“The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” ~ Zephaniah 3:17 What do you delight in? Delight is a word that we don’t often hear nowadays – in fact, usage in print and other media has dropped significantly in the last century – and when we do hear the word I think we don’t necessarily hear it or appreciate the full weight of the word. A person can be … [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...]
Look, Here’s Water – Sermon for Easter 5
Look. Here's water. What's to prevent me from being baptized? When I was a teenager, I began to ask impertinent questions about religion. In this way, I was a pretty typical teenager. Once I approached a church-going relative and asked about Jesus. I was beginning to think there was more to this Jesus person than simply “Jesus-loves-me-this-I-know.” So I asked this relative of mine and he said, "Well, you just gotta love Jesus. If you don’t, you’ll go to hell!" I don’t blame my … [Read more...]
The Song Remains the Same
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.” – Psalm 98:4 Sing a new song to the Lord, sing a joyous song to the ends of the earth, break forth into joyous song, the hills will sing together, the floods clap their hands at the presence of the Lord! These are a collection of verses from the Psalm 98, in another time we likely would have sung this Psalm. For those of you that love to sing this is the psalm for you – it is a psalm that is … [Read more...]
The Spirit Carries On
“Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:16, 5:22-23 As a Canadian, I have always looked with interest when it comes time for American Election season. We might have complained about the length of our last federal election, but the American process seems like it kicks off almost immediately following the last election, with … [Read more...]
Feast and Famine
How many of you have given something up for Lent this year? Or perhaps some of you have taken on a new discipline? We’re here on the third Sunday of Lent, near the mid-point of the season, so how’s it going? Or if not this year have you given up something in past years? … [Read more...]
Road to Joy
Today on this third Sunday of Advent we explore what it means for Joy to be at the heart of God's Story. … [Read more...]
Joy to the World?
What is the essence of the Christian faith? As we near the end of this Advent season, as we near the celebration of our Saviour's birth on Christmas, I invite you to explore this question. I hope that this sermon can uplift and challenge you and my prayer is that you might be renewed in God's joy for you in this Christmas season and for evermore. … [Read more...]
Easter Day Sermon
An old story of Jesus, told to a group of frightened, silent people in a world full of unpredictable change. We hear Mark's gospel this day. What is it saying to us? … [Read more...]