Commons Church Podcast

Revenge is when we try to take our pain and recreate it inside someone else. This never works and leads to more despair. How can we defuse this instinct in order to work towards wholeness? Series Overview: In the Hebrew Scriptures ashes were used as a sign of grief or mourning. There are many forms of grief that we experience in our lives. Confusion or despair, lament or pain, loss or even death come crashing into our lives. Yet, one of the deepest experiences of grief we can have is the act of forgiveness. It’s not easy to forgive. It’s not light to let go. In fact, it means taking that pain that has been inflicted upon us and holding it so tightly that we refuse to let it lash out at anyone else. In this series we return to the topic of grief, and in particular the experience of forgiveness. How can Jesus lead us to let go of hurt?

Sometimes our more abstract. high-minded concepts can make it hard for us to access forgiveness in our lives. The Scriptures actually speak in very concrete images of forgiveness. Perhaps this can help us. Series Overview: In the Hebrew Scriptures ashes were used as a sign of grief or mourning. There are many forms of grief that we experience in our lives. Confusion or despair, lament or pain, loss or even death come crashing into our lives. Yet, one of the deepest experiences of grief we can have is the act of forgiveness. It’s not easy to forgive. It’s not light to let go. In fact, it means taking that pain that has been inflicted upon us and holding it so tightly that we refuse to let it lash out at anyone else. In this series we return to the topic of grief, and in particular the experience of forgiveness. How can Jesus lead us to let go of hurt?

Forgiveness is not a moment. Forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is not for them. In order to understand forgiveness in our lives sometimes we need to start with what it isn't. Series Overview: In the Hebrew Scriptures ashes were used as a sign of grief or mourning. There are many forms of grief that we experience in our lives. Confusion or despair, lament or pain, loss or even death come crashing into our lives. Yet, one of the deepest experiences of grief we can have is the act of forgiveness. It’s not easy to forgive. It’s not light to let go. In fact, it means taking that pain that has been inflicted upon us and holding it so tightly that we refuse to let it lash out at anyone else. In this series we return to the topic of grief, and in particular the experience of forgiveness. How can Jesus lead us to let go of hurt?

It's New Year's Day! Let's 2017 together, on the right foot, facing Jesus.

Every year we rehearse the Christmas story. The baby and manger and sheep and the goats and it’s meaningful every time we do. And yet, as John reminds us in the opening of his gospel, there was a beginning before the beginning. A Jesus whose story runs throughout the entire story of creation. This year as we prepare for Christmas we want to read back Before Beginning to remember the stories of Jesus before the manger.”

Every year we rehearse the Christmas story. The baby and manger and sheep and the goats and it’s meaningful every time we do. And yet, as John reminds us in the opening of his gospel, there was a beginning before the beginning. A Jesus whose story runs throughout the entire story of creation. This year as we prepare for Christmas we want to read back Before Beginning to remember the stories of Jesus before the manger.”

Every year we rehearse the Christmas story. The baby and manger and sheep and the goats and it’s meaningful every time we do. And yet, as John reminds us in the opening of his gospel, there was a beginning before the beginning. A Jesus whose story runs throughout the entire story of creation. This year as we prepare for Christmas we want to read back Before Beginning to remember the stories of Jesus before the manger.”

Every year we rehearse the Christmas story. The baby and manger and sheep and the goats and it’s meaningful every time we do. And yet, as John reminds us in the opening of his gospel, there was a beginning before the beginning. A Jesus whose story runs throughout the entire story of creation. This year as we prepare for Christmas we want to read back Before Beginning to remember the stories of Jesus before the manger.”

This week we concluded our study of Leviticus. Every week in this series we have pointed/oriented ourselves back toward Jesus because without that the story is incomplete. This week we talk about the Year of Jubilee, a full socio-economic reset in Israel every 50 years. In much the same way that the day of atonement was designed to wipe the slate clean when it came to sin, jubilee was designed to wipe the slate clean economically. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus arrives on the scene and he tells us a expanded imagination of jubilee starts with him. Jesus says he is here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour for everyone. Jesus democratizes religion by eliminating the very idea of an outsider. Series Outline: Be honest, when was the last time you looked forward to hearing about Leviticus? In fact, be really honest, when was the last time you cringed when someone quoted this book out of context? It’s true much of this book is anachronistic. At the same time it is part of the foundational scripture (Torah) from which all Judaism and indeed Christianity flows. And as such, we owe it to ourselves to understand what was happening then, so that we might better understand what God is doing now. Let’s make Leviticus interesting.

The two perspectives on the origins and meaning behind sabbath hold two complementary views: on one hand sabbath is about stopping and resting in God’s presence that we might know him and be formed by his holy character, and on the other hand sabbath is a reminder that we were not created to be slaves, in rest we remind ourselves of everything that God has done for us. In Jesus, we get reminded that ritual is never really just about ritual, and we are invited into the heart of the ritual by both God in chapter 23 of Leviticus, as well as Jesus in the way he models rhythms of resting in God with caring for those in his world. Series Outline: Be honest, when was the last time you looked forward to hearing about Leviticus? In fact, be really honest, when was the last time you cringed when someone quoted this book out of context? It’s true much of this book is anachronistic. At the same time it is part of the foundational scripture (Torah) from which all Judaism and indeed Christianity flows. And as such, we owe it to ourselves to understand what was happening then, so that we might better understand what God is doing now. Let’s make Leviticus interesting.