Guelph Vineyard Church: Recent Episodes
Guelph Vineyard Church
It's Easter Weekend!! This is the very centre of the Christian year. It's the weekend we mark the incomprehensible, beautiful, death-defeating work of Christ. All of a sudden, Jesus' invitation to His disciples, spoken before they even had an inkling of what lay ahead, comes into sharp focus as He is arrested, condemned and crucified before their very eyes. And then His promise of eternal life becomes tangible, literally alive in His resurrected person.
We will mark the weekend two ways. Today we'll share a Good Friday morning reflection. This will be a journey through the scriptures of Good Friday, meditating on the Passion of Jesus and His way of the cross.
The scripture readings that will anchor our worship today invite us into stories that both reveal the great wealth we find in Christ andhonour the gift of worship we give Him in response.
We will give space for a more extended time for worship and communion, with a short reflection from Kris.
In the last episode, we talked about the idea that the word "Lent" refers to the lengthening of days. Spring brings about the renewal of dormant things. We asked the question: "What's been dormant that is being reawakened in you?"
In this episode, Brady Wilson will be sewing up the series we've been in over the past couple of months. Jesus put a lot of emphasis on fruitfulness. In fact, the whole biblical account puts a lot of emphasis on bearing fruit. This week: From Roots to Fruits (because flourishing always results in fruitfulness).
Sigh. The world has gotten pretty complicated again, with the events in Ukraine, hasn't it?
This Sunday is going to be a time of re-centering around Christ, praying for our world, stepping into the promise of a gospel that is resilience itself in the face of every kind of fear and uncertainty.
Amazingly, David wrote these words in the aftermath of an extremely violent and unjust action on the part of King Saul:
But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good. (Psalm 52, 8-9)
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
Hey everyone. Last week we starting asking really great questions about the root system that sustains us in life and in faith. As Brady shared, there was a lot of really great feedback happening, both on the chat wall in zoom as well as some folks unmuted and sharing different word pictures, unique insights, thoughts and questions. It was such an encouraging time. We're going to keep pressing into that this Sunday by creating a space for a few more of us to share what percolated throughout the week as you reflected on the amazing insight that the Lord intends for us to be completely rooted in His Love.
To prime the pump, here's a question to consider, if you haven't already:
What is the condition of the soil like that you are rooted in? What's the ratio of "Jesus-y" soil like love, peace, hope, joy to the "other stuff" (fear, anxiety, lack etc)? Do we believe that the Jesus can purify the soil, or even completely transplant us?
As you consider your roots, what do you hear/sense the Lord say?
Looking forward to digging deeper. Pun intended.
The last time we were together we introduced the powerful biblical metaphor of the Tree of Life. We're going to be lingering with this image for a while, unpacking the promise and the invitation of being rooted, healthy, flourishing, maturing, fruit-bearing people.
The scriptures put a lot of emphasis on where flourishing trees are planted. It turns out, location matters. Sunshine and water supply matter. And what matters most? Dark, nutrient-rich, life-infused soil of course.
Brady Wilson will be sharing.
As you know, these days we're on a journey together as a church community. It's a journey into a deep dialogue about flourishing... about what we need to mature into the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give us. It doesn't take long before words like "flourishing", "abundance" and "maturity" lead us to the doorway to the book of Psalms. Psalm 1 says this of the one who delights in God:
"He is like a tree planted by flowing streams;
it yields its fruit at the proper time,
and its leaves never fall off.
He succeeds in everything he attempts."
If you're like me, you read that and think "Where do I sign up?" And of course, this question is quickly followed by, "Is this really possible?"
So, here's the question: What if this is really a 'thing'? What if it's actually an inheritance to be expected? What if this is what maturity in Christ actually promises?
This week we're going to start looking closer at this Tree... After all, there is a Tree that bookends the biblical story, who's roots start in Genesis, its branches intersect Psalms and the Passion of Jesus and finally, its fruit is the nourishment of the New Creation described in the book of Revelation. It's kind of a big deal in the scriptures, and so we're going to see if maybe this "tree thing" is a big deal for us in our journey together right now.
Last week we began a journey that we're going to be on for a while. It's a journey to answer what seems like a simple question, but is actually many-layered and multi-textured: What do you need, like, really need, to live into the abundant life Jesus said He was all about? What do you need in your day-to-day life as a Jesus follower, and what do you need in a church family? The answers to those questions are going to matter a lot as we seek to understand where the Lord is leading us a church family.
Throughout the recent "maturity" series, we framed maturity in Christ as a kind of target, a sort of bullseye for your life and mine. Understanding our needs and getting them met in healthy ways is so closely aligned with the maturity process that it's indecipherable from it. We're going to explore why.
Matthew 15 is one of the high-action chapters in the gospels. Jesus is healing everyone. Jesus is feeding everyone. We can only imagine the electricity among His disciples as they watch Jesus doing business with every sickness, ailment and evil spirit and forgiving sins.
I've been considering the work of Jesus through a bit of a different lens lately. Yes, the work of Christ, as demonstrated in the Matthew passage, is an abundant work. He is performing miracles, after all. And he is also meeting needs. Profoundly felt, urgently required needs.
And I believe Jesus still does that very thing. It's part of what it means to be the Church (Acts:4:34). So we're going to be taking a journey together to answer the question I believe the Holy Spirit is asking of us, and it's a crucial question: What do you need?
This is a significant gathering in our story as the Guelph Vineyard. Two announcements are made, one being the move to a 9am service (come for 8:45!) beginning on Dec 12, 2021, at Royal City Mission. The other is the shift to bi-vocationality for our pastor, Kris MacQueen.
In the midst of many changes, unforeseeable curve balls and an unknown future, the Peace of the Lord is absolutely in our midst, centring us powerfully to navigate these times led by curiosity, courage and wonder rather than driven by fear and anxiety. The Lord is at work in our midst, and leading us. Listen to hear more.
Who doesn't love a great God story, am I right? I know I do. As a friend of mine often says: "I'm just medieval enough to believe that God actually does stuff like this!" Another friend describes the manifest movement of God among us as the "whammo!" of God. Yes to all those things. I've experienced them, I hunger after them. I love it when God moves "in power".
And yet…. (you had to know there was an "and yet" coming)
What's it all about, really? I know some of us remember the 90s. I remember being ring-side for the Toronto blessing. That whole season felt like there was almost a kind of fountainhead of God's power, bursting up through the floorboards of what was then the Toronto Airport Vineyard. Boom! Whammo!
I remember thinking something like "wow, this is favour, God must really like us right now". But you know what? The longer I've walked with Jesus, the less and less I'm convinced that those encounters were quite what I thought they were. I used to think they were signs that God was really happy with us. A sort of proof that we were in the center of God's will.
I don't think that way anymore. Now, I believe that signs and wonders are a lot more than that. I believe there are seasons where we need them like we need bread and water. They are provisions on the long journey towards teleios (perfection/maturity).
So do they function as well of proofs that God is happy with us, happy with the prayers we're praying and the lives we're living? Well…. let's see what the experience of Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness have to say about it.
Identity. Who we understand ourselves to be. Who others understand us to be. It matters very much, doesn't it? But where does it come from? What generates identity? We so often claim our sense of belonging and identity from our past and from others don't we?
On one hand, identity can be both inherited and inherent nature. Identity can be bestowed from a group to a person “you’re one of us”. Then there's the identity we forge for ourselves. We can create identity through our actions, our work. Even our public image and reputation can create a self made identity.
Finally, there's the identity we desire. Who we wish we were, or perhaps more hopefully, who we aspire to be.
We’re going to continue to look at the life of Moses through the prayer of Jesus in John 17. This time, we’ll consider how identity and belonging shaped Moses’ life story from beginning to end.
We'll be digging in deeper to the passage in John where Jesus effectively pulls us up by the roots from our place in "the world", all the while instilling in us the hope of a home that we haven't properly set foot in yet.
John 17:13-18
I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
A migrant-kind-of-faith reminds that home is no longer where we're from, nor is it where we find ourselves now. The home we belong to we haven't yet fully encountered. We are mid-journey. Travellers.
Consider this quote from author James K.A. Smith: 'The immigrant is migrating toward a home she’s never been to before. She will arrive in a strange land and, in ways that surprise her, come to say, “I’m at home here,” not least because someone is there to greet her and say, “Welcome home.” The goal isn’t returning home but being welcomed home in a place you weren’t born, arriving in a strange land and being told, “You belong here.” '
Maturity in Christ always looks like humility, and not just any sort of humility. It looks like an absurdly grateful humility. It looks like a person with a profound sense of personal worth, yes. But that sense of worth is expressed in an attitude towards life, God and others that says "this world owes me nothing." Such a person has been freed from all entitlement. In Matthew 18, Jesus talks about this by telling a cautionary story that is, simply put, ridiculous. If we read it casually, we can easily miss the punchline but make no mistake, there is a punchline. It's a truth that heals even as it hurts.
There is one expression that has invaded and taken over my vocabulary over the past couple of years: "it'scomplicated". I don't know how many times I've said it, but a lot. There are so many things that are complicated. Politics are complicated. Our work/life balances are complicated. Even connecting with our dearest friends these days can be complicated. And…. following Jesus feels complicated some days too, doesn't it?
As we continue down the road in our study and reflection on maturity in Christ, there's a word that begins to emerge as a counterpoint to the complexities of modern day life. Simplicity. The kind of simplicity that actually seems really hard. The kind of simplicity that requires the power of the Holy Spirit. The kind of simplicity that Jesus confronts the disciples with when they start complicating things.
Matthew 18:1-5 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
We’re going to pick up where we left off last week in exploring joy as the fuel that sustains and empowers and is the fruit of our journey into maturity in Christ. What might it mean to be a community of joy?
Nehemiah, an often overlooked book in the Bible, contains this beautiful phrase: "The joy of the Lord is my strength." Encouraging, right? It should be! The context of this passage is super intriguing. The people of Israel have just rediscovered the scriptures, realize how far they have strayed from the intentions of God, and they are heartbroken. They're mourning. They're feeling beat down and like failures.
Into the middle of their tears, interrupting their disappointment in themselves, come the words "This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” They are renewed, their capacity is renewed and a seven day party gets started.
(Inner)"strength" and "maturity" are words that go together pretty naturally in my experience. Have we often considered that "joy" and "strength" are woven closely together as well? Taking this a step further, what about "joy" and "maturity"?
Revelation 21:19-21 "The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass."
What does the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation 21 have to do with Christ authoring and maturing (perfecting) our faith? Clue: Remember, when we think "building projects", we think "buildings" - Duh. But whenever the Lord thinks "building projects", Jesus seems to see it quite differently.
Read that Revelation passage above again, remembering that Jesus looked Peter straight in the eye and said "…on this rock I will build my church." Woah.
Is there a common thread that unites all obstacles to a flourishing, mature life? I've been asking this question, and you know what? I think it's fear. Fear is sticky... wherever it takes root, we get stuck in our journey towards maturity. Of course, not all fear is bad. Sometimes, as we mature, we learn that some things should be avoided. A healthy fear of fire is a good thing. But, that's not the kind of fear we're talking about. The fear I'm thinking of is what the Bible is referring to when it records angels saying "fear not".
We're going to look at some of the obstacles that face us in maturing, and how we might overcome them. Hint: Perfect love casts out fear.
The path towards maturity in Christ happens not in isolation, but alongside one another. Of all the things that we are called to as a church, this might be the highest: A place to mature in Christ together.
We're going to continue the conversation we started last time and consider what needs to be in place in order for maturity to happen, along with acknowledging some of the challenges facing us that must be overcome in order to get where we are going.
We are stepping back into our series about maturing in Jesus. As we started to unpack a couple of weeks ago, "maturity in Christ" doesn't = 'going pro' as a Christian. It doesn't mean getting stodgy and stuck in our ways, either. It is an exciting, dynamic and yes, sometimes painful process of becoming precisely who God had in mind when He created us.
The LORD's intentions (read: God's will) for us might sometimes be locational and/or vocational. But the much deeper application of God's will concerns you and me becoming a particular kind of person, whatever our circumstances.
We're going to consider what needs to be in place in order for maturity to happen and what some of the challenges are that need to be acknowledged and overcome in order to get where we are going.
It's the question travelling parents the world over dread, along with the inevitable follow up: "How much longer?"
If the last year and a half have been good for anything, they've certainly been good for begging questions. Especially these two. Well, I have good news, and also some not so welcome news for you. No, we're not there yet, not by a long shot. But it's okay. Jesus is along for the journey, and when we do arrive at the destination, we will have been transformed. We won't be different people, but rather whole-hearted, healed, fully matured versions of ourselves. And we're gonna look an awful lot like Jesus. The Bible uses a Greek word translated interchangably as "maturity" or "perfection" to describe this destination: "Telios"
In fact, during His sermon on the mount, Jesus says telios is the point. Throughout the New Testament, this word gets used over and over again as the object of our followership of Jesus. Maybe it's time we talked about where the "there" in question, is.
τελειοσ Pronounciation : tel'-i-os
Definition: 1) brought to its end, finished 2) wanting nothing necessary to completeness 3) perfect 4) that which is perfect 4a) consummate human integrity and virtue 4b) of men 4b1) full grown, adult, of full age, matureτελοσ Pronounciation: tel'-os
Definition: 1) end 1a) termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be (always of the end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of time) 1b) the end 1b1) the last in any succession or series 1b2) eternal 1c) that by which a thing is finished, its close, issue 1d) the end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose
In the book of Revelation, John encounters a profound power and authority that is unrivalled elsewhere in Scripture. There are glimpses of it here and there throughout the Old Testament, but this is next level stuff. In fact, John's unrehearsed response is to fall at the feet of Jesus "as though dead". To this Jesus says, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last", echoing a curious phrase said earlier and again later in John's Revelation. "I am the Alpha and the Omega". This refers to the first letter of the Greek alphabet and the last letter. Jesus is implying many things when He uses this language, but not the least is His role in time. In the unfolding of our lives, Jesus is present. From before our first breath to our last breath and beyond, Jesus encompasses it all. With this talk we'll close our series on the Examen prayer practice. The fifth and final movement of the Examen leads us to contemplate and prepare for what comes next. It asks us to anticipate God's movement and intentions in the future. This is critical to following Jesus. After all, without a sense of the future, we have no gospel at all.
Do you know the phrase "The devil is in the details"? It feels like an old proverb (it's not) that helpfully points out that what may seem like a good idea on the surface can lose its lustre the more you descend into the specifics. They're intimidating, the details that is. They're also conveniently easy to ignore…. for a little while. But unchecked, they can wreak havoc and ruin even the best "big idea". All this is why we must invite God into the details of our actual life. Not just invite Him into the moments of our choosing… but into all of it. The wins, the losses, the catastrophes and triumphs. The Examen prayer calls these details "Desolations and Consolations". It assumes that the older and less popular expression coined by French author Gustave Flaubert: 'Le bon Dieu est dans le détail' trans: 'The Good Lord is in the detail'. - is a deeper and literal truth. We're going to talk about the assumption that the Lord has something to say about every little thing (and the big stuff too).
Descartes said "I think therefore I am".
We are fixated on what we think. Here I am, literally thinking about my thinking. But the truth is that we are emotional creatures first, we humans. It's a fact of the ways our brains work. The parts of our brain responsible for our emotions literally engage before the parts of our brain that process thought, shape intent or express language. Whether on the surface, or buried deep beneath layers of sediment, we emote our way through life constantly.
Our emotions shape how we are in any given situation, regardless what we think we think about it.
Thankfully, the Bible portrays a deeply emotive God. Remembering that you and I all were formed Imago Dei ("in the image of God"), and that our emotional life is a good expression of that God-likeness, this week we're going to talk about the 3rd movement of the examen prayer: Prayerfully considering what you're feeling. It's here that we hear this question posed by the Lord: "How are you?"
Here's the good news: If Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and the Prophets are to be trusted, there are no wrong answers to that question.
Who doesn't want to be more grateful? We all intrinsically know that living from a place of gratitude is a best-practice for living your best life. But how do we do that? Have you ever felt the burden of feeling like you should be more grateful in a situation that just honestly kind of sucks? Perhaps a well meaning friend gives advice about how you should see the circumstance you're struggling through, or maybe you encounter a scripture verse like this one: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and it feels more like a gut-punch than healing ointment.
Practicing gratitude is the 2nd movement of the examen prayer practice we've been exploring lately, and we're going to take a good, honest look at the gift and burden of attempting thanksgiving in all circumstances.
One of the most famous stories about the prophet Elijah tells of him retreating, exhausted and afraid, into a cave for the night. There he meets God, not in the loud and the powerful events that follow but in deep quiet, with nothing more than a whisper.
It kind of sounds like it's supposed to be peaceful, right? I'm not so sure. Sometimes, the quiet places are the places that ask the most of us. Maybe that's why sleep can be so hard sometimes… the stillness of the night can be a playground for our fears and anxieties. Perhaps the LORD, meeting Elijah that way, is not some zen-like moment of spiritual enlightenment, but rather the LORD showing up to Elijah's most vulnerable, frightened self. Do you relate?
Psalm 139 is one of the very best of the bunch. It opens with these startling, intimate and revealing words:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
"How are you doing?" The Lord is so deeply interested in the answer to this question. Of course, like the psalm says, Jesus knows exactly how you are doing. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And that's part of the challenge of long seasons like the one we're in now. We can lose touch with what's really going on in our interior life. I believe the Holy Spirit is asking us this question, not for His sake, but for ours.
We're going to get really practical and talk about a couple of truly sustaining prayer practices that will help meaningfully answer the question that God is most certainly drawing your attention to. How are you?
The lives of David and Abraham loom large in the Bible. In fact, we can know very little about the big story of Bible if we are not familiar with the stories of these two people. The gospel of Matthew opens with these words: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham… " Jesus is introduced as the heir of these two great, complicated individuals who both walked in unique nearness with God and whose names became synonymous with the great promises of God to humankind.
We're going to revisit the life of David. Perhaps more so than any other person in the Bible, we get to look at the interior life of David. He is certainly the defining personality of his day, and even more, his life shaped and helped to define much of the life of the Jewish people for centuries. He lived large. He won big. He failed spectacularly. And he allowed us a front row seat to see it all.
The lives of Abraham and David loom large in the Bible. In fact, we can know very little about the big story of the Bible if we are not familiar with the stories of these two people. The gospel of Matthew opens with these words: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham… " Jesus is introduced as the heir of these two great, complicated individuals who both walked in unique nearness with God and whose names became synonymous with the great promises of God to humankind.
Over the next couple of weeks, we're going to take a dive into the lives of these two figures. We'll begin with Abraham, who we touched on briefly when we looked at the story of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham, the unlikely father of many nations.
The extraordinary account of Jesus's death and resurrection are loud in the scriptures… Jesus is betrayed to the Roman authorities by a crowd of people shouting for his death. Discovery of his resurrection is accompanied by cries of surprise, joy, uncertainty and confusion.
When John relays the story of seven of the disciples' final meal with Jesus, a humble little breakfast in the early morning on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he records none of the conversation that took place while they ate. The powerful exchange between Peter and Jesus didn't happen until after the meal. The text actually indicates that during the breakfast, no one dared to ask the question that was burning on everyone's heart but that everyone knew the answer to… "Are you really him?"
It seems it was a meal in silence.
This second Sunday of Easter, we're going to consider what was on the faces of these eight friends during that shared breakfast.
Resurrection Sunday: Our kids worked on some Easter crafts that they shared with us. One is more of an Easter egg hunt as the kids share their "resurrection eggs". The other is inspired from the stations of the cross, so we opened with the kids, (not part of this podcast), then celebrated our risen Lord with worship and a short Easter morning reflection from Kris. Here is his message.
Palm Sunday marks the day that Jesus enters Jerusalem with singular focus: He has come to die. It's also the beginning of the death of the faith of Jesus disciples. Don't get me wrong, judging from outer appearances they enter the Holy city riding high. It's a party. Throngs of people are marshalling around Jesus. This is just the sort of the thing that the disciples have been waiting for. Jesus is about to overthrow their oppressors, they imagine. Enter Jesus, king of Israel, desolator of the Romans. Perhaps they began to fancy themselves as Jesus' version of king David's mighty men. They begin to feel that their hopes and dreams about Jesus are finally starting to materialize. Little do they know how wrong (and how RIGHT) they are.
Throughout the course of the next week, the plot begins to shift. Jesus starts to get even "weirder" than usual. He tells them to procure a donkey (a symbol of peace) rather than a horse (a symbol of war) for his entry. Jesus becomes downright apocalyptic in his language and danger mounts. Maybe not right away, but between Sunday to Friday they begin to question their trust in Him… they begin to feel foolish and in short order they will find themselves scattered, absolutely fearful and completely disillusioned.
Who doesn't love a good underdog story? Hollywood lives for the stuff we find in the origin story of King David, Israel's rags to riches king (sort of). There was nothing in the early life of David that hinted at his future. In fact, from a human perspective he was completely unprepared to rule a young, struggling kingdom. He broke every kind of mold and expectation, succeeded when all hope despaired and sometimes failed miserably when favour was on his side. We're going to start to dig into the life of David, specifically his encounter with the massive Philistine warrior, Goliath.
As we've been exploring over the past weeks, the scriptures are full of extraordinary, complicated and often even R-rated characters and stories that together portray the many ways imperfect humans take part in the purposes of God. And then there's Isaac. A miracle child of Abraham and Sarah, finally, here we have a simple, even a bit naive, but deeply faithful and trusting person. True, he's part of a complicated family living in complicated times, yet in meaningful ways Isaac is one of the earliest biblical characters who clearly "pre-figure" Jesus (we'll talk more about what that means)… Isaac is a big part of the way the Bible sets the stage for the Lord!
Samson. The mightiest of the "mighty men of the Bible". Able to slay a lion with his bare hands and defeat an entire army with nothing but a bone in his hand. The dude with the sick hair. The broken, egotistical womanizer who lost his way and sort of found his way back again. The first superhero... And someone who is championed, rather surprisingly if we're honest, by the book of Hebrews in the New Testament and commended as a "hero of the faith".
We're going to explore this very complicated biblical figure and ask… What does the story of Samson have to do with the story of Jesus?
Some of the key ideas you will hear about are:
- you and God are one, you are partners, there is a union
- the big arc of the story is about love
- moving from transaction to interaction to relationship to partnership with God
- this union is real but it is activated by faith. Learn how to receive what is within
- from experiencing God to God experiencing you
We hope you enjoying hearing from our our beloved and esteemed Brady Wilson as he shares these ideas and more, as well as the application in our lives, reflecting on some things that have been stirring in his heart regarding the Lord's invitation to the Guelph Vineyard as a community this year.
Our first deep dive into the stories of the Bible is going to take a look at the life and times of Esther, the unlikely Queen of Persia. Thanks to Maya for requesting this one!
Esther's story is truly remarkable. It's a story full of political intrigue, betrayal, familial loyalty, revenge and justice. The book of Esther is actually unlike any other book of the bible in at least one significant regard. Curious what that is? Have a listen to find out!
Whether we like it or not, we tend to accept something if we hear it often enough. This is the theory behind those annoying commercials and ads that seem to play over and over again on repeat. They may annoy us, but the messages they convey get into our heads and affect the decisions we make. The stories that we are surrounded by and immersed in really matter.
This is one of the great purposes of the Bible in our lives. Yes, the Bible reveals truth. Yes, it reveals the heart and nature of God. But perhaps most powerfully, it tells and retells The Story. It sets a stage, gives us a history, a way of understanding our own role in it, and it gives us a future. It leads towards an ending (which is really a new beginning).
Over the next little while we're going to take a look at some specific Bible stories and see how they fit into the big story that God is writing… you know, the story we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of.
The stories we know, the stories we tell, the stories we live... well they matter.
What to trust?
Trusting is our "first thing". We are born to trust. Literally. We survive infancy only if there has been someone else in our lives who was trustworthy enough to keep us alive. We are born helpless. Trust is the very first thing we learn, if we learn anything at all.
And if trustworthiness is the first gift we encounter in life, it's also our first betrayal… Our first disappointment. Because it's not long before trust is broken at some level. This is part of what forms the human condition. It's that elemental.
So in asking the question, "What am I going to trust?" we are moving towards a genuinely powerful, genuinely costly, and for some, a truly petrifying concept. And, it matters. Because trust and faith are basically the same word.
What to test? Part 2: Finding Our Way In A Post-Truth Era
Last Sunday we started a really good conversation about what we think of when we we think of the word "test". We focused in on how testing plays a role in our spiritual life, both in how, who and what we test, and how in turn we are tested. This week we're going to get practical, because testing must be practical in order for it to be a helpful test at all.
The book of Judges is my least favourite book in the Bible. I probably shouldn't admit that, but I just did. It's full of sketchy behaviour by liars, thieves, and charlatans… and some of them are even Israel's "leaders". Yet the final sentence of the book is also one of the most striking in the scriptures: "In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes."
Living in what sociologists are increasingly referring to as a "post-truth era" (i.e. "you do your truth, I'll do mine"), testing becomes as important as it ever has been.
What are you going to test?
Malachai 3:10 "…Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Luke 4:12 "Do not put the LORD your God to the test."
Umm…. Is the Scripture trying to suck and blow at the same time? Well, we're gonna talk about it, and the virtue and the vice of testing.
The Resistance
We're stepping into 2021 asking four questions:
What to embrace?
What to resist?
What to test?
What to trust?
This episode we are going to consider what to resist, as always looking to the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and our own heart's desire to lead us.
We are wired for resistance. The instant a child discovers that they have a will, the propensity to resist becomes crystal clear. There is a deep rooted understanding in the human experience that knows that not all things are as they should be, and there our resistance begins. We may disagree, often vehemently, about what should be resisted, but that there are things in the world that should be opposed, we are agreed.
So then, what does it look like to resist "like Jesus"? What does God resist? Well, thankfully, the scriptures do a pretty good job of getting us started on that path by relaying a story about the resistance of God. It involves Jesus, a serpent, a desert and some bread. Oh yeah, and a very empty stomach.
Last week we closed our reflection by posing four questions to help shape our pursuits and expectations for 2021.
What to embrace?
What to resist?
What to test?
What to trust?
We're going to give a Sunday for each of these questions over the next 4 weeks, asking them of the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and our own heart's desire.
This week contains what's known as Epiphany (technically January 6). It celebrates the journey of the magi, who we often refer to as the "three kings".
The magi were likely astronomers, well acquainted with the night sky and one evening, somethingthey saw caused them to embrace the road. Their imaginations were lit and they began to follow. They were led through a foreign land, driven by what they saw in the darkened sky. They threw their arms around adventure, embraced their epiphany and ultimately came face to face with God in flesh.
May it be so for us.
2020 was a complicated year, and not a good year for most people globally. This sermon reflects back on 2020, looks ahead to 2021 with a focus on the gift of GRACE and the goodness of God. We can trust in the goodness of God no matter what.
Dec 20th was our Merry Christmas Sunday! We began with worship, Advent readings and communion, followed by a very brief Advent reflection from Kris about LOVE, uploaded here.
We finished the livestream early in order to shift over to the zoom call where we had an online Christmas party. There was a story for the kids (and grownups), some fun and games too. This was our last community gathering of 2020, as the following Sunday, Dec 27th was facilitated nation wide by Vineyard Canada though an online event.
Joy. When we taste it, we're reminded that it is the elixir of energy, capacity, will, purpose… Joy is uncontainable. It spills out… even the smallest dose of it can be seen on our faces, our countenances. And we also know that there are times, entire seasons even, where it can be pretty elusive.
This time our gathering will look a little different. I want to open the floor to share our stories of moments of joy. They can be big moments, or tiny moments. Bonfires of joy or flickers of it.
2020 is winding down. It's been a hard, dark year. For some of us, perhaps this has been your darkest year. It's my hope that telling and listening to our stories of joy will, like the candles around our advent wreath, be beacons and signposts of the work of Christ in and among us… Little sources of energy, lighting up the room.
Kris.
Peace…. Is there a greater gift? Is there a more elusive goal? What does it mean to "have peace"? We long for it in our world, in our work, in our mental and emotional states, and in our families. Yet, we are in a culture who's practices and technology are literally engineered to diminish peace. This Sunday we're going to be reflecting on this most cherished promise of the scriptures.
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:7
And likewise:
"He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." - Isaiah 2:4
Amen.
To watch service on You Tube click here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKLgzHuaC0
"I repent of optimism." Can I get an amen? What a strange thing to say, right? Doesn't this sound like a recipe for an existential crisis? Why would we ever "repent of optimism"? It gets weirder. Has it ever occurred to you that optimism is not a fruit of the Spirit? That can't be right, can it?
Optimism holds out the view that everything is eventually going to get better. It assumes that, left long enough, the bend of human nature is towards progress, equality, wealth and justice. Our knowledge and technology will eventually pave the way for utopia.
That view of the world is taking a bit of a hit these days, and the result is a whole lot of pain, confusion... even despair. The gospel has a very different take on things, one rooted in realism. But the realism of the gospel, the reality that is rooted in Christ, is FILLED with hope. Not hope in 'our better angels', but hope in Christ. The hope of Advent. Christ here, among us.
To watch service on YouTube click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JKrrQ0XGWs
Do you ever wish you could just let go of the steering wheel of your life and let God take the wheel? Then you could jump in the passenger's seat and just let Jesus drive. In the book of Mark we hear the story of Jesus quieting the wind and the waves with a simple command. Don't You sometimes pray that He would use that trick on you? "I give you permission, Jesus, take over!" Alas, an understandable prayer that never gets the answer we hope for.
The Lord demonstrated that He has the authority to put even the most powerful forces in creation under His beck and call, yet such power He does not exercise over us, even when we want Him to. Let's be very real for a moment. Making Jesus Lord of your life isn't as simple as surrendering control. Jesus does not have the wheel of your life. He is in the passenger seat. He has ordained it to be so.
Adrian and Alison Wilson continue with with our series Jesus is Lord, with their Signposts reflection conclusion.
Adrian will share a story, and reveal how being part of God's story has practical applications in our lives. While he was telling the story, Andrea was interpreting it in the form of a drawing. This was a very special collaboration. Don't miss it!
Click here to see Andrea's image.
The Lord of Love:
The phrase "Lording it over" is always meant as a criticism. It describes the act of positioning oneself or one's power over another in an unhelpful, unhealthy and usually abusive way.
It's different with Jesus.
For Christ to "Lord over us" literally means for Him to love. It means for Him to serve. In fact, there simply is no division between the Lordship of Jesus and His love. They are of the same nature. The truth is, God is under no obligation to anyone, ever. Everything He does, He does because He loves. No act of God is obligatory, it is absolutely voluntary, absolutely chosen, and absolutely compelled by His specific love for you and for me.
We're going to dig deeper into the love of God, expressed in the Lordship of Christ.
Jesus is not CEO of God the Father's company. He's not Prime Minister or President of God's nation. Our relationship with the concept of "lordship" is complicated because it's rooted more in history than in our present experience of life, nationhood or culture. The first audiences of the scriptures had clear and present understandings of what Lordship meant. We're going to take a closer look at what we "moderns" might be able to learn from the "ancients" about lordship, and the Jesus-shaped seat that is in your life and mine.
"Jesus Is Lord" means that Jesus is not a means to an end, no matter how noble or good that "end" may be. It means that He is not a method, a life strategy or even a way to access God. He is the "end". He is the wholesale destination of a life well lived. He is THE way because He is the point. His Face is literally our destiny. This week we reflect on Jesus words: “I am the way and the truth and the life."
It's Thanksgiving. As with so many events this year, much about it is upside down. Let's be honest: For many of us, this has been a pretty tough year. For each of us, one way or another, this weekend will have a certain wrestle attached to it.
And yet.
Perhaps there's no need to put on rose-coloured glasses or skip over the hard parts of life in order to step towards genuine joy and thanksgiving in the person of Jesus. Colossians opens with a beautiful passage that leads us (all of us!) to the feet of Jesus who, as we've been reflecting, is our chosen Lord. We'll reflect on what Paul had to say to the Church of Colossae and perhaps discern a word to us as well, the kind of Word that can lead us into an honest-to-life thankfulness that is sustained in and through all circumstances.
We're diving deeper into what it means to declare that Jesus is Lord. The words "Jesus is Lord" declare an alternative reality, one that upsets our status quo 100% of the time. It really is that profound, because his lordship will unseat every other kind of authority at work in your life and mine. It's just the way it works. In this, Jesus is unequivocal: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."
What does it mean when we say "Jesus is Lord"?
Romans 10:8b-9
“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
What do we mean when we call Jesus "Lord"? Is it simply part of our name for God? In what ways does that connect with the Hebrew understanding of the word LORD - used as a substitute for "YHWH" because they dared not even utter the name of God? Or is it more in keeping with the meaning that was widely understood in New Testament times, particularly in Roman Empire, when "Caesar is Lord" was a common place declaration throughout the Empire? How does the declaration "Jesus is Lord" equate with being saved?
We're going to take some time over the next while to dig into this idea of Jesus as Lord and what that means for us right now, in our day.
This week we continue our deeper dive into the prayer from Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
This is the prayer that formed the bedrock of what Jesus described as the greatest commandment.
This Sunday, we talk about the heart. Different cultures have different conceptions of the human heart, what it is and what it does, and the biblical authors are no exception. We're going to consider ancient Hebrew words for "heart" as well as the different ideas of what our hearts represent. There is no biblical word that captures better the essence of human thought, feeling, and desire, than this rich and wonderful word.
Whether we are aware of it or not, most of our decisions in life stem from whatever our vision of "The Good Life" is. How do we feel about our success as humans? This depends on how we stack up next to our vision of the Good Life. Even what we pray for and how we pray for it is directly influenced by what we think of when we think of the Good Life.
Two contrasting questions:
1) Do I try to achieve the Good Life through prayer?
2) Is my vision of the good life shaped by prayer?
hint: these are very different questions that lead to very different outcomes
Closing out our series on the Lord's Prayer, we reflect on what's known as the Doxology of the Lord's Prayer: 'For Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory
Forever and ever. Amen'
Our best guess is that this was in fact not part of what Jesus actually said, but was likely added in, possibly by a well-intentioned scribe, sometime during the next couple of hundred years. So, what do we do with it then? If Jesus didn't say it, should we? (spoiler alert: yes)
This Sunday we continue our exploration of the Lord's Prayer as informed by Jesus' famous "Sermon on the Mount". This week we dig into some of the most challenging words in that prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." Grace abounds in the Kingdom, and yet, that grace, freely extended, is received as we ourselves release the claims we hold on other people.
We have a complicated relationship with Institutions. We often think of them as cold, uncaring, clinical... Yet really, all an institution is is an organization with influence and governance. When we prayer "Let Your Kingdom come, let Your will be done on earth as in heaven", what are we praying toward?
The Lord's Prayer in Matthew is set inside the context of the Sermon on the Mount. In this teaching series we explore what this means in terms of our relationships to those around us and to our Father in heaven. It turns out, maybe the Lord's Prayer has something more to say to us than simply giving us the "right" words to speak when we pray.
1st Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
Body language says an awful lot. Words that would otherwise be sweet, paired with a cynical expression can become bitter and hurtful. On the other hand, hard conversations seasoned with care and respect can be beautiful and life-giving. "How we are" in the world around us is as vital as anything we might say or do.
In the Bible, the Church is repeatedly described as the Body of Christ. This Sunday we going to take a look at our posture (body language), and considerhow we are called to embody the heart of God towards others.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)
“...These fellows (have) turned the world upside down...by saying that there is another king - Jesus!” (Acts 17:6-7)
In the “world according to Jesus”, most everything we’ve come to accept as normal is turned upside-down. The lame walk, the blind see, the poor are rich. The weak are strong, the servants lead, and the meek inherit the earth. Jesus is at odds with conventional thinking. This Servant-King challenges our understanding of authority and power, good and evil. His life, death, and resurrection reveal a radically different pathway to the wholeness, liberty, and flourishing that God intended for every human heart from the dawn of creation. - excerpt from "Why Vineyard".
And here's something worth remembering: This upside-down way of Jesus… It's never the easy way.
Speaker: Brady Wilson
We know Jesus is like God - the big question on our mind is this: is God like Jesus?
Jesus let a sinful woman wash him, ate dinner with the ones considered vile, summoned little children to sit on his knee. Is God like that?
What is God the Father like?
This Sunday we will co-create a picture of the Father heart of God; a picture that will fuel our worship, invite our requests and prompt us to live questionable lives.
***Note, Brady gives an introduction and then the recording ends when folks break into smaller groups. Follow this link to see images that reflect some of the ideas represented during those smaller group dialogues.
Theology might feel like an old, dusty word to some of us, but really, it's just a word that describes what we think about when we think about God. Whatever ideas we have about God, that's what our theology is. And here's the thing, theology matters. Everyone has opinions about God. And those opinions and thoughts and ideas actually shape how we live our lives and not just our "spiritual life". Theology that matters shapes the whole of life. If a person thinks that God is angry with them most of the time, that's a theology (an unhelpful one, but a theology nonetheless).
Theology provides the framework - the skeleton - for how we flesh out the way we think, how we live, and how we love.
We're going to take a few weeks and talk about some of the theology that is particularly vital to how we relate to God and to one another, particularly in the Vineyard. This week, we're going to put the "Theology of the Kingdom of God" through the "Why? So that...." filter we've been talking about lately.
Deuteronomy 4:9-10 " …and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God…"
Writer James K.A. Smith says this about memory: "Strung between novelty and nostalgia, a biblical imagination remembers forward. [Biblical] remembering…. looks forward to a “time to come” (Deut. 6:20). The biblical command to remember is written in the future tense."
The week we're going to remember together some of the powerful ways the Lord has moved in the shared story of our broader church family, the Vineyard movement. Because knowing where we're from helps us know where we're going.
"Why?" is an inexhaustible question. It's a question that is never quite satisfied. It's a question that, when asked enough times in a row, will always take us beyond what we know.
Yielded as a weapon, why will eventually makes fools and hypocrites of us all. However, why as a tool of careful excavation is a powerful enabler. It empowers both our capacity to say yes to what matters and no to what does not. Knowing our why centers us.
Throughout the month of January we're going to revisit some of the significant 'Why's that bind us together as a people, giving us a place in God's purposes today and in His future.
Here's a link to the document that's referenced during the talk "Why Vineyard"
Isaiah 9:2-7
9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined.
9:3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.
9:4 For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
9:5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
9:6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
9:7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Sing: O Come O Come Emmanuel
O come, o come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lowly exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice Rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee Oh Israel
Oh come thou day-spring come and cheer
Our spirits by thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight
Rejoice rejoice
Emmanuel shall come to thee oh Israel
2nd Corinthians 4:5-6 NEB
It is not ourselves we proclaim; we proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake. For the same God who said "Out of darkness let light shine," has caused his light to shine within us, to give the light of revelation-the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Sing: Joy Joy Joy
You've made a home
Of a bag of bones
That we might touch and hold
And see and know
Your frail frame contains
All heaven's dreams
And here lies God's campaign
To heal the world
Joy Joy Joy
Joy Joy Joy
Joy Joy Joy to the world
the Lord has come to us
the Lord has come to us
the Lord has come to us
like this, like this
Not by might or glamour
Or clothed in Caesar's armor
But with all heaven's desire
In your soul
You came so humbly
Revealed through peasantry
Who proclaim faithfully
Their King has come
Joy Joy Joy
Joy Joy Joy
Joy Joy Joy to the world
the Lord has come to us
the Lord has come to us
the Lord has come to us
like this, like this
Almighty and everliving God
We thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food
Of the most precious Body and Blood
Of you Son our Saviour Jesus Christ;
And for assuring us in the holy mysteries
That we are living member of the Body of You Son,
And heirs of your eternal kingdom.
And now, Father, send us out
To do the work you have given us to do,
To love and serve you
As faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.
To Him, To You, and To The Holy Spirit,
Be honour and glory, now and forever. Amen.
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
The third Sunday of advent is an invitation to reflect on Joy. Joy is kind of a big deal in the Scriptures. It's also kind of a big deal in life. Can we get good at joy? Is there a way to practice it or is it simply an emotional response to an encounter with something good? Do you have enough joy in your life or do you think you could use some more?
The book of Nehemiah contains this often quoted phrase: "The joy of the Lord is your strength". Some of us have heard this said with all the nuance of a bumper sticker. What does it really mean? The author of Hebrews speaks of how the joy Jesus anticipated empowered him to endure the cross. Powerful, challenging stuff.
Could joy be the super-power of the Church?
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
The 7th verse of the advent hymn, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" says this:
'O come, desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease
And be Thyself our King of peace'
Peace is woven into the very identity of Jesus. 'Prince of Peace' is one of the names of God that we get from the writings of Isaiah, and it's part of the proclamation that was heard at Jesus' birth. Yet, even though we live in "peace time" here in Canada, we seem to be short on the stuff. Our 24 hour news-feeds are rife with conflict, with outrage, with fear. This Sunday, we're going to consider these words of Jesus from John 14:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage."
Speaker: Rachel Glen
Advent is the beginning of the Christian Calendar and introduces us to the Season of Light. It is a time when we intentionally prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. This Sunday, we will explore the first week of Advent: Hope. At the darkest time of the year, hope is the growing light we hold onto. It is the promise of what is yet to come.
"What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life." ~Emil Bruner
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
If there's one thing that has emerged thematically through our reflection on what it means to follow Jesus into questionable living (the kind of life that prompts questions), it's that following Jesus results in a surprising life. An encounter with the Love of God the Father is always surprising… it is not easily overlooked or dismissed. The call of Jesus on our lives is again, full of surprising "yeses" and surprising "noes". His call can sustain and surprise us for a lifetime.
This Sunday we'll consider 5 practices that help to empower and sustain the surprising in-breaking of the love of God in and around us.
Mark 1:16-20 - "As (Jesus) went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!” They left their nets immediately and followed him. Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their boat mending nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him."
Jesus has returned from his experience in the wilderness and he is a man on fire. He has a gospel to preach; a Kingdom to proclaim. He soon encounters four men going about their business and offers them an exchange: 'Leave everything you're competent in and follow me into uncertainty'. This Sunday we'll explore this: Why in the world did they say yes?
*Editors note: There was wonderful interaction and questions from the congregation throughout this talk (notably from our youth). We've tried to optimize the recording to allow you to hear the questions/comments... There is notable "hiss" during these portions of the recording, and some of the comments are still difficult to make out due to the constraints of our recording equipment.
"At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,"
The very next thing Jesus encounters following the amazing event of his baptism... is the wilderness. He comes up, soaking wet, the waters of the Jordan river dripping off him. The Spirit descends on him like a dove and he hears the words of God: "You are my Son whom I love, with you I am well pleased." And then that same Spirit sends him into the wilds of the Judean country-side to be tempted by Satan. This Sunday we ask the question: "What's up with that?"
"You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
This week we continue our teaching series that considers what it means to live lives that provoke questions. In this talk, we're going to put this declaration of the Father about Jesus right into the foundation of Jesus' understanding of himself. How did this affect how he lived his life and conducted his ministry?
What would look different in your life if you could hear these words spoken over you? Was this just God the Father addressing God the son, uniquely? Or does this reveal something of the heart of God towards you and me too? What would be transformed in the knowledge that God loves you, specifically, that your being in this world causes Him pleasure?
***Spoiler alert, I think a deep revelation of this would result in change that would cause our friends to start asking some questions.
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
Jesus lived his life in such a way that He never seemed to need an icebreaker with people. Wherever He went, questions would follow. His words, His actions and His very presence provoked curiosity. In this new series we're going to take some time to consider how, like Jesus, God is calling us into "questionable living" (hint: isn't so much about "mission"... it's about the radical love of God).
See you Sunday.
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
In his first letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul encourages his hearers to "give thanks in all circumstances". He goes on to say "…for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." It's worth noting that this is a community of people who knows a thing or two about "all circumstances". They are, in the time of his writing, part of the suffering church. They are under persecution. Whatever their thankfulness is about, it's not grounded in anything we might understand as "the good life" as it is typically sold to us these days.
Thanksgiving, while it's not part of the traditional Christian calendar of Holy-days, in many ways, it can be among the most Christ-oriented days of the year. This Sunday we're going to ask the question, "What needs to be true so that, in Christ, all of us can share in this all-circumstances-kind-of-thankfulness that Paul is championing?"
David Ruis, National Director of Vineyard Canada, brings a powerful message about the nature of sharing in the Kingdom. Sharing resources, sharing space, sharing life.
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
John 10:27 "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."
Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."
Mark 4:24-25 '"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."'
Discipleship distilled: What is God saying? What is my response?
Mission of the Church distilled: What is God saying? What is our response?
The story of Abraham marks the beginning of the Hebrew people... Abram (Abraham) receives the grand promises of God... promises that conceive an entire people group, bestowing on them the mission to restore the world, promises that create such a holy ruckus in the life of Abraham that nothing is the same for him again.
This is adventurous in-breaking of the Kingdom stuff.
Speaker: Wayne MacQueen
Here we look at the story of Barnabas, zeroing in on Acts 13 and highlight how he (and Paul) strongly urged the new believers to continue in the grace of God. Why must we be strongly urged to continue in the grace of God? How does a ruckus-making God factor into this exhortation to continue in the grace of God?
Speaker: Brady Wilson
The "unclean" woman demolishes and disrupts the prevailing sensibility of who gets to touch the Rabbi. Jesus. God.
God makes a ruckus with this woman, with her audacious action, with her enduring story.Who gets to touch God? The one with the felt need. What touches God? A felt need. Here's the ruckus we bring to this world: the Good News is Jesus at the point of need- your need. The terror in the ruckus is this: no need - no touch.
In this talk we explore 3 things:
1. How we identify our need
2. How we openly acknowledge it
3. How we use it as our access point
to touch Jesus
The 4th point is a freebie: how we bring this ruckus to our friends and neighbours
Speaker - Kris MacQueen
One of my favourite modern thinkers is a guy named Seth Godin. He has a phrase that he repeats over and over again: "Go make a ruckus".
In my 30-ish years of following Jesus, one of the most consistent characteristics of God's movement in my life (and, honestly, everyone else I know too) is that He seems to be really comfortable with turning things upside down.
Throughout September we're going to hear personal stories woven with stories of biblical characters. Stories that highlight moments where God seems to become a ruckus-maker. Because yes, following Jesus leads through disruption, discomfort and occasionally even demolition. Unto what? All things new, that's what.
Speaker: Jason Baskerville
**Note: This was recorded at the Cambridge Vineyard. We at the Guelph Vineyard joined our sister church for their service this past week.*
We are bombarded daily with messages about what we need, what we deserve, how we should live, parent and what we should accomplish in our lives. Many of these messages offer us information and motivation, but little in the way of intimacy and relationship, the language that brings us closer to God and builds healthy community with each other. How would our perspective on our community change by becoming aware of how we relate to this first language?
John 1:4 "Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people."
Who remembers the wrist band slogan-turned-acronym: "WWJD (what would Jesus do)? On some level, sure, this is helpful, particularly for "should I or shouldn't I?" kinds of questions. But as a prime way of expressing the Kingdom in our lives, it falls a bit short of the biblical idea of "Christ in us".
“...as a disciple of Jesus I am with him, by choice and by grace, learning from him how to live in the kingdom of God. This is the crucial idea. That means...to say that I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.” - Dallas Willard, "The Divine Conspiracy" - Emphasis mine.
In this talk we ask the question: What would it mean "to live my life as he would live my life if he were I"?
***Please note, there is reference to a video that was shown during the talk but edited out of this recording. That video can be streamed via youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWrhRBb-1Ig&t=8s
My dad tells the story of having been a regular church-goer throughout his entire childhood. Yet, as he recalls it, even after an entire childhood of church attendance, he cannot remember ever hearing the gospel of Jesus proclaimed until he was in his 30s!
Without the gospel of Jesus, we have nothing. All our talk of hope, of human flourishing, of lives restored, of justice championed, even of wholeheartedness and love...it all falls flat if not infused with promise of Jesus' redeeming, restoring, saving work in our lives.
Speaker: Eric H.
Eric leads us in a reflection that considers the story of the woman with an issue of blood from Mark 5:21-34. We will take time to examine the story and apply it directly to each of our lives.
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
Please note, this talk has important accompanying images. They can be accessed by* right clicking the link below and downloading the attached file.**
We are coming to the close of our teaching series on Wholeheartedness. We've considered the idea of "wholeheartedness" through Jesus' understanding of the greatest commandment, found in Matthew: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…..and…. Love your neighbor as yourself.’'
The reality is that every bit of scripture we've been reflecting on, and in fact, the overall story of the bible, is cast in light of God's redemptive work in all creation. He desires for all creation to be wholehearted in Christ "and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. " - Colossians 1:20. His redeeming work in your life and mine isn't simply about us. It's all about the beautiful work of God. It's all about the gospel.
Wholeheartedness and the Beautiful Kingdom Of God_Visuals
Guest Speaker: Scott Roe, Lead Pastor at the Cambridge Vineyard:
We all love a good mystery, providing we know there’s a solution at the end of it. However, that all depends what your definition of solution is. For most of us, life is one mystery after another, and with each mystery we are on a quest for a solution. Jesus points us to the one solution for all of life’s problems, challenges, and victories. It's not what you think.
Romans chapter 12 presents itself almost as a kind practical manifesto for living a wholehearted life. This startling passage of scripture describes a flurry of God-empowered activity. It speaks right to all the things we've been considering over the past weeks: love of God, love of self, love of the Church, love of neighbour, and even love of enemy. Buckle up.
In this episode, Adrian Wilson looks specifically at our practices of worship. Our hearts are shaped by who/what we worship... this is both a beautiful and startling truth! So much more than simply singing songs, when we fix our attention on God, we come away changed, transformed. At the heart of the great commandment, we are called to love God with our whole selves. Come, let's gather together and worship!
Todd Rutkowski, Vineyard Emerge Catalyst, joins us to talk about the Kingdom of God and how it intersects with daily life. A Kingdom Centric lens on life helps us understand that the “ACTIVITY OF GOD” is the center of God’s work on earth and that includes the church Gathering as well as what we find ourselves engaged with on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday too!
As we began reflecting last week, the bullseye of God's desire for us is a statement by Jesus wherein he distills the whole thing for us by sewing together two principles: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
This week we're going to dig deeper still into what loving God Wholeheartedly looks like.
Over the next little while, we're going to be considering what it looks like to live a wholehearted life. Jesus, as always, is our centre. Jesus who clearly lived the most whole-hearted life that has been lived. Jesus who sometimes wrestled but never hesitated. Jesus who weighed the cost but never withheld. Jesus who stared down the scariest pathways but never flinched. Jesus who could have claimed the whole world as his own, yet gave everything for the sake of that world.
What would our lives look like if we lived into the promises and invitations of the Kingdom without reservation?
Two disciples are on the road, travelling to Emmaus in the days immediately following Jesus' death. The resurrected Christ joins them on their way, and yet the two disciples don't recognize him!! In fact this whole episode takes place on the very day of resurrection, though they don't yet understand that he's risen, only that something fishy has happened. A most incredible thing happens in the midst of their doubts and questions on the road.
There are seasons in post-resurrection life when we have a really hard time recognizing Jesus. Could it be that he is hiding in plain sight, engaging us in our questioning and uncertainty, anticipating the moment of insight and disclosure?
In this episode, we reflect on another aspect of Jesus's Resurrection: All Things New.
Jesus promises an eventual eternal New Day, but there's also language of "newness" throughout the scripture that we can experience in our lives now. These are echoes and tastes of the New Day we look forward to in the Resurrection of Jesus. Renewed promises. Renewed grace. Renewed wonder.
Scripture for further reference:
2 Corinthians 5:13-21
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Matthew 18:1-5
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
2 Corinthians 5:1717 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Isaiah 43:18 English Standard Version (ESV)
“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Isaiah 43:19 English Standard Version (ESV)
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 65:17 English Standard Version (ESV)
“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
Revelation 21:5 English Standard Version (ESV)
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Ephesians 4:24-2522 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Lamentations 3:22-23Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
The events of Easter Weekend form the foundation of everything we believe about Jesus. His profound and baffling work on the cross and the never repeated moment of His resurrection on Easter Sunday speaks a more profound word than anything else, anywhere.
He is Risen Indeed!
This week we look to ‘the way of the cross’, (that great paradox embedded in our respective Christian journey), to seek a fuller understanding of our identity. What kind of life was I created for? How do I find the life I was created for? How do I know that I know I’m living the life I was created for?
Guest Speaker: Wayne MacQueen
What is justice? In our culture we typically enact it through a series of restrictions and protections. We associate our laws of the land (restrictions & protections) with justice because we live in a broken, fallen world. In our culture, there is a lean towards "fairness" as the highest and best goal. And, there's a strong case to make that we've made some progress on this front. But that system, while helpful in so many ways, falls drastically short of what appears to drive the idea of justice in the scriptures, particularly the idea of justice that is demonstrated in the person of Jesus on the cross.
Speaker: Rachel Glen
This week, we look at the power of the Cross. We are going to talk about how Jesus reimagined our understanding of power, turning it completely upside down and why that is good news!
When you think of the love of God what comes to mind? This Sunday we look at what the cross has to say about the love of God. “A love like this".
Right at the centre of the gospel of Jesus we find the Cross. Something happened on that cross, something shocking and revolutionary. The cross wasn't just the method of Jesus death, but he made sure it was part of our own process to encountering the eternal life He invites us to. For the next 6 weeks leading to Easter, we are going to reflect on this most crucial moment in history. See you Sunday.
Like computers, people have “operating systems”, sets of rules or assumptions we use to navigate life. “The code” we talked about last week (earn worth to get love), is actually a virus that robs, diminishes and ultimately destroys.
Jesus doesn’t simply fix the old operating system, he explodes it completely and rewrites everything.
Do you wrestle with disappointment, disillusionment, frustration, hopelessness, depletion, exhaustion… going through the motions without it ever feeling like it’s enough?
That comes from something we’re going to call “The Code”. What’s the code? Earn worth and you can be loved. But the code is a liar that destroys relationship with God and with others.
Yet here’s the wonderful news: The code can be detected. The code can be hacked.
Hacking The Code Part One – Notes
Last week we touched on a couple of the creative processes that He seems to use over and over again. Creating something where previously there was nothing, and then bringing order into the chaos that comes from that initial flourish of creativity. The very next thing He does? He grows stuff. Plants, vegetables, trees with fruit, stuff with roots. This week we’re going to explore God-the-gardener and consider what it means to tend growing things, to trust in the invisible behind-the-scenes processes that ultimately lead to healthy, delicious fruit. And the bible has amazing things to say about fruit!
God's primary work today is what it's always been: Creating a good and beautiful creation. All through the big story of scripture, from the initial reveal in Eden, through the fall, the law, the prophets and straight through to the redeeming work of Jesus on the Cross, in every moment, God has been creating and recreating, artfully leading his creation towards his beautiful intentions. And he's invited us to share in that work. This is the work of the Kingdom.
Every artist has tools and processes. This week we unpack two of the processes that God seems to use over and over again. We look at each, and explore how we are invited to come alongside him in this work, both in our own lives and in the lives of those around us.
We're starting into a new series about the work of God that will take us through to lent. We'll be looking at the work of the Kingdom, the work God has for us to do, through the lens of the work he's doing to this very day: Creating a good and beautiful creation. We're going to explore what's in the toolkit of God, and look at how all this broadens what we can think of when we think about serving Him.
Joyce brings a powerful word to us about how Jesus has come to us from among those in the margins of society and what that means for us as we find our identity in Him.
When I think about the healthiest expressions of "home", three things come to mind, primarily:
1) Home is where we know where we are.
2) Home is the place we can extend hospitality. It's the primary place we have the right to say “mi casa es su casa”.
3) Home can be more than a location.
There is a clear sense that God is inviting us into a kind "homecoming" season. This week we continue the conversation we started a couple of weeks ago, digging a little deeper into what it means to be at home in Christ.
"I will be their God and they will be my sons and daughters"
Such a profound statement that drives home the teleos of God's Redemptive plan. ("Teleos" = the completion of where all of this is going). Once we were slaves to sin, giving all of our energy, time and resources to trying to be good enough to live a good enough life. But now, Grace abounds, and freedom is available to be free from the project of trying to fix ourselves and trying to fix others. Together, let's consider once again how "It is finished" provides us with freedom -- to freely give away what we have been freely given.
This Sunday we're going to start to explore two stories of homecoming in the scriptures. We'll take a look at what happened when God spoke to the Israelites and said "This land." And we'll also start to consider what happened to the early Church when God pointed to the wide world and said "These people".
*Technical note - We apologize that the audio quality isn't quite up to our usual standards. Sometimes stuff happens.... ;)
This is an important talk from Steve Stewart, the founder of Impact Nations and spiritual grandfather of the Guelph Vineyard. We'll be distilling this talk into the practices of the Guelph Vineyard for some time to come.
"The God who in majesty, strength, and wisdom is beyond our imaginations has chosen to work primarily as a servant who is almost beneath our imaginations, so far beneath we don't even notice him"
- Eugene Peterson from "As Kingfishers Catch Fire"
This week we will close out our series on Isaiah 61. We will revisit the words of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus' particular fulfilling of them, and the big story of God's invitation to and through us.
Note Because of a technical glitch, the recording of this sermon isn't up to our usual standards. Our apologies.
Here we move into a portion of the Isaiah 61 passage that Jesus doesn't specifically address. However, this week we continue to mine the heart of God, who is ever turned towards those who have hit the bottom, who have lost, and who have given up. He comforts the grieving, yes. But oh, there is so much more.
This was a fun morning that went off script in the best sort of way. Includes an amazing testimony of God's goodness from Dawn Humphrey. So good.
Join us as we continue reflecting on Isaiah 61:1-2 and Jesus' proclamation of this same passage in Luke 4. This week we focus on the work of God to free captives, release prisoners, and we'll also explore Jesus's apparent addition to the text... recovery sight for the blind.
This Sunday we continue exploring Isaiah 61, specifically God's promise to heal the broken-hearted. What He does with broken things isn't just about reversing the clock. It's not like a warranty that restores broken items to "original condition". No, when he takes something broken and makes it new again, the Spirit of God weaves the promise of the Kingdom into the cracks and scars, and makes something even more beautiful than the original.
Here we resume the series on Isaiah 61, "The Verbs of God". This week we dig into the what Jesus meant when read the words of Isaiah and declared that he came with good news for the poor.
Isaiah 61 lies at the very core of Jesus understanding of the Kingdom. In fact, this is what Jesus quotes from in Luke 4, immediately following his experience in the wilderness. Taking it further than anyone could have imagined, it's here in Luke that we begin to get a sense of Jesus actually being "the Kingdom in Person", the very "Action Word" of God in flesh. Over the coming weeks we're going to explore these pivotal passages, the intentions of God, and what it means for us to respond to the invitation in them.
The Body of Christ. The Bride of Christ. The Fellowship. The People of God. This is a sampling of the language sometimes used to describe the Church.
But Jesus’s Church isn't simply a concept or a metaphor. It isn't a faceless group of disconnected people mysteriously joined over space and time by shared belief. For every believer, everywhere, anytime, it is a rag-tag group of specific names and faces.People we share air with. People we know and are getting to know. These are the people we sit beside at the table of God.
In 1st John 4, the apostle writes: "whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen."
This stuff matters. We literally can't love God alone.