“He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” – Mark 8:34 I have a confession to make, I can sometimes be a little selfish. Ok maybe that’s not much of a confession – we can all be a little selfish at times. Especially, when I was kid I would often look out for myself. It comes with the territory I guess, I have two sisters and as the youngest I needed to protect my interests. As … [Read more...]
Crosses and Rainbows – Sermon for Lent 1
When our daughter Anastasia was little, her nursery was decorated using Noah’s Ark as the theme. It was full of animals and rainbows. From an early age, she has loved bright colours in general, and rainbows in particular. She draws rainbows and splashes of colour all the time. Maybe her colour-love is because of the room decor. Or she might take after Julie, who often wears bright tie-dyed shirts that blend lots of colours in spectacular swirls. Our Old Testament reading this morning is … [Read more...]
Lay Stewardship Witness – Craig Gustafson
“Gather before me my loyal followers, those who have made a covenant with me and sealed it with sacrifice.” Psalm 50:5 This verse from our Psalm today gives a glimpse into what God has promised us, and what we give in return. God has made a covenant with us, which we read in Jeremiah 31:31–34 and which was accomplished by Jesus on the cross, and we offer a sacrifice to God in response to his blessings in our lives. I am Craig Gustafson, I was born in Fort Frances, Ontario, which is … [Read more...]
‘What would you do for the Gospel?’
“I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.” – 1 Corinthians 9:22b As many of you know I’m a little bit of a Blue Jays fan, but only just a little bit. Many weekends or weeknights during the summer if we’re not having a church event, you’ll find me down at the stadium with a friend or more likely one of my daughters enjoying a good ol’ fashioned game of baseball. I come by the love of the game honestly, both my grandmothers were avid baseball fans – one of whom … [Read more...]
Sacrifice – Wk. 2 Biblical Imagination Series
Audio available at the bottom of the page You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.” – Robert Louis Stevenson Sacrifice – if you think about the word sacrifice what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s the stories of heroic sacrifices we heard about on the news coming out of the Las Vegas shooting or other recent tragedies? Perhaps it is a portrayal of human sacrifice in a movie or television show? Or maybe if you really love the Old Testament, perhaps the image that … [Read more...]
Mo Money Mo Problems
Recently in the news and on social media there has been a lot of attention being given to Mother Teresa. … [Read more...]