Isaiah 53:3-6 (NLT)

He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!

But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

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Today, Dave Blow wraps up our teachings on the beatitudes after an interview with Rachel and Michelle, our KidsPoints Coordinators. Jesus tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted for his sake, not because we are difficult or annoying, but because the world will ultimately reject his way.

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What part of Dirk Willems’ story (included below) impacts you most? Why?

"In 1569, a Dutch Anabaptist named Dirk Willems escaped from prison for his faith. As he fled across a frozen pond, the guard chasing him fell through the ice. Dirk could have kept running to freedom. Instead, he turned back and rescued the man who was pursuing him. He was immediately re-arrested and later executed. Dirk did not just endure persecution—he embodied Jesus’ command to love his enemy. This is what it looks like when the Beatitudes take flesh."

2. What stood out to you from this week's teaching?

3. Read Matthew 5:10-12 (preferably in multiple translations). What stands out to you from this passage?

4. What does it mean to be persecuted “because of righteousness” rather than because of our own behaviour?

5. Why do you think Jesus ends the Beatitudes with persecution?

6. What do you think it means to “rejoice and be glad” in the face of opposition?

7. Dirk turned back to save the very man chasing him. What does that reveal about his understanding of enemy-love?

8. What would it look like to practice that kind of love in today’s context?

9. How do we discern the difference between genuine persecution and normal disagreement?

10. Where do you feel pressure to compromise your allegiance to Jesus?

11. Have you ever experienced opposition because of your faith? What did it reveal about your heart?

12. What small step of faithful witness might God be inviting you into this season of Lent?

13. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

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Psalms 24 (NIV)

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Saviour.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek your face, God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    he is the King of glory.

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This morning, Dave Blow offers a reflection on what it means to be a part of the body of Christ, building on the reflection about unity that was offered last month on the Community Sunday. To be party of the body of Christ is not a matter of attendance or belief, but an existential state of being.

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What stood out to you from this week's teaching?

2. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (preferably in multiple translations). What stands out to you from this passage and in Paul's description of the body of Christ?

3. What does it mean to you personally to hear, “Now you are the body of
Christ”?

4. Why do you think Paul emphasizes that every part of the body
matters—even the less visible ones?

5. How does simply showing up (physically, emotionally, spiritually) contribute
to the health of the body?

6. What gifts, experiences, or perspectives do you feel God has entrusted to
you for the sake of others?

7. What happens to the body when members hold back or disconnect?

8. What does “suffering together” and “rejoicing together” look like in a home
church context?

9. How is being a committed member different from being a consumer of
church activities?

10. How might our faith change if we truly believed that Christ chooses to work
through this community—through us?

11. What is one small step you could take to participate in the life of this body
more fully?

12. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

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Website: theharbournewmarket.ca
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Malachi 3:1-5 (NIV)

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

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This week, we welcome a special guest speaker from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Stephen Roy. Stephen shared a teaching with us about how making peace shows that we are children of God as God is a God of peace and not a God of violence.

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What stood out to you from this week's teaching?

2. Read Matthew 5:9 (preferably in multiple translations). What stands out to you from this passage?

3. When you hear the word "peacemaker", what images or experiences come to mind?

4. How is peacemaking different from simply avoiding conflict?

5. Why do you think Jesus connects peacemaking with being called “children of God”?

6. What does peacemaking reveal about the character of God?

7. Read Romans 12:17-21 (preferably in multiple translations). What stands out to you from this passage?

8. What practical actions does this text suggest about how to “make peace”?

9. Historically, Anabaptists have emphasized nonviolence and enemy-love. How does that deepen your understanding of peacemaking?

10. Where do you see subtle forms of retaliation in our culture (online, politics, family dynamics)? How might followers of Jesus respond differently?

11. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

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Website: theharbournewmarket.ca
Email: [email protected]

Hebrews 13:1-6 (NLT)

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

“I will never fail you.
    I will never abandon you.”

So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper,
    so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?”

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Today, Dave Blow shares on the sixth Beatitude: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." What does it meant to have a "pure" heart, exactly? Does our ordinary understanding of that term line up with Jesus's overall emphasis here in the Sermon on the Mount?

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What stood out to you from this week's teaching?

2. Read Psalms 24 and James 4:1-8 (preferably in multiple translations) (Note: both passages are available behind the same link). What stands out to you from this passage? Any themes that emerge?

3. How have you typically understood the phrase “pure in heart”?

4. What difference does it make to think of purity as undivided loyalty rather than moral perfection?

5. Why do you think Jesus connects purity of heart with seeing God?

6. Anabaptists emphasize integrity between belief and practice. Where do you see that connection challenged in everyday life?

7. What are some ways the church can unintentionally encourage outward appearance over inner faithfulness?

8. How does simplicity (of life, speech, or commitment) relate to purity of heart?

9. What competes most strongly for your trust or allegiance right now?

10. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

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Website: theharbournewmarket.ca
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Philippians 2:1-5 (NIV)

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

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This morning, Dave Blow continues in our study of the Sermon on the Mount with a message on mercy. We often like the idea of mercy until things get too real. What would it mean to not only be a merciful person, but a merciful community?

If you would like to see the two clips that were played during the teaching time, you can find the first clip here and the second clip here.

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What stood out to you from this week's teaching?

2. What part of the sermon felt most challenging—or most hopeful—for you?

3. Read Romans 12:17-21 (preferably in multiple translations). What stands out to you or resonates with you in this passage?

4. When you hear the word "mercy", what experiences or emotions come to mind?

5. Why do you think Jesus names mercy as a blessing and not a burden?

6. What stood out to you about the distinction between mercy and avoidance or denial?

7. How do mercy and justice work together rather than against each other?

8. Where do you feel resistance to the idea of forgiving without retaliation?

9. Where is God inviting you to practice mercy right now—internally or relationally? What makes mercy feel risky in that situation?

10. How could this group or church support one another in living mercifully?

11. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

Be in touch. Send us a text here.

Instagram: @theharbournewmarket
Website: theharbournewmarket.ca
Email: [email protected]