
Culture Shock – Sermon for August 8, 2021
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2 As the child of a foreign service officer, I travelled a lot. Before the age of 18, I had lived in 7 countries and visited countless more. One of the realities of travelling to different countries is navigating the vast cultural differences between those countries. Whether it is eating customs, or how one greets one … [Read more...]
Gifted Hands – Sermon for August 1, 2021
“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” ~ Ephesians 4:11-12 Just before I entered grade 7 my family moved from Paris, France to Buffalo New York. As if the culture shock of that move wasn’t enough I got to go into a new school for Middle School as both a Canadian (hated by many Buffalonians) and a foreigner (I had developed a slight British … [Read more...]
The Church’s Calling Card – Sermon for Sunday July 25th
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:18-19 A number of my friends have had babies through the pandemic. This means that my social media feeds are filled with all things baby. Which is lovely. Babies are wonderful, aren’t they? (especially when they’re keeping someone else up at … [Read more...]
Unity in Diversity – Sermon For July 18th 2021
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” ~ Ephesians 2:14 Although I know you’ll probably say I am starting to sound like a broken record, the world seems to be hurtling more and more towards division than in previous eras, but our epistle lesson for today from the Letter to the Ephesians brings the topic of division to centre stage once again and because of the severity, I think it is an essential … [Read more...]
Give Thanks – Sermon for Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 5:18-20 Learning to give thanks, to be grateful is a really important life skill. From an early age I remember my parents instilling in me the importance of saying thank you, the importance of being grateful for a special gift or … [Read more...]
Imitation of Christ – Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:1-2 It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and often that’s quite true. I remember when I first started in ministry here at Grace, I was freshly ordained and my eldest daughter regularly attended. For awhile, every Sunday evening when we went to dinner at my mum’s place, my daughter would find set of … [Read more...]
What Feeds You? – Sermon for the Eleventh Week after Pentecost
“They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’" – John 6:34 What feeds you? What are you hungry for? Before I started running I never really thought about nutrition. Food was something I enjoyed, especially sweet and spicy things, but never something I really thought much about. I didn’t think about calories or macro-nutrients or anything like that, food was just something I enjoyed, something that comforted me, something that I often consumed mindlessly. This obviously led to some … [Read more...]
The King Will Come – Sermon for Nov. 26
Today we celebrate the feast of the Reign of Christ, or for those traditionalists among you, Christ the King Sunday. So with that being the case, what’s the first image in your mind when you hear the words King or Queen? Perhaps you’re a good staunch royalist and you picture Queen Elizabeth II in all her dignified regality. Or perhaps you’re more of the history buff (I know I am!) and the first image that comes to mind is one of the great warrior Kings, like Richard the Lionheart, riding to … [Read more...]
Christ the King
Today we celebrate the Reign of Christ the King. … [Read more...]