Sun. Nov. 25 (Charlie Paris)

Charlie Paris began with a Deuteronomic history to illustrate the work of the Trinity of God in the history of salvation. He emphasized the Torah had two underlying themes in its books - that the all-powerful God intervenes in human affairs, and a record of the “lived experience” of a nation coming to an understanding of its role in the world. One must remember that the history that we read today in the Bible was first a lived experience - an oral tradition, and only later a historico-religious text. Charlie then moved to the New Testament and its oral tradition of the fulfillment of Jewish promise in the itinerant preacher that became our Christ. As with the Torah, after Jesus death, people first lived the experience of his resurrection and the creation of the early church, and only later did they begin to write down their oral traditions. As the writing occurred, so did the divergence of these believing Jews into today’s separation between Jews and Christians. But the NT is not a 1st century history book and it would be a mistake to look at it that way. It is the story of faith seeking understanding. Fron the early church fathers and mothers to modern theologians, people of faith are to bring all their intellect to bear upon the issue of faith in the triune God, recognizing that our doubts may not be assuaged, that all the Creeds in the world, though well-intentioned in delineating our core beliefs, may not completely bless us with understanding. We are to seek knowledge of God wherever we find it, and view it through the lens of our lived experience. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Nov. 25th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Nov. 18 (Helen Rose Pauls)

Helen Rose Pauls spoke on the theme of Lamenting. Just as we accept the changeability of our west coast weather, so too we need to learn to face and accept life's changeability. Many Psalms face life's challenges fully and frankly. Psalm 137, for example, recalls the horrors of the destruction of Jerusalem, its siege and the resulting famine, Solomon's temple vanishing, the Jewish upper class and its intellectuals being enslaved, and Israel's neighbours helping Babylonian soldiers capture escaping Jews. Adding insult to injury, years later their captors were taunting Jewish slaves who were known to love music and joyful dancing, forcing them to perform on call. Psalm 137.7-9 calls for retribution, expressing a deep desire for bloody revenge, both on the Babylonians and on the Edomites: 'we wish you were dead!'. The Book of Lamentations looks at these emotions more fully, for they are an important part of life to so many people. Do today's churches have services which assist people who are lamenting? What about believers who sense that life is all downhill from here? After all, there is seldom a a quick fix for life's adversities (poor health, broken relationships). Singing only happy music is of no more use to our friends today than it was during the Babylonian captivity. What should we do as some of our oldest believers yearn for death because their wasteland is so discouraging. Helen Rose reminded us that although good and bad come to each of us, God is always with us. We can open our hearts to him, even if we cannot sing our happy songs. "The Lord is near . . . do not fear for anything" (Philippians 4.5-7). Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Nov. 18th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Nov. 11 (various speakers)

Our Peace Sunday liturgical service was led by Veronica Dyck, and featured a number of stories from members of the congregation of the times of war and how it affected their own families. Stories were heard from the fall of the Berlin wall, of life in the military during the Second World War in Germany, a death in a Croatian concentration camp during the second world war, voluntary service in Canada, a visit of an arms exhibit, and war resistance in the US. Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Nov. 11th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Nov. 4 (Sandy Hung)

Sandy Hung, a resident at the Menno Simons Centre spoke on the Saints and martyrdom for All Saints Day. The beginning of remembrance of the saints was founded in communion, often gathering at the tombs of the faithful to remember and to join their ancestors in Jesus Christ. It’s not often thought of as a joyful time, but it is, and doubly so when you recall that other Christians in other churches are also celebrating this ritual at the same time as you are. Stories abound of people martyred, often in the darkest moments of their faith life, and this begs the question was God with them, or did God abandon them? Sandra hopes that we can be living sacrifices, rather than dead ones, though she recognizes that the cost is a diminishment of self or ego. Sacrifice, Sandra says, is a renewing of the mind, and one should not expect congruence between your wants and God’s will. Nor is sacrifice strictly about obedience. Jesus’ model of sacrifice is to be ours, to glorify God, not ourselves or our needs. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Oct. 28th using your browser's preferred media player.