Author: Admin

As I write this, the rain is coming down and our backyard is starting to flood — not your typical February morning! It should be snowing out, and our backyard should be covered in snow, not drowning in water. But as I’ve come to realize, things don’t always go as expected. I was supposed to be going snowboarding tomorrow with my sons, but it doesn’t look like that will be happening! The Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-20) is a great reminder that things don’t always turn out the way you want them to. You can plan and plan and plan, but ultimately things are out of your control.

Once again, Jesus is teaching a large crowd of people, and He shares with them this parable. The same seed is scattered everywhere, but the ground it lands upon determines if it will grow or not. The seed on the path is quickly devoured by birds; the seed in rocky soil grows well at first, but has no root and dies; the seed that fell among thorns grows, but it gets choked out and doesn’t produce fruit; and the seed that lands in good soil has deep roots, and produces an abundance of fruit. The same farmer, the same seed, but four very different results.

So do we just give up because things don’t go as planned? Absolutely not!! Only one out of the four seeds produced (not a very good success rate), but those seeds that did grow grew to multiply up to a hundred times! That is amazing! As we are called to take God’s word into our neighbourhood, we don’t know what the results will be like, or where we’ll see growth. We can plan and plan and plan, but ultimately things are out of our control. But praise be to God, nothing is outside of His control! In another parable a little further on (see Mark 4:26-29) Jesus shares this same thought. The farmer doesn’t make the seed grow, God does, but the farmer is responsible for sowing the seed. Let’s be faithful in doing just that!

As always, you’re welcome to join us at our weekly Gathering on Sundays at 6pm. There is childcare available for kids up to age 4, although all kids are welcome to stay in the service.

Pastor Mike

Sundays were always a tricky day growing up. There were some things I could do, and others I couldn’t, and it didn’t always make sense to me. My parents wanted us to enjoy a day of rest, but some of the things that I found restful I couldn’t do! I know that my parents were doing their best to honour God, and serve Him with their whole lives, but if I’m being honest I wasn’t there yet. I didn’t know what it meant to honour God with my heart, and not just try to impress Him with my actions.

In Mark 2:23-3:6 Jesus is confronted for doing things that were traditionally forbidden to do on the Sabbath (I’ll let you read the passage to find our for yourself exactly what they couldn’t do). But instead of correcting His behaviour, and the behaviour of His disciples, Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach the Pharisees and others who were present that they were the ones who had misinterpreted the law. He teaches them that the purpose of the law isn’t to impose strict rules and guidelines on people, rather it’s purpose is to free us from the burden of work and allow us space to worship and honour God. Sabbath rest was, and is, a gift to us from our Heavenly Father for our benefit, not a hoop to jump through in order to impress God. And this is still true for us today. I hope that you’ll be able to join us this Sunday to learn more about how we can honour God with the time He has given us. Our gathering begins at 6pm.

Pastor Mike

I really don’t like going to see the doctor, and I think most people are like me. The only time you go to see the doctor is when something is not right: there’s a pain where there’s never been one before, or a spot, or a fever, or any number of abnormalities. Something is wrong and we can’t fix it. We go see the doctor when we don’t have the answer or solution to our problem — it is a cry for help. If you’re like me (or most people in our culture), we don’t like admitting that we need help. It’s a sign of weakness, admitting that we don’t have it all together. We like to be able to fix things on our own, and be in control.

When it comes to our faith, Jesus says that there’s not much He can do for those who are “righteous”, for those who have it all together. If they’re fine on their own then they don’t need anything, or anyone, else. And to that Jesus says, “Okay.” Jesus never forces Himself on anyone. But to those who are sick and needy, to those needing a Saviour, Jesus says, “Here I am. Take my hand. Follow me.” The truth of the matter, what we only really see after we’ve taken His hand, is that everyone is in need of saving, everyone needs a doctor, there is no one who is righteous apart from Jesus, and in that way Jesus has come for all.

This week we’re continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark, looking at Mark 2:13-22. If you haven’t already read through the whole book I’d encourage you to do that this week. Hope to see you out this week!

Pastor Mike

It’s 2am.  Your car has just decided to stop going forward, and you’re 20 minutes away from home. Who do you call to come and help?  – – – – –  After working 14 years at the same place you’ve been handed your pink slip.  It’s nothing personal, they say, just restructuring. Who is the one that you can vent to, who will cry and be with you? – – – – –  You’ve just received the news that your mother who has been battling cancer for the last 16 months has passed away, just a few days after you’ve returned from visiting with her. Who is the first person that you share this news with, who will mourn and grieve with you?

If you’re married, the first person you would likely call would be your spouse, but I want you to think beyond marriage. Who is in your circle of friends that you trust, that is willing to walk with you through thick and thin, pain and joy? Who would continue to come around you even when you’re hard to be around?

In Mark 2 we have the story of four friends who brought a paralyzed man to Jesus. We’ll get into the details on Sunday, but one line that sticks out to me is in verse 5: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” The actions of all the people involved, from those who carried the paralyzed man to the paralytic himself, contributed to the response of Jesus. He saw their faith in action and responded to that! My question for you today is, do you have friends like this? If you do, thank God for them and let them know you love and appreciate them! If you don’t, I’d encourage you look for some, and the best way to do that is to first be like those four friends — to put the needs of others before your own, to carry other people’s burdens, and help bring them to the feet of Jesus. To hear the rest of the story, come and join us this Sunday evening at our weekly gathering. We start at 6pm and would love for you to come and worship with us.

Pastor Mike

In the first chapter of Mark the reader has a clear picture of who Jesus is, what He has come to do, and how He is going to do it. Right from the outset we are told that Jesus is the Son of God, and then this is confirmed in and through His baptism (we looked at both of these this past Sunday). In the next section, Jesus demonstrates what He’s come to do: to proclaim the good news of God (the Gospel)! He teaches and instructs His disciples and others about God and His plan of redemption, but He doesn’t just stop at teaching people, He also demonstrates what this Kingdom looks like. Over the rest of the first chapter Jesus teaches the good news by being good news! He heals, He casts out demons, He calls others to walk with Him, and He does all of this by being connected with His Heavenly Father. He speaks only by and through the direction of the Spirit.

As followers of Christ we are called to do just that, follow Him! We are called to carry on the work that He began, and point people to Him since it is only through Him that people can be saved. But we need to see how He did things so that we can pattern our life after His. Jesus called others to join with Him in His mission, and we need to do the same. It is impossible to truly follow Jesus apart from the body of Christ, His church. We need others, and they need us, and we especially need God. Jesus demonstrated this through His prayer life, and His time alone with God. If Jesus needed to do this, I think it’s safe to say we do as well! Finally, Jesus was where the people were. If we are going to bring the good news to people, we need to go to people who don’t yet have the good news! While it is good to encourage, care for, and instruct fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we can’t stop there. We need to go where there is a need, where people are lost, and bring them the hope and joy that we’ve found in Jesus. Please note, we will never be Jesus, and we’re not called to be! We will never save a single person through all of our efforts, but we can and should point people towards the One who can.

This Sunday we continue our look at the Gospel of Mark. I’d encourage you to read through the first chapter for this week, and sometime in the near future to read through the whole book in one sitting. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!! Hope to see you Sunday at 6pm.

Pastor Mike

Peace – the fourth week of Advent.

Peace is something that has always eluded humanity. Ever since the Garden of Eden we’ve been at war: at war with ourselves, at war with each other, and at war with God. And the reason is simple why we act this way, why we cannot find or have lasting peace: sin. Sin is basically us trying to take the place of God, us saying that we know what’s best for our lives. When we do this, put ourselves before God, we can never know peace.

Jesus came as the Prince of Peace. Do you notice that title? A prince is someone who is in line for the throne, someone who is powerful and who has authority. In olden times, knights would lay their swords on the ground and kneel before a prince in an act of submission, demonstrating that their sword was his to command, that they were below the prince. The prince would also speak on behalf of the throne, so that what he said was law. If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, then we need to offer our lives and all our resources to Him. He needs to be the One who is command of our lives. When we do this we will be one step closer to peace.

The Prince of Peace also means that peace comes through Him. He is not only for peace, He is peace! Jesus came to reconcile us to God, to bridge the gap that sin had created, and allow us to come back into community with God. He is the way to peace, the only way to peace. We need to submit to Him as our Prince and also accept Him as our Saviour, the one who saves us from sin.

This Sunday evening, Christmas Eve, we will be celebrating the Prince of Peace, the Light who has come down to us to show us the way to God. Bethel will also be joining with us that evening so it will likely be a packed house! We will still gather at our regular time, 6pm, but you should try to be there earlier so you can get a seat! The Body of Christ joining together is just another example of the peace Jesus brings!

Pastor Mike

Joy to the World! The Lord has come! Let earth receive her King!

Recently I read that Christians should be the most joyful people and I tend to agree with that statement. No matter what happens in this life we know what the final outcome will be, and if we’re in Christ we’re on the winning side! Jesus promised that no one who knows Him and calls on Him will be forgotten (read through John 10 as a reminder)— we get to be with Him forever! How awesome is that?! This present life with all the pain and sin and turmoil and chaos will be no more, and in its place we’ll be with Him in perfection for eternity! It’s hard to grasp, but it’s the truth, and it’s His promise to us (Revelation 21 is another great promise!).

And so, in light of this knowledge that we have, we really should be the most joyful people around. Since we know how things will end our attitude and actions should reflect that. We should be known for our encouragement, not our criticizing or complaining that things are broken, because God will make all things new and the things that are broken now will be made right. People should be drawn to us because of our joy and happiness, not want to walk the other way because of our sour attitude. We have Jesus! That fact alone should be enough for us to stop and put things into a proper perspective.

Having a Christ-like attitude doesn’t come naturally — it takes practice — so don’t feel guilty when you fall back into your old fault-finding, complaining ways. Instead, reflect upon who Christ is, what He has accomplished, and your new life in Him. When you do this I know it will be much harder for you to find things to complain about.

To help prepare for this coming Sunday’s gathering, read through Luke 1. Hope to see you this Sunday!

Pastor Mike