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 5:1-2It 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...]
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What Feeds You? – Sermon for the Eleventh Week after Pentecost
“They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’" – John 6:34What 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...]
Sermon for Tenth Sunday of Pentecost – John 6:1-21
Superman. The Lone Ranger. Wonder Woman. Who has never heard of these characters? If you're over the age of 60, I'd bet my bottom dollar you were influenced by the early superheros, like Superman.Similarly, the Jews at the feeding of the five thousand would have noticed Jesus' likeness to their own version of superheros: the prophets with miraculous signs. Moses. Elijah. Elisha.Those watching and listening to Jesus in the Gospel of John we heard today would have remembered a … [Read more...]
Invited Series Week 6 – Acts 10:1-36
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at Inviting. Today, as we conclude this deep exploration of invitation, I want us to contemplate where our triune God is inviting Christians. Where the church is being invited. In the story of Peter and Cornelius, we see a lot of inviting going on. Cornelius sends messengers to invite Peter, Peter invites the messengers to stay the night, Peter stays at Cornelius' house for several days... it's just one big invitation fest. But I want to push … [Read more...]
Invited Series Week 5 – Luke 10:1-11
“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...]
Invited Series Week 1 – Luke 19:1-10
I have a friend who recently adopted a kitten. This was about a month ago. A normal person would have forgotten about a friend's kitten before now. Not me. I'm a sucker for baby animals, and a complete sucker for kittens. But, kittens turn into cats. Kittens claw the furniture and their litter box is never tidy. Pets of any sort can cause a real ruckus in life, because we're inviting them into our homes to become part of our families. The same is true for inviting humans into our homes. Adding … [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...]