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When “Count Your Blessings” Isn’t Good Enough (How to Give Thanks in Every Situation)
Somehow this sermon got missed in the shuffle, so it’s a little our of order and the illustrations are a little dated. Sorry! Every year I watch the SuperBowl. It’s the only football game I watch all year long. I don’t watch the CFL or the NFL at all. I don’t keep track of…
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What Can We Do and What Must God Do Alone?
We like doing things ourselves, right? I think almost everyone here today takes pride in the skill and abilities they have, what they can accomplish, and how, for the most part, they don’t really need anyone’s help to get by. Sure – as I said last week – some of us are willing to…
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What About the Jews? (Carnivore Theology Ep. 65)
While wandering around Ottawa we come across Israel’s official Embassy and it gets us talking about the history of the Jews and the hatred some people have against them. Podcast Audio: How Can You Help Carnivore Theology? 1. Pray for us! 2. Record a question in your voice on our SpeakPipe page! (We love this the…
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Woe to the God-Makers (Why People Think They Can Get Away with Anything)
Review We’re currently on week 8 of our 3 week series on the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, and this week we’re concluding our study of the five Woes Against the Chaldeans that we find in chapter 2. If you remember the other sermons in this series you’ll remember that we’ve seen quite a…
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What is a “Good Church”? (Part 3 – Inspired Worship)
We’re currently in the middle of a mini-series-within-a-series called “What is a Good Church?” – which is inside the “Burning Questions Series”. Now you know what happens when I give myself a few bumper-weeks in my sermon planning – we get series-within-series. I hope that isn’t confusing, because my intention is neither to confuse…
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How Temptation Works
Podcast Audio: The Bug Zapper Have you ever sat outside next to a bug zapper? My parents have one. It’s a little gadget that hangs from the roof of their patio and glows. And the light that emits from it attracts bugs… and when they get close… ZAP! I know exactly how those little…
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“The Growing Seed” – Having Patience when God Seems Inactive
I’m back from vacation and looking forward to catching up on my posts. I had a wonderful holiday and I’m very thankful to the church for allowing me to be able to spend time with my family taking a break. I hope you are all able to do the same this summer. Podcast Audio: Planting…
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You Are AMAZING! (But What if You Don’t FEEL Amazing?)
Last week I gave a talk to an AWANA group to help them understand that no matter how different they feel, God made them special, with a purpose, and doesn’t make mistakes. Podcast Audio: People Can Do Amazing Things Did you watch the Olympics this year? What’s your favourite sport to watch? Mine is hockey, but I…
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Pastoral Prayer: Against Sin
It is a good day when you give us a glimpse into ourselves Sin is our greatest evil, but you are our greatest good Each of us has cause to loathe ourselves, to not seek self-honour, because when we look at ourselves, by ourselves, we realize that we are glorying in rubbish. Our country,…
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A Deep Desire for Peace
(I used this prayer by Pastor Scotty Smith this week.) I don’t know where you are at today, and I don’t pretend to know what is going on in your heart – only God knows that. I can say with absolute certainty that there is something you desire very much, that you have worked…
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Advent Week 3 – Salvation by Grace
Last week we talked about the first purpose of Christmas, which was to Celebrate the Love that God has for us and how he proved it by giving up so much for us. Big cost, big love. I said there that one of the challenges for us this Christmas season was to live be purposeful…
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Pastoral Prayer: We Depend on You, God
O Lord of Grace, this is the beginning of a new week and the whole world is before us this day. As we look into it we realize that we are weak, and fearful and ill-equipped to handle all that we will face – but we look to you for strength.
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Pastoral Prayer: God is Better
How lovely is the place where you dwell, O Lord Almighty. Wherever you are, we want to be. Our souls, from the very depths of our beings, yearn for you. We have no strength without you. We want to be in your presence and among your people. Our hearts cry out. Our flesh cries…
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Fasting (Mark 2:18-20)
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…
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Intentional Discipleship: Building Endurance (3 Steps of Maturity)
(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…
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Growing at Church – Make Love Your Priority
(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…
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EPIC: The Story of God & Humanity
(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:…
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What to Do with Bad News
In light of current events I put together this handout to give to my church tomorrow. I thought it might be helpful to give you some things to do when you hear or experience bad news. This is by no means a comprehensive guide, but is what is on my heart to share right…
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Grafting Dead Branches on a Fruit Salad Tree
I started today confused. How can God love mankind while at the same time have complete hatred for sinners? Aren’t they the same people? And how does ordain the use of sinful people and sinful situations to accomplish His perfect, holy will without He Himself being the cause of the sin. The first place…
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The Doctrine of the Trinity
I love Wednesday nights at the church because we have been doing an “Ask The Pastor” time where people come and ask questions about life, church, theology, and everything else. Sometimes it feels more like ‘Stump the Pastor”, but I do my best to give a biblical, helpful and practical answer. It has…
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Inner Strength
I know that video has been around for a while, but it still amazes me how amazing God made people. And this video is only scratching the surface — consider the intellectual, artistic and psychological feats we can attain! When He was designing us, it wasn’t so that we wouldn’t be able to understand or participate…
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Picking It Up & Putting It Down
I feel some of you may need to hear the advice I recently gave a friend who is going through a tough time: “Sometimes we feel bad after praying that God would take our burdens and then picking them back up again after we say “amen”. We think that there might be…
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Why Life Sometimes Sucks
Matthew 6:19-34, John 15:5-8 are key verses to read and know if we are to understand life as a Christian. They are encouraging, reassuring and powerful. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read them or referenced them in sermons. Life with Jesus is meant to be a life where our worries are minimized,…
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Flame Wars in The Church
Did you know you can use salt to put out a fire? In fact, if you have a kitchen grease fire (and don’t have a fire-extinguisher) you shouldn’t use water, but instead cover it with salt. Why bring this up? Because there are some people out there reading this who need to use their…
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Slow Down and Chew
I read recently about the importance of eating slowly. Here’s a quote: “Most Americans eat too fast, and, as a result, they take in too many calories before they realize they’ve eaten enough. It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness.” (source) …
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Busyness is Killing The Church
I wrote this article a while back for ChristianWeek and it feels like it’s time to resurrect it. Pastor: “How you doin’ Bob?” Bob: “I’m so busy I can’t catch my breath!” Pastor: “How are the kids, Bob?” Bob: “They’re busy! I can’t find them most days.” Pastor: “How’s your wife, Bob?” Bob: “Really…
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To Those Who Are Consistently Late For Church
Ok, I’ll admit that this may come across a little rant-ish, but I want to give a message to those who are Consistently Late for Church. You may want to print this one and pass it around. (First obvious question: “Are you talking about a certain person/family?”, the answer is “No. This problem is quite…
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Great Post: 25 Influential Preachers
This one couldn’t wait until “Link Friday”! I just stumbled across a great post by 4given2serve who put together a list of what he calls “The 25 Most Influential Preachers of the Pastor 25 Years“. I’m not going to criticize his list, nor do I want you to. I’m also not going to try…
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Coffee & Worship
This is the first of some week-long experiments where we take something ordinary and see if we can use it to Worship God, grow as Disciples, encourage Fellowship, and practice Outreach. And the first thing that springs to mind is the writer’s best friend — coffee. Did you know: Coffee was discovered by an…
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Gossip Kills Fellowship
I am compelled to write my first “Fellowship Wednesday” post about what I believe is the most poisonous thing to a fellowship of believers — gossip. As pastor of a former church I spent time in the office meeting with people. One day a man came in for a chat. On the way out…
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Discipleship Fundamentals
I’ve always loved watching and playing sports. And anyone who does knows that there is one word phrase that pervades all sportsdom — “We’ve got to get back to the fundamentals.” If our team is on a losing streak, the answer is always getting “back to the fundamentals.” If you are practicing, you spend…
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Multifaceted Worship
Connecting with God in a meaningful way is so much more than sitting in a quiet room with your hands folded, head bowed, eyes closed. Relating to God is unlike any other relationship in your life, and the ways you can meet Him in your daily life are nearly unlimited. This blog intends to…