Sermon Archive

Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 It’s funny. We all have our thanksgiving traditions… but we often forget that Thanksgiving as a holiday is something that is almost exclusively North American. In the United States, the last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day… for us, well… it’s tomorrow. While they bear the same name, Canadians are far less concerned with stories of Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, or how to grow corn. Instead, when the celebration “came north” it was moved earlier in the year because of an understandably shorter growing season, and was specifically oriented around the harvest. In Canada, thanksgiving has far less to do with the national identity as it does with simply being grateful that stuff actually grew in this harsh northern climate. My parents still valiantly try to grow Tomatoes in Calgary, and while they may claim some success… the reddish green marbles they start covering to avoid the August frosts would beg to differ… You may also notice that I’ve not mentioned a...

Psalm 19 One year ago last week, Sarah, Megan and I had just returned home from a day out. We had returned home later than we normally do. The sun had set, and the twilight was deepening, and the first bright stars were shining through. Megan pointed straight up and asked “Daddy, what star is that?” I was embarrassed, because I couldn’t remember. Up until this point, Megan was only interested in Venus, the shining planet often referred to as the evening star. Yet Venus had long since dipped into the sun’s glare, and so I didn’t know… but I did have my brand new iPhone. So I downloaded an astronomy app, pointed the device at the sky, and was able to tell Megan that it was a star called “Vega.” If she hadn’t asked that question, we would not have our two telescopes, nor would we have thought to have a star named in memory of her baby sister. In the time since, my whole family has engaged in admiring the wonders of the heavens. This past summer Sarah, Megan and I went camping on Manit...