The theme of Sundays’ message was “True to Who You Are”. Your Identity, Who are you? How would you answer that question? As you listen to the passage Mark 8:27-38, think about what it has to say about Jesus’ self-understanding, his own sense of his identity – and what the ramifications of his identity are for him and those who ...

Scripture Readings: James 2: 1-17  Faith without works is dead Mark 7:24-37  The Syrophoenician woman’s faith challenges Jesus   Why did Jesus  initially decline to help the Syrophoenician woman who sought healing for her daughter? Jesus visited the prosperous Roman Empire colony of Tyre. The city’s residents,  who controlled the flow of goods, often left farmers from Galilee and the ...

Scripture Readings for September 1st Service. James 1:17-27  and Mark 7: a-8,14-15,21-23 The epistle invites us to consider what to do with anger in our loving relationships. When we become angry with one another, do we always know what our anger is about? Are we really angry with the other person or is something else moving us to anger? The ...

The scriptures for last Sunday were: 1 Kings 8 : 1,6,10-11,22-30, 41-43 Solomon calls on God to keep God’s promise,  Psalm 84 How lovely is your dwelling place, O God.  Ephesians 6: 10 – 20 Put on the whole armour of God. John 6: 56-69 To whom do we go? You have the words of eternal life. In the Kings ...

Last Sunday was Pride Sunday,  The first pride march was proposed by Craig Rodwell, his partner Fred Sargent, Ellen Brody and Linda Rhodes on November 2, 1969 at the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO) meeting in Philadelphia. However the first Gay Pride event was marked on June 28,1969, with the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day, where more than ...

Samuel, was the last Judge of Israel. He was not the ruler over all of Israel. Israel was a theocracy, meaning that God was their King. Had Israel been faithful to God’s plan, it would have been an example to the rest of the world. Other nations would have looked at Israel and seen God’s protection and blessings. They would ...

Are you keeping the Sabbath Holy?  The message was about Jesus and his disciples picking grain for a snack and healing a persons hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees confronted Jesus hoping to put a wedge between him and  his followers.  Jesus said,  “God created the Sabbath for people not people for the Sabbath.” There is much discussion on whether ...

We God laughs at the soul and the soul laughs back at God, the persons of the Trinity are begotten. When the Father laughs at the Son and the Son laughs back at the Father, that laughter gives pleasure, that pleasure gives joy, that joy gives love and that love is the Holy Spirit.  (Meister Eckhart)   Our Sunday message ...

In the story from Acts, God allowed the disciples to speak all sorts of languages to help more people understand God’s amazing love! Pentecost is a great time to explore how the Spirit is ever expanding our circle of knowledge with people of all languages of all sorts ( not just spoken or written, but  signed languages and languages of ...

Jesus was making a promise to those who believe in Him. He prayed” As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” How easily we get divided in our intention to follow Jesus’ teachings. There is a story of a minister ...

May 5th was Red Dress Day in Canada, we opened our service with this prayer. May we find peace, so that we might share peace that is genuine and real, and help others to know peace within. Spirit of life, help us to walk the road of integrity back to the circle of life where we will be truly joined ...

Last Sunday we shared our service with Marathon United Church. The Sunday message was on accepting people as they are, they will change when they are ready. Marathon experienced this first hand. They had a fellow show up at church one Sunday in the winter and asked if there was a place for him to put his tent. They were ...

Last Sunday the message was based on John 10:11-18  about the good shepherds and the hired hands. The difference in the two is there are those who care out of a genuine sense of compassion and love, and those who care because of the benefits, either real or perceived. The Good Shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep. ...

In the post-resurrection accounts by Luke and John ( Luke 24: 36b- 48, John 20:24-28), Jesus invites disciples to touch him. In Luke, Jesus asks the disciples to examine his wounded hands and feet and then invites them to touch and see. In the Gospel of John, Jesus instructs Thomas to touch his wounded hands and side because Thomas had ...

Second Sunday of Easter Thomas is brave. Even though he may have doubts, Thomas is the brave disciple. While all of the other disciples are holed up, Thomas is nowhere to be found. Scripture doesn’t tell us where Thomas is, but it is clear that he isn’t seeking safety behind locked doors. Thomas only speaks in the Gospel of John. ...