Sermon Archive

Text : Matthew 2:13-23 This time of year is inevitably a time of reflection, of looking back over the past year. We recount important events, we reflect on what this past year has held. Of course, when we think about it, New Year’s is rather arbitrary: it nothing more than a line on a calendar that marks a numerical tick. We know that in the week between Christmas and New Year’s world events continue on as they almost always do, and invariably mess up someone’s list of the most significant events of a given year. The Tsunami that roared across Indonesia and much of the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 was one of them. This past Thursday’s assassination of Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto is another. Just because we’re taking a look back doesn’t mean that stuff isn’t still happening in the moment. I think we come to expect Christmas to be a magical time, where somehow all the world around us stops being what it is, if only for a moment. We yearn for that moment of peace, that truly “silent ni...

Text: Luke 2:1-20 A warm welcome to all to worship tonight where we listen and sing of God’s wonderful light. We gather together on this night most holy, to retell the story of an infant lowly who in a very special moment in time, God our Creator into a manger did climb. Some of you are likely a little bit puzzled, and wondering if this minister should probably be muzzled. Yet I assure you, honestly, that I am quite sane, it’s just a sermon in rhyme once again. A tradition from my childhood, from me to you, a gift of the season, and I hope that it’s true, to give new insight to the same old story, and maybe, just maybe, a glimpse of God’s glory. Let’s focus tonight on those out in the fields, and how to them and us the good news revealed. Think of the shepherds out there in the night, tending their flocks and hoping they might make it ‘til morning with no lion nor beast, to snatch a ewe or a lamb for their own little feast. Ever vigilant in the night’s gathering gloom, the shepherds ke...

Text: Isaiah 2:2-5 This past week, I must admit it came as a near complete surprise to see any degree of movement towards a peace deal in the Middle East. Nothing has happened for the past seven years, and even someone as optimistic as I am, was getting rather jaded. I am a junkie when it comes to international politics, I follow the news, I try to keep on top of things, looking for trends, and comparing it to past experience. And then suddenly, surprisingly, there comes this conference in Annapolis, Maryland, where bitter opponents came together for one simple reason: to talk. Nothing more, no grand schemes, no magic wand, no sudden “poof!” and it’s all solved… Nothing like that. It’s simply a commitment to talk to each other, and to keep talking to each other for a minimum of every two weeks. Nothing big… really… and it almost seems to be too good to be true… Yes it is tantamount to lighting a single candle in what has felt to be a rather dark period in recent history. It was a glimm...

Text : 2 Corinthians 9:1-15 It has been said that religion and politics are the two major topics that one should stay away from in polite dinner conversation. Given that historical politics and religion are the subject of both of my degrees, I often find myself wondering if I should say anything at all. Part of the so-called injunction comes from the experience that those who know the least will often say the most. Religion and politics can often lead to heated discussions that may make polite discussions, well… not so polite. But there is another topic that really should be added to the list… we always seem to get a bit uncomfortable when it comes to talking about money. Sure… we can talk about how businesses spend money without too much trouble… there are financial reports every half-hour on 680 News! Yet when was the last time you had a conversation around the same dinner table about your own T4 slip? I’m thinking it probably doesn’t come up. It’s a private matter… really…...

Text: Psalm 46 In Flanders' Fields In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place, and in the sky The larks still bravely singing fly, Scarce heard amidst the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Love and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders’ fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe, To you from falling hands we throw The Torch –be yours to hold it high; If ye break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep though poppies grow in Flanders’ fields. At risk of repeating what John read earlier in the service, there is a power to this poem that has endured far beyond those with a living memory of the conflict from which it came. We now only have one veteran from the First World War still living. At one hundred seven years old, John Babcock resides at a nursing home in Spokane, Washington… and even he never saw action on the fields of Dr. John McCrae’s poem. Yet even so, it has achieved a near-myth...

Text: Jeremiah 31:27-34 Jeremiah is a prophet of contrasts. In one moment, he proclaims doom and gloom, while in the next, he preaches hope whilst standing on the brink of disaster. His words are powerful. Jeremiah has an intimate sense of where and how God was working in the life of Israel, even in the face of the greatest disaster that nation had yet known. He preached and proclaimed, and yet it seemed as if no one would listen to him. He was discouraged that no one paid attention… sure they paid lip service to their faith, but when it came down to it, everything he said seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Jeremiah wondered if anything would ever stick with these people. Would anyone hear what he had to say? Did anything he do ever amount to anything? Only history would vindicate him, and in spite of everything that happened, Jeremiah was still able to see and proclaim hope. It’s no wonder that preachers can relate well to this guy. When I was a student, I had my first real en...

Text : Romans 8:26-39 It is by all accounts one of the single most comforting passages in the New Testament. Sure, the 23rd Psalm is more familiar, but fewer passages have both the theological depth and comfort than this chapter from Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is often read at funerals as an encouragement to those who grieve. Even so, I am not necessarily sure if Paul originally intended it that way. Unlike his other letters, Paul’s exhaustive missive to the church in Rome seemed to be less about individual crises, and more about the big picture. We get more of a sense of what Paul knew and understood about his faith, because he was addressing a church that he did not found. If anything, this largest of all the letters is both a resume and a position paper on Paul’s understanding of the fledgling Christian faith. He was introducing himself to the church in Rome, because he wanted to use it as a launching point for the next stage of his life in ministry. After having founded church...