Podcast Audio: In the last three weeks we have been talking about the making the daily reading of God’s Word the core part of our lives – the foundation of our relationship with God. We’ve said that God’s Word, the Bible, is our umbilical cord to Jesus. We started with looking at the Parable…
Podcast Audio: Over the past couple of weeks we have talked about the importance of making the daily reading of scripture the core part of our lives, and the foundation of our relationship with God. This all started because I wanted to share a way that God has spoken to me through my devotional…
Podcast Audio: We’re continuing our sub-series in the Gospel of Mark which I’m simply calling “God Still Speaks”. Last week we talked about seeing the condition of our hearts, and how we have a responsibility to make sure we are not crowding out God’s voice with unrepentant sin or other things we are giving…
Podcast Audio: We’re getting back into the Gospel of Mark today, but as we step back into it – into Chapter 4 – I want to do it by way of a mini-series, of hopefully only two or three sermons, about something that is very near and dear to my heart – meeting God…
Podcast Audio: Have you ever had a bad week? I had a tough week this week, and I’m sure that some of you did as well. Holy Week is a tough week for Christians. There’s a lot on the calendar, a lot of emotional ups and downs, and of course there always seems to…
Podcast Audio: As the sun gets warmer and the trees start to bloom, I find myself looking forward to summer vacation. I’ve heard of one place that sounds nice… but I’m not sure that I’d ever go there for a holiday. I think you’ll understand why once I tell you about it. A Not…
Podcast Audio: How Do You Devo? Devos, Daily Devotionals, Quiet Time, Private Meditation, Time with God, 1-on-1 with Jesus, Daily Prayers — there are lots of names for it and likely as many ways to do it. And I want to know yours! I recently filled my very first prayer journal and got a shiny new…
Podcast Audio: This is the final week we will be spending on Psalm 15. We have been going through it for nine weeks now, and it has been a challenging, and hopefully encouraging, piece of scripture to study. I know it has been for me! And from the responses I’ve heard from some of…
Sermon Audio: We are saved by Grace. We cannot know God, be forgiven, get to heaven, or be saved from our sin, unless God is willing to give us grace. Graceless Amazing Grace The song Amazing Grace says, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Now listen to this…
Here’s the audio for the sermon: You may have noticed that I changed the title of this series. Instead of being “Being People of Integrity”, I’ve simply called it “Christian Integrity”, and that’s because I believe that it’s important to distinguish the fact that we are specifically talking about the characteristics of a person…
I gave a talk to a group of AWANA kids this week. It was “Heart Night” (celebrating Valentine’s Day) and I spoke on Love. I used some animated gifs in the powerpoint, which is where all the giggling at the beginning comes from. I linked to a few if you want a giggle too.…
What we are talking about in this series is how to be a person of Christian Integrity. To do that we are examining what Psalm 15 says about what it means to look like a Christian. I don’t mean how to be superficial in our faith, nor is this a list of ways to…
For the past couple weeks, and the next few, we are looking at what it means to look like a Christian. Saying that it is controversial because a lot of people don’t understand, or want to talk about, the fact that there are standards of practice for all Christians. “God Loves Me The Way…
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,…
“A Call to Resurgence Will Christianity Have a Funeral or a Future?” Mark Driscoll Tyndale House Publishers theresurgence.com Summary Mark Driscoll writes as a contemporary prophet who feels the pressing need to address a huge amount of issues that the North American Evangelical Church is facing (or choosing not to face) today. He’s also…
As we set out into 2014, a word that I want us each to ponder, to reflect on, and to think about is the word “Integrity.” It’s a big, important word, and has been significant in my devotional life for a long while. It comes up all the time. I’m reading through the Bible…
(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…
For the past couple years my family and I have had a tradition of taking our collection of Christmas movies off of the shelf, wrapping them up, and then, when we have time in the evening, opening one of the movies as a surprise and then watching it. We all have our favourites (my…
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…
The Advent Wreath Over the next month we will be been celebrating the season by using Advent candles to mark the weeks preceding Christmas. I’ve appreciated doing this over the past years because I believe they are a wonderful tool to remind us about what Christmas is all about. The Advent wreath is rich…
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.
The Freudian Trio This probably won’t come as a shock to many of you, but I’m a Star Trek fan. One of my favourite parts of the show is the interplay between Captain Kirk, the Vulcan First Spock and Doctor McCoy. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, made a genius decision when he…
“The Lord Reigns, He is robed in Majesty; the Lord is robed in Majesty and is armed with strength.” There is no one as strong as you Lord, and to you we run to take refuge
Meeting the God of the universe, being saved from Hell by Jesus exchanging his life for yours, and having the Holy Spirit indwell you and recreate every part of your being, obviously has a pretty dramatic effect on every part of your life. Meeting Jesus and having His Spirit guide your life changes how…
“Lord, you have been out dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.” (Psalm 90:1-2) Life and death are in your hands, Lord. Thank you for your long-suffering patience, because we know that when you become…
We’re continuing 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. A couple of weeks ago we talked about the Apostle Peter, and I reminded you that as we go through these mini-biographies that I want you…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…