The Rev. Edith Baird shared a sermon today based on the texts John 3:1-17, Genesis 12:1-4a and her favourite Psalm, the 121st. Our beloved retired minister introducing the Hebrew Scripture as featuring “old people” got a good laugh out of the congregation…but we were rapt with attention as Edith went on to describe the…
06Mar
Work Avoidance
Yet another snowy Sunday at Crossroads, and Rev. Cari preached on Matthew 4:1-11, the story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. This sermon on work avoidance draws the distinction between those adaptive challenges which require our full attention and engagement, and the technical problems which are usually more attractive to us, since we actually…
19Feb
Looking For Jesus
On this seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari pulled an “old” sermon out of her back pocket, and re-preached it. It’s about those familiar words regarding “turning the other cheek and going the extra mile” from Jesus in Matthew 5:38-48. She got Brenda up as an assistant when it came time to act…
12Feb
“Scripturing” & “Traditioning”
Two “made-up” words to share the process Jesus engages in for today’s text, Matthew 5:21-37, and the process the church is invited into by that text. Rev. Cari shares that she “chickened out” of preaching on this text, when it has come up in the lectionary in years past, but this was the year!…
05Feb
The “E” Word
Preaching as part of the Vancouver School of Theology’s “Theology Sunday,” Craig Perry opened up a new approach to evangelism in his sermon on I Corinthians 2:1-13. What if we approached evangelism not so much as an exercise in Christian Apologetics (having a tight argument for why Christ is the answer) but as an…
29Jan
The Gospel Truth
In this sermon from January 29, 2017, Rev. Cari compares the “alternative vision” of the Beatitudes to the “alternative facts” circulating in the commons in these days. Lifting up Jesus’ shocking words in Matthew’s gospel (ch. 5:1-12) using the paraphrase written by Eugene Peterson, The Message, Rev. Cari offers a passionate call to Jesus’ vision…
22Jan
Changing Minds and Hearts
The third Sunday after Epiphany gave us the story of Jesus’ call of the fisher-disciples (Matthew 4:12-23) to wrestle with. Rev. Cari preached, jumping off several key phrases in the text, and with three “convictions” guiding the sermon: 1. People matter; 2. Jesus called us to “fish” for people so we still need to…
15Jan
Gratitude Feeds Hope
Five days before the inauguration of a leader of a nation “not our own,” but whose policies will affect everyone, Rev. Cari asks what choices Canadians and particularly Christians can make in response. Her text is the greeting of the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, I Corinthians 1:1-9.
08Jan
A Sacrament of Love
On this Sunday when we remembered the Baptism of Jesus, Rev. Cari preached on Matthew’s version of that story, from Matthew 3:13-17. She began with a story originally told (to her) by the Very Rev. Bob Smith, and carried on to discuss what a sacrament is, and even implicitly answered the question, “Why do…
01Jan
Making All Things New
Dr. Bruce Harding led worship on New Year’s Day, with a fresh coat of snow and a dedicated worshipping community! Here’s his sermon, in the tradition of John Wesley’s New Year’s Covenant service, on Matthew 25:31-46.