North Site Podcast: Recent Episodes
Forest Grove Community Church: North Site
This is where you can find the weekly teaching from North Site Church a congregation of Forest Grove Community church in Saskatoon Saskatchewan.
This week Greg opens up our Advent series looking at 4 songs in the Gospel of Luke. This week it is the song of Zechariah (Luke 1:67-80)
This week Greg shows us how in Acts 4 we learn that the Spirit is with us when, our leaders hurt us, we pray for boldness and God's wonders, and we are radically generous and honest about our needs.
Greg shows us how in Acts 3 the Gospel is 1) The exultation of the vulnerable 2) The ascension of the Messiah and 3) The resurrection of all things
This week Lizzie did an excellent job looking at the early church and how we learn from the first Christians what it means to be the church.
This week we look at the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the the disciples at Pentecost and ask what does that mean for us today?
Greg talks about the three things that the disciples do when they are in a time of lament and waiting, and how we too can learn from their example.
This week we conclude our series on the Lord's Prayer and the last request of Jesus to save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
This week Ashlynn preached an incredible sermon on the line in the Lord's Prayer 'Forgive us our sins.' This is a call to experience God's forgiveness in our lives, but also to pass on that forgiveness to others around us.
This week Greg did an awesome job leading us through the line from the Lord's Prayer "Give us today our daily bread." It was a powerful sermon and I encourage you to take the time to listen to it.
What does it mean to pray "Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven?" How does this shape the way we live and pray in the world as followers of Jesus?
This week we look at the second request Jesus teaches us to pray. That God would make his name holy in the world.
Pentecost! What does it mean? What's happening? How does Exodus 19 parallel what is happening? How is the gift of tongues the joining of wildly different people? Lot's to explore in this weeks teaching.
This week we look at the opening line of the Lord's Prayer. And we realize how quickly we can get hung up on words like "God" and "Father" and how we need to unpack the meaning of these words before we can really begin. We also ask, "What was Jesus thinking when he said the word Father?"
To conclude our Exodus series we look at the construction of the Tabernacle, and how it points backwards to the garden of Eden and forward to Jesus, who will fulfill everything that the people needed a tabernacle for.
This week we look at one of the big themes of the second half of the book of Exodus: The Law. And we ask, "How are we as Christians supposed to relate to the law?"
In Exodus 19 God's presence comes to the mountain and invites the people to come and enter into the Divine Presence. But the people choose to send Moses as their mediator instead. Israel fails the test to become a nation of priests and instead chooses to be a nation with priests.
This week we look at Exodus 18 and the wise advice from Jethro to Moses. In this passage we discover God's vision for justice. This is a vision that sends people home in peace, with restored relationships, not just receive a punishment for their wrongdoing.
This week Greg gave us an incredible sermon about the Triumphal entry of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. The question we must ask is do we want to walk in the way of the peacemaker Jesus or the violent way of Jehu?
This last week Tyler and Lizzie did an incredible job walking through Exodus 16. In this story we see them learning to trust in God as the every day God, not just the God of big events.
This week we look at the story of God's leading the people on an unlikely path by a cloud and column of fire. We ask, how do we know what God's calling/leading is like in our own lives today?
This week we look at the story of the Passover and wrestle with the apparent violence of God in this story. Did God really kill innocent babies? Who did the people need to be saved from? And how does Jesus fit in all of this?
Greg does a great job tackling a huge portion of the book of Exodus this week. He looks at the way Moses continues to struggle to doubt and how God provides signs and wonders as God works with Moses to bring the people out of slavery.
This weeks sermon focus' on the strange second half of Exodus 4 when God apparently tries to kill Moses, and Moses' wife Zipporah saves him in a strange ritual of circumcision... I know... This story is strange... and yet, there is something important for us to learn in this story.
This week Ashlynn did an amazing job exploring the call of Moses and how that relates to each one of us today. If you have ever wondered what your calling is, then this is the sermon for you.
Lot's of people are thinking and posting about the Freedom Convoy this week. But what happens when we marry our faith and our politics? What happens when we confuse the message about freedom in Jesus with our political freedom? And most importantly, how is the church supposed to act and behave in these conversations?
This week we look at the last few verses of Exodus two and hear four verbs that describe God's action on behalf of those who are suffering.
If you are interested in the book I mention during the sermon it is available for purchase here. https://www.amazon.ca/Why-Suffer-Where-God-When-ebook/dp/B07VXLBMMW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=V2QPAK4WI6ZA&keywords=Why+do+we+suffer+and+where+is+God+when+we+do&qid=1643215974&sprefix=why+do+we+suffer+and+where+is+god+when+we+do%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-1
This week we look at the early life of Moses and the way that the author(s) of Exodus draw on the story of Israel to help us see the ways in which God worked in the past and continues to work today.
This week we begin our new series in the book of Exodus. We see the ways in which God is at work through the very normal and small acts of faithfulness in the people of Israel and the two Midwives of the Hebrews.
Julia wraps up our Advent series reflecting on Jesus the Prince of Peace who brings Shalom to us all.
This week Peter looks at the title Eternal Father and the way God is with us everywhere, forever, and the tender way in which God is our Father.
This week Jaden teaches about on the title given to the Messiah in Isaiah "Might God." We see the different ways God can be seen as the mighty one, and how God also subverts some of our expectations around this title.
Greg did an excellent job teaching this week on the first of the four titles given to the Messiah (Jesus) in Isaiah 9:6. Greg gives an excellent summary of the context in which this passage was written and then challenges some of our assumptions about what the title "Wonderful Counselor" means. Hint: It doesn't just mean a nice person who gives good advice!
Our missionary Heather is back from Berlin! This week she shared with us about what God has been teaching her over the last two years in Germany.
Psalm 34 tells us that "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted." In 2 Corinthians 1 Paul describes God as the compassionate Father and the God of all comfort. When we find ourselves brokenhearted, there is an invitation to be comforted by God who is close to us in these situations.
This week we looked at the way in which the scriptures promise that those who cry out to God will be heard. We then look at the story of Hagar, and compare her experience with God to that of the Exodus story.
This week Greg did a fabulous job walking through Isaiah 40:31. He takes this familiar passage and reminds us of the way in which God gives us strength as we walk through life's valleys. This weeks focus is on the strength and hope we can find in God, even as we journey through the dark valley.
This week we start our new series Walking the Valley. We acknowledge that all of our lives are touched by the cold shadow of death, but also that in the midst of these shadows we have a secure promise that God will not fail us or abandon us. We never walk through the valley of the shadow of death alone.
This week Ashley Power shares with us about the love of Jesus that changes everything and God's invitation to us to know, experience and share that love in our own lives and in the lives of others.
This week we look at our church's discipleship circle to serve others and proclaim the good news. And we ask, what is the Good News?
This week Jaden teaches on the importance of training in our spiritual lives and how we can be trained and train others into the life Jesus desires for us.
This week we start our series looking at our four discipleship steps. This week we ask why do we crave community? And what role does the church have?
We apologize for the audio quality this week. We also missed the first few minutes of this weeks teaching.
This week we look at work. The average Canadian spends the largest portion of their waking day at work. So how do we need to reframe how we think about work in the broader story of God. Two big questions this week: What are the dangers in work? How does God work?
This week we look at Philippians 2:1-11. Perhaps some of the most important words for us as followers of Jesus in these times. it is the call to remember Jesus is the hero of the story, not you or me. And a rallying call of Paul to come together for the common good.
This week Jaden did a great job teaching on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. He left us with three challenges. 1) What are three adjectives that describe your current walk with Christ? 2) What talents have you been given? 3) Are you ready?
Take some time this week and talk about these with someone or just journal about it and see what Jesus is saying to you.
This week we looked at the story of two sons in Matthew 21. We see the way in which Jesus holds up a mirror for each of us.
This week we look at the story of the prodigals in Luke 15. It is a story that raises many questions for us personally and corporately as a church.
This week we look at a story about a lost sheep and the Shepherd who goes looking for it. And we ask, what does Matthew 18 as a whole reveal to us about this story?
This week we started our new series called Stories by Jesus. Parables are an invitation to wrestle with the words of Jesus, to hang onto it until it reveals itself to us and leaves us changed. This week we look at two stories found in Matthew 13 about a mustard seed and yeast.
Bonhoeffer once said, "Whenever Christ calls us, his call leads to death." This week we listened to the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:13-28 and asked what it means to pick up our cross and follow Jesus.
Jesus said in Luke "A good person produces good from the good treasury of the inner self." This week we asked these questions. What is your vision for the kind of Kingdom person you want to be? What decision or Intention do you need to make to start down that path? And what means/plans do you need to put in place so that you can live out your vision and intention?
This week in Matthew 14 we see the way in which the inner weaknesses of Herod overcome him, and the way Jesus and his disciples experience an inner transformation that leads to outward works of power.
In Matthew 12 Jesus shows us how we are to read and understand the scriptures. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath who will teach his disciples how to interpret the law. Jesus will also identify himself as God with us, the good shepherd who rescues his sheep and delivers them when they fall.
"The Lord looked and was upset at the lack of Justice." (Is 59) The gospel must move us to be people of justice. In light of the discovery of the recent discovery of a mass grave of children at a residential school how will we respond?
This week as we enter into the sending of the disciples in Matthew 10 we stop to think about traditional missions and how it compares to the Missio Dei
This week Julia preaches from Matthew 9:20 and the story of the bleeding woman. We learn that there are no inconveniences for Jesus!
This week we step into Matthew chapters 8-9 and the revelation of the authority of Jesus, and the incredible boundary breaking mercy of God.
This week we wrap up Jesus' teaching on the Sermon on the Mount and how it relates to David's prayer for God to show him himself.
This week Peter is teaching on Matthew 6:19-34. Peter unpacks these challenging words of Jesus by reminding us of Money's seductive power and the call of God for those who are rich to recognize that all money belongs to God and we are called to redistribute our wealth in a way that is centered on the Kingdom of God. This teaching reminds us that conversion should always transform our view on money.
This week we start into Matthew 6 in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus warns his disciples that the world is not the stage, the crowd is not the audience, and the poor are not to be the props for our giving and acts of justice. Instead we should live in a way that brings God the glory.
This week we look at Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about divorce and the making of pledges.
In his passing through death into new life, Jesus makes a way for all God's children to follow him. In his death on the cross Jesus destroys all the record of our sin and defeats the powers of Sin and Death. Take some time to be encouraged by this good news.
This week we look at Matthew's account of the triumphal entry of Jesus on Palm Sunday. When Jesus appears, Jesus shakes things up.
This week we have a guest speaker Stephanie Christianson sharing with us from Jesus' teaching on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5:38-48 about retaliation and enemy love.
This week Jesus addresses our anger and our lust. He goes beyond the common cultural understanding of not murdering or cheating on your spouse. Jesus gives us the inner challenge to not be angry, and to deal with our lusts.
This week we skip to the end of the Sermon on the Mount and read from Matthew 7:21-29 because this final story of Jesus proves to be the key to understanding the whole sermon.
This week my friend and Co-Worker Chandra Styles is teaching, and introducing us to Jesus' longest teaching "The Sermon on the Mount." But as Jesus prepares to teach to the crowd, he first has something important to say to to his closest followers about the heart of those who would follow after him.
Two reflection questions from Chandra's teaching.
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Which beatitude is Jesus drawing you to embody in your life right now?
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Which beatitude or characteristic of God does the world need the Church to embody to experience Jesus' love right now?
To see the art that Chandra references visit: https://thevcs.org/blessed/black-blessed
This week Jaden takes us into the second half of Matthew chapter 4 and looks at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and the calling of the disciples to follow after him.
This week Peter shares with us some of the things we learn from Jesus through his temptation in the wilderness.
This week Julia joins Nathan on Zoom to talk about the baptism of Jesus and the words that God the Father speaks to all of his children.
This week we look at Matthews introduction to John the Baptist and John's invitation to return into the arms of a loving, gracious God. Matthew 3:1-12
For more information about our Spiritual Community visit www.fgcc.ca/north
This week we study Matthew Chapter 2 and the arrival of the Magi and the way in which the Kingdom of Heaven stands in complete opposition to the Empires of this world. This is call to turn from Christian Nationalism and back to the way of Jesus.
This week we begin a new year and a new series in the Gospel of Matthew. This week we look at the story of King Jesus and the four surprising women who find their way into the family tree of Jesus and see begin to see how, as God works to "redeem our past and redirect our future."
This week Jamie Paul talks to us about love. What does the Bible say about Love during this advent season.
This week we start our Advent season by looking at the hope that we find in the good news that Jesus is God with us.
What is a spiritual gift? How do you discover yours? This weeks teaching looks to answer some of these questions as we continue to ask what is the church? And how do we build it up.
For more information about our congregation visit our website www.fgcc.ca./north
This week we look at the markers of a healthy church as revealed in the 5 gifts of Ephesians 4:11. What are each of these people and how do they help the church grow to be healthy and effective in carrying out God's mission.
Looking at the first half of Ephesians 4 we ask the question "What is the Church?" and find that it is a movement of Jesus centered people who are called to do the work of ministry.
This week we look at Ephesians 3 and the vast and cosmic scale of the witness of the church, and the prayer for a deep personal knowledge of God's love.
This week we look at the last half of Ephesians 2 and ask what does it mean that Jesus destroys the barriers of hatred and division. How? What does it say about us that Jesus is the one who has destroyed barriers of division and then we keep trying to reconstruct new walls? How do we live differently as people of Jesus?
For more information about our spiritual community see our website fgcc.ca/north
This week we prepare to go into the second half of Ephesians chapter two by talking about race, racism and the ways in which so many churches have been complicit with white supremacy. What does it mean to be part of the white majority in our cultural moment and how does Jesus invite us to be different?
This week we start chapter 2 of Ephesians. Ephesians 2 starts with the starkness of the situation all humanity finds itself in, and then shifts in vs 4 with two of the most powerful words in scripture, "But God" and invites all humanity to respond to the mercy, love, grace, kindness and faithfulness of God.
Ephesians 1:15-23 Paul talks about God's powerful energy at work in us the church. What does this look like? And what do power and authority look like for those who are "In Jesus Christ?"
This week we see God's big plan to restore the world, and the role the church is to play as those who are "in Christ."
The start of our new series Ephesians: The Gospel, Church and Race. We begin by looking at Paul's introduction to the key ideas of Grace and Peace/Shalom.
The conclusion to our Summer of Soul Care series. This week we look at the connection between our spiritual practices and the call of God to do justice and love our neighbor.
In this weeks teaching Julia and Nathan teach together about the spiritual practice of Listening Prayer.
This week we are looking at the spiritual practices of silence and solitude. They are "Container" disciplines that allow us to practice other spiritual practices, but they are also a practice that allows us to encounter the Divine.
We are back in our Summer of Soul Care series! Jaden brings this week teaching about Fasting. Asking the questions "Why Do we Fast?" and "How do we Fast?"
This week our spiritual practice is Celebration. It is the invitation from God to celebrate and delight in God and the things of God.
This week we look at our second Spiritual Practice, Lectio Divina or Sacred Reading. This ancient practice is a way of prayerfully engaging with scripture.
This week we start our new summer series Summer of Soul care. We look at why we do Spiritual practices and then dive into the spiritual practice of Sabbath.