On May 24, 2023 we held a memorial for our departed brother in Christ, Frank Bennett. This is an audio recording of the service.

I would like to say a big thanks to Margaret Thiessen as well as David Kruse for helping bring the service together.

If you are interested in checking out the two notebooks that Frank left behind that I mentioned in the service, send me an email.

During the service, a recording of “My Deliverer is Coming” by Rich Mullins was played in full. While it is taken out of the service in order to post the memorial online, you can hear the song by watching the video below.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity and the freedom to preach on any topic I wanted. I titled that sermon “Lessons From the Classroom,” and in it, I drew on my experiences as an elementary school teacher to make connections to faith, ending by posing some challenges to the church from an educator’s perspective. If you want to listen to it, you can find it at the end of this post.

I left that sermon with the mindset that if I ever got an opportunity to preach again, I would attempt a part 2. Well, I have preached since then and have not yet revisited the topic.

I still feel that there are many lessons about God and my relationship with Him that come from my time at school that can be shared to encourage, as well as to challenge my fellow believers. I also think that a semi-regular blog would be the perfect format for sharing these lessons.

Now, anyone who has ever heard me preach before will have heard me explain why I find it to be such an important thing to do. It is important for me to preach because I need it. When I am preparing for a sermon, I spend more time in God’s Word, more time in prayer, and overall I find myself more in tune with the Holy Spirit than at any other point in my life. It helps me analyze and process the events in my life and to solidify my understanding of my Faith. This is why I am excited for the opportunity to present this blog. It is a way for me to connect with God.

I don’t intend for this series to be anything groundbreaking. I envision it being a series of entries on connections to Faith that I have been made aware of during my time in the Elementary School. It may at times be filled with scriptural references, but it will be more focused on my own personal experiences. Some posts may leave you with some sort of actionable application that you can make in your life, but many more will just give points to ponder or discuss with your loved ones.

So that concludes the MacGregor EMC blog post for this week. There is no meat and potatoes, just an invitation to join me in this new, “Lessons From the Classroom” series. I look forward to seeing what God has to show us over the weeks to come.

The evening of January 29th we had a Quiet Night of Music at Church with Fender Hill and the BCJS Experience! It was a fantastic night of good music, capped off by snacks for everyone to enjoy. Below you will find an edited stereo audio recording. I hope you enjoy!

A big thanks to Jeff Thiessen for organizing the night, along with the rest of the BCJS Experience, Fender Hill, David Kruse on sound and everyone one else involved in putting together this unforgettable evening!

December 9th marked the return of our annual Christmas Concert. It was a wonderful night of performances, capped off by snacks for everyone to enjoy. Below you will find an edited audio recording. I hope you enjoy!

I would like to thank Jeff Thiessen for all the work he put into organizing and leading the Christmas Concert this year. I would also like to thank everyone who participated either through performance, reading sound or setup for bringing this wonderful evening together.