We’re starting a sub-series within our study of the Gospel of Mark where we are going to look a little more closely at the lives of the Apostles. As we go through these mini-biographies that I want you to do a few things: First, I want you to find yourself in this group. Without…
Hear us, O Shepherd, You who lead your people like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth! Let your light shine in the darkest of places and before all who prefer the darkness. Awaken your might; and come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine…
There are lots of pictures of the apostles. Probably the most famous picture with all the disciples is Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, but many artists over time have tried to put together a rendering of what they looked like. Over the next couple weeks, since I’m not much of an artist, I want…
I gave a little talk to some kids at AWANA last night and wanted to share it with you. It was intended to make the kids laugh and think. The older kids seemed to get it, but it might have went over the heads of the little ones. It’s adapted from a post I wrote a…
I took a little break from the Gospel of Mark series and preached a very difficult (yet hopefully timely) sermon this past Sunday. The background of the sermon was that our church needs to make some big decisions about its future together. I didn’t give my own opinions of the situation, but shared 5…
Invocation God, you are good to Your people and to those who are pure in heart. We praise you for your goodness. Confession We must acknowledge that despite your goodness, we have sinned. Our feet have slipped and we have almost lost our foot hold. We looked at the arrogant and we have…
“I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. The…
We shout for joy to You, God, joining the praises of all believers across the earth. We sing to the glory of Your name! We give to You our praise! How awesome are Your deeds, O God! We are in awe of Your power. So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before…
In my previous post, “How to Make a Strategic Withdrawal During Busy Times“, I said that I would be happy to help anyone that needs help during the planning stages. I realized after a reader took me up on that offer that it might be more helpful to post it here. If you haven’t read the…
“Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a…
If you were converted later in life, or have friends that are non-Christian, then you have probably had the conversation about “what you are allowed to do.” The underlying question is always, “What kind of burdens have been placed on you now that you are a Christian?” And it’s a justified question because becoming…
Jesus and the Mob Boss We’re going to talk about Mark 2:18-22, but let me set the context first. Jesus is sitting at the table of Levi, also called Matthew, who has just left his Tax Collectors booth and has followed Jesus. They went to his home where Jesus sat down to…
Invocation “Lord God, with confidence we draw near to Your throne of Grace, that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) “We are yours, as you have said, O Lord of Hosts, and you have made us your treasured possession and have spared us.” (Malachi 3:17)…
We’ve already talked about how Mark is introducing Jesus as the one answer to all the important questions in the world. If you recall, we said that the audience he is writing to are a group of persecuted, Roman Christians who aren’t looking for deep theology, long dissertations or genealogies, or a lot of…
Invocation “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2) We are in awe of your creation Lord, and we thank you so very much for the blessing of knowing you through it.…
What we are going to study today is a deeply convicting passage of scripture for me. Though this passage is short, the concepts, teachings and applications found in this little section is both overwhelming and humbling. That makes it very tough to preach because there is no way I can feel like I’ve ever done…
I celebrated a milestone. On Thursday, August 8th, 2013 I was officially 13,000 days old. That’s 1857 weeks and one day. Or 427 months. Or 35.6 years. I’ve learned a lot in my 30s. It has truly been the most productive and spiritually challenging decade of my life – so far. But I’ve…
Invocation “God, you are faithful. You will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. But when we are tempted, You will also provide a way out so that we can stand up under it.” (1 Cor 10:13) You are Faithful. You never change. You are always there. You’ve never failed anyone…
I started a series on the Gospel of Mark a while back and have been planning to get back into it for a while. We barely made it through Mark’s introduction before we interrupted it by studying “Resolving Everyday Conflict”, went into the Advent season, and then spent a lot of time on the…
Invocation Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise! Out of the depths we cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear our voice and let your ears be attentive to our cry. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand. But with you there is forgiveness. Therefore you are feared.
Hello again! As I said before, I haven’t been posting much over the summer for a variety of reasons. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my family. Here’s a little post-summer update for those praying: We had a wonderful visit with my parents who came up from Alberta. We went everywhere and…
We will exalt the Lord at all times. Your praise will always be on our lips. Our souls will boast in You.
I haven’t been posting for the past while because of a big move and some vacation time, but after coming across this piece of news on Facebook (also here), I felt I had to rush posting the sermon I preached this week. We’ve been going through the Gospel of Mark (I’ll post previous sermons soon)…
Invocation “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, through the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging… The Lord Almighty is with us; the God…
We talked before about how every Christian is called to service, “Drinking the Cup” means accepting our divinely appointed destiny, acknowledging that we are “saved to serve” and that Christianity is NOT a commodity exchange. We serve sacrificially because of our connection to Jesus Christ the perfect model of a servant. What I want to…
Our heart for service is rooted in our relationship with God,and an understanding of all that He has done for us. It is empowered by His Holy Spirit within us. We serve out of thankfulness for our salvation and the presence of God in our life.This is the final section of the Four Core Christian…
After being challenged by the elders to study and pray about Pastoral Prayers I have decided to write and give a new prayer each week during the church service. I’ve thought a lot about posting them here and have decided to do so in hopes that people will experience a new way to pray…
After being challenged by the elders to study and pray about Pastoral Prayers I have decided to write and give a new prayer each week during the church service. I’ve thought a lot about posting them here and have decided to do so in hopes that people will experience a new way to pray…
Sunday morning isn’t the sum of the Christian faith experience, but it can be a conduit, a beginning to it, if we take the time and effort to prepare ourselves and be ready for what God wants for us for each Sunday morning. I spent some time yesterday going through the first five ways…
Attending Church is one of the Four Core Christian Disciplines, but some believers are not in the habit of attending church on a consistent basis — or, hop from church to church seeking to find the perfect place to “get fed”. Being around other believer is an important and complex endeavour. We come to…
I promised in my previous post that we would get very practical today, so let’s get going. Today I want to introduce you to the Tools and Techniques you can use to study the bible to make sure we get it right. We need two things: Tools and Techniques – let’s start with tools. The…
We’re studying the Four Core Christian Disciplines right now. Can you remember what they are? Prayer, Bible Study, Church Attendance and Serving Others. Last week we talked about “How to Pray” which brings us to this week’s topic: “Why and How to Study the Bible”. Lets begin with “Why” and start with this question: How You…
We’re here! We’ve made it to the How-To part of the series! We’ve been working hard to get here, deliberately laying the foundation of making sure the motivations of our hearts are right with God. But now, we press forward to the practical outworking of the Four Core Christian Disciplines. Can you remember what…
(Here’s the link to the Sermon Video) We’ve been working long and hard to be able to get to the practical aspects of the Four Core Christian Disciplines: Prayer, Bible Study, Church Attendance and Serving Others – and we’re close, but we’re not there yet. Don’t Be An Ephesian I agree that we need…
(For a video of this sermon click here.) My intention when I started writing this sermon was to give some very practical steps on how to do the Four Core Christian Disciplines (Prayer, Bible Study, Church Attendance & Serving Others — first introduced here) successfully, but then God reminded me that I had missed…
You may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything here for a while. Normally I would say something like “life got busy” but that isn’t the whole truth. Actually, my life, home and church over the past month has been an intense spiritual battleground and for too long I was losing the battle. Below…
[If you are part of my church — SPOILER ALERT — this is Sunday’s sermon! I’m sending this out into the world early to help folks who are looking for a little Mother’s Day inspiration. This isn’t just for mom’s though, it is a message for everyone with children in their lives — the…
(Click here for the video) Praise for AWANA Have you heard of AWANA? Essentially, AWANA is a biblical, discipleship program for kids aged 2-18. Each week they play games, memorize scripture, hear the gospel, have a small group discussion, and participate in local and global missions. It’s been around for around 60 years and…
I really enjoy having conversations with people who think differently than I do. Not only do I learn a lot by listening to their worldview, but many have become my friends. These friendships help me grow as a disciple because they help me discover my assumptions, prejudices, and places where I lack knowledge or…
(Here’s the link to the video. Warning, there’s some yelling…) Last week I promised that we would be getting into the practical aspects of discipleship. I’m afraid we’ll have to put that off for another week because the Lord seems to have something else for us… You Were Saved To Be A Disciple Let me start…
“Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved” J.D. Greear Broadman and Holman Summary “…many are headed into eternal judgment under the delusion of going to heaven.” (Pg 6) “Don’t try to find assurance from a prayer you prayed in the past; find assurance by resting in the…
[Click here for the video.] We’re in the home stretch of The Foundations Series. We’ve certainly covered a lot of ground in the past 9 weeks, and it is my prayer that it has been helpful and has given you a new understanding of the Christian faith, Christ’s church, your responsibilities as a believer,…
I’m a HUGE fan of the AWANA program and had the opportunity to speak again last Thursday night. I gave a talk called “Wisdom or Foolishness” to a group of kids aged 5-12 and their leaders (which included some pretty fun pictures!). Here’s the audio: I want to play a game with you that I’m going…
Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton While trying to fill my new Kindle Paperwhite I’ve been scanning the free downloads section and came across “Orthadoxy” by GK Chesterton. It wasn’t even close to what I expected, but I came away very glad I read it. Too.Much.For.Brain. It is not a systematic theology (as I thought it…
(Click here for the video) I like learning and teaching theology. I have thoroughly enjoyed preaching this Foundations series because it has been full of deep, biblical, gospel truths – the very bedrock of what we should build our lives on. I love being able to help people know God better by answering questions…
“Honest to God” by Josh Weidmann Moody Publishers Summary Josh Weidmann uses his love for scripture and wonderful ability to craft powerful illustrations to make complex, emotional and theological concepts understandable in this helpful book. His desire is to help you drop every barrier standing between you and God. Why? Because “being honest with…
(Click here for the sermon video) I’ve watched the Passion of the Christ on Good Friday almost every year since it came out in 2004. It’s not that I love the movie, or that I find it entertaining… in fact most years it’s not even convenient. If you were here on Good Friday, or…
(Click here for the sermon video.) God has been writing a story since the beginning of time and it is EPIC. What follows is a brief history of the universe written to help you see how it all hangs together and introduce you to the main character of the story: Jesus Christ. Chapter 1:…