“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...]
Good News and Gospel Truth – Dec. 6
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” ~ Mark 1:1 What is the most important part of the Advent and Christmas seasons? For some people it is probably all the opportunities to celebrate with family and friends, the exchange of gifts and the delicious food – holidays, after all, is the perfect time to spend with family after all. Others may find it is the familiar music which wafts through the air: the carols and holiday classics that remind us of years past and … [Read more...]
If Love is the Law – Sermon for Oct 25
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Matthew 22:36 If you were to think about the most important part of Christianity what would it be? Maybe you’d say God, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit – perfectly, true and acceptable answers for sure. Or maybe you’d pick an event, like the Crucifixion or Resurrection – after all, some Christian scholars have called these events the hinge of history or Pentecost since that’s why we’re here. Or if you were more theologically … [Read more...]
Don’t Judge a Book – Sermon for September 27th 2020
“Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” ~ Matthew 21:31 Don’t judge a book by its cover. This piece of timeless wisdom is about as clichéd as you can get, but it’s clichéd because we were all probably taught it in some variation as a child and more often than not it rings true. While making snap judgements can be important in intense situations, often we need to look beyond the surface and first … [Read more...]
Salt of the Earth – Sermon for Epiphany 5
"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?” ~ Matthew 5:13 Like many young people leaving home for the first time, I never learned to cook for myself. In university I spent my first couple years in residence, and then when I was living off campus my idea of cooking was popping a can of something and heating it in the microwave or if I was really fancy on the stove top. I could make eggs and bacon for breakfast, and my one real food item … [Read more...]
Mr./Mrs. Beatitudes – Sermon for Epiphany 4
Audio of Sermon: Mr./Mrs. Beatitudes found below! ”Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10 Ever since I was a child I have loved both fantasy and science fiction as a genre. Whether it was devouring Tolkien, laughing hysterically at the Hitchhikers Guide Series, or watching Star Trek with my parents – I couldn’t get enough of the stories weaved in the two literary genres. A common enough story in both fantasy and … [Read more...]
New Life – Baptism of Christ Sunday, 2020
“See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.” – Isaiah 42:9 “Gone by 2040? Statistics report wake-up call to church, says primate” If you receive the Anglican Journal or you happened to read one here in our entryway before they were taken, you would have been confronted by this shocking headline, on the front page of our church’s national newspaper. The article is a response to statistics which were recently released … [Read more...]
We Three Kings? – Sermon for Epiphany 2020
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem – Matthew 2:1 Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany here on the first Sunday of the new year, the new decade. Even as all around us Christmas decorations have been taken down and store shelves are now stuffed with Valentines Day paraphernalia, trees put away or put out to the curb, Boxing Day sales have wrapped up, yet our celebration of Christmas continues all the way until … [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...]
The Right Stuff – Sermon for August 4th
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. – Colossians 3:9-10 Have you ever tried to do something wearing completely the wrong clothes for the occasion? I remember when I was a kid I went to a school where we had to wear uniforms, which meant polo shirts, dress pants, dress shoes and a tie every day. One of the first … [Read more...]
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