Human beings need reminders about how to get along, and Christians are no exception. We especially need reminders about how to love each other while we disagree. Paul draws the believers' hearts and minds back to what Jesus has done, and that paves the way for loving each other well through conflict.…

How do we live with Jesus in a society that opposes him? Paul tells us to wake up to our resurrection hope. When we do that, loving others and rejecting sin in our own lives makes sense.

Romans 12 is the description of what happens when God’s mercy overflows in a church’s life. Lifelong attitudes change, love becomes genuine, mocking enemies are not met with equal and opposite force but, quite the opposite, with peace and gentleness. Be praying even now for how God will speak uniquely to your small group.…

All along, we’ve been saying that God’s heart is to see us INCLUDED. That’s why Jesus came, and that’s the subject of Paul’s letter to the Romans. At times, Christians forget God’s radical inclusion of them and go back to the old patterns of competing and comparing. Sadly, that was happening in the Roman Church. Paul has one powerful dose for that …

The resurrection changed everything! The story includes an invitation, a blessing, and a commission for the first witnesses … and for us today.

I love it when people have the gift of communicating clearly. Paul, following Moses in the second half of Deuteronomy 30, does exactly that: communicates clearly. Here’s what it means to become and be a Christian: it means believing the Resurrection and not keeping that good news to yourself! Clear, but not easy! This is something you’ll do for the…

The word “predestination” tends to get the hair on the back of people’s necks standing on end! Nobody likes the idea of God choosing who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’. Paul doesn’t really mean to tackle that question in this passage but he does intend to talk about what God’s plan is for humanity and how we are included in carrying that plan.…

The world is broken and in pain, and so are we. All of us suffer, including (maybe especially) followers of Jesus. But Jesus gives us resources for walking through suffering: a perspective shaped by hope, prayer to process pain and grief, and the promise of his forever, unlimited love.

One of the struggles with Christianity is knowing how it really works. We can feel shame because we do something wrong or we're not doing enough. We re-dedicate ourselves hoping the next time is a charm. Or we think the point of life is to ‘go to heaven and take as many people with us as possible’. Is that what Jesus intended? How can we know what …

Paul is really getting to the heart of the matter! Many of us who read the Old Testament come away scratching our heads. Why didn’t these people, God’s Chosen People, do what they were told? Why are the early Scriptures so full of failure and frustration? They had everything going for them. God was on their side, yet they experienced failure after …

One of the modern struggles for those who trust Jesus is what to do with suffering? How can a loving God allow suffering? That question did not trouble Paul in the least. He knew that suffering, at least for now, is a universal human experience. The real question for Paul was: How does the cross of Christ redeem suffering? He dives into that, and, …

What does it mean, and what does it look like to ’trust God’? It’s one thing to talk about theories or doctrine; it’s another to actually do it! Enter Abraham and Sarah, two people staring down the barrel of a hopeless situation. Faith may not look like what you think.

We have a problem: sin. It has us trapped. But God has an amazing solution! By grace, he justifies us, giving us what we could never earn. The good news of Jesus is that by faith, we are included in God’s rescue.

Paul explains the Christian faith by pointing out our sin and God’s wrath, not your typical pitch for someone trying to make a sale! Thankfully, Paul isn’t trying to make a sale; he’s playing for keeps and knows there’s only one right way to do that: “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” With much restraint, Paul gives a sum…

Paul wrote to the small church in Rome even though he’d never met them. They were one church he hadn’t planted. In some ways the letter is him making friends. Good friends make us feel included; they let us know that we belong. It wasn’t something that Paul did that included the believers in Rome; it was what Jesus had done and was doing in them th…

The Christmas Story ends with a downer. Dead babies. Few of us know the story, and fewer of us talk about Herod’s killing of the innocents. The message is clear, though: Jesus is on a mission in a world that really knows how to hurt each other. There’s no candy-coated church person experience; we face all the same rotten stuff along with the world.…

The staggering Christian claim is that God became one of us, stooping so low as to be born and, more, born to a poor young woman. It all seems so “un-glorious”. How else could he fully enter our troubles and struggles? He gets us; better than that, he came to set everything right. Merry Christmas, indeed.…

Magi, or "the Wisemen” as they’ve come to be known, were invited to the first Christmas. They didn’t get an angel invitation like Mary and Joseph. They were studying and thinking and God was stirring their hearts as they studied. Scholars from far away sounds very mystical to us but the people of Israel weren’t that excited about ‘people from far a…

Matthew introduces Jesus with a genealogy. At first glance, the long list of names seems unrelated to the good news of Jesus. But the people highlighted in this family tree show us that Jesus loves everyone. And that everyone needs Jesus.

The Bible doesn’t make a huge deal about Jesus’ birth. Mark skips the story all together, John goes poetic and Luke and Matthew tell very different (though not conflicting) stories. One of the interesting pieces is who got invited to the birth of Jesus. It’s a curious short list. This week we begin with Joseph, the man who played the role of Jesus’…

Throughout the Bible, God has consistently called his people to be wholehearted and single-minded. At St. Paul’s, we talk about being all-in. The image is of pushing all the poker chips to the middle of the table as if to say, “We’ve found something in Jesus, and we’re betting our whole lives on him!” All in! From time to time, we have to ask ourse…

Paul is in chains, but he is still sharing his faith. He creates opportunities to share his faith, takes time for conversations, and is clear about a person's choice for or against Jesus. Then, the story ends abruptly with a single word of hope: unhindered.

The book of Acts tells us Paul’s testimony three times, which seems a little overcooked! As you read each one, you’ll see that while Paul doesn’t change facts, he does choose to emphasize certain parts of his story depending on who is in the audience. All Christians have a testimony; hearing Paul tell his helps us find words to explain what our LOR…

A fish out of water is a term we use to describe someone in unfamiliar and uncomfortable surroundings. That’s Paul in Athens. Paul was a Jewish scholar proficient in the Bible and monotheism. Athens was an idol and temple smorgasbord! In this passage, Paul has to figure out how to explain Jesus to a group of people who have never heard of Him befor…

Beaten and thrown in prison, Paul and Silas share their faith. They stay close to Jesus, love like Jesus, and are ready to talk about Jesus when the opportunity comes.

We’ve heard great stories of the Holy Spirit at work in exceptional ways. The church in Antioch felt the Spirit prompt them to do something intentional and put a plan together. The plan was to send out two of their number to let the wider world know of the good news of Jesus. Planning is important but executing the plan is at least as important. Ha…

God was blowing Peter’s mind! Not only was lobster, shrimp, and bacon now ‘on the table’ for Jewish Christians, but Gentiles (non-Jewish persons) were also welcome to become Christians. Until this point, there had only been Jewish believers. The Holy Spirit made Peter re-process the message of Jesus and how He is for all people, every tribe, and ev…

Paul is Enemy Number One for the early church. One translation reads: “Saul was a wild man, going everywhere to devastate the believers, even entering private homes and dragging out men and women alike…” On his way to Damascus to wreak more devastation, Jesus met him. Jesus has a unique way of dealing with enemies. In our story, Jesus invites one o…

As more and more people trusted Jesus, the religious authorities grew increasingly uncomfortable. They had been the ones who forced the Romans to crucify Jesus. The Christians didn’t want to punish the religious authorities but rather called them to repent. They weren’t keen to oblige. A young man named Stephen caught their attention, and when he a…

You would think that people with good news would only be celebrated and loved! “The ice cream truck is coming down the street!” “The burgers are ready!” “The Jays won!”. Christians have the best news to share, but it isn’t always celebrated, and we aren’t always loved. In today’s passage, Peter and John have to face the authorities who are pretty k…

Every person has a story. Humanity has a story, too, and it is best and most accurately recorded in the Bible. When Peter got the chance to share the good news, he used his people’s story to point to Jesus and call them into a healed and life-giving relationship with the God they thought they knew.

Wrongly, some people believe that sharing your faith (evangelism) is what only gifted (or interested) Christians do. Not true. It’s basic to being a Christian. Along with ‘loving one another’, ‘go and make disciples’ is a one-two punch of being a Christian. We’re all still learning how to share our faith. Today, we start a series that tells stories…

Friends and family have always been powerful forces for a person who wants to grow wiser. Sadly, friends and family can also be powerful in the disintegration of a life too. How do you know who to lean into and who to lean away from? What kind of friends have you put around yourself? What kind of friend are you?…

Our words are powerful! Our words can heal or wound, build up or tear down, bring life or carry death. That’s why Proverbs takes so much time to teach us how to use our words well. Good, life-giving words are honest, kind, fitting … and few.

We need good relationships to thrive. The problem is that relationships tend to break down—they need regular maintenance and repair! In the book of Proverbs, we find some basic principles for keeping our relationships strong.

Solomon didn’t want his kids to be slugs! He told them to look really closely at God’s created world and see the way that the world is designed. Among the tiniest of creatures, the ants were a great picture of work without coercion. Without a boss, these littlest creatures get things done! Jesus picked up on that. If there were ever a person who co…

Solomon wants to talk to his boys about sex and how to enjoy it and avoid lifelong hurt and regret. Sex isn't the easiest thing to talk with your kids about! But Solomon steps up and talks to them as adults and counsels adult behaviour from them. The Bible isn’t shy about sex, nor is it flippant; instead, it's joyful and careful. Let’s do our best …

Proverbs teaches us that the wisdom we need for life is found in a relationship with God. We give him our whole hearts, and he blesses us with his love. It’s amazing!

Today’s sermon offers a warning against the external and internal voices that we listen to and act upon. We need to be cautious of what voices we listen to and recognize the dangers of ‘following the crowd.’ We also need to pay attention to the internal voices acting against God’s will, such as greed and self-fulfillment.…

What is the secret to living life well? The book of Proverbs gives us God’s answer to that question: wisdom. But what is wisdom? And how do we get it? The introduction to Proverbs shows us that wisdom needs humility, takes effort, and it begins with Jesus.

The letter to the Ephesians ends with a surprise assignment - warfare! Part of God’s extravagance with us is to invite us into His epic battle against the powers of evil and the evil one’s ’schemes.’ Jesus talks about these things and our ‘surprise’ role in it. He sends us out like sheep among wolves! That’s rather shocking. You may also be underwh…

The extravagant love God showed us in Jesus has to show up in our everyday lives. In today’s passage, Paul explains how love plays out in our closest and most ordinary relationships: kids and parents, bosses and workers, husbands and wives. For Christians, love means submission. Submission means choosing the other over ourselves. We submit to each …

Paul continues to help the Ephesian believers understand how God’s extravagance pours into their lives and through their lives. Last week it was about leaving old habits (lying, stealing, and potty mouth language) and learning new habits (telling the truth, sharing their stuff, and using words to build up). There’s more of that this week as Paul un…

All of us are shaped by the family stories we heard growing up. My dad stole a comic book from a convenience store that slid down his pant leg and onto the floor before he could get out of the store. My dad told the store owner he had no idea how it got there. My grandmother was called and came to the store. She listened to my dad’s pathetic lie, a…

Paul has been soaring through the first three chapters of Ephesians. He has been so excited, so thrilled, so wordy(!) about what God has done. Now it’s time for the Ephesian believers to strap on their lifejackets and get ready for the ride of their lives! Doing life together has never been easy for humans. Now more than ever we’re prone to retreat…

Power and love and two ‘biggies’ for human beings. We crave both. This week, I read that power or love (or both) is the main subject in two-thirds of all songs and movies. Jesus has a few things to say about power and love, and you may be surprised that he wants more of both for us, much more. Except he doesn’t want the false versions that the worl…

Paul knows that the suffering he is experiencing in jail could be discouraging to his friends in Ephesus. He writes to help them see reality through eyes transformed by wonder. It’s a view of life that is amazed by Jesus, amazed by grace, and amazed by the church.

I received an email recently informing me that the US Surgeon General has identified an epidemic of loneliness and the health implications of loneliness compare to heavy cigarette use. We are strangers to each other. We set up walls between us. One of the powerful things that Jesus did in his earthly life and on the cross was to destroy the walls t…

Paul describes our situation in a few ways: as being dead, as being under the influence of evil (the world, the flesh, and the devil), and as courting God’s wrath. What’s your reaction to each of these characterizations? Do they seem true?

Sometimes Christians say to each other: “I’ll pray for you!” What do you pray? Some of you are leaders, what do you pray for the group of people you lead? In today’s passage, we get a look and a listen into the prayer closet of the apostle Paul. He’s not praying for sunny skies and ease of life, he’s got bigger dreams for the people of God.…