“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” – Luke 10:2One of the biggest fears in the Western Church, which has grown to a fever pitch over the past few decades, is the fear of declining congregations and the corresponding decline of the seeming importance of faith and Christianity in the world. With the decline in attendance has come the grim and mournful reality of church deaths and closures, something … [Read more...]
Invited Series (Bonus Week!) – 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
“Now as you excel in everting – in faith, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you – so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.” – 2 Corinthians 8:7Have you ever been overwhelmed by generosity?I have experienced overwhelming generosity a number of times throughout my life, but the most vivid example I remember is when my family and I were visiting Sri Lanka in the winter of 2004.We arrived in Colombo after a long flight, on the afternoon of Christmas … [Read more...]
Invited Preaching Series Week 2 – John 1:43-51
Nathaniel said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him “Come and see.” – John 1:46How many of you like icebreaker games? You know the games that are designed to get people out of their comfort zone and introduce themselves to a group of strangers. Often ice breakers can revolve around your name, or around what you’d bring to a desert island and one of the most common ones is where you are invited to think about which person from history, dead or alive, that you … [Read more...]
Caught Between Heaven and Earth – Sermon for Ascension Day
When I lived in Moscow, Russia during my high school years, I had the chance to go on a school trip to the Ural Mountains for a week as part of Discovery Week at my school, which was a program designed for us to explore parts of Russia we wouldn’t normally see.The Urals aren’t a particularly high set of mountains, but they are the divide between Europe and Asia which is their claim to fame and as part of the trip we took a trip up on of the peaks of the mountain range. I’ve never been a huge … [Read more...]
The Spirit Carries On – Sermon for Easter 6
"Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" – Acts 10:47As the father of two girls, even as young as they are, I am intimately aware of the lingering inequalities and injustices that exist in this world even as white middle class Canadians we enjoy many, many privileges. When my eldest daughter first became enthralled with the Blue Jays three years ago, she quickly decided that she wanted to play for them when she grew up, and … [Read more...]
Living in the Light of Easter – Part 2
“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” – 1 John 3:1 Last week we had the first part of our mini two-part series titled Living in the Light of Easter – where we looked at Easter through the analogy of a wedding between God and humankind, God making promises to us, of forgiveness of sins, of eternal and abundant life, of life in his presence and kingdom forever. Like a wedding there is a marriage that follows life after the … [Read more...]
Living in the Light of Easter (Part 1)
“With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” – Acts 4:33When Bethany and I were first engaged, I must admit I was appalled by the whole wedding-industrial complex. Weddings these days are complex events, often requiring a wedding planner to pull off all the various elements. It seems that people look to one-up one another on how extravagant their wedding can be – the best dress, the best ring, the best cake and … [Read more...]
In the Garden – Sermon for Easter 2018
"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." – John 20:15 Two days before Mary had stood at the foot of the Cross, as her teacher, her friend and Lord had suffered the full force of the Roman Empire’s brutal power – death upon the twisted, torturous tree. The whole earth seemingly mourned Jesus’ death as the sky was darkened, bruised by … [Read more...]
Sign of the Cross – Good Friday 2018
Even in this day and age of secularism you don’t have to walk very far down the street before you see a Cross of some description. Whether it is on the steeple of a church, built into architectural features or hanging around someone’s neck – crosses are all around us. In church we see them all the time – we process up the aisle with one, we have them embroidered on our linens and stoles, and here at Grace we have the large Christus Rex which hangs upon on our wall. Many find comfort in the … [Read more...]
Who Are You – Sermon for March 25
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”] And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.” – Mark 8:27-30 One of my favourite bands when I got into listening to music, was the British band started … [Read more...]