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Ninja News: Week in Review – Episode 1
Here’s the first episode of my new week in review podcast. I cover a lot of topics (from Elon Musk to Netflix to Hockey and more) so please give it a listen and let me know what you think. Episode Links: Elon Musk: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-at-sxsw-says-spacex-will-launch-rocket-to-mars-in-2019/ Opioid Crisis: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/americas-opioid-epidemic.html http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/born-addicted/amp Netflix: http://fortune.com/2018/03/10/netflix-collectible-patches-kids-tv-shows/ Book: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000SETW8Y/ When The Unbeliever Departs: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/unbeliever-departs-aftermath/ Hockey Commercial: https://youtu.be/7EDjMHQlYyA Bad…
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Stewarding Our Abilities: Understanding Why You Are Here
Audio: Sermon Text: We’ve been working through a series on Stewardship over the past few weeks. Stewardship is the word that Christians usually use to talk about how we see and use all the good things that God has given us in this world. Our jumping off point was 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 where Paul…
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Stewarding Time: How to Combat Our Habits of Wasting and Worrying About Time
First, A Quick Request: Here’s the poll (link fixed): https://www.facebook.com/ArtOfTheChristianNinja/posts/1618969174822815 Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: Review Over the past few weeks we’ve been talking about the wise and godly use of all the good gifts that God has given us in our lives, which usually, in the Christian church, is called “stewardship”. The jumping…
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Why Do People Bury their Talents? (Barriers to Good Stewardship)
Audio: Text: This week we’re going to continue our study on Tithing and Stewardship which we introduced last week by turning to Matthew 25:14 and using it to build a framework for how we are to think about how we use the things that God gives us in this world. “Again, it will be…
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God, Money, and the Church
Audio: Text: “Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I…
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Women Should Keep Silent? (Let’s Talk Context!)
Audio: Text: “As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful…
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Prophecy & Tongues (A Gospel Issue)
Audio: Text: Ok, so I need you to take a moment to remember the last few sermons, because they have all been, in some way, preparatory for this one. On the first Sunday of the year we talked about we are sometimes convicted to make changes in our life, and therefore make “Resolutions” to…
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Church Membership and Being a Good Church
Audio: Text: When we are saved by Jesus, He gives us a lot of gifts. One of those gifts is to become a member of His church, a family of believers spread throughout the world. All believers, everywhere are part of the Kingdom of God, the Body of Christ, the Universal Church both living…
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Resolutions (And How to Stick To Them)
Audio: Text: The start of the year, as I said last week, is a time when a lot of people take time to evaluate where they are in life and make some decisions about making some changes, often called “New Year’s Resolutions”. They feel convicted that some area of their life needs to change,…
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Advent Sermon: Jesus as Tabernacle (by Pastor Al) (Carnivore Theology: Ep. 104)
Advent is a special time of year when Christians remember the incarnation of the Son of God at Christmas and prepare our hearts for the time when Jesus will come again. As we’ve done each year, Carnivore Theology is taking a break from our usual schedule of hot topics and interviews to share some…
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How to Find Hope When Hopelessness Strikes
Audio: Text: Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament and shines like a beacon in a dark place. And those who first heard it really needed a beacon because even though things weren’t at their darkest, it still wasn’t a great time in the life of Israel. Malachi was a prophet that…
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Love
Audio: Text: Have you ever had the experience where you look at a word too often and it suddenly loses its meaning? You read it, try to spell it, sound it out, and then suddenly that word looks really weird, you don’t recognize it, the letters all look misspelled, and you’re not even sure…
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Spiritual Gifts, The Body of Christ, and The Weakest Members
Audio: Text: Christmas is coming and I’m very excited already. I went to the Christmas store at the Carleton Place nursery and officially got myself in the mood. There was free mulled cider, cookies, Christmas music playing in the background… I love the colours and lights and trees and everything. I’m a huge fan…
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The Battle of the Sexes 3: Male Headship
Audio: Text: Have you ever been house shopping? Anita and I have moved a few times and have owned a couple homes, so we know what it’s like to spend days and days going through strangers homes and wondering if you can see yourself living there. I was really, really bad at it because…
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The Battle of the Sexes and God’s Original Plan (Part 2)
Audio: Text: What you believe will dictate how you behave, that is a universal truism. If you change your beliefs you will transform your behaviour. If a person doesn’t take care of their body says they know they should eat better and exercise, that they believe a healthy lifestyle is valuable but doesn’t actually…
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The Battle of the Sexes and God’s Original Plan (Part 1)
Audio: Review If you’ve been with us for the past 2 weeks hopefully you’ll remember how we’ve been building the foundation of understanding here. I’ve taken this one slowly because if we don’t build study this passage from the bottom up, it could be easily misinterpreted and therefore potentially damaging. It’s easy to dismiss…
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Head Coverings: A Matter of the Heart
Audio: Text: We’re still in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 and when we began studying this last week I asked you to lay aside for a moment, the first presenting issue that we see when we read this passage – namely the head coverings and discussion of male female relations. Instead, we looked at the roots…
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Cosmic Treason: 4 Modern Idols
Polycarp We don’t know many names of people who were pastors of churches in the time of the Apostles. But we do know who the pastor of the church in Smyrna was. He was a man named Polycarp. Pastor Polycarp. He was born in about 70 AD, in the days of the Apostles, and…
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Common to Man: The Process of Sanctification
Audio: Text: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For…
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Run To Win (Why Christians Practice Self Control)
Audio: Text: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do…
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How to Use the “Bridge Illustration” to Share the Gospel (with Q&A)
*This was an outdoor service so the audio is a little off. Audio: Text: Leaving it to the Professionals You probably know the name Billy Graham, right? His evangelistic crusades are known around the world. He has preached to millions of people in more than 185 countries, started a radio program, magazine, and multiple…
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Amazing Grace: The Motivation for Sharing Our Faith
Audio: Text: Last week we talked about how scary it can be to talk about our faith and some ways we can get over the fear of sharing what Jesus is doing in our life with the people around us. It essentially came down to four things: show people love before you stress about…
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Getting Over The Fear of Sharing Your Faith
Audio: Text: I walked into Walmart the other day and saw a bunch of Halloween candy, so I guess Halloween is coming up again. That seems a little early to me, but maybe it’s a piggy-back on things to stuff in kid’s school lunches – which also starts up soon. These two things, Halloween…
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Radical Individualism
Audio: Text: Radical Individualism If you’re a fan of Star Trek, which I am, then you’ll remember the famous quote from Wrath of Kahn where, a couple times, Spock says, “logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” and Kirk finishes with “or the one.” The first…
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Motives Matter (How Being Cool and Entitlement Mess Up Your Mission)
Audio: Text: The Pressure to Be Cool There is a lot of pressure on everyone to be cool. And I’m sure that there are a lot of people here who think, “I don’t care if I’m cool or not. I’m not a kid anymore.” but hear me out. Being cool, by the official dictionary…
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A Mighty Fortress – Psalm 62
Audio: Text: “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to…
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The Moral Butterfly Effect
Audio: Text: Please open up to 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and let’s read it together: “Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But…
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Bloom Where You Are Planted (Life On Purpose)
Audio: Text: The Right Tool Check out some of these weird tools. Maybe they’re only weird to me. Have any of you used these? Here’s my favourite, which is awesome, and it’s the Stanley #1 Odd Jobs. I absolutely love this guy’s description. We’ve all used the wrong tool to try to accomplish…
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Good Christian Sex
Audio: Text: A couple weeks ago I gave a sermon on the topic of sexual immorality which led to some pretty strong and varied reactions. Some people appreciated confronting the topic of pornography from the pulpit while others claimed it was. I want you to know that whenever I preach my intention is never…
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Appetites Out of Control: The Personal and Cultural Effects of Pornography
Audio: Text: “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual…
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The Good News (Why The Resurrection Means Everything)
Audio: Text: The Gospel Truth Today I want to talk about the “Gospel”. That word has been hijacked a bit by our culture so I want, at the outset, to clarify what that word even means. The term “The Gospel Truth” has actually become an idiom in our culture – meaning a group of…
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EPIC: How Christians View History
Audio: Text: This morning, in the light of Palms Sunday, I want to talk about the history of the world — from the beginning to the end — the story of God and humanity. Chapter 1: The Beginning Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the start…
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How To Face Discouragement
Audio: Text: Nehemiah So Far If you don’t know Nehemiah’s story, I highly recommend you give it a read, but let me give you a summary of what is going on up until this point. Nehemiah was a Jewish man who had risen to prominence in the Persian Empire to become one of…
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Confronting Sin: The Biblical Steps to Take When Helping Somone Caught in Sin
Audio: Text: Anosmia Have you ever heard of “Anosmia”? It’s a fancy word describing the inability to smell and thousands of Canadians have this problem. I read a little about it this week and it’s actually a much more serious problem then one would think because our nose is something that keeps us safe.…
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Judging Others and Confronting Sin: Where to Start
Audio: Text: Let’s open up to 1 Corinthians 5 and read it again. Last week we talked about the danger of sin and the importance of calling it out in our own lives and protecting each other from it by stepping in and giving warnings. We touched on the importance of, when we see…
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Christians & Depression IV: The Truth
Audio: Text: Ok, just for fun we’re going to start today with a True or False test of some random questions I found around the internet: Approximately one-quarter of human bones are in the feet. (True – 52 bones in the feet and 206 in the whole body.) In ancient Rome, a special room…
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Christians & Depression III: Jesus Knows How You Feel
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: We’ve been talking for the past few weeks about Mental Illness and Depression, something that is all too common in our community. We’ve talked about what Depression is, what causes it, and a bit of what it’s like to live with it. Last week we talked about the stigma of…
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Christians & Depression: A Few Things Your Pastor Wants You to Know
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: Well, we took down the Christmas decorations at home this week. No more tree, lights, or socks on the wall (nothing says Christmas like decorating the wall with fancy socks you’ll never wear, right?). The socks have been replaced with our standard portrait, the tree has been boxed up and…
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Why Our Church Has a Membership Covenant
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: When we become Christians we enter into a new family called the Church of Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Jesus, God takes us out from under the condemnation we find under His Law grants us forgiveness through Jesus, and then makes us a part of His Kingdom.…
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Reflections from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (Christmas Day Sermon for Kids)
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: How many of you watched a Christmas movie this year? We have a tradition at my house, though we haven’t been the best at it this year, of watching Christmas movies throughout the month of December. We like the fun ones like Elf, Santa The Clause, Home Alone, Miracle on…
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Yes, Christians Believe in the Virgin Birth (And No, We’re Not Crazy)
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: Doctor Luke Tonight we’ve read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. Luke, the man whom the gospel was named after, was Greek Gentile (or non-jewish), who was trained as a doctor. He was a friend to the ailing Apostle Paul and accompanied him on some of his missionary…
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If Jesus is My Saviour, Why Don’t I Feel Saved?
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: Tigger & Eeyore Have you ever met a super-happy person? One of those folks that just seems to have a good attitude all the time, glowing about life, full of energy, optimistic about the future? I’ve met a couple of them, though not many. They’re awesome to be around because…
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What God is Doing When We’re Not Looking
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: We read a scripture last week from the Isaiah 8-9 and I want to take this week to revisit one of those verses. Open up to Isaiah 9:6-7 and let’s read it together again. Last time we emphasized verses 1-5, as we discussed God coming as the child Jesus, making…
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A Christmas Perspective on “The Worst Year Ever”
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: Maybe I spend too much time on the internet, but there seems to be a fair consensus that 2016 wasn’t anyone’s favourite year. Political insanity, environmental disasters, racial tension, war, famine, terrorism, genocide… plus Alan Rickman and Gordie Howe died… argh. It was kind of a lousy year. I’ve personally…
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Why Sexual Sin is a Big Deal – God As Husband (The Gospel & Sexual Sin: Part 3)
Sermon Audio: Handout / Small Group Questions: The Gospel & Sexual Sin Part 3: God As Husband – HANDOUT Sermon Text: I need you to do a little, mental legwork this morning and recall the last few sermons, because, in truth, they along with today’s is really altogether one sermon. Part of me longs…
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Counterfeit Living (The Gospel & Sexual Sin: Part 2)
Sermon Audio: Handout / Small Group Questions: The Gospel & Sexual Sin Part 2: Couterfeit Living – HANDOUT Sermon Text: These examples of knock-off products are pretty funny and easy to spot, but it’s not always so innocent. High-end art and fashion are constantly having to fight against forgeries. I read this week that…
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The Gospel and Sexual Sin
Sermon Audio: Handout / Small Group Questions: The Gospel and Sexual Sin – Handout & Study Guide Sermon Text: Before we get into our discussion of 1 Corinthians 5 next week, it’s very important that we look back to the context. Remember the Context The Apostles Paul is writing to a church he had…