Posts from April 2020

God’s call to Abram in Genesis 12 is “GO!”  Abram is told to leave everything that was familiar – his country, his people, his home and go where God would lead him.   God assured Abram he would bless him so that he would be a blessing to others.  Abram did what God told him to do – he went to Canaan.  And he built an altar to the Lord to worship and commemorate God’s leading and faithfulness.  Abram called upon the name of the Lord.  Abram’s…

Last week we heard the witness of John the Baptist. This week, Jesus takes center stage as people begin following him. Jesus’ first words of the Gospel are to these followers, “What are you seeking?” It’s an inviting and searching question. If he were to ask you that today, how would you answer it? The first followers then respond with a question, “Where are you abiding Jesus?” It’s a way of saying, “If we come to you Jesus, what will we find?” And, in this text, Jesus…

We are a people of direction! The Apostle Paul knows where he’s going. And as the people of God, so do we… Upwards! Paul is not saying here that God is the ‘man upstairs’ or ‘the big man in the sky’, as some like to refer to Him. Rather, ‘up’ is a positive direction and the opposite of sinking, drowning, slipping, stumbling and falling. Not only that but this ‘up’ is not dependent on us. It is God who is…

I have found myself needing to remember the truth in this passage this week, I pray it brings you encouragement and hope as well. “May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the…

Prayer is at the heart of transformation. After Christ ascended, the disciples left the Mount of Olives and went home. What was the first thing they did? They prayed. They gathered and prayed for days. When their lives were radically upended, they knew what to do. They did not rely on their talents, or intelligence, or personal opinions, but on God. And so they prayed, constantly and continuously. They asked for direction, protection, wisdom and help. And, God quickly answered.…

Everyone wonders what life will be like in the months to come.  It’s natural to wonder.  How and when will the authorities “re-open” our area?  When will we go back to our workplaces, have celebrations and how many people will be allowed to gather at once?  When will we be able to worship together again on Blaney Avenue?  How will church life be different?  How can we, the people attached to Jesus, reach out with compassion to our community in this time and make Him known?  …

This Sunday we will continue our studies in the Gospel of John. After that magnificent prologue, we now enter into the story with the witness of John the Baptist. Throughout John’s Gospel, the concept of witness is very important. In fact one could read the entire Gospel through the “lens” of witness. Jesus is on trial, and many witnesses are called forward to testify to his nature, character, words and actions. By the end of the Gospel, we, the readers, will need to render our…

As Shawn was preaching yesterday, I was struck by the accessibility of Jesus. The invitation is to ‘come and see’. Far from being a God who is distant and inaccessible, Jesus is close enough for us to ‘come and see’ Him and He desires that we do just that. As the weeks drag on and so much is inaccessible right now, Jesus remains just as accessible as ever. And nothing can cut off that access! The reality that ‘nothing can separate us from…

As I was preparing last week for the Easter service in my music room, I took a break to gaze out of one of my two windows. From my second story lofty view, way off in the distance, I could see the hills that I once was able to cycle in freely. It was at that moment that I felt, for the first time, an ache within me for how different things have become in a very short period. Staring…

There is no teacher more discriminating or transforming than loss. Sometimes I wonder how the disciples felt after Jesus went to heaven. Yes, he survived the grave. Yes, he conquered death. Yes, he ascended to heaven and now is with God. But the hard part, the sad part for them, was that he was physically gone! This time permanently. No longer would they walk and talk with him. His face-to-face teaching and praying and weeping was over. There must have…