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…
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…
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…
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…
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)…
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…
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…
[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…
(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…
[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,…
(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…
(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:…
I was privileged to be able to give another talk for the AWANA program. I called this one “Know The Truth” and it was given to a group of kids aged 5-12 and their leaders. I believe it has a message we all need to hear, no matter what age we are. Here’s the audio (11 minutes): Spot…
It is my deep desire to help you pursue your faith, fall in love with Jesus and His church, serve and make your church the place where you expect great things to happen. What happens in the Christian Church is what is going to last for eternity. What we do together is what we…
For some, a “church” is simply a building. If you punch the word “church” into Google images that’s what you get – pictures of beautiful buildings. You’ve probably been asked the question, “Do you go to church?”, as though “church” was a destination to reach, or an address to be found. If it was the middle…
There is no simple answer to this question because Christians are multifaceted: they believe certain truths, do amazing things, and they experience the power of God. I Want What They Have I’ve heard a lot of people’s testimonies and one common phrase that keeps coming up is: “I want what they have.” Many…
(Sorry about the audio, we’re working on it!) One of my favourite preachers, Mark Driscoll, had a very good, insightful Facebook update this week. He said, “All theology is cat theology or dog theology. Let’s say two pets have an amazing, kind, generous owner. The cat thinks: ‘I must be an amazing and valuable…
(If you would like to see the sermon video, click here.) I’ve talked previously about the importance of having foundational, fundamental, bedrock beliefs that every Christian can affirm, no matter where they are, what tradition they come from, and what language they speak. The central theme of this series I’m calling “The True Gospel”…
My nephew was asked to put together a report on Mardi Gras which reminded me of a reflection piece I had written that might be of help to him, and hopefully you too. Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water The traditional Christian season of Lent starts on February 13 this year. Christians…
(This is a follow-up post to The Foundations: The True Gospel) The Second is Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone, was the overarching theme of the Reformationists, not because the Roman Catholic Church was teaching that salvation isn’t from the Grace of God found in Jesus, but because they teach that other things must to be done as well.…
(This is a follow-up post to The Foundations: The True Gospel) Sola Scriptura, or Scripture Alone, is the principal and belief that The Bible is the supreme authority in all spiritual matters. It is the acknowledgement that the Bible contains the very Words of God. They are not, as 2 Peter 1:16 puts it,…
Controversy & Division The church deals with a lot of issues, and there are a lot of controversies swirling around both inside and outside the body of believers. Moral questions, political affiliations, missional differences, a million stylistic opinions, global concerns and theological interpretations are only a part of the everyday life and conversation for…
A Daunting Task I have a deep and abiding passion for discipleship, which is probably why this series is has been hard to write – because I want to get it right. I don’t want to leave out anything important. I want to give you everything you need to be forgiven, know God, and…
I shared this devotional at a Christmas Eve Service last night: Over the past month both our churches have been celebrating the season of Christmas by using Advent candles. They are a wonderful tool to remind us that the story of Christmas doesn’t just surround the baby in the manger, but encompasses the whole…
That’s a cool video. The reason I like it so much is because it expands our understanding of Christmas. It gives meaning to the simple Christmas story we have just seen acted out for us. It takes us far beyond the nativity scene, the baby in the manger, the shepherds and the wise men……
Hello and Merry Christmas! I’ve been having too wonderful of a time with my family and church and haven’t been posting much, so I wanted to point you to where you can read some of my sermons. (I know you’ve been sitting in front of your computer, just waiting for someone to send you…
I preached this sermon on Sunday and wanted to share it with you. Introduction Do you ever feel lost? I suppose there are lots of ways to get lost. You can get geographically lost. Like whenever you go to a new mall, or a big store, and are trying to find your way around.…
I recently began a sermon series called Plug In: The Spiritual Disciplines, where I plan on going through 10 weeks of study on different ways we can meet God, know more about Him, understand our faith, and grow closer to Jesus. This was given as the first sermon in the series. I realized after…