Better Together - Acts 4:32-37: Church. Itg's kind of complicated for some of us. Some are beyond grateful for the role their faith community plays in their lives. Others ... not so much! How do we make sense of church in 2016? What is authentic biblical community and how do we find and extend it to others. Great things happen when we get church right. Come discover the plan for the church Jesus had in mind when He promised, "I will build my church." Our experience of community will be far richer with you here! Bless you. -- Pastor Ian

Two Minutes of Courage - Matthew 3:13-17: Defining moments. We all have them in our lives. Some come as wonderful, grace-filled surprises and others as painful, unwelcomed intruders. But there's another realm of defining moments that result from personal choices. Every once in a while, we just get it right and make the kinds of choices that alter destinies and shape legacies and transform trajectories. This weekend, we're going to study a defining moment in Jesus' journey ... his baptism. We'll remember the significant elements surrounding this event at the onset of His public ministry and reflect on our choices. For those of us who have been baptized, we'll remember our baptism and all that it meant for us. For those who have yet to take this step of faith ... well ... it might be an opportunity for you to make your own courageous choice that will become for you a defining moment!!

Insomniac - Philippians 4:4-7: I'm writing this Friday morning. I have a real love / hate relationship with Fridays. I get to study the Bible in preparation for teaching on the weekend... which I love, love, love!! But Sunday's coming fast (it even comes Saturday night now) and I often feel great pressure on Friday. So if you feel inclined... please pray for me... especially on Fridays! Here's a paragraph I just wrote that may or may not make it into this weekend's manuscript, but it will give you some insights on where we're going this weekend: One of the most prominent features of depression is the unrelenting belief that it will never get better than it is right now. One of the most prominent features of despair or failure is that I'll never change from who I am now. Both are lies from the pit of hell. Jesus came to bring peace. He came to bring purpose. He came to reclaim, rebuild, restore that which is broken and lost. There is no area of our lives where He cannot make a difference. He invites us to a life of prayer because He's inviting us to a life of transformation. Don't spend your days being anxious. Pray. Trust. Be grateful. Great things are coming. Prepare to be amazed! We're going to talk about stress and disappointment and pain... all in the shadow of the Lord's table in an environment of prayer.

Insomniac - Matthew 6:24 & 31-33: With oil prices and the Loonie still plummeting, if you were to ask the average Calgarian What's keeping you up at night, somewhere near the top of that list would be finances - and the lack thereof. But where does true financial peace and freedom come from? This past Wednesday millions of Americans and thousands of Canadians were hoping they might find it by beating ridiculous odds and winning Powerball's unprecedented $1.6 billion jackpot. It seems that even though we're well acquainted with the old adage that money can't buy happiness, most people still want to double check and find out for themselves whether or not that's true. Join us this weekend as we discover from God's Word that if you want financial peace and freedom, it really boils down to our priorities.

Insomniac - Luke 15: Family life. Few things have the capacity to bring us greater joy. And few things carry the capacity for greater pain. Perhaps the best word we could find to describe God's heart would be Father. It's the word Jesus gave us in response to our request to learn how to pray. He is our Father ... our Heavenly Father... and as his arms were open wide to the son called the prodigal - so his arms are open to each of us. Of all the things with the potential of keeping us awake at night, probably none rank as high as our familial relationships. How do we make sense of kids going sideways or parents behaving badly or siblings losing their way? This weekend, we'll look into the heart of the prodigal and we might be deeply surprised by what we find! It will be a message long on hope and short on judgement. It will remind us that God is still at work and we have the glorious privilege of being a part of that work.

Insomniac - Luke 12:13-21: Happy New Year Foothills Family! I love new years ... not so much for the big celebrations ... but for the opportunity that present to us. I've never been a big resolution guy. I kind of relate to the guy who wrote: "I plan to accomplish in 2016 what I wanted to get done in 2015 that I hoped to do in 2014 that I committed myself to doing in 2013 that I planned to do in 2012..." Yet I recognize the potential of a new year ... a new start ... a fresh beginning. This weekend in Church, we'll begin taking a look at what Jesus has to say about the things in life that have great potential to keep us awake at night. We'll not make any new resolutions per se but we'll take a closer look at our definition of success and potentially make some adjustments. I think it will be a great weekend and I hope you'll be able to join with us because we're always better together!

Reconciled - Luke 2:15-20

Reconciled - Finding the Peace of Christmas: Christmas Eve Service

Reconciled - 2 Corinthians 5:16-21: Priceless. What matters most to you in life? It's the old question: If your house was on fire and you could only grab what you could carry ... what would you take with you?!? Of all the gifts we're so consumed with buying this Christmas ... will any of them fall into the priceless category? I'm pretty sure none of my shopping will find its way into that realm (sorry family!!) There is a priceless gift made available to us at Christmas though ... the gift of God's love in Christ. For God so loved - he gave. This weekend, around the Lord's table, we will remember not only how Jesus came to earth, but why he came. We will remember and celebrate and respond to his love. We will invite him to speak to us and we will embrace his purposes for our lives. Come and discover some of that Heavenly peace that we love to sing about but that seems pretty elusive in December.

The Christmas story: One of the songs from our Christmas Production, Echoes of a Silent Night is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. As I listened to it sung so powerfully at the dress rehearsal last night, I couldn't help but wonder how many of us need Emmanuel to come to us. There is a very human, very real, very emotional story woven through the production that allows that question to emerge and the answer is powerful and beautiful. Emmanuel does indeed come. Grace comes. Hope comes. Joy comes ... all because Jesus came. The services this weekend are amazing! Great music. Compelling drama. Thoughtful narration. An aerial acrobatic artist ... it has a little bit of everything for everyone! And by everyone ... we mean your classmates and coworkers and neighbours and family and friends! It is a poignant look at all that Christmas meant and means to us today. I hope you'll be here and that you'll be able to bring someone with you. Much grace and hope to you! - Pastor Ian