Sun. Sept. 23 (Kevin Hiebert)

Kevin Hiebert spoke to the Prophet Amos’s injunctions to the people of Israel about their greed and oppressive activities against the poor. He tied Amos’ proscriptions to many modern practices, such as banking fees (higher fees for those who are least able to pay them),payday loans, pet food with toxins used as fillers, the niche filled by scrap-metal binners and bottle collectors. Kevin then quoted from Paul’s injunction to Timothy to pray for those in authority as God’s servants, so that our lives may be undisturbed by turmoil, that inwardly we may be able to meditate on the fruits of the spirit, and thus all might be saved. Kevin noted how Paul contrasts this desired lifestyle with those promoted on Desperate Housewives or Sex and the City, and further takes to task those relatives who fail to provide for the poor in their own families, thus forcing the church to care for them. Everywhere Paul contrasts those with money to those without, and notes that those who fail to steward their money properly for the benefit of others, to not share in God’s grace. Kevin links the ancient dictum “the love of money is the root of all evils” to many modern practices, such as the lottery with its ridiculous advertisements, fraud in the lottery system, and the general idolatry of gambling. Kevin contrasted society’s selfish aims with those of MEDA and makepovertyhistory.ca and asked us to consider on whose side God’s justice will lie. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Sept. 23rd using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Sept. 16 (Walter Bergen, Sandy Hung, Don Teichroeb)

We held our 21st anniversary service commemorating the founding of PGIMF. Our three speakers offered a slice of life at PGIMF, with Walter Bergen, from the founding of PGIMF, and the grace and strength of vision of the founding members, including all those who have gone before - Paul Boschman, Verna Reesor, Bill Riediger, Bert McGee, J.J. Krahn and others. Walter was followed by Sandy Hung, a current resident who proposed the future look different from the past as times change, and the church with it. Last, Don Teichroeb, moderator, summarized the efforts of the current church to stay current and called us to action in the revisioning process begun early this year. An equally fruitful discussion time deserves your attention on the CD recording. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Sept. 16th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Sept. 9 (J. Evan Kreider)

Evan Kreider spoke on Luke 14:25-33, noting that this passage contains phrases that were formerly absolutely shocking, but are now so common that we think of them as ordinary language. Yet if you take the risk to live your life according to this gospel, it will change your life. Jesus, perhaps tiring of the crowds that followed him everywhere expecting miracles as entertainment, might have dismayed them when he told them that family - and its approval - must come after faith in God, not before. This, of course, denies the first of the ten commandments to “Honour thy father and mother....” Yet Jesus himself put his own calling above family approval, leaving the family construction business to pursue the life of the itinerant preacher. His radical thought was rewarded with hanging on the cross. As radical as it was then, the cross has become utterly safe for us - we hang them in our churches, we wear them as jewelry around our necks. Would we wear a pendant with a little electric chair on it? Jewish history in Jesus’ time was violent and the cross was regularly used to kill rebellious Jews at the whim of the Romans. Are we truly willing to take up the cross? Who will go to Afghanistan next week to take the place of the slain Korean missionaries? Evan spoke directly to the students attending, imploring them to use their intellect at school, but also at home, in the church, in their faith life. Inquire rigorously, and do not accept the trite answer. Evan noted that churches which ask relatively little of their members grow large, while churches which ask attenders to pay the full cost of discipleship are destined to remain small. PGIMF supports this inquiry into your faith and your intellect. Nobody asked harder questions than Jesus did - and humanity 2000 years later still struggles with those questions. Join us. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Sept. 9th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Sept. 2 (Don Teichroeb)

Don Teichroeb (our congregation's moderator and former treasurer) presented the final talk of the summer's series of 2 Corinthians, focusing on chapters 8-9, the most extensive passage in Christian scripture dealing with stewardship. "Stewardship is the link between what we believe and what we do." In the early part of the Book of Acts we read about the more wealthy Christians in Jerusalem selling their assets in order to share resources freely with impoverished believers. This unusual action is lauded even today, and Paul referred to those people as "the saints in Jerusalem". However, when economic disaster struck the region and internal resources could no longer sustain the community of believers in the capital city, Paul and others organized a relief programme. The appeal for generosity took various approaches, including an appeal for helping those in the larger community of faith, responding to God's generosity, responding to faith in concrete ways, and even being inspired by the giving of others (the Macedonians not only gave but begged to be allowed to give-"a church treasurer's dream come true"). It would seem that people were no longer tithing to the Temple or synagogues (though we do not know for certain) because they were worshipping independently of those institutions, and so their giving appears to be in response to specific needs (famine) and causes (missionary work and the slowly emerging class of church workers). Paul urged the Corinthians to give "according to their means", not according to an institutionalized budget. In fact, tithing would not be widely practiced by Christians until at least the 700's when the church became institutionalized and required a predictable budget. Don noted that we have received so much, not only from God, but from our culture, our society, Canada's vast good fortunes-and that we hold all of this 'in trust' from God. It is therefore not just a question of whether we give regularly (as our means enables, and this changes as we pass through life's various stages) but we must also think carefully about what we do with the remaining 90% or less. John Neufeld addresses this and other stewardship-related topics in his publication, "From grateful to generous". Erin Teichroeb brought the morning's meditation to a close by describing her volunteer work this summer at Camp Squeah (kitchen, leading rock climbing, etc.), reminding us that we also need to think carefully about being good stewards of our time. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Sept. 2nd using your browser's preferred media player.