Sermons
Communion of Saints
This is a great hope to us who are alive, that our lives do matter, and that when we die, who and what we are persists. This hope allows us to live and to die well, to offer ourselves in life and in death to the God who is able to transform us from lifeless corpses, into the communion of saints. Read More
Luther's Legacy
While Martin Luther was provocative, opinionated and belligerent at times, he was also very much aware that none of us escape the taint of sin. Sin touches everything we do, even our most noble efforts, and we can’t escape it. While we should not intentionally sin, we have to act, so we should act with bold trust... Read More
Saying Thanks Can Make You Well
Psychologists have discovered that people who are grateful on a regular basis are healthier in many ways: they have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, less anxiety and depression, fewer symptoms of illness, and are less bothered by aches and pains when they are sick; they sleep better, get more hours... Read More
Worldwide Community
The Lord's Supper - Communion - cannot be an empty ritual which has nothing to do with the attempt to be in community, to communicate, to reach out across the boundaries of our own families and support each other. Communion cannot be separated from our efforts to help and support and learn from each other. In the... Read More
God With Us? - Not?
There are molecules of water flowing through the Red Deer River today that touched Jesus at his baptism, and there are molecules that touched Jesus that day in the Jordan, in every font, at every baptism. Water connects us. Water itself is a sign of God’s grace, a sacrament of a God who is both with us and within... Read More
Celebrating Creation
The Bible begins with storm and chaos and darkness and deep. The story in the first chapter of Genesis is a pastoral message addressed to a people in exile, to a people in chaos. There need be no conflict between a scientific account of how life came into being, and the deep spiritual meaning of these biblical... Read More
Manna in the Wilderness
The story of the Exodus is our story. It is the story of a group of people who find themselves in a wilderness where they do not know how to sustain themselves. And whenever we find ourselves in situations which are new and unexpected, situations for which we are unprepared, we will find ourselves with similar... Read More
Love Is Not a Motherhood Issue
Jesus said, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” In other words, the commandment to love is defined by the story of Jesus’ life and work. We know what love means because of Jesus’ life; we know what love costs because of what it cost him; we know that love is worth that cost because of his resurrection. Read More
That Sinking Feeling
There is something utterly essential about taking risks in life. If we never step out and try walking on the water, we never risk anything, but our lives become safe, comfortable and boring. We lose the sense of the zest and challenge of life. We simply exist. Read More
Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer
Conformity is absolutely essential to the functioning of an army. But in contrast, the apostle Paul tells us that non-conformity is absolutely essential to the way God wants us to live together. But it is a very unique kind of non-conformity. The non-conformity of a spiritual life is not simply rebellion against... Read More