Sun. Jan. 25, 2009 (J. Evan Kreider)

J. Evan Kreider spoke from three lectionary texts to illustrate God raising up new voices to tell us age-old truths. In the book of Jonah, a satire with some clearly fanciful elements, marks powerfully the honesty of its protagonist. Jonah, called twice to follow God’s call, finally heeds Him, and prophecies to Nineveh. The prophecy takes less than a verse of the book, and, stunningly, the citizens, right up to and including the King, repent in sackcloth and ashes, and are not destroyed. Jonah reacts badly to the effects of his own prophecy. He did not understand his own message - that anyone can repent and be forgiven by God. In the 1Corinthians passage, Paul asks people not to be so invested in the rituals of their present life, for the more important task is to live as if the end times were coming. Last, in Mark 1, Evan explains the beauty of the brevity of Mark’s stories as only a reminder for people who already knew the full story through oral tradition. Evan notes that we, like the citizens of Nineveh are called to repent: from the voices of false prophets like financial advisors, with pensions at risk and profits eroded; from voices speaking truth such as Barack Obama, who called to people and commerce alike to political and economic repentance; from Al Gore, speaking the voice of environmental repentance; and when the church was strangely silent on torture at Guantanamo, God raised up other secular voices to call society and the President to repentance. Despite this, Evan notes how hard it is for him to hear calls to repentance. He will not sell his house and give the money to the poor. A two-degree rise in temperature is hard to understand. But Evan calls to us not to despair - God will raise up new voices to call us all to repentance, and when we truly hear the call, the path will seem easy, and the burden will be light. Because the end times are indeed near. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Jan. 25th, 2009 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Jan. 18, 2009 (Rosemary Monreau)

Rosemary Monreau was our guest speaker, representing the Lingana Foundation which seeks to teach reconciliation to Muslim teenagers in war-torn areas in Darfur (about the size of Alberta), Chad, Central Africa, etc. To help introduce us to the problems she is addressing, she brought and displayed powerful drawings created by students which depict graphic scenes from fighting in the villages from which they had to flee. 1 Samuel 3.1 tells us that "The Word of the Lord was rare in those days"; many of the ideas concerning reconciliation are rarely or never heard today in parts of Africa beset with feuds carried on for generations and with very serious family violence issues. Monreau hopes that, as Christians live a life of reconciliation among these peoples, individuals will come to know the love of God, even if not the specific ways and thinking of Christianity. She is therefore interested in promoting reconciliation through living a life of compassion. By consistently showing compassion, Muslim individuals (who respect Jesus as a prophet, though not as the greatest prophet) may ask new questions. Her dream is to train some 1,800 young people (11-18) in thinking about reconciliation for a year, and then have the older students help spread the ideas. She requests our prayers, financial support and volunteers willing to work on the foundation's behalf in Vancouver. [JEK]

Sun. Jan. 11, 2009 (Steve Berg)

Steve Berg (Conference Pastor of the BC MB Conference) spoke on a number of texts, starting with the famous passage in Isaiah 55.1-3 which invites all who "hunger and thirst" for that which has lasting value. By inviting Israel to feast and dine, without paying, Isaiah recalls celebrations in antiquity sponsored by monarchs at the beginning of their reigns. Jesus offers a similar call, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness", and Psalm 42:1 set a similar idea to music ("As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God"). People universally have voids in their lives which need satisfying. To this, Jesus adds the concept of seeking "righteousness" in ways that only a spiritual community can satisfy. Jesus' teachings show that the spiritual life is similar to eating and drinking, for in both cases we must eventually return for more. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Jan. 11th, 2009 using your browser's preferred media player.