Good Shepherd Barrhaven Sermon Stream

Easter celebrates a great miracle, where God raises Jesus from the dead. However, we don't celebrate this just as a chance to look back at a great event. We celebrate the fact that in his death and resurrection Jesus enjoyed a victory over death which brings hope for us when facing our own death.

Scripture reference: John 20:1-18

Preached on Easter morning, April 21, 2019 by Rev. Stephen Silverthorne

• We all know what it is like to live without power
• Holy Week is physically hard on us, leaving us feeling low in power
• The events of Holy Week are spiritually draining too
• This gives us a sense what Mary Magdalene felt on the first Easter morning
• Her experience on this morning is relatable for us all
• She is powerless as she approaches the tomb
• We are powerless in front of the grave
• Easter morning makes us confront this powerlessness
• But also it makes us confront God's power
• We cannot defeat death, but Christ has
• Easter challenges us to put faith in him as our champion
• We can trust our champion because he loves us

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The resurrection of Jesus is a world-changing event, but it can be hard sometimes to know why it should matter to us. This sermon argues that the resurrection is only understood rightly when we see it as part of God's ongoing mission of rescue from oppression. It's a mission which continues today and inspires us to faithful service in that same cause of freedom.

Scripture reference: Luke 24:1-12

Preached on the Easter Vigil, April 20, 2019 by the Rev. Lisa Pacarynuk

• God has been at work saving creation from the beginning
• He continues working at this now
• We remember how the resurrection promises freedom to us
• Baptism is the promise that we have an ongoing relationship with the one who was raised
• It also challenges us to walk with this one to cooperate in his mission of grace

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Palm Sunday is the commemoration of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, surrounded by shouts of joy from the people. They believed he was their long-awaited Messiah and King, who would usher in a new kingdom of freedom. Yet, they didn't realize that this kingdom is not of this world. Within days, the crowds turned against him to demand he be crucified. Palm Sunday encourages us to consider this rapid change in public attitude: from joyful acceptance to enraged rejection. In today's meditation Fr. Stephen encourages us to consider the significance of this changing public opinion, and to examine our own attitudes to Christ in the present day.

Scripture references: Luke 19:28-40 & Luke 22:14-23:56 

Preached on the Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019 by Rev. Stephen Silverthorne

Sermon Highlights

• The quick change in the crowd's attitude warn us against just following popular opinion
• Jesus doesn't put his trust in crowds but in God
• Jesus still comes to crowds, despite knowing what was in their hearts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Faith is less understood today than it was in past generations. Today, many people are convinced that faith is a waste of time. Yet, this isn't a new situation. In today's sermon, we learn that sometimes the people in Jesus' day were just as critical. Mary shows special devotion to Jesus, but is criticized for it too. The story helps us understand how best to worship God in an indifferent world, and reminds us that what matters most is to serve Him regardless of what it looks like to others

Scripture references: John 12:1-8

Preached on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 7, 2019 by Rev. Stephen Silverthorne

• Westerners increasingly live without God
• Faith seems like a waste of time to many people
• Mary gives an appropriate response to Jesus' goodness
• She doesn't care what people think
• We worship to give an appropriate response to Jesus' goodness
• We shouldn't care what people think
• Church helps us serve our neighbour better
• There is room for different personalities to serve Jesus
• By serving Jesus we bring brightness to our world

• The Lady Vanishes, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzche. The source of "God is dead" quote
• More on the life of St. Lawrence

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some stories in the bible are so well known, they have a tendency to lose their power from over-hearing. The story of the prodigal son is one of those stories. Yet, when we read it with fresh eyes we start to see why it has become so popular. It is a story of profound challenge and profound hope. In this sermon, Fr. Stephen explores why the story of the prodigal son should shock us into a greater trust in God and a greater love for people who wander far from the right path.

Scripture references: Luke 15:11-32

Preached on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 31, 2019 by Rev. Stephen Silverthorne

• The prodigal son's ruin brought shame to his family
• The father's acceptance shows he doesn't care how his love looks to others
• God is more concerned with saving His children than with obeying our idea of fairness
• Both sons failed to trust that they were beloved children
• We can trust we are children because God says we are
• The story teaches patience to parents with wayward kids

• The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Superheroes are now a staple of movie entertainment, and continue to be popular because they take action to overcome injustice. We forget sometimes that God empowers us to be heroes as well, through honestly facing up to where we have become comfortable with injustice. How do we grow out of condemning others, and instead start asking where we need to change? Where do we find courage to act for the benefit of others? This sermon addresses these challenges and encourages us to grow into the kind of people who bring justice wherever we are.

Scripture references: Luke 13:1-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Preached on the Third Sunday in Lent, March 24, 2019 by Ed Montano

• Oscar Romero is a great example of Christian faith
• He is an example of speaking truth to the powerful
• We sometimes ignore injustice because of dual loyalties
• Our first loyalty is to Christ, not to the powerful of our world
• Christ frees us from the idols of our age
• Christ also challenges us to look at our own lives
• Rather than blaming others, what are we doing?
• We should view the world through God's eyes
• This view should colour our approach to personal and public life

• Some information on Oscar Romero

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobody likes judgment, yet there are many parts of the Bible which talk about it. In this week's Gospel, Jesus talks about a judgment on Jerusalem and its temple. What benefit do we get from hearing these difficult words? How can we find words of judgment to be good news? This sermon explores what Jesus meant to his original audience, but also what he is saying to us today about God's challenge to our way of life.

Scripture references: Luke 13:31-35; Jeremiah 7:1-20

Preached on the Second Sunday in Lent, March 17, 2019 by Rev. Stephen Silverthorne

• Jesus' statements in the Gospel rely on the prophet Jeremiah
• Jeremiah's judgment on the temple is that it would not allow God in
• God was pushed out by their faithlessness
• So, God will come to judge the temple
• Jesus similarly is pushed out by leaders' faithlessness
• So, Jesus comes to judge the temple
• Jesus invites us to ask, where have we pushed him out?
• Must ask if our church faithfully reflects God's mercy
• Must ask if I faithfully reflect God's mercy
• God's challenge is also a mercy
• Accepting the challenge opens us up to His mercy

• Between Midnight and Dawn by Sarah Arthur
• Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most people who were raised in an Anglican, Lutheran or Catholic tradition know a bit about the season of Lent. It's a time for self-reflection, repentance and self-denial. The reasons for repentance and reflection may seem obvious to us, because everyone could stand to improve some things in their lives. But why self-denial? This sermon examines Jesus' temptation in the wilderness to answer this question. Jesus' 40 days of temptation is the model for the 40 days of Lent we celebrate in the church, and it shows us that self-denial helps us on the road to more patience and self-control. These are things we benefit from throughout the year.

Scripture references: Luke 4:1-13; Genesis 3

Preached on the First Sunday in Lent, March 10, 2019 by Rev. Stephen Silverthorne

• Jesus' temptation reminds us we all will be tempted
• Jesus' temptations are temptations to impatience
• The things the devil offered were good, but the means and timing were bad
• We practice self-denial to teach us patience with God
• God gives good things, but we must learn to receive them at the right time
• Jesus' victory over temptations is foretaste of his victory over death
• Jesus gives us victory over our temptations
• These victories give us hope he will give us victory over death

• Keep the Fast, Keep the Feast by Peter Leithart
• This is an excellent article on Jesus' fasting and how it can train our patience
• A report on consumer debt in Canada by the Financial Post
• An article on the alarming levels of debt we carry, partly because of our need for instant gratification

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Probably all of us have had what we would call Mountaintop Experiences in our lives. Yet, these experiences don't always mean much to us in the long run. This sermon was delivered on a church festival called the Transfiguration. It highlights a great mountaintop experience of for Jesus' disciples. On the top of a mountain, they see Jesus unveiled as the divine Son of God. Yet, what difference should this great experience make for us? So what if they had a mountaintop experience? This sermon delves into what this experience shows us: that we should learn to Jesus in the everyday experiences of life, and that we should let our own mountaintop experiences with God transform us into people who provide those experiences for others.

Scripture Reference: Luke 9:28-43; Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Preached on the Feast of Transfiguration, March 3, 2019 by Rev. Stephen Silverthorne

• The transfiguration shows the divine nature of Jesus
• Disciples found it easy to see him as Messiah when he was glorious
• They found it harder to believe in him when he seemed ordinary or weak
• We have the same problem
• We often see Christ in times of worship
• This should help us recognize him when we go out in the world
• The disciples were not transformed by this experience with Jesus
• The transformation only came at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came
• Then, they began to show the world Jesus' goodness
• Worship should transform us to reflect Jesus' light in the world
• This only happens when we ask God to prepare us to receive Jesus' light

• Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
• The Care Bears

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Loving some people is easy. Others, not so much. That fact is what makes today's Gospel passage so difficult. Jesus tells his disciples to love their enemies, bless those who curse them, and even turn the other cheek when someone slaps them. How can we do this? And doesn't this way of life just turn us into doormats, vulnerable to being abused? In this sermon our student intern, Ed Montano, tackles this challenging passage by reminding us that it's through God's grace that these actions become an agent to change the world for the better.

Scripture Reference: Luke 6:27-38; 1 Corinthians 15:35-50

Preached on the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, February 24, 2019 by Ed Montano

• We all face situations which make us angry
• This makes it very hard to do what Jesus tells us
• We often don't want to have our hatreds or angers challenged
• Jesus challenges us in the Gospel anyway
• He asks more of us than to do what comes easy
• Disciples are asked to trust that Jesus' way is better
• We are asked to trust that he knows what is good
• Just like eating vegetables, it can seem hard but it is good for us to do
• The reward Jesus promises isn't material
• Instead, the reward is that this way forms us into God's children
• We start taking on the character of Jesus
• God often reveals to us that our enemies aren't malicious, but sometimes just misunderstood
• Seeing them with mercy helps us be more merciful

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.