Luke 13:31-35 Little chicks are really cute. Their down is so soft. If you pick one up and hold it in your hand it might become quite still and cuddle down into the warmth there, or it might squirm and try to free itself from the foreignness that you represent. If you put it down on the ground it might scurry away, or run to join its sibling chicks – using a safety in numbers tactic to get away from…
Based on Luke 4:1-13 and Psalm 91 I don’t know about the rest of you, but I enjoy watching the Olympics. And whether you enjoy watching the games or not, it’s hard not be caught up in the intensity of the struggle of these athletes to persevere, to be their best, to take risks, and to express both the joy and the anguish of it all as they succeed in varying degrees to reach their goal. These two weeks…
Luke 9:28-36 28-31About eight days after saying this, he climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem. 32-33Meanwhile, Peter and those with him…
John 4: 1- 26 Grace makes beauty, out of ugly things. Have you ever really screwed up? I mean, not just done something you know you shouldn’t have but something so big feel unable to look anyone in the face, especially the people that love you? Most of us have, and it is a difficult time to go through. Now I’ve messed up plenty of times, and give you a long list of people who can vouch for that, but…
John 3:1-21 The Gospel according to John is a story that moves in a fascinating way through a series of remarkable and profound encounters. It is also a gospel full of image and metaphor. Jesus is Word, Bread, Life, Living Water and Light.After the prologue where the coming of Jesus is poetically and philosophically proclaimed to be the Word or Logos of God become flesh. After that the story moves through several vignettes or encounters between Jesus and others. 1) …
Text: John 1: 19-51 Introduction I sometimes think of the time between Christmas Eve and the New Year as one of shutting myself off from the problems of the world – of cocooning with family and friends. Radio or television newscasts are left silent, as attention is given to connecting with others in traditional, and sometimes new, but deeply meaningful ways. Yet, problems of the world continue to persist. And, it didn’t take long for a particularly nasty one to…
View Archived Sermons Isaiah 60:1-6; Matt: 2:1-12 Good morning and Welcome to the New Year. I wonder how it was for you – the holidays? Was it frantic or quiet, leisurely and relaxed, or intense? Did you spend much of the time alone or did your friends and/or family surround you? Maybe the last couple of weeks included some kind of balance of all or some of those things. I hope that however it was for you …. the…
Incarnation – Keeping it real Luke 1:26-56; Micah 5:2-6 It’s Advent IV. There are now five days until Christmas day. Expectations are high. Anticipation is mounting. You might ask, “anticipation of what exactly?” That might depend on your age or life circumstance. I remember as a child the anticipation of wondering what would be under that tree. As I have gotten older that anticipation is becoming, might I say, seasoned. The flavours of my anticipation are blending like a soup…
Isaiah 12:1–6; Zeph 3:14–20; Luke 3:7–18; Phil 4:4–7 A story made the rounds in Eastern Europe during the final dying days of Communism. Party officials were concerned that commitment to communist ideology was fading, so they decided to test the loyalty of all those who worked for the government. Two policemen were called to be tested. The first one went into the interrogation room and was shown three pictures: one of Karl Marx, one of Jesus on the cross,…
Preparation, Repentance, and Peace Disclaimer: While I’m generally against beginning sermons with disclaimers, I’ll begin with one anyway. When I heard that the theme in our worship material for this Sunday was peace, I begin planning for a sermon on Jesus, the way of peace, and policing. I’ve preached a sermon from Ephesians 6 against policing at many GTA Mennonite churches and Jodie and I wrote an article for the Conrad Grebel review to the same effect a…