Breathing Room - Romans 12:3-21: A few weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking to our senior adults at their luncheon, and what a remarkable group of people they are! We are so blessed to learn with and from them all. During the event, one thing I highlighted was the kind of old guy I wanted to grow into. I made a list ⁠— which was really helpful, you might want to try it! ⁠— that included things like: I want to bless my kids and grandkids. I want to be extravagantly generous with my time, money and words. I want to read my bible daily and expectantly. I want to care for the poor and marginalized. I want to share meals with good friends. I want to still never drink coffee! A friend shared a similar list with me, and discussed wanting to be a guy surrounded by good friends in his later years. But while it’s worthwhile reflecting on such lists, an obvious implication starts to emerge: in order to obtain the values and traits we want in the future, we need to start embodying them now. This weekend we’ll look at relational margin and capacity from Romans 12. It’s a beautiful description of the kind of friend and person God wants us to become. We’ll dive into what relational margin looks like, how to cultivate it and how it blesses others in our lives. It will be a special weekend and I look forward to celebrating Jesus with you! Pastor Ian Trigg

Breathing Room - Romans 12:1-2 / Phil 4:8-9: As John Mark Comer has said, “Our emotions are not a good barometer of the presence of God.” Emotions are part of the human experience. Whether you’re an “F” or “T” personality type on Myers Briggs, or an Enneagram type two or type eight, these emotions are a very real part of your life. For some, it seems like your emotions are in the driver’s seat. For others, your feelings might even be the unhealthiest part of you. But I believe emotional renewal is possible through the work and person of Jesus. The result would be, as Pete Scazzero puts it, “emotionally-healthy spirituality”. I want what Paul teaches in Romans 12: transformation by the renewal of our minds, so that we might know what the will of God is. We’re going to look at practical steps to discover how we can experience this type of renewal. Happy Thanksgiving! Pastor Andrew Berg

Breathing Room - Matthew 6:33-34: Winston Churchill has been acknowledged for saying, “The world is run by tired people.” Whether he said it or not, it certainly appears to be true. So often, we feel we lack margin or capacity in life. We’re tired of being tired. One person phrased it this way: “My brain says, ‘Let’s do something awesome today,’ while my body responds with, ‘Don’t listen to that fool!’” This weekend, we’re starting a four-week series called “Breathing Room.” We’ll consider what it means to have spiritual, emotional, relational and physical margins in our lives, helping us navigate the journey. It will be a series filled with honest reflection and authentic hope for those of us threatened by living in a seemingly perpetual weary state. We will discover the simplicity and availability of the centered life Jesus offers us. We’ll begin with some of the most powerful truths Jesus gave us about escaping the paralyzing power of fear and duplicity in our lives. I truly hope you’ll be able to join us for worship this weekend. “Don’t forget to breathe!” Be blessed! Pastor Ian Trigg

By Design - Acts 1:1-8: In many ways, the true measure of a person's character is reflected best in how they respond to the needs of others. A Jesus-centered heart not only notices the needs of others, it seeks to respond any way it can. In a world filled with indifference and intolerance, we need to be a people who see and act. This fourth part of our church's vision statement – to serve the world – is really a reflection of the final words of Jesus before he ascended to Heaven and said, “Go into this crazy world and tell others about my love for them. Make disciples. Teach them about my love. Help them be baptized and this is my promise: I will be with you.” Those passionate about serving the world are those who experience the life-transforming presence of Jesus. We live best when we live with a “for others” orientation in life. Just as Jesus came to serve others (and not be served himself), we as his followers discover greatness in life when we serve those who God brings across our paths. We'll consider the ultimate example of servanthood as we gather around the Lord's Table and remember his commitment to us. From this act, we'll respond to his invitation to go and serve the world we live and breathe in. It will be an inspiring weekend, and with snow in the forecast, we will all need a little inspiration!

By Design - Gal 5:13-15: No one told me that a common responsibility of being a pastor is being requested to write letters of reference for individuals. I'm sure I must average two a week! Most of you make it very easy for me and I thank you for that - for those of you who don't make it easy … get your act together!! (just kidding – mostly!) I wrote a note this morning for someone and was able to say: “so and so is a remarkable person who loves to serve and does so from a Christ-centered place. She has a wonderfully good and kind heart.” It made me ponder how often others could say something like this about us? Paul admonished the church to use Jesus' remarkable gift of freedom not to serve ourselves but to serve those God brings across our paths. Paul adds that all the law is summarized in the truth that we are to love others as Jesus loves us. This weekend, we'll think about our neighbours and how we can best love them for Jesus' sake. We'll celebrate our freedom and discover how we can best use it to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. I so look forward to gathering together and celebrating the wonder of God's love and how it changes everything about, well, about everything! Have a great weekend!

By Design - Gal 6:1-10: We've launched a new design; a new image (logo) to remind us that we are on a Transforming Journey of Knowing God, Loving Others, Reaching Neighbors and Serving the World. Scripture reminds us that when we Know God we are given the gift of Loving Others. This weekend we will consider some practical ways from Galatians 6:1-11 that can help us move beyond the concept of Loving Others to living this out through community in our day-to-day lives. Foothills is all about Loving Others by living in community together, and a big part of community is food! A Taste of Foothills is our Fall kickoff event where you can get a taste of what happens at Foothills and find out how you can participate in Loving Others together with us. Join us in Rundle Hall after any of the three services this weekend. We can't wait to join you on your transforming journey and enjoy some food together too! See you this weekend!

By Design - Gal 5:16-25: I'm old enough to remember Calgary's skyline before the Calgary Tower was built. At the time, the tallest building was a round Sheraton Hotel that was 8 floors high. When the tower arrived it literally “towered” over the entire downtown! Today, unless you have the perfect sightline, you can barely see the thing. I love the design of many of our downtown towers. They display creativity, ingenuity and thoughtful architecture. One of the metaphors I love most about God is referring to Him as the Master Designer of our lives: we are “made by design” and what a beautiful design we are! This weekend, we'll consider the heart of the design, the truth that we are made to know God and in knowing Him we find truth, purpose, hope and grace. It will be great to celebrate being together as everything relaunches this weekend! For the Sunday services, we have a special team called “Tim and the Glory Boys” leading us in worship. These guys are unbelievably gifted and it will be awesome! They are unfortunately not available for Saturday night as they are performing at the CCMA Awards so you guys will get Ethan and Nicole (whom I'm renaming “Ethan and the Hallelujah Girl!”) for the weekend. Whatever service you are a part of it will be fantastic to see you and to encounter Jesus together! Bless you all! Ian

Our Stories Pt. 2: My Story with Addiction One thing I keep learning about life is that although past circumstances shape us, often for the worse, it doesn’t mean you can’t change, find victory and hope with God’s help. I have struggled with addiction / alcoholism for over half my life and it almost robbed me of life itself. Through a lot of hard work, honesty, support groups and divine intervention I found sobriety and hope. C. S. Lewis said, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending”. This weekend, join me and my husband, Jerry, as we walk through my story from emptiness to wholeness and new beginnings. Karen Orthner

Our Stories Pt. 2: My Story with Taking Risks Are you the type of person who would jump out of an airplane (with a parachute!)? Or are airplanes strictly designed to enter and exit when the wheels are firmly on the tarmac? Each of us has a unique capacity for acceptable risk and necessary security. As we all know, life doesn’t happen the way we imagined, rather we all face twists and turns, uncertainties and risks, that challenge our comfort and security. My story with taking risks is one of entering, often voluntarily, into seasons of change and uncertainty not with unbridled enthusiasm but with (sometimes tentative!) faith that Jesus will take care of the outcome. I invite you to join us this weekend as we explore what risk taking really means! Cam Loewen

Our Stories Pt. 2: My Story with a New Country Many of us have moved at least once in our lifetime. But while some of us have moved houses within the same city, others have made huge transitions to new countries, cultures, and languages. These transitions, both big and small, can have a huge impact on our lives. This weekend we will hear Tony and June’s story about making the transition to Canada and hurtling over challenges like language learning, adjusting to Canadian weather, and navigating a new city. Maybe their story is your story – or maybe you have friends who have immigrated to Canada. Either way we hope you will be encouraged by our stories and find new ways to be welcoming to newcomers to Canada. The world is coming to our city, let’s be ready to welcome them! Rick and Patricia Love