Mountaintop Experiences

http://robpetkau.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/mountain-top/

We remember our mountaintop experiences. Some of them define who we are. They effect us so deeply that the direction of our lives is altered because of them. This week we will examine Peter's reaction to his mountain top experience. His reaction to Jesus transfiguration and the visit of Moses and Elijah has many parallels to the way that we deal with our mountaintops. Yet we need to look at these experiences through the lens of Jesus Christ. What do they tell us about Jesus and our relationship to him? How do these experiences help us to know Jesus better and help us to share the gospel with others.

You Have Heard it Said

We continue further into the Sermon on the Mount this week, right to the center of it in fact. Here Jesus presents us with six sets of "You have heard it said" but "I say" discussions on the law. We could take these restatements of Moses Law, as a new set of rules to apply to our lives. On the other hand, we could see Jesus setting the bar so high to drive home the fact that we cannot keep the law at all, to drive us in despair to the cross. Both of these interpretations may be correct, but there may be a third way, a way that tells us about God and about God's kingdom.

Join us this week as we explore.

Down is the New Up (Matthew 5:1-12)

The Beatitudes, the beginning verses of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, are among the most well known passages in the Bible. Jesus speaks of blessing for the poor, the meek, the humble, the downcast in society, or does he? What does that word "blessed" really mean anyway. It seems obvious that blessing has passed these folks by in this life, but what if the word we've translated at blessed really means something closer to honoured in a society mediated by honour and shame. There is more here than a pat on the head and well wishing. Jesus actually suggests a radical upsetting of society, a lifting out of the gutter, a new paradigm for living in community. This Sunday we will consider how Jesus words affect us and our lives.

What are You Looking For

We seem to spend a lot of our lives looking for things. Lost keys, misplaced remotes, the keepsake we kept in such a safe place that we can't find it. On a larger life scale we are often looking as well. We look for the elusive things which will, in our minds anyway, make our lives complete. The search often seems futile, with complete satisfaction an elusive ghost.

Andrew and his friend, John the Baptist's disciples were seeking as well and when Jesus came along> After hearing a strong introduction from John, they decided to change the course of their lives and followed Jesus home. He asks them what they are looking for, and in their answer we find they want to know who he really is.

What is it that you are looking for today? Is it some elusive physical thing or are you looking for lasting peace? Join us Sunday as we ask these questions together.

God Calling

Sometimes when God calls we don't recognize the voice. We may not even be sure we want to hear the voice, to hear what God has to say to us.

This week we will be considering the call of Samuel. God had to call over and over again, three times in fact, before the elderly, blind, priest Eli realized what was happening,  the voice Samuel was hearing was actually God calling.

Of course, the question is, does God still call in the middle of the night?

In the Beginning....

What better words to consider on the first Sunday of 2014. We hear them at the beginning the book of the beginning of the Bible. "In the beginning God....." The gospel of John picks up the theme in its first verse. "In the beginning the Word....." John want us to know, right from the outset, who Jesus was by using words which would have caused his readers to sit up a listen. They know those words very well, and then, he changes them to draw his readers into a new story, a new chapter, a new understanding of who God is. At the beginning of this new chapter in our lives, this new year, it is good to be reminded of what was, what changed, and what will be.

Profession of Faith

On Sunday December 29th, after being delayed by snow and ice storms, Marlene Gibson-Auld professed her faith during our Sunday morning worship service. We are in awe of God's love and goodness.