I want to talk here today about fighting fear through faith. Faith is the opposite of fear, but storms tend to rattle us. As much as we talk about being people of faith, the reality of walking through a storm and living in a storm, the nature of a storm is that we're not in control. They're big bigger than us, they are unwelcome, they're powerful, they threaten us, and they fill us with great uncertainty and fear. But what I wanna think with you here today is how can we live on the side of faith, even when something threatens.

Extra reading: Isaiah 40:25-31

Preacher: Bill Dyck

It's a privilege to serve God. But as we serve God, he draws us into assignments that are bigger than we are. God-sized assignments, much as it might make us feel uncomfortable at points. Strong faith, stronger faith, is required. This raises a question, can faith grow? Sometimes we think that faith is a static thing, that I'm given a certain portion of faith, and I know other people who have more faith. But that's not how scripture speaks of it. Faith can grow and it needs to grow for us to enter to the assignments that God gives to us or to our church. I want to talk about that today, how can our faith grow. And really key to that is that closeness with God strengthens our faith. We're walking through the book of Mark these days and I called the series Faith Bootcamp. I will start at Mark 3:7.

Extra reading: Psalm 63

Preacher: Bill Dyck

Even though we're people of faith and we want to live lives of faith, our faith is always mixed with unbelief. It seems like faith and unbelief collide in us daily. We believe in the goodness and the sovereignty of God, yet our minds can sometimes be consumed with other things. For example, the bank account can make us depressed And make us despondent over an uncertain future. Or, though we know our lives are in the hands of God, we can be consumed by the instability in the world. Sometimes we're able to be in the place of like pure faith. For example, in the hospital room with a loved one, when we have no more choices, we have nowhere to turn but to God, and we find his peace comes and strengthens us. The thing I want to think about here today is how to overcome unbelief. We're walking through the Gospel of Mark in a series called Faith Boot Camp and I wanna read starting at Mark 2:1.

Extra reading: Psalm 131

Preacher: Bill Dyck

God can do so much more than you and I. But the question is how do we access that? It would be simplest if he just went and did all the things that we know we'd love for him to do. Why doesn't he do all those things alone? The short answer is because he's looking for faith. He's looking for people who will trust him. Still there's something in us that says, I wish we could find a way around all the asking and seeking and knocking, all the waiting. But really, faith matters to God. And the resources of God, they come to those who have faith. They don't just come to people generally. God is good and kind to all. But there's so much that he wants to pour into our lives that is experienced by those who have faith, those who trust him. And he looks for that in our lives. I want to talk about faith boot camp. We're gonna walk through the Gospel of Mark. And here today, Mark 1.

Extra reading: Genesis 15:1-6

Preacher: Bill Dyck

There are people in my life who live in the States and they give me access to the places where they stay. They are very nice places. They're gated communities where if your name is not on the list, you cannot enter. They say, "Michael, you can come with your family and stay here." Not only that, when I get there, there's stuff inside that's then free to me. I didn't pay for any of it. I walk in and I get access to all of these incredible things because somebody else footed the bill. We have a God who writes our names on a list that gives access to something that you would have never had access to if he didn't write your name on the list and foot the bill. Last week Pastor Bill spoke on the parts of the Kingdom that we don't have access to yet. Today we will look at the part of the kingdom that we can already access.

Advent reading: Isaiah 9:1-7

Preacher: Michael Dyck

When I was in university I joined an a-cappella choir. I don't remember a lot of the songs. But I remember one. It stood out to me at that time, and I've thought often of it. It was called the Peaceable Kingdom. The whole song was a quote from the prophet Isaiah. And it was all about the kingdom of God and the kingdom as it was yet to come. It had imagery in it that just captured my mind. That's what I want to speak on today. The kingdom of God always existed from the moment that people were on Earth. God ruled. Along comes Christ, who said the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But the kingdom didn't begin with him. It always was. There's always been a king. And he reigns over all things right through to eternity. There are aspects of the kingdom of God that are already very much right now, and aspects that are not yet. Here today I want to look at the piece that is not yet.

Advent reading: Luke 1:39-56

Preacher: Bill Dyck

If you're a person of hope in these days, people think you delusional. How can you seriously feel hope? There's so many things that are difficult. But we are a people of hope. Our God is a God of hope. Over this Advent season, I want to strengthen that we are a people of hope and God calls us to be messengers of hope. The theme for this Advent is "Your Kingdom Come". Though Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, it wasn't new with him. There's always been a king over the kingdoms of all things. In a nutshell the Kingdom of God really is the reversal of everything that went wrong when sin entered the world. It's the turning around. The reversal. That is good news because when sin entered the world, there came so much darkness. That's what makes people despair. But in the Lord's prayer, we learn to pray "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Today we will look at this from Psalm 2.

Preacher: Bill Dyck

Advent reading: Luke 1:26-38

Rev. Gerald Hogenbirk speaks on the power of selflessly serving Christ with our life.

Extra Reading: Psalm 67

Preacher: Rev. Gerald Hogenbirk

What do you do when you face impossible circumstances, with the odds stacked against you? A threatening situation might strike fear in you, and maybe a lot of anxiety. It can be very discouraging. We tend to look at these situations entirely negatively, because they're stressful. They are something to be avoided. It's something to escape from. But seen from another point of view, maybe God is wishing to do something special, maybe it's actually an opportunity. I want to talk here today about trusting God when the odds are stacked against you.

Extra reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

Preacher: Bill Dyck

When you think of courageous people, who do you think of? Maybe someone who fought an illness, or who showed strength in danger, someone who confronted intimidation. Everybody feels fear but this person overcomes it and pushes through and did something. What about people who stood against some kind of evil? Who are the kind of people God uses in this world to overthrow evil? We think of some great other person. But I think the answer to that question might surprise us. Today we will look at three verses in 2 Chronicles 22.