“Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. But the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” Revelation 22:3-4 The book of Revelation is in some serious need of image rehabilitation. If I ventured a guess, I would bet that the Book of Revelation doesn’t sit atop any of your lists as your favourite book of the Bible, probably not even close. It’s a book filled with cryptic imagery, with … [Read more...]
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Praise You – Sermon for Easter 5
“Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!” ~ Psalm 148:1 What is the purpose or meaning of life? I remember back in high school, my biology teacher used to joke that biologically speaking he was a failure of a human being, that he had not fulfilled his biological purpose, because he had never had children. You see, from a purely biological perspective, the purpose of any creature is merely to continue the existence and thriving of its species beyond its … [Read more...]
Shepherd of My Soul – Sermon for Easter 4
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” ~ Psalm 23:1 If you were to say this verse to anyone that grew up in Canada or another part of the British Commonwealth, they would likely know the source and many could probably continue the passage at least a few more verses. Whether you learned it in school, Sunday school or have heard it at countless funerals – the twenty-third psalm is easily one of the most recognizable passages of scripture. It has also found a place in our culture’s … [Read more...]
Tear the Fences Down – Sermon for Easter 3
“But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." ~ Acts 9:15-16 The saying goes “Good fences make good neighbours.” But do they? From the earliest pre-historic hunters who built walls around their hunt camps with mammoth bones to the walls of Athens that differentiated them from the nation-state of Sparta to the defensive … [Read more...]
Do you believe in Resurrection? – Sermon for Easter 2
Alleluia Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed Alleluia!! While we tend to make a big deal about celebrating the one day of Easter Sunday, the joy of the season of Easter is that we get to celebrate it for six weeks following Easter Sunday until Pentecost. Every Sunday is a Resurrection Sunday, but for six weeks we focus specifically on the Resurrection, we focus specifically on the stories of Jesus, which speak of the Resurrection, or the stories from the Book of Acts, and the effect of the … [Read more...]
Resurrection Matters – Sermon for Easter
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:20 If you went to the mall, maybe not today, but on almost any other day, and took a survey asking people which holiday they thought was the most important day in the Christian church, what do you think they would say? … Christmas. Somehow, somewhere along the way, Christmas has become THE defining day on the Christian calendar (at least as it is seen by outsiders). There’s … [Read more...]
Found it in Silence – Sermon for Easter Vigil
Silence. If you’ve ever been out in the early dawn, before the sunrises you will know something of the sound of silence. Even in a city like Toronto that is practically awake 24/7, the early morning hours provide a taste of silence, especially the further you are from downtown. Back when I trained to run a marathon, the early morning wake-ups were grueling, forcing myself to get out of bed before 5 am, strap on shoes and running clothes was difficult, but once out on the trails the stillness … [Read more...]
Cross in the Spotlight – Sermon for Good Friday
“When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” ~ John 19:30 They say hindsight is 20/20. Whether good or bad we can look back on past events and assess what went wrong, what went right, how we could have done things better, the good that came out of a bad situation and so forth. When I look back now on the hardest times of my life, the times when it felt everything was crashing down around me and falling apart at the seams I can … [Read more...]
Serve the Servants – Sermon for Maundy Thursday
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.” ~ John 13:3-4 For all that we talk about servanthood being at the centre of the Christian life, the path that we are all called to follow, we can be mighty squeamish when it comes to foot-washing. From a friend’s church in the deep south of the United States that was so uncomfortable with … [Read more...]
King for a Day – Sermon for Palm Sunday
“The whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" ~ Luke 19:37-38 Have you ever received bad news amid other people’s celebrations and excitement? In those situations, you try to go along with the occasion not trying to put a damper on things, you might even put on a brave face so no one knows the … [Read more...]
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