“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...]
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...]
One Love – Sermon for Lent 4
“For our sake he made him be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:21 There are some weeks when I look at the readings set out by the lectionary and wonder about how the Gospel speaks into our context. But then there are weeks like this one where it seems that the Spirit inspired the Scripture’s authors or the compilers of the lectionary to address what is going on in the world. As I prepared to write this sermon, Russia continued … [Read more...]
Learning at the Feet of the Master – Sermon for Jan 16 2022
“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:11 When we think about discipleship, about following Jesus, we probably begin to think about learning. After all, much of the Christian life is about learning from Jesus, learning about Jesus and learning to live the life that God is growing in our lives. We make a big deal about learning. Jesus is described in the Bible as a teacher, as a Rabbi a great religious … [Read more...]
Journey from Grief to Hope – Sermon for All Souls 2021
“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will love, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” ~ John 11:25-26 Grief is one of the great paradoxes of human existence. On the one hand it is one of the common threads that weaves itself throughout all human experience in every place and every time on earth. Some time or another in life, everyone will experience grief. Whether it is the grief of losing a loved one: a parent, a partner, a … [Read more...]
O When the Saints – Sermon for All Saints 2021
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them” ~ Revelation 21:3 As someone who loved both medieval and church history throughout high school and university, the lives of Saints played a significant part in my education. Even a secular study of history cannot ignore the impact that ‘saints’ and their legends had on communities, the church and the course … [Read more...]
Equipped for the Journey – Sermon for August 22
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ~ Ephesians 6:10-11 During the first lockdown last year it was a challenge to keep our children engaged and active. As we struggled to deal with the changing landscape of school, work and daily life we had to find new ways to entertain and engage with our children as we balanced work on top of all of that. Our youngest daughter … [Read more...]
Culture Shock – Sermon for August 8, 2021
“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 5:1-2 As the child of a foreign service officer, I travelled a lot. Before the age of 18, I had lived in 7 countries and visited countless more. One of the realities of travelling to different countries is navigating the vast cultural differences between those countries. Whether it is eating customs, or how one greets one … [Read more...]