Most weeks, our worship leader offers a 15–20 minute sermon based on the Scripture texts for the day.
Our regular preacher is pretty versatile. She’ll tell stories, pull together different ideas, lead a meditation, give the congregation an “assignment” to talk about in twos or threes, show a slide show or video, or sometimes even sing to the congregation. The sermon functions to deepen our reflection on the Scripture themes of the day, and often leaves us with a challenge or a question.
Scripture texts are outlined in the Revised Common Lectionary.
The Reality of Return
Today, Rev. Cari preached the third and final sermon in the series on themes of Exile and Return. The text was Ezra 3:10-13, a narrative, a story from the moment of exiled Israel’s return to the land, when they lay the foundation for a new temple in Jerusalem. The story is complex and nuanced. There…
Restoration is Different from “Going Back”
In the second sermon of the series on Exile and Return, Rev. Cari hosts another complex text: Isaiah 43:1-7. Both a word of assurance from a God of mercy and compassion, and (apparently) a promise of favour to a nation prized above all others, the text raises mixed feelings in us. Rev. Cari wonders if…
Lament is Not “Nice”
Rev. Cari returned to worship leadership today, launching a three-week series called ‘Exile and Return.’ Today’s topic is “lament” – which is both a Biblical genre, and also an emotional function which is feeling more and more relevant. Her text this morning is the entirety of Psalm 137… yes, even including those brutal final verses…
Living Bread, but it’s messy!
In this week’s reflecting on the scripture from John 6:51-58, we explore how being followers of Jesus can fill us up while also perhaps getting us messy.
Christian Living 101
Ephesians 4:25-5:2, our lectionary epistle lesson for the day, outlines the basics for how we are to live in community with each other. Four seemingly simple elements: being truthful with ourselves and others, learning not to hold onto anger unnecessarily, practising forgiveness, and living with compassion and kindness. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Not!
And I will give you rest
In today’s text, Micah 6:8, we are reminded that when we are about the ministry of caring for others and seeking justice in the world, we also need to care for ourselves. Jesus says “come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest”. He reminds…
God Doesn’t Work That Way
Today on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, guest preacher Cathy Merchant based her sermon on John 6:1-21 and Psalm 14. After Jesus feeds the multitude with the loaves and fishes, the crowd chases after him, trying to force him to become king. Yet he slips away into the mountains, before reappearing later out of nowhere to save his disciples from the storm…
Godly Play – The Loaves and Fishes
Today was our first hybrid worship service, with some folks in person in the sanctuary and some folks worshipping online. We celebrated our week of children’s ministry, KidVenture, and there was no sermon. However, there was a Godly Play story — the miracle of the Loaves and Fishes — which was told on Friday to the children.
Rebuilding
The sermon for July 11, the 7th Sunday after Pentecost, jumped off both 2 Samuel 7:1-14a and Ephesians 2:11-22. It’s the last week before Crossroads moves to a fully “hybrid” worship, with some folks continuing on Zoom, and others returning to in-person worship in our sanctuary. How fitting that the texts offer us a chance…
Sufficient Grace
For the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Rev. Cari preached in proximity to both the Gospel text (Mark 6:1-13) and the Epistle for the day (2 Corinthians 12:2-10). She detected a similarity of themes between those two texts, and with the events of our week, as we have endured the worst heat-wave ever experienced in these…