Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship: Recent Episodes
Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship
We're a community-minded church in Coquitlam, B.C., whose desire is to worship Jesus Christ by showing love, sharing hope and strengthening faith.
Did you know that God wants to work in and through you for his glory and the good of others? It's true. God gives every believer gifts of the Spirit to be used in ministry. We don't earn or choose these gifts. "It is the one and only Spiritwho distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have." (1 Cor. 12:11 NLT)Have you taken the time to discover your spiritual gifts? It's important that you do because an unopened and unused gift is worthless and the community of faith can not be and do what God wants unless we learned to do our part in the body of Christ.To help you discover what your spiritual gifts are and how they can be used to serve others we encourage you to take the following free online spiritual gifts questionaire byclicking here.
Over the decades there has been widespread erosion in the meaning and purpose of marriage. As Timothy and Kathy Keller note in the their book,The Meaning of Marriage, "Marriage used to be a public institution for the common good, and is now a private arrangement for the satisfaction of the individuals. Marriage used to be about us, but now it is aboutme." The erosion of marriage is not new. Jesus faced it in his day and a made a clear and compelling case for a return to God's grand design for marriage.To read our Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith and commentary on "Marriage, Singleness, and Family" CLICK HERE
Passing our faith on to the next generation matters a lot. Indeed, the Scriptures instruct parents to not only"be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget" the instructions and commands the Lord our God also told,"Teach them to your children and to their children and to their children after them." (Deut. 4:9) Both Moses' practical directives (Deut. 6:1-9) and recent research by sociologists Christian Smith Amy Adamczyk echo the crucial role parents play in passing our faith along to the next generation.Recommended ReadingChristian Smith's summary article, "Keeping the Faith" inFirst Things (May 2021) Interview article with Amy Adamczyk, "Parents take the lead in handing down and talking up the faith" (Religion Watch March 2021)Interview with Christian Smith "The Latest Research on Handing Down the Faith"
The video of Philip & Robyn Serez is also available at: https://multiply.net/story/terrifying-delight
You might be tempted to think from my sermon that Jesus lived a worry-free life (and expects us to as well). It is clear from Gethsemane that his life was far from worry free, but he knew how to face even extreme anxiety with the spiritual resources his Father provided. This is foundational for us too.But what about those whose "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7) is anxiety and depression? I did not have time in this sermon to address this very important question, but there are some excellent resources that I recommend.One is a recent additional to our church library by Zack Eswine entitled:Spurgeon's Sorrows: realistic hope for those who suffer from depression. Another is a book recommended by Sanctuary Mental Health entitled I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This: a Christian approach to coping with anxiety and depression.Check out other resources on the Sanctuary Mental Health website: https://sanctuarymentalhealth.org/
It may seem strange to many people to even suggest that Christianity has had a significant impact on science since it is often assumed that the relationship between Christianity & science has been a long and troubled one.You may be interested to learn that historians of science have known for quite some time about the significantly positive role Christianity has played both in the emergence and persistence of modern science in the West. Today's message explores this relationship.Additional ResourcesPeter Harrison, Christianity and the rise of western science Australian Broadcasting Corporation (May 2012).Mark Noll, Science, Religion, and A.D. White"Rebecca McLaughlin, "Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity" in Confronting Christianity,Alister McGrath lecture on Youtube entitled Science and Faith: Conflicting or Enriching?Alvin Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the WorldD. James Kennedy, What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?
"A Christian notion of humility, introduced by the New Testament, was a novel event in the ancient world. And this Christian notion of what humility is continues even into a secular domain today (even though I think, real humility requires Jesus)." - Chris Clements is on Faculty at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, BC
In our study of James, we have seen him probe and address numerous issues and areas in our everyday lives (e.g. how to face trials & temptations, how to manage anger, eradicate prejudice, tame our tongues, resolve conflict). Int he latter part of chapter 4, James turns his attention to the business side of life such as hwo we as believers should manage our time and money.
For further thoughts on this topic, please visitWeekly thoughts on Spiritual Formation: the Church
For further thoughts on this topic, please visit Weekly thoughts on Spiritual Formation: the Church
To see additional commentary visit here: https://www.erbf.com/news/spiritual-formation-series#week4
To read further information on this sermon, please visit www.erbf.com/news/spiritual-formation-series#week3.
This closing section of Judges should come with a warning: this content is deeply disturbing. Yet those blatantly breaking Gods commands are not godless Canaanites but those expected to be God-fearing Israelites.
Our guest speaker, John Johnstone, serves withMultiplyamong First Nations people groups in Western Canada. In this role, John and his wife Jenn seek to build and strengthen relationships between First Nations and the Church through education, prayer, and the facilitation of bridge-building encounters.They are currently engaging with several different indigenous people groups within BC, and also serve as cultural liaisons with a youth initiative in Vancouver.
Our guest speaker is Bridget Findlay from MCC's Indigenous Neighbour's program. She is preaching on "Good Neighbours" (Matthew 22:39).
Nearly 60 years ago Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his stirring speech--"I Have A Dream!" In vivid language he described his dream of a world where black and white could live together in peace and harmony. His vision was rooted in God's ancient dream and plan for all of creation. At the beginning of the biblical story we see God's original Shalom project and despite major setbacks along the way God continues to be deeply committed to it. In this message we'll explore God's story and our place in it.
At our recent denominational convention Phil Collins (Pastor of Willow Park Church in Kelowna and the chair of our BCMB Church Planting Taskforce), shared his heart for evangelism and life beyond COVID. The lessons Phil shared from the church in Antioch (Acts 11:19-30) were so challenging and inspiring that I wanted him to share that same message with us at Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship. Although Phil couldn't be with us at ERBF in person, he was pleased to provide us with the message he shared at the convention and be our "virtual" guest speaker for Sunday, May 30th.