Sermon Nov. 8, 2009
“A Meagre Offering”
Mark 12:38-44
The story of the woman and her last few coins sticks out for me as a great story. Jesus is sitting around the temple teaching and warning the Pharisees about how they treat people in front of whoever is listening.
As he’s sitting there he watches all the people come into the temple to make their offerings. read more…
Remembrance sevices
Today I spent the morning at the local elementary school who were having their Remembrance service with local veterans and legion members.
I was honoured to be their guest speaker and was amazed to see what the kids all brought to the service. I’ve been to school services before and was blown away, but those were Senior high schools. This was an elementary school, and was not sure what to expect.
What I saw impressed me, and made me proud of our schools and students as they actively make it a priority to be sure we do not forget the great sacrifices made by many men and women in the great wars.
So thank you to Jubilee Elementary and the wonderful service of Remembrance this morning. I look forward to the rest of the services I have been invited to observe this week at the junior and high schools in town.
Sermon Nov 1-09
“Give it Your All”
Mark 12:28-34
A teacher was testing the children in her Sunday school class to see if they understood the concept of getting to heaven.
She asked them, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into Heaven?”
“NO!” the children answered. read more…
Sermon Oct 25, 2009 – “Believing is Seeing”
“Believing is Seeing”
Mark 10:46-52
When Bev and I lived in Ottawa, we used to take day trips downtown. We would go to see the sites, do a little shopping in the Byward Market, to do something a little different than our usual daily routine.
These trips were also my first real encounters with street people. People who had clearly spent the night on the street, probably right where they were sitting, or not very far away. You can’t help but wonder about what brought them to this point in their lives. But at the same time, you feel sorry for and a little frightened by them. read more…
Sermon Oct 18-09
“Popular Positions of Potential Power”
Mark 10:35-45
11 years ago I had just begun my first career. I was fresh out of university and entering the full-time workforce for the very first time. Bev and I, also newlyweds at the time had also moved from Nova Scotia to Ottawa to begin this new chapter in our lives.
The company that hired me was in the middle of a period of exponential growth. In fact, a year earlier it had flown me, and hundreds of other students to Ottawa to be wined and dined as part of a huge job fair. They put us up in hotel rooms, paid for all of our expenses, it was quite an impressive attempt to draw us in. read more…