Sermon Archive

Text: Revelation 7:9-17 This past Tuesday I was knocked out with a rather nasty 18-hour flu bug. It was a gift from my daughter. So instead of dealing with church business, I lay in bed for much of the morning, trying to encourage the room to stop spinning. I managed to pry myself out of bed around 11, answer a few work-related emails, and then I went downstairs to dine on a cup of chicken noodle soup and a few crackers. I then lay down on the couch, and put in a DVD to watch two of the middle episodes from the mini-series “Band of Brothers.” For those not familiar with it, “Band of Brothers” was a multiple-award mini-series that showed on the US HBO network in 2001, and was subsequently released to DVD. It follows Easy Company of the US 101st Airborne Division during the Second World War, from their training in the United States, through D-Day, right until the days following the surrender of Japan. The Second World War was the greatest ordeal humanity has ever struggled through, and...

Text: Revelation 5:11-14 I need to eat a bit of crow this week. Last week I remarked as to how rare it is that the Book of Revelation shows up in the three year cycle of readings. I said that statistically 1.6% of all of the readings in the lectionary come from the last book of the Bible… while by comparison 20% of the Book of Praise draws its inspiration from the same source. Strictly speaking, that’s still entirely true… it’s just as valid… but what I failed to remember is that the readings show up in clusters. You might have noticed that this morning’s New Testament reading also comes from Revelation… and so is next week’s, and the week after that… and well… pretty much every Sunday clear on up to May 16th… the week before Pentecost. So not only does the lectionary have just a handful of places that Revelation shows up, but it clusters most of them together in one place! Unfortunately it adds to the challenge, because frankly, many mainline ministers aren’t all that prepared to prea...

Text: Revelation 1:4-8 Tonight is our celebration hymn sing. I have to admit I’m looking forward to it, because it’s a chance for us to sing songs of our faith that have a particular meaning for each of you. They might be in memory of someone, in celebration of an event, or chosen simply because we like them. Whatever the reason, it’s an opportunity for us to get together and simply let the song be the prayers for the evening. When Roger and I were putting together this evening’s program from all the requests that you had submitted, we found it fascinating that when we did this the last time only about one-third of the choices made this time are the same ones from last time. It means that tonight will not be a carbon-copy of the service we did three and a half years ago, but will still be a chance for us to gather together and to sing the songs of our faith. …and while we’re at it, here’s an interesting coincidence. Here we are at the Second Sunday of Easter, and today is one of those ...

Text: Luke 24:1-12 One of the things that strikes me about the Easter stories is how truly low-key they are. For us, as it should be, Easter has become a season of fanfare and majesty, of vibrant colours, ringing bells. You’ve heard the term pulling out all the stops? That’s a term for when an organist literally opens up every pipe available to the organ and literally shakes the building in a wall of sound. On Easter morning there really is no holding back, for we are truly celebrating the cornerstone of our faith. But compare all the fanfare with what happens in the gospel... One could be forgiven in thinking that we somehow got the story wrong when we hold it up next to all the celebrating we do. From an outsider’s perspective, one could be forgiven for expecting something more from that first Easter story. One might think that when Jesus rose from the dead, that Jerusalem was bathed in a powerful light, angels choruses filled the sky, and Jesus was unmistakably seen by all people. F...

John 18:1-19:42 & Psalm 22 It is the darkest, most horrifying hour of our faith. It is not a popular celebration by any stretch, and it’s even a stretch to call it a celebration… because it’s not. There is a awful irony in the name “Good” Friday… and while it is easy enough to explain that “Good” is a development from Old English pronunciations of “God Friday” or Holy Friday… the irony in the name makes such a question both frequent and relevant. Even by calling it “God” Friday, it doesn’t seem appropriate at all… because it is a remembrance of that darkest single day where we tried, and for at least a moment, succeeded in killing God. Yet this wasn’t in the way of the atheist’s notion of denying the existence of God. If anything this death was far worse. Keep in mind that Jesus was tried and condemned for blasphemy by the religious authorities of the day. He was put to death by the Romans, who had exalted themselves with their own divine right to rule the world. As much as the gos...

A reflection for Palm/Passion Sunday Growing up, I have to admit I always looked forward to Palm Sunday… quite often because we did make a big deal about it at church. The congregations that I was a part of weren’t necessarily that big on the various days of the church year, but Palm Sunday was certainly one of the big ones. Hosanna, Loud Hosanna, the Little Children Sang! All Glory Laud and Honour, to thee redeemer king, for whom the lips of children, their sweet hosanna’s ring… it was largely a day that seemed to be tailor made for children. In celebrating the joyful triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, it was very much a part of that whole parade mentality. I have to say that I enjoyed it! Who wouldn’t? Everyone loves to be part of parade… But as I grew older, I began to realize how misplaced all of this joy and celebration was. After all, if Easter was the real celebration, and Good Friday was between now and then, then why all of this celebration and palm-branch waving? I beg...

(Claiming your Spiritual Style Part 2) Philippians 3:4b-14 I think perhaps one of the most dangerous things in life is the human tendency to rest on our laurels. We can learn and accomplish great things, but then once we’re there we get comfortable, with where we are at… and we coast… spending the rest of our time trying to re-live or re-capture that glory. We often see this in the entertainment industry, most tragically with individuals who become stars in their childhood or teenage years. They reach great heights of popularity and success in the early years of their life, but are not well equipped to be able to handle the real-life consequences when their time in the sun fades. It’s been in the news recently, but it’s nothing new. Even the Little Rascals had their struggles when they grew up, several of them died well before their time in tragic circumstances, and they pre-date all of us! It happens in churches too… you’ve likely heard me tell the story of one church that I worked in...