Sun. May 23, 2010 (John Friesen)

On Pentecost Sunday, John Friesen focused on the birth of the Christian church. Jesus had told his disciples “the kingdom of God is at hand.” The disciples, who wanted a political/religious kingdom, were told to wait in Jerusalem. Then, filled with the Holy Spirit, they were given the power to communicate in many languages. The Christian church, born at Pentecost, has been a dominant and constructive force in the world in the last 2000 years. Pentecost signifies the formation of a new social and religious movement, a new ideology, and new worldview. Today former Christian institutions (hospitals, schools, media, government) are increasingly secularized and no longer sympathetic to Christian teachings. Gerhard Lofink says the people of God always stand in sharp contrast to the world. He concludes that perhaps it is a blessing that the Christian faith is no longer is the dominant structure in our society. Jesus calls his followers to go into all the world; this has often been interpreted geographically – how do we do this in a secular society? [HN] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, May. 23rd, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. May 16, 2010 (Hannah Dutko)

“Serving a crucified king” was Hannah Dutko’s topic last Sunday. The theme of kingship is strong throughout the Bible. Kings are often seen as strong, powerful, aloof and distant, but God is different, she said. The Lord is king; righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne. Jesus, who in the form of God emptied himself, washed his disciple’s feet and spent a night talking with Nicodemus. His disciples kept asking Jesus when he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel and Jesus replied that his followers would have power through the Holy Spirit. Hannah said the Bible does not solve the problem of evil; rather we are called to ease suffering and thereby bring in the kingdom of God. We are challenged to become agents of change. Paul Thiessen quoted Mother Theresa: "We all have the duty to serve God where we are called to do so. I feel called to serve individuals, to love each human being. My calling is not to judge the institutions. I am not qualified to condemn anyone. I never think in terms of a crowd, but of individual persons. If I thought in terms of crowds, I would never begin my work.” [HN] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, May 16th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player. NOTE: the recording was started late, so only the latter portion of her talk is available.

Sun. May 9, 2010 (Kevin Hiebert)

Jumping off from Henry Neufeld’s message last week that contrasted the world’s view of reciprocal love with God’s command to love without expectation of return, Kevin Hiebert used John 14:27 to flesh out the nature of God’s love in our business dealings with each other. Jesus does not give as the world gives, but instead gives unstintingly without regard for colour, class, creed or wealth. Kevin used that principle to examine the human construct of interest, something God permitted in certain circumstances, but also proscribed in others as harmful to the poor. This was no anti-wealth message - Kevin insisted wealth is an asset that the wealthy, as good stewards, are expected to lend for the benefit of the poor. Kevin used several OT references to interest to show both its beneficial and harmful nature, and also examined the keeping of security or pledges as collateral for loans, noting that God expected lenders to assume a certain measure of trust in creditors who lacked security. Kevin contrasted parallels of OT pledges of garments with today’s pledges of homes against the complex financial instruments that even lenders didn’t understand. Kevin then suggested that Christian lenders consider a radical revisioning of interest to make affordability a higher principle in living out God’s law. Though usury and taking interest in advance is prohibited by God and law, our society allows both from credit card companies and payday loan companies, and corruption is legalized when powerful corporations capture the interest of the state and make it their own, as US financial institutions did with “bailout” moneys. Corporate and national corruption are inevitable ends of this failure, and Kevin pointed out how damaging corruption becomes not only to the aims and interests of their people, but to the wealth of the corrupt nation as a whole. Kevin noted how many the calls for anti–corruption measures, and how frequently they are bypassed, and concluded that a careful rereading of John 14 in all our business dealings can only benefit ourselves and the world. A lively time of exchange after the message fleshed out additional points of contention between God’s law and our own greed. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, May 9th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. May 2, 2010 (Henry Neufeld)

Henry Neufeld, in his talk entitled The New Commandment, redrew the distinction between practical Christianity and theoretical Christianity; the practice of getting the shoves out and doing something, or the habit of sitting around discussing what should be done. This is not new - Harvey Cox identified in the history of Christianity that early Christians focused on following the teachings of Jesus for about three centuries, then for the next few centuries, focused on adhering to a correct doctrine and creed. Only recently has Christianity changed once again to disregard dogma and explore barrier-free spirituality. Henry notes that the Sermon on the Mount says nothing about what to believe, but only about what to do. Yet the Nicene Creed three centuries later speaks only about what to believe, not what to do. This tension was evident in Jesus time. Peter, as disciple, got into hot water with Jewish elders over his disregard over eating unclean things with unclean people. And it is particularly because of his disregard for doctrine that salvation is extended to you and me today. Had Peter done what the Jewish elders directed him to do, Christianity would never have been more than an obscure and private Jewish sect. But Peter shared the gift of God’s love freely, without notion of reply or reciprocity, with all he came in contact with. There was no obligation to return that love only to the givers. There was indeed a free lunch. And if we choose to share freely with those around us, there is still a free lunch. It is up to us to do something, not just talk about it. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.