The Parish: Recent Episodes
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The rich man and Lazarus belonged to the same community but the walls between them prevented them from ever connecting.
Maybe spiritual maturity is not becoming someone who thinks they have it all figured out. Maybe it is becoming someone who is increasingly easy to surprise.
The religious leaders disapproved of Jesus' loving acceptance of tax collectors and sinners. So Jesus gives them a parable to explain it.... and then invites them to join the party!
Sometimes the truth we're looking for doesn't arrive because we've finally figured it out. It’s is revealed when we've learned to notice what was growing in front of us all along.
How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? A poignant plea by exiles bound up with God in their story but immersed in a pagan culture by their circumstances.
Leah lived in a household marked by deceit, manipulation and competition. But she saw it through her gentle eyes and chose a different path.
Apparently God doesn't cease to know our thoughts, but unfortunately we can cease to know Hers.
We often think it's a miracle when we feel that God has heard us and responded, but what if for God a miracle is when we have heard his voice and responded.
What the Emmaus Road disciples thought they wanted was a conventional king on a throne of political power. What they got was broken bread on the Communion table.
Easter | A sense of wonder we feel in the presence of something vast that transcends our understanding of the world.
Jesus isn’t looking for palm-waving admirers willing to lay down a coat, he is looking for those who will lay down their privilege
Jesus doesn’t offer a life that is happy and easy and safe. He calls us from our comfortable spectator places to take up our cross and follow him.
If we don’t learn to have a healthy appreciation for how precious and sacred life before death is, how will we ever appreciate anything that comes after.
We follow Jesus not just so that we get to the right destination but so that, along the way, we can learn how we should walk.
The peace message of Jesus is often misunderstood, yet central to his teaching. That's why He will interrupt our concept of what peace really is and offer an alternative that leads to human flourishing for all involved.
If we find ourselves, in these fraught times, succumbing to a desire to hoard and take care of our own, we may find it helpful to recognize that what we have is not really our "own" but a gift from God, given so that we can share.
We choose to belong to each other—because it is together—not alone, that we can witness what love can do and maybe catch a glimpse of just how big God is. Community is our spiritual practice, not just a byproduct of it.
Jesus is bringing a subversive kingdom where those considered losers and outsiders are brought to the table and celebrated.
The Christian mission was never to make the world more christian, but instead to make it more loving, and the way of Christ will show us how.
Conviction Three: The rejection of world domination and Christendom and embracing influence not control
Jesus is what God has to say.
If we treat the bible as a flat text where every verse carries equal weight then we either resolve those conflicts by making arbitrary decisions about what applies and what doesn’t or we just stay confused. A Jesus-centered approach to scripture can help resolve the conflict.
Jesus is offering us a compelling way forward in a divided world. Jesus is teaching us that instead of choosing a side we can choose a way. Conviction one | We choose to follow Jesus not just worship him.
What if God is not trying to heal the world for, us as much as heal the world through us.
The message the shepherds were given about a baby in a cattle feed trough was vague and cryptic at best. They may have wished for a more detailed map but in faith they followed the sign they had been given and it brought them to Jesus.
Advent will teach us that we need search for the light of the world in these stories, so we know what it looks like in our own lives.
During the secular holiday season, it can feel as though we're expected to be happy all the time - have a holly, jolly merry Christmas! But the message the angel brought to the shepherds on that first Christmas didn't offer happiness - it offered joy, which is a very different thing.
The Advent story is showing us that something beautiful can come from the unexpected, even the misunderstood. The journey might start with hope-but it will take us through surrender before arriving at peace.
Hope isn't a way to deny our current pain by envisioning a happier future. Hope is present in the messiness of our lives, giving us the courage for the next step forward.
By the time we begin to sing Christmas songs, and by the time the tree and lights are up, by the time Mary is showing, we are already in the middle of something. The Magi have already left Persia heading east towards yonder star. Let's be Honest.
The Greek woman with a sick child knew that in the cultural context Jesus and his disciples came from, she was very much an outsider. But she asked, and found that the abundance of Jesus' salvation could reach even her.
We may think we are keen to learn new things about Jesus. But when those new things conflict with firmly held views, it may be hard to absorb them.
Sometimes the miracles we consume that look like our daily bread don’t seem as big. But they desire to nourish us best.
Herod is an archetype for materialistic political leaders but Jesus is bringing a different kind of kingdom
If people cannot see that God is with us, they aren't going to be able to see God is in us.
Jesus brought transformative change to the lives of those he healed. But they weren't the only ones who were impacted by the healing.
Jesus doesn't see sinners, he only sees people made in the image of God. Week two of But not my pigs.
When our faith is defined by Who we believe rather than what we believe, we can create a community that is diverse and yet harmonious.
We need gestures that embody things that cannot be adequately expressed. Baptism is a 'here, let me show you what I mean' kind of thing.
Hannah was wounded by the words of those who stigmatized her for her childlessness. But then she met one whose words brought blessing and hope.
Spirituality is often seen for its faithfulness to a set of values and ideas behind us. But faith is tethered by an invisible force that is guiding us forward not holding us backwards. Humanity and culture are adapting and evolving, faith by its nature is ahead of us, not behind us and change is apart of that.
David writes a song that doesn't allow the reality of God's love to diminish the reality of his present suffering... and a psalm that doesn't allow the reality of David's sin and distress to put an asterisk on God's love for him.
If you’ve ever been tempted to attribute the suffering you face in this life as evidence of God’s hand against you, this ancient story of Naomi might be the story for you.
In a world that makes us forget we are all connected-this story offers us a stark warning, that in those moments when we don’t think we are Able,....to not become a Cain
Hagar had great faith. But it was faith in what she imagined to be God’s plan rather than faith in God’s self.
This Psalm and the circumstances surrounding its writing offer us a glimpse of what Spiritual Resilience can look like. Where our hope isn't rooted merely in what we are feeling, but in what we have come to know.
The most spiritual moments in your life won't be when you feel God has shown up, but instead when you realize that God had never left.
David delighted in the fact that he was intimately known by God, but when it came to his enemies, he wasn’t willing to look past the colour of their uniforms.
The story of Jonah helps make our own experience comprehensible by offering us a a new way to perceive not only God but ourselves
Jesus offers rest to followers who are weary and burdened. But it isn't found in a hammock under a shade tree.
God wants to fill our emptiness and has hidden the divine in all sorts of places so our spirits can be nourished.
What if planted in our everyday ordinary lives are the secrets that can actually produce a better one.
We all might be in the same boat, but depending on where you are sitting, it might be a completely different storm.
On that first Easter Sunday, the disciples on the Emmaus Road found that heartburn isn't always a bad thing!
The power of real community shows us that the incarnation continues to be the miracle of God in skin and bones
WEEK SIX | We may dismiss the Jesus way because it won’t get us where we want to go but the problem isn’t in Jesus’ path but in our destination.
WEEK FIVE | We are invited to leave the darkness of our lives and begin unwrapping our fears with the invitation of a single word.
WEEK FOUR | When Jesus healed ten men living under the burden and stigma of leprosy, he was doing far more than setting up a new laser dermatology clinic, he was creating a community of inclusion.
WEEK THREE | You can follow Jesus and still be blind, It’s in trusting that you will see.
WEEK TWO | The kingdom of heaven will not come through political coup nor is it a future utopia, it is among us already and becomes apparent when we follow Jesus in childlike humility.
WEEK ONE | I cannot really tell you what Easter means, but instead only ask you what you need it to mean.
James encourages us to see other people as companions on the journey who we are to love, not as competitors in a game of acquisition who must be bested.
Physical wounds can heal, but the impact of words can last a lifetime. Choose them wisely.
What if our connection to the presence of God desires to be connected to our presence in the world?
Don’t let your circumstances determine how your life unfolds, Let your choices do that. Let your faith…..your trust in God do that.
What is an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed? It's an elephant in a room. This is a story about four, see if you can find them all.
The world around us encourages us to work hard squeezing more and more into every day. But perhaps what we actually need is to stand still and squeeze all the goodness out of this moment.
ADVENT WEEK FOUR | The Christmas story bears witness to the idea that sometimes you cannot take what you discover, but you can only keep what has been revealed.
ADVENT WEEK THREE | The practice of Advent invites us into a season of contemplation, a season of waiting and hoping and listening – into an oasis of quiet in a cacophonous world.
ADVENT WEEK TWO | In Advent we sit in darkness, waiting for the Light to come. But sometimes that prospect brings fear rather than hope.
Christians have been encouraged to eagerly await the coming of Jesus in glory as King. But what if we are supposed to be working instead of waiting?
Jesus not only taught beautiful virtues, he lived them out day by day... and he invites us to follow him on that path.
He is calling on us to interrupt the cycle of pain and harm, by responding in a completely different way. A way that creatively, intentionally builds and doesn’t do more harm.
Lewis Smedes has said that to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.
It is said that judgement and curiosity are mutually exclusive. But when we stay curious, we make space for love.
Some questions can’t lead to answers because there’s no answer good enough, and they bounce off the heavens like a bird off a window.
Do you remember a time in your life when you were presented with a fork in the road? For me, the fork was clear - One path led to baptism in the Christadelphian church and taking my place as a brother. The other path let me into the wider world.
Most of us would stop doing the things that are destroying us, if only we believed we could.
Jesus may be less concerned about what we do with our money than what our money does to us.
"When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower." ~Alexander Den Heijer
Lisa Janz is a professor of Archeology at the University of Toronto who believes in deep time, she is also deeply spiritual, and one of the many voices that make up our rich and diverse community called the Parish.
Our practice of faith can be a set of activities that touch the surface of our lives but Jesus wants to get at the substance.
We may numb ourselves to avoid it but at some level we all know the existential ache of spiritual beings who are trapped in physical bodies.
She had been assured that all would be well, and all was not well - so she knew this wasn't the end.
We like to find God in our burning bushes and the parting seas, but God was in the bush before it was lit afire, and can still be seen in its charred remains. God was in the water before it was cut in two and remains in its reflection when the waves are reunited.
It can be comforting to see the Lord’s hand in the history pages of our lives. But God wants to be in the current events section too.
Sometimes we wrestle with what happened behind us, believing it's affecting what lies before us.
If we're obsessed with doing the right things for God, we may miss the good things God has for us.
Christian is the Co Executive Director of One City Peterborough, in this message he discusses the non violent resistance as the beautiful way of Jesus.
The right things brought together in the right way can create something completely unexpected and greater than the sum total of their individual parts as long as they don't include sliced cheese and hotdogs.
The resurrection body of Jesus still has visible wounds. But those wounds are the source of comfort and healing for us.
What you currently know is not the whole story, not that it's inaccurate-it's just incomplete....there is so much more and it is unbelievable.
It can be hard to see things the same way when we are standing in different places. It's when we come together that we can see how deep and wide love can be.
When the disciples prepared that Thursday night seder meal, they didn't know it would be their last supper with Jesus. But he knew, and he had some special words for them.
Move over Versace and Gucci there's a new fragrance and it is even stronger than the stench of death.
If we depend on our faith as the solid foundation of our lives then it can be threatening to rethink it. But what if it isn't supposed to be the foundation?
Exclusive religious systems ensure that the only people who get in are “just us”. But to those places, Jesus brings his justice.
Easter isn’t just a date on a calendar, but it’s part of the human experience and I don't know how I feel about it, but what helps me is experiencing it from the crowd instead of the cloud.
If your spirituality does’t offer you any hope for the things we struggle with in in the hear and now, I wouldn’t trust it to deliver anything in the here after
Many things can tarnish the bible for us - bad teaching, confusing content or even just familiarity. But it's worth scraping off the tarnish, because there is gold inside
When we give, we may feel virtuous for helping someone in need. But maybe there is a better reason for doing it!
What happens when our eyes are shut can alter our perception of what happens when they are open.
If you can experience the presence of God in small things, you can experience it in all things, because faith after all is more than a peeling....it's a practice.
The Feast of Epiphany invites us to find the transcendent in ordinary places... and to be overjoyed.
"We thought we had all the answers, it turns out it was the questions we had wrong" ~Bono
It's Christmas morning, and after you have opened everything up--did you find it? Perhaps there is one remaining thing to open....your heart.
The Christmas story shows us that something beautiful can come from the unexpected, even the misunderstood. It is a story about broken hearts and fear, conquered by hope and promise, and the difference a good nights sleep can make.
When we look at the world around us, we may long for revolution. But Mary expected the coming of a different kind of kingdom, and it filled her with joy!
Christmas reminds us that we are apart of something that has already started without our knowing, yet it includes us and we are not behind.
Our world seems to thrive on narratives of winners and losers, good guys and bad guys, us and them. But what if there is no us and them, what if there is only us?
We live in a violent and polarized world. Are Jesus' teachings about non-violence out-dated or are they more needed than ever?
What if prayer wasn't about reminding God of his obligations, but instead it was about inspiring us of ours.
It's not about how close you are to Jesus that influences your faith, it is what direction you are facing regardless of how distant you feel.
Michael VanDerHerberg is the Housing Director at OneCity Peterborough and shares from his own journey some powerful truths of Belonging. For more information on the work Michael Does you can visit www.onecityptbo.ca
At its best, church is full of diversity and, because of that, can only flourish where love is genuine.
Belonging is meant to be part of our spiritual practice, and not by merely experiencing it....but by extending it.
We are wired up to need connection and belonging but what do we do when past experiences and present circumstances make us reluctant to even try?
Being surrounded by other human beings doesn’t create a sense of belonging but sharing something far more divine does.
“Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, this is an insane way to live.” ~Eckhart Tolle
Happiness that rests on comparison and competition is never lasting. But, as usual, Jesus has a better way!
The foundation for each and every spiritual journey is humbly asking ourselves, “Can I join God in seeing who God sees me to be when God sees me?”
Some say that there are two times we can experience God's presence-in the present moment, and upon reflection.
A prescribed faith that fits into a neat little box with no loose bit may provide comfort and security. But what if God is up to something far bigger?
It is amazing how cocky we get when life is good. But often when we experience a little adversity, a little pain- it can actually turn us into decent people.
When circumstances force us into the wilderness, we may feel as though we are being punished. But, perhaps God is just opening an opportunity for us to grow
The trouble and turmoil in our current world can lead us down paths of anger, resentment, frustration and even hate. But Paul has a better way to suggest.
When we find we've got to the very end of our road, even there God meets us, and turns us around and gives us a fresh perspective.
If your faith doesn't have room to adapt and change, you run the risk of becoming a brittle goat skinned wine bag.
Some of the most life-giving spiritual experiences aren't on the other side of discovering something new, but in the letting go of something old.
We can live our lives under a cloud of fear that God is somehow disappointed in us. But disappointing God may be harder than you think.
The Life of the faithfull isn't unmarred or unscathed, and this isn't because that wouldn't be faith but because that wouldn't be life.
Failures from our past can haunt us for years even when they have prompted growth and change. Sometimes the very thing we need is a rematch!
A miracle isn't about filling a net full of fish, it is about filling a heart full of hope.
Sometimes our journey takes us places that aren't at all like what we were expecting. And when that happens, faith can feel like risky business.
A finger pointing to the moon is not the moon itself. A finger can be used, but he who only looks at the finger will never see the moon. Jesus didn't come to end religion, he came to transcend it. A look at the importance of religious practice and a warning about its misuse.
We tend to associate spring and Easter with new beginnings. But in another way, Easter is the end of the story - the grand story of God's saving work.
Easter Sunday begins where Good Friday leaves us-in the dark, but it doesn't desire to leave us there.
The kingdom that Jesus is launching as he rides into Jerusalem won't come with the violent overthrow of their Roman occupiers. He is bringing a different kind of peace.
30 km from Easter we discover a secret that a blind beggar seems to know. You can follow Jesus and still be blind, it is in trusting that you will see.
As we learn to live the life of Jesus' kingdom, much of our growth comes through choices we make - choices to serve, to give, to be present. The path to Easter reminds us that sometimes growth only comes on the other side of something we'd never choose, on the other side of death.
Heading towards Easter, Jesus shows us that if there is one thing that needs to die before him, it is our agendas.
We begin the journey to Easter with Jesus, and are reminded that if we follow him, it's our journey too.
Lent begins this Wednesday – though for many of us it may feel like it began on some Wednesday back in 2020 and has never ended. How can we find hope in this season of languishing?
In a world where we have forgotten how to love each other, God’s love can be hard to see and not just for others but for us as well—this can be remedied.
We are told to love our neighbour as ourselves. But for some of us, that first step – of self-love – seems daunting.
As humans we just don’t need to learn how to love, apparently we also need to learn who to love. It really wasn’t supposed to be as complicated as we have made it, but that doesn’t mean it was meant to be easy either.
Our image of God may have many layers created by a mix of happy and heartbreaking experiences, helpful and misleading teaching. But what if, after we scrape away all those images, what we find is love?
The idea that love is all we need isn’t wrong, it's just misunderstood. It is time to open up this box and see what's inside.
Today we look at Paul's take on God's work of bringing the kingdom of heaven - work that we are invited to be part of. It's an epic task but we'll find that the resources we are given are more than adequate.
What enables us to Shine is not our diplomas or our successes but our time spent in the dark.
Salting the earth is not an add-on to a list of things we need to do – it is the by-product when a community is flourishing, when it’s living life together in the Jesus way.
As Mary returned to Nazareth after a tumultuous time away, she didn’t have pat answers or tidy explanations of what God was doing. But she had a heart full of memories and had acquired the skill of pondering them in a way that sustained and stretched her.
The Christmas story is ultimately a story about God, and what the shepherds discover on that wintry night in Bethlehem is a God Who is both infinite and intimate.
You may not realize that Mary encounters two angels in the birth story recorded by Luke. One gives her the courage to head to the hill country in Judea, and the other to return home.
It's one thing to say you are being persecuted because of Christianity, but it is a completely different thing to say you are being persecuted because of Jesus. One enables you to flourish, the other has you criticizing coffee cups.
In our sadly divided world, peace has been reduced to the absence of conflict and is enforced with walls. But Jesus offers a better way!
Jesus announces the flourishing of those who are pure. But to get there we don't need to time travel back to an age of innocence - we need a renovation of the heart!
There are those who flourish not in the results of their efforts, but in their passion for it. And the world is better for it.
Meekness has gotten a bad rap in contemporary life (probably because it didn't stand up for itself!) Seeing how Jesus exemplified meekness can give us a fresh, new perspective on the flourishing life of the kingdom.
Flourishing are the poor in spirit because the universe of God is theirs.
Here's the link to Nightbird on AGT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZJvBfoHDk0
If it feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield, you're not alone, and aside from not having a windshield, this might be part of our common humanity-And Jesus has something to tell us.
Often cases of mistaken identity in our lives give rise to amusing anecdotes. But when we make mistakes about the identity of God, the consequences can be far more serious
Taking a fresh look at an old favourite can help us see how we have grown... or how we need to grow.
The word 'Christian' is not a title for a better life, it is a description of how to live a better life.
Whether you're in a poolside hammock in a green glade or find yourself on the doorstep of death, David has a psalm for that!
"The Word of God is infallible, inerrant, and totally inspired. And when He was about 18, He grew a beard."
~Brad Jersak
When Jesus meets a man who is trying to figure out what the gains and losses are in the life of Gods' kingdom, he finds that the business deal is not going to be as profitable as he might have wished.
The teachings of Jesus can rob us of bad ideas.
If you're listening from around the world, can you send us an email and tell us a little about yourself?
Drop us a line at podcast@theparish.ca
Jesus has been an enduring focus of interest to seekers over the centuries. So it's unfortunate when people have trouble seeing him.
Have we ever been at a place in history where the motivation to change has been more tangible? Truthfully, if moments like this don't bring about radical transformation we need then what will?
Sometimes the reason we can’t find God in our life not because the divine isn’t present, it is because we aren’t. We are often convinced that the misery we are experiencing is because God has left. But that just isn’t true.
The season of COVID may have made us more risk averse - wanting to cling more tightly to our loved ones and our resources. But if we want "the life of the ages", we might need to leave our comfort zone.
When we feel completely spent, the last thing we want is to be given more work. But Jesus says that being part of His work is the very thing that will refresh us.
As we journey, we may encounter approaches to faith that appear to be polar opposites - but which one is right? Perhaps the answer lies not in either-or but in both-and.
The past couple of weeks have been filled with so much tragedy it can make us wonder how God can ever heal this world so broken. But perhaps God is not trying to heal the world for us as much as healing it with us. This may change everything.
Whether our notions of 'god' are personal projections or inherited traditions, author and theologian Brad Jersak proposes a radical reassessment, arguing for A More Christlike God: a More Beautiful Gospel.
Here is the Video version of his Message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zts7t5PMO9g
Some of us have travelled far, some of us have worked hard and we may feel that we deserve a party. But the best party ever is when we come home to the Father's love.
The question. "Who is my neighbour?" is an old one, but we may need new eyes to get the answer right.
Sometimes you have the good fortune to find something that you had thought was lost forever, When you do, you may find that it's even more precious to you than it was before.
We may all have dreamed about finding buried treasure - or at least a loonie under the couch cushions. But what if we could get the treasure without having to find it or dig it up?
We weed our gardens to get rid of the plants we don't want so that the good plants can grow. But sometimes weeding is more harmful than helpful.
Yeast granules are unattractive and insignificant looking. But despite that, they can have a transformative impact.
Welcome to week two of Christa's series on the soul. This message includes several spiritual practices. "Spiritual practice is to pierce the illusions that God is distant or absent" ~Thomas Keating
So we practice these not for perfection but for presence.
What is the soul? And where would we look to find it? Our Guest Christa inspires us today in this busy chaotic time to slow down enough to catch not just a glimpse, but the experience of our Souls.
Misperceptions of what God wants generally grow out of a kernel of truth yet they can, nonetheless, be misleading. But don't worry, God is great at busting out of any box we try to confine Him to!
Orphan Trains and the power of community with Charlie Mashinter (Bishop of our Denomination the Be In Christ Church of Canada).
As we try to live a life of faith, we get the opportunity, in a myriad of individual decisions, to let fear keep us stuck where we are or, instead, to move forward toward joy.
Everybody loves a parade. But not all parades are created equal and some require a commitment to more than just waving a palm branch.
Feeling broken and bruised doesn't mean we're done or useless. In the good news story of Jesus, not only are you allowed to feel broken, but you're a perfect candidate to do good in this world.
When we follow Jesus, he calls us to deny ourselves - a call to loss. But the paradox of the kingdom of God is that the space created by that loss is filled by a new joy we couldn't have expected.
There is a path to create no more victims in this world which is deeply human and close to God's heart. Building that path is happening in Peterborough and around the world.
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert Schweitzer
If you realized that you had lost Jesus: How would you go about searching for Him? How long would it take you to find Him?
The ashes that are used to mark the beginning of Lent feel quite discordant in contemporary culture. How can they help us to a more meaningful journey toward Easter?
Trusting God is not an escape from trusting people, instead, it becomes a safe platform from which to do so.
In the face of all the turmoil in our world, it's tempting to escape into something that gives our mind a break from the anxiety. Some escape strategies just numb us but the psalmist recommends one that brings hope.
There are times when God’s loving gaze is so tangible-so palpable that doubt seems impossible. And yet there are times when God’s tangible presence is so scarce that to believe seems completely inconceivable.
Maybe the blessedness we're looking for actually rests not in God changing our external circumstances but in changing us.
Plucked from the Billboard charts of Ancient Israel we look at Psalm 57. This song of David teaches us more about ourselves than it does about God, but what we learn is incredible, and may even earn it a place on your mixtape.
Rip Van Winkle, of fairy tale fame, seemed to have a great strategy: settle down for a LONG winter's nap and don't wake up until the fuss is all over. But what if there is something important for us that we can only find in the waiting?
Not everything that comes out of a box actually fits back in. Some things seem to expand and grow and can never find their original shape, what if this is called growth.
It’s easy to mistakenly assume that peace comes because our external circumstances have changed in a way that removes any cause for agitation and anxiety. But the newborn king that the Magi discovered in Bethlehem brings a different kind of peace.
It is important to be amazed at the right parts of this story. In other words open the present, don’t just play with the fancy bows and paper.
Disbelief is one of the doorways by which we are invited to enter the Advent story, not as a reader but as many of the characters. Joseph's dilemma not just believable but relatable. Trusting God is only half of the struggle and sometimes not the hardest one.
Sometimes the unexpected takes us to dark places. But the message of Advent is that the Light is coming
And so advent begins, and the story is told. But not everyone believes it is a good story, at least not at first. Some people who hear it- will need to be convinced-but let's not forget that some people in the story needed the same.
Our lives are capable of doing great good and yet also sabotaging the good we desire to do. In this talk Neil takes a look at a seldom talked about Parable of Jesus.
Are you sick of all the bad news? Heres some practical ideas from someone who had to take his own advice.
Jesus isn't our bodyguard, faith doesn't offer us protection but instead connection. If your faith is all about protection then fear is your language. But if it is all about connection then it sounds like love.
In these difficult days getting along with others is so difficult. Is there something that appeals to our good nature-that transcends our anger and frustration and can help us move toward a better future? Yes, thanks for asking.
What is an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed? It's an elephant in a room. This is a story about four elephants, see if you can find all four.
Unless we believe we can find the divine in other people we will never find it in ourselves-maybe this is part of our problem.
The psalmist asked how can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? In the time of COVID our previously familiar surroundings seem strange indeed, and our thanksgiving may need to come form a different land.
We aren't following Jesus just to get to where he is headed, we are following Jesus to become more like him on the way.
Some times we underestimate how important little decisions can be. Neil Hannam shares a little about his own personal journey of faith.
Sometimes the allure of being right can be almost irresistible. But Jesus has even better plans for us.
“It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most." ~Dr Hans Rosling
If we hold on to anything too tight, we become so preoccupied with the fear of losing something that we can miss out on experiencing the joy of having something.
Consider that the difference between just a good story and a God story is in whether the moment affects in a positive way anyone who wasn’t there. May future generations see 2020 as a God story.
Here is a link to the other message that I reference
https://parishpodcasts.podbean.com/e/12-words-to-wake-up-to-aaron-holbrough/
Our lives say so much more than our words could ever reveal. So don't ask me what I believe, watch how I live, and I will do the same for you.
When we search for love where it cannot be found, we get lost, whether we leave home or not.
Some of Jesus stories if taken literally become horrible advice. Jesus though, doesn't tell His stories to be taken literally, but instead to be taken seriously and that is why they are so powerful.
You can call it intuition, or the Holy Spirit...or a fusion of the two-but I had a hunch. If sharing in other peoples struggles can set me free, than maybe my struggles have the potential to liberate as well. I am thankful to Barry and Andrew for showing me Jesus.
Sometimes life doesn’t fit into one of two categories. And when it does and both sides are entrenched in their specific perspective-how do we find the way forward? Which one is the better story?
How's the plot line of your life going these days? Do you feel as though past missteps have destined you to be the villain in your own story? Or has a sudden twist to the plot taken your heretofore happy story and made it an unhappy one? Whatever your story, there is grace for you in the garden of new beginnings.
Sometimes, God speaks to us through the little details where every letter matters. And Sometimes the details are vague but the feeling is crystal clear... we we're noticed, recognized, or even just simply heard. And that can be enough.
Here is a link to the other message I mention called 'the space between' if your interested
https://parishpodcasts.podbean.com/e/the-space-between-aaron-holbrough/
Let's talk about how remaining 'inside' and not going 'outside' can be pretty good advice for certain times in our life.
Perhaps the reason many of us are so anxious for our situations to change, because we are having trouble finding God in the moment, in the rugged wilderness of uncertainty-what if twelve words could change that.
Have you ever tried to bake something and forget that it is physics and chemistry. That baking soda is not the same as corn starch-yes they are both white and powdery but this is where the similarities end. In this podcast we learn from Jesus about the compounding effects of seemingly unrelated things.
We can be guilty of asking questions that require a satisfying answer. So when we don’t hear what we are hoping for, we end up hearing nothing.
Jesus on Good Friday said it was finished, but on Easter morning we discover that it's also far from over.
7 verses, 5 voices, at least nine different perspectives and I have 40 questions. This is Good Friday.
This is Palm Sunday, Jesus arrives at the Mount of Olives and the rest is history. But it's the kind of history that is worth repeating-and it does again and again but do we notice.