From the Pulpit

Join Dr. Jim Rennie as he shares a message on the third Sunday of Advent: Hope. 

Speaker: Dr. Jim Rennie

According to the 2020 Global Peace Index, Canada is currently the sixth-most peaceful nation in the world as it enjoys both positive peace, “the attitudes, institutions, and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies,” and negative peace, “the absence of violence or fear of violence.” In other words,  Canada has peace because it has cultural building blocks in place that  discourage and prevent significant conflict. And that’s wonderful! However, when Scripture talks about peace—or shalom—it often means something more substantial than a mere absence of violence.  Rather, the word carries with it ideas of universal flourishing,  sin-free wholeness, and uninterrupted delight. By God’s grace, our country may be one of the most peaceful on earth but few would claim Canada enjoys biblical peace. And the fundamental reason why is that our nation, like every nation, is full of individuals who don’t experience the wholeness and delight of God’s shalom.

Text: Selected Scriptures

Series: Advent 2021

Speaker: Josiah Boyd

Everybody wants to be happy, a desire that’s understandable and expected when we remember what Scripture teaches about human origins. In the beginning we were made good creatures by a good God to enjoy his goodness unendingly. Certainly a joy-filled start! But when Adam and Eve believed the lie that something greater existed outside of what had been provided, they turned their backs on the source joy, God himself, moving immediately from shameless to shameful. Graciously, even before these first rebels left Eden, God had already provided a hope-filled promise that, one day, this perfect joy would be restored through an individual. And, since then, God’s people had been on the lookout for the One who would defeat evil, restore creation, and reconcile now-fallen humanity to an always-holy God.

Centuries later, against an underwhelming backdrop, comes an announcement that this promise was being fulfilled—the Christ had arrived!

Key Passage: Luke 2:1–14

Series: Advent 2021

Speaker: Josiah Boyd

In the book of Job, we read how God removes his hand of protection from Job, opens him up to attacks of Satan, and then seemingly leaves Job hanging in the dark, without an explanation for why God does this. And from chapters 3 until 32, Job and his three friends wrestle, argue, and debate. Job’s friends are convinced that Job must have done something terrible that deserves God’s judgment. Job doubles down and holds on to his integrity.

The book of Job has often been cast as a discussion about the problem of suffering: Why does God allow suffering? And this is an argument in the world: If God is good, how can he allow suffering? How can God be almighty and good? I am not qualified to answer the question of suffering (which is a different way of saying that I do not know the answer). But I do want to study with you this chapter of Job, and learn more about Job, Satan, and God.

Key Passage: Job 1

Speaker: Nate Vellekoop

Join Lew as he walks through the Book of Deuteronomy to study and observe Moses. 

Key Passage: Selected passages from Deuteronomy

Speaker: Lew Worrad

Join Lew as he walks through the story of Balaam.

Key Passage: Numbers 22-24

Speaker: Lew Worrad

Whether we realize it or not, whether we understand it or not, and whether we believe it or not, we are all at war (Eph 6:10–11). This particular war is not over territory, money, or national peace. This is a war for the human heart and it has been raging for millennia with countless casualties. The Creator God wants our hearts—our reciprocated love, our unwavering loyalty, our undiluted adoration—things he’s clearly owed. The Enemy, on the other hand, wants to prevent that from happening, to steal or distract our attention so we will experience the terrible consequences that always accompany idolatry.

Whether or not we realize it, understand it, or believe it, we are in a war for our hearts every moment of every day. Is there hope of winning? How do we advance? Can we avoid missteps and setbacks? What’s the key to victory?

Key Passage: Matthew 15:1–20

Series: Matthew: Of King and Kingdom

Speaker: Josiah Boyd

Most cellphones today come equipped with passcodes, facial recognition software, fingerprint scanning capabilities, and multistep-step user  verification. Why? It’s all for the purpose of ensuring that whoever is accessing the information stored inside the device is the person who should be accessing all the information stored inside the device! We understand that failure to identify—or misidentifying—the one using the phone can bring frustration, inconvenience, danger, and even harm. Simply stated, identity recognition and conformation can be serious business.

What’s true of cellphone access and private data is exponentially (and eternally) more true about the person of Jesus Christ. Failing to rightly recognize, confirm, and prioritize the true identity of the Saviour has dire consequences. There simply could not be more at stake.

Key Passage: Matthew 13:53–14:36

Series: Matthew: Of King and Kingdom

Speaker: Josiah Boyd

As one reads the gospel according to Matthew, a pattern can be identified in how the author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, presents his account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, alternating between  stories about Jesus and teachings of Jesus. The book opens with the story about Jesus’s birth and ministry preparation (chs. 1–4) followed by a robust teaching on kingdom principles (chs. 5–7). Matthew then records stories about Jesus performing claim-authenticating miracles (chs. 8–9) before recounting a teaching that prepared his disciples to extend his ministry to Israel (ch. 10). Story again comes next with the climactic confrontation between the Lord and  the Pharisees (chs. 11–12) leading into an exclusively parabolic teaching session before both the crowds and the twelve (ch. 13). It’s this third discourse we conclude today, being reminding of Jesus’s new teaching method, identifying the mysteries he’s presenting, and taking seriously the mission he puts before us.

Key Passage: Matthew 13:31–35, 44–52

Series: Matthew: Of King and Kingdom

Speaker: Josiah Boyd

Anyone walking into a church baptism service might be confused about what was happening. Hot tubs are for back yards or for spas, but in a church? “What is going on?”, they would ask in their confusion, and understandably so. But some believers who should know what is going on may have a shaky understanding as well. They might know that all believers are commanded by Christ to be baptized, and that is true. They might have some idea that it is tied in with declaring your faith publicly, but the rest is kind of sketchy. To help clear away some of the confusion, Dr. Jim Rennie shares 5 words about baptism. Baptism is symbolic of great truths and is rich in meaning.

Key Passage: Selected Scriptures

Speaker: Dr. Jim Rennie