**Audio below** Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent December 22, 2019 Alice J Stewart We have heard throughout the gospels and the epistles that following Jesus can get you in real trouble. We’ve heard this from Jesus himself, we’ve heard this from Paul, and there are other places we can find this truth. And it is truth. Mary and Joseph found this out even before Jesus was born. Mary was in deep trouble having a child out of wedlock. But today let’s focus on Joseph. Joseph was a … [Read more...]
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There is More, and that’s Good News
**Audio can be found below** Sermon for Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost - Luke 21:5-19 Alice J Stewart November 17, 2019 Notre Dame in Paris - 2019. Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand - 2011. The Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan - 2001. The Twin Towers in New York City - 2001. The Library of Alexandria in Egypt - first century AD. The Second Temple in Jerusalem - 70 AD... less than 40 years after Jesus spoke the words we heard in today’s Gospel reading. Both … [Read more...]
Hope for the Future – Sabbath Week 6
Today we come to the end of our series on Sabbath, and you may ask yourselves ‘now what?’ What does the practice of Sabbath have to do with my daily life? What hope can resting and pausing offer me in a world that moves so quickly that if you stop and pause you’ll be left in the dust? What can we possibly hope to accomplish as a congregation by intentionally resting for one whole year? To begin to answer those questions, I want to talk to you about a park. Some of the most enduring and … [Read more...]
Gift from God – Sabbath Week 4
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” ~ Luke 6:5 I remember as a child one of the worst things you could hear was a new set of rules or especially for a new gift, game or toy that you just picked up – don’t do this, don’t do that, you can’t do that here and what not. Now don’t get me wrong rules are important, most games wouldn’t be any fun without them but if rules suffocate and eclipse everything than there is no joy or delight. The same is true as we grow older, … [Read more...]
Jubilee Road – Sabbath Series Week 3
“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.” – Leviticus 25:10 Years ago a man named Millard Fuller was living the height of the American dream. A millionaire by age twenty-nine (couldn’t we all be so lucky!), he was a high-powered corporate executive working 24/7 and making close to a million dollars year, adding to his fortune. By all … [Read more...]
Sabbath as Rest – Sermon for September 29, 2019
** Audio version below ** Sermon: Sabbath as Rest * September 29, 2019 * Alice J Stewart Today we heard the 10 commandments. These are just the first 10. There are a total of 613 commandments for observant Jews. Of those 613, there are 33 commandments for various Sabbath times. As you might expect, there are more commandments relating to God himself. And you may be fascinated to know that there are a measly 3 for murder, 2 for adultery, 6 for stealing and coveting, and about 6 for lying. … [Read more...]
Sabbath: A Beginning – Sermon for September 22
“And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.” ~ Genesis 2:2 When I was a child the Sabbath was a completely foreign concept – not because I didn’t enjoy rest and delight in play like any other child my age – but because as a millennial, for the majority of my life Sunday has not been a day of rest. By the time I was aware enough as a child, stores were open 7 days a week and activities like baseball, or … [Read more...]
Cross to Bear – Sermon for September 8th
Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ~ Luke 14:27 One of the most important parts of growing up to be an adult is learning how to prioritize. Typically, as a child and even as a teenager, your parents make many of the biggest decisions in your life – what to eat, what to buy, how much time to spend doing x, y or z. As you get older you certainly need to improve your time management skills but it isn’t until you are out on your own, whether that be at … [Read more...]
Jesus and the Venn Diagram
**Audio file available below** Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost: Alice J Stewart I want you imagine a Venn diagram. You know, the kind with two circles that intersect. I want you to imagine in one circle the very human tendency to be socially stratified and competitive. We can symbolize this with the image of a monkey, since we get this trait from our evolutionary past. In the other circle, imagine the Kingdom of God as symbolized by a feast. Imagine that these two circles come … [Read more...]
No More Mr. Nice Guy – Sermon for August 18th
"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ~ Luke 12:49 If there is one characteristic that stereotypically describes Canadians as a whole it is probably that we are ‘nice’. We’ll say sorry if you bump into us, we celebrate our diverse and ‘tolerant’ nation and we have a stellar reputation on the world stage with regards to human rights. It is a pretty big part of our national identity… but in reality it is an elaborate lie we tell ourselves. I say that it … [Read more...]