Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Isaiah 40:2-4 Introduction Most of the best things that we can imagine require some sort of preparation. There are only a few things that can be done spontaneously with no preparation whatsoever. This covers just about every area of life. When I was in university, my summer job was painting. Much of the actual work … Read More “Prepare the Way” »
2 Kings 6:8-19 Introduction Last week, we looked at the concept of waiting, especially within the concept of Advent. Very closely connected to that is the concept of watching. In fact we often use those two words together, “watching and waiting.” We can wait for something that we do not think will happen but if … Read More “Watching and Waiting” »
Genesis 15:1-6 Introduction How are you for waiting? Does it come easy for you? I happen to find waiting quite painful. Many years ago, I was helping out with a youth group and we took a bus to attend a special youth event in Toronto. This event was going to have a well known speaker—Jake … Read More “Waiting for the Child” »
Isaiah 62:6-12 Introduction I want you to think about a time that you really felt loved. I don’t mean that you just understood the fact of it on an intellectual level but when you actually felt it inside of you. It could have been from a spouse, a parent, a child, a friend, or even … Read More “A People Sought Out” »
Isaiah 40:1-11 Introduction December can be a very difficult for many people, especially in terms of dealing with grief. It feels like there a lot of deaths in December. I wondered if this was just an illusion and so I checked with StatsCan and generally, December is the second highest month for deaths in Canada. … Read More “Comfort for the Broken” »
Isaiah 64:1-9 Introduction There is a lot of pressure put on people at Christmas-time. The expectation is that people at least pretend that they are happy and that everything is going well. Consider even our common greeting: Merry Christmas. I realize that it is a polite wish, but what about those whose options for a … Read More “Looking for a Breakthrough” »
John 1:3-5 Introduction Last week, we saw that John is describing the appearing of Jesus very much in the context of Genesis 1 and creation. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. All of this reshapes how we see … Read More “Let There Be Light” »
John 1:1-3 Introduction How does your family deal with Christmas decorations? Are you a family that decorates as soon as possible or as late as possible? In homes that I have lived in, we have had the tree up as early as the beginning November and as late as December 20-something. We will not debate … Read More “In the Beginning” »
Micah 5:2-5 Introduction We are very familiar with Christmas but is it possible that we are too familiar with it? Is the story so well known that we have stopped thinking about actually took place. Here is how I understand what happened. God created the world, including humanity. Humanity rebelled against God, forsaking his way … Read More “Love in Action” »
Zephaniah 3:14-20 Introduction I remember in university the challenge of picking courses because certain courses had required prerequisites. You couldn’t just jump into a course, you had to look what courses you needed to have already have. The idea was that one course prepared the way for the other courses because one curriculum was built … Read More “Surprised by Joy” »
Malachi 3:1-4 Introduction When we think of Christmas, one of the themes that often comes to mind is that of peace. If you think about a nativity scene, the calm animals, the reverent visitors, the serene parents and of course the sleeping baby, all of it looks so peaceful. And that is what we consider … Read More “Real Peace” »
Jeremiah 33:14-16 Introduction One of the most difficult things to hold onto, depending upon your circumstances, is hope. In fact, we may be afraid to even try to hope. I recently came across this statement in Psychology Today about the danger of hope: “The emotion of hope pertains to that which hasn’t yet transpired. So … Read More “Emerging Hope” »
Hebrews 12:1-2 Introduction Throughout this season of Advent, we have looked at Jesus as our Hope-Giver, Peace-Giver and Love-Giver. We now come to Jesus as our Joy-Giver. It is not difficult to find the concept of joy in the Christmas story. When the pregnant Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the … Read More “Jesus: The Joy Giver” »
John 13:34-35 Introduction I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to tradition. On one hand, I really love tradition. It may be connected with my appreciation for history, including church history. There is so much that we can learn from the past and tradition is an excellent way of passing on those lessons. Not … Read More “Jesus: The Love-Giver” »
Introduction Last week, we looked at how in our dark times, our world is in desperate need of hope. We also saw that Jesus came as the hope-giver. That is Good News. What else do we need in these turbulent times? It just so happens that the second Sunday of Advent is that of peace. … Read More “Jesus: The Peace-Giver” »
Introduction This is the first Sunday of Advent. It is a time when each week we light a candle, bringing light out of the darkness and we reflect on what it meant for Jesus to arrive in our world. This is also the first Advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. If ever there was a time … Read More “Jesus: The Hope-Giver” »
What is Blue Christmas? Blue Christmas is an acknowledgment that Christmas isn’t joyful for everyone and that some people feel “blue,” often because of the loss of a loved one. Many churches offer a Blue Christmas service. But what I have noticed is that the majority of churches offer Blue Christmas as a separate service … Read More “Why I Do Blue Christmas on a Sunday Morning” »
I have had some people surprised that our Baptist church observes Advent. “Isn’t Advent a Catholic thing?” Advent comes natural to me as I was raised Anglican and it was an important part of our Christmas celebration. While Advent was not observed in the Pentecostal churches I attended, it has been by most of the … Read More “Why Our Church Celebrates Advent” »
Advent is one of my favourite seasons of the year. It allows us to prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus at Christmas. Last year we started at Queen Street Baptist Church to observe something called Blue Christmas. Blue Christmas is about acknowledging that Christmas is not joyful for everyone. For many, Christmas is a … Read More “Good News: Blue Christmas” »
People who subscribe to the Jesus Myth Theory argue that there is nothing unique to the incarnation of Jesus. They attempt to draw all sorts of parallels that end up disappearing as soon as you examine them. Far from being a copy of myths, the incarnation of Jesus Christ is very different. Here are four ways … Read More “4 Ways in Which the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is Unique” »
This is sermon based on 1 John 4:7-12 that I preached at the Spanish congregation at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction In addition to my role as a pastor at Queen Street Baptist Church, I also teach the New Testament at Tyndale University College. There are a number of differences between the two roles, even … Read More “Advent Four: Love” »
This Sunday is the first of the advent season. Growing up in the Pentecostal church, this is a tradition that I was unfamiliar with until Steve and I were married and I began to attend the Baptist church where he was a youth pastor. It was there that I found the Christmas season come alive … Read More “Advent Reflections. | Ramblings about faith, hope and love” »
When we think of Christmas, we think of the manger and the shepherds and many other images. How many of us think of the cross? The word Christmas actually comes from Christ’s Mass. If you know anything about the Catholic concept of Mass, you will know that is a celebration of the crucifixion of Jesus. … Read More “Advent Three: The Cross” »
I thought I would celebrate Advent by having a series of posts on Jesus. I will start with the virgin birth. I will not try and prove the virgin birth but will discuss the purpose of the virgin birth. Some skeptics would suggest that Matthew and Luke were forced into inventing a virgin birth because … Read More “Advent One: Virgin Birth” »
John 1:1-13 Introduction One of the things that I find very interesting is the near universal fear of darkness, at least at some point in our life. We do not teach children to fear darkness, they figure it out on their own. My children will ask to have their light left on or their door … Read More “You Light Up My Life” »
Mark 1:1-8 Introduction What are the images that we have of Christmas? Probably the typical nativity scene. We see a proud Joseph and Mary with adoring shepherds and wise men and submissive animals, all surrounding the Christ child sleeping peacefully in the manger. We are left wondering what the purpose of all this is for? … Read More “Sin is the Reason for the Season” »
Matthew 1:1-18 Introduction Communicators know very well that how you begin greatly affects how people listen to everything else you say. That is true for how we speak and how we write. People are looking for clues in your introduction that will indicate where you are going and will help them to interpret the rest … Read More “Notice the Women” »
