"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" – Matthew 21:9 Today is the beginning of Holy Week, Palm Sunday, a day where we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem with adoring crowds waving palm fronds, shouts of Hosanna, a procession fit for a King. We began today with the joy of Palm Sunday, waving our palms singing our coronation songs just as the crowds did in our first Gospel reading today. And why … [Read more...]
Blessed Are…
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” – Matthew 5:6 Today in our Gospel reading we come to one of the most beloved and well-known passages of Scripture: The Beatitudes. Over the next 4 weeks we will hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount – of which the Beatitudes are the beginning – and it represents the first truly public act of Jesus’ ministry, in the Gospel of Matthew. … [Read more...]
Repentance
Last week Andrew spoke to us about discipleship. He spoke to us about how the heart of discipleship is about ‘being with Jesus’, hanging on to Jesus’ every word, on learning what it means to live from Jesus and more challengingly being with the people that Jesus hung out with – the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the prostitutes, the sinners, the tax collectors, the lonely. He even went on to concretely challenge us to live out this calling to be with Jesus and those Jesus chooses to be … [Read more...]
Same Old Song and Dance
“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” – Matthew 2:18 Over the last week there has been a lot of retrospectives in the media – on television, the radio, online – looking back at the year that was in 2016. Many of the retrospectives have been considerably negative – wishing good riddance to a year and hope for a better year to come. … [Read more...]
Tell Me What You See
“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” – Matthew 11:3-4 “God is going to restore Israel’s Glory Days”; “God is going to kick out those Roman foreigners who make our lives hell.” “The Messiah is going to come and drain the swamp of political corruption in Jerusalem.” “God is going to Make Israel Great Again!” … [Read more...]
The Song Remains the Same
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.” – Psalm 98:4 Sing a new song to the Lord, sing a joyous song to the ends of the earth, break forth into joyous song, the hills will sing together, the floods clap their hands at the presence of the Lord! These are a collection of verses from the Psalm 98, in another time we likely would have sung this Psalm. For those of you that love to sing this is the psalm for you – it is a psalm that is … [Read more...]
Mo Money Mo Problems
Recently in the news and on social media there has been a lot of attention being given to Mother Teresa. … [Read more...]
Upside Down
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! – Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No I tell you, but rather division!” – Luke 12:49, 51 Well I don’t know about you, but it seems that from last week to today we have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Last week – when we wrestled with Jesus’ teaching on how our lives our prioritized, particularly around the tough issue of money – seems like a cake walk compared to the bombshell that … [Read more...]
The Spirit Carries On
“Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:16, 5:22-23 As a Canadian, I have always looked with interest when it comes time for American Election season. We might have complained about the length of our last federal election, but the American process seems like it kicks off almost immediately following the last election, with … [Read more...]
What is Dead May Never Die?
“When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said her, ‘Do not weep’… And he said ‘Young man, I say to you rise!’” – Luke 7:12-13 Let’s talk about death. I know, I know it is not a subject that any of us are particularly comfortable with: whether it is memories of loved ones who have died, the horrific scenes of death plastered across our news screens every day or even the prospect of our own deaths – the subject of death is not one that most of us are comfortable talking … [Read more...]
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