Why dare to believe in Jesus? The simple answer is because he is so worth it. But the Easter story, straightforward as it is, isn't always straightforward. Because, the disciples, who knew better than anybody, on Easter Sunday morning were full of doubt. Daring to believe takes courage because we have doubts. We have certain experiences in our life we don't know what to do with. And we have questions too. We come with our own stories, struggles and expectations to the facts of history. I want to challenge you here today to dare to believe. But what's involved in daring to believe? I want to read part of the Easter story from the Gospel of Luke. Luke 24.

Extra reading: Matthew 28:1-15

Preacher: Bill Dyck

There are times maybe we feel like our lives are going nowhere. We might not know how we got there, but it's a very frustrating place to be. We feel stuck and there's little fruit or effectiveness. Nobody feels much passion about being there, right? It's a dark place. That's the context for Palm Sunday and our text today. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the praises of people who had seen him do so much. And when he arrives, he wants to go straight to the temple: the destination for all Jews for all the festivals and all their pilgrimages. But there he finds something that has become so stuck and literally without fruit. In the story of Palm Sunday, he's calling us from the place we feel stuck and our lives feel pointless, to a place of fruitfulness.

Extra reading: Zechariah 9:9-12

Preacher: Bill Dyck

I remember growing up in a rural community seeing barn fires from time to time. You could see them from a great distance. The wood from these 200 year old structures is dry. When they catch fire, you can't hope to put them out. The firefighters focus on protecting the buildings around. People come from great distances because you can't help see the night sky lit up. They come to help, to drag livestock out of the barn. I remember going as a kid with my dad. Men courageously go into flames to drag out whatever they can. The fires mode the heart tremble. It's hard to sleep after because of how terrifying it is. Heading home, you wonder, how can I avoid that happening in my barn? I come to a text here today in the Gospel of Mark that we tend to avoid, about things to come. Maybe we find it deepressing, or we don't know what to think. But Christ gives it to us in his love that we might prepare ourselves, to give us the chance to be responsible with our lives and loved ones.

Extra reading: Daniel 12:1-4

Preacher: Bill Dyck

We are a people who live from the heart. Our generation is one that lives from the heart. Authenticity is very important to our culture, maybe it's the most important thing. And God teaches us to love him with our heart. But he also says to love him with all of our mind. He says to love him also with all of our soul. And to love him with all of our strength. I wanna talk about that here today.

Extra reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

Preacher: Bill Dyck

Have you heard people ask, "Why doesn't God answer my prayers? How come God answer other people's prayers but not mine?" These questions are frustrating to people. How can we be people who experience God answering our prayers? In today's passage in the book of Mark, there are two stories back to back where Jesus asks the same question: "What do you want me to do for you?" In the one story, Jesus answers the request with "no", and in the other, Jesus answers "yes". So, today we're going to look at what makes the stories different and how can we be those who hear Jesus' "yes."

Extra reading: Psalm 13

Preacher: Oscar Wong

We walk down difficult roads. We each have our own own portion of hardship. They're paths of sacrifice and almost always beyond our ability. We find ourselves stretched beyond anything that we have known or experienced. Usually in those paths, there's no turning back. Let's say it's something in our family, which is actually what we're going to be looking at here today. When trouble comes right within our family, you can't turn back. We can't turn our back on these ones that we obviously love. So, it's a bit of a situation because it's way beyond our ability, and yet, we can't let it go. And so we reach out to God for strength and God has ways that He strengthens us for this road. There are two different things that today's passage brings out about how God strengthens our faith for a difficult road.

Extra reading: Exodus 33:18-23

Preacher: Bill Dyck

Some journeys that we go on are straightforward. For example, it was straightforward for me to get to church this morning. Some journeys are more complicated, like, my son is becoming married to a girl outside of Canada which poses a lot of complications. It'll happen, but the way there is complicated. Our journey with Jesus has complications in it. There are surprises along the way. In the Gospel of Mark, we come to a part where Jesus introduces to the disciples how complicated a journey with Jesus can be, where things are not so straightforward. The Lord does this for us. Expectations are important. When I walk with couples who are becoming married ahead of the wedding, one of the most significant things I can draw out of these two individuals is, what are your expectations? Unmet expectations eventually bring frustration so it's best to get them on the table ahead of time so that there can be conversation about expectations. It's the same when it comes with a journey with the Lord Jesus.

Extra reading: Psalm 16

Preacher: Bill Dyck

Faith is not static, but a thing that grows. I don't think that's always how we think of faith. We think, "that person's got a lot of faith, and I don't have much". Or "that person has a lot of faith in this area, and I have faith in that area". But God means for our faith to grow in all the areas in our life, and for us to become more and more familiar with receiving from his hand. When I was as a kid, my faith was very passive - whatever God will do, he does, who am I to ask anything bold or big of God? But then, the Lord started to work in my life. Even in the last year, my faith has grown a lot. God means for our faith to grow. We grow in our careers, we grow in all kinds of areas. That's normal. But is there the expectation that our faith, the most important part of us, would grow? I wanna talk here today about how God builds our faith.

Extra reading: Joshua 14:6-15

Preacher: Bill Dyck

Faith in God is a powerful thing. Faith opens the way for God to act. God looks for it, God treasures it wherever it is found. But even as faith is such a powerful thing, so is unbelief. Unbelief shuts the way. Unbelief closes the door against God. As great faith amazes God, so does unbelief. I want to grow in faith. I want to develop my faith. I want to trust God more in areas where it's been hard to trust. I want to put away unbelief when I find it, and I hope you do too. To that end, I want to speak here today in this series that we call Faith Bootcamp about fighting unbelief.

Extra reading: Exodus 33:12-23, 34:5-9

Preacher: Bill Dyck