Sun. Sep. 25, 2011 (Jim Neudorf)

Our 25th anniversary service featured several reflections: one on the past of PGIMF and its founding members as seen through the minutes of an old congregational meeting read by Ed Hintz, a second from Don Teichroeb on the distinctives of our congregation in the present; a third from Jonathan Ehling, detailing the attractiveness this congregation holds for those seeking a future with God, and a fourth from Jim Neudorf, whose work with this congregation goes back very nearly to the beginning when he and Grace arrived from Edmonton, looking for a new church that would stand up to the rigorous inquiry he found at university in a survey course on Christianity. Jim realized his Bible-School education was inadequate to the task of explaining the many contradictions and questions the survey course had left him, and gently, through service to the church, relationship with its members, and studying and speaking to the congregation, he worked out a useful theology of living for himself. This extended his abilities to serve in two other churches in Squamish where he now lives, and with several examples from scripture, extended the same invitation to us to take the risk and follow a radical theology of living as God directs. [AP]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, September 25th, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Sep. 18, 2011 (Kevin Hiebert)

Kevin Hiebert’s message opened with Jonah despairing his failure as a prophet, resenting God’s mercy and ignoring God’s dominion over creation, as paralleled in Psalm 145. Kevin led us through the stories of scientists and mathematicians whose explorations of creation and faith informed later philosophers. Although the Aristotelian world-view of the Sun revolving around the earth seemed to harmonize nicely with Scriptural accounts, this geocentric model wasn’t consistent with motion of the heavens to Copernicus, whose heliocentric cosmology was confirmed by new evidence from Galileo’s telescopic observations. The Church had elevated its literal interpretations of natural phenomenon in Scripture to the same level as core doctrine and branded Galileo a heretic, but Pope John Paul II would later praise Galileo for not accepting a contradiction between science and faith: “both come from the same Source and are to be brought into relationship with the first Truth.”

Albert Einstein appreciated the mysteries of creation while subscribing to a view of God closest to that of Spinoza, a 17th Century Dutch philosopher who believed that creation exists in God as a subset of His infinite attributes. While Einstein is famously quoted as saying, “science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind”, he always maintained humility about his theology, corresponding to the weakness of our understanding of nature and the human condition.

The difficulty of reconciling scientific discoveries with Christian theology also challenged Georg Cantor, a mathematician whose writings in the 1880s on infinity and set theory inspired Benoit Mandelbrot, a recently deceased mathematician best known for his work since the 1980s on fractal geometry in fields as diverse as biology, economics and climatology. Kevin described how Mandelbrot’s work has been used in Theosophy, a combination of theology & philosophy which attempts to reconcile scientific and religious disciplines. A mesmerizing video of Michael Hogg’s deep zoom into the never-ending Mandelbrot set illustrated Kevin’s point that our search for knowledge doesn’t have to preclude our search for God, such as when physicists search for the Higgs boson, also known as the “the God particle”. [AP & KH]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, September 18th, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Sep. 11, 2011 (J. Evan Kreider)

Evan Kreider spoke on the Romans 14 text about those “weak in the faith,” noting that all religious groups have someone who fits this category. Paul uses the example of not eating meat to discuss Christian behaviour and sin. The key point is not to judge: we are servants of God and of one another; it is God who will do the judging. Paul stresses thinking things through carefully and respecting others: debate the idea, don’t judge the person. As the new student community is being formed at MSC, there will be differing points of view on issues like money, sexuality, etc. It is important to listen to other points of view, and sometimes to agree to disagree. Issues (like gender orientation) tear churches and conferences apart; in Paul’s day it was the meat-eating issue. Eating non-kosher meat was elevated to the realm of sin. The meat/circumcision issues were brought to the Jerusalem council – both sides thought they were right – and there was no middle ground. They agreed to disagree and to not divide the church. Evan noted that our understanding of human behaviour has changed - 200 years ago slavery was accepted by many churches. Church leaders do not have good record when judging others. The body of Christ is a living organism that demands diversity, love and unity. Strong believers are those open to discussion, willing to discuss differing points of view, and to keep the discussion going. Fundamentalists are convinced there is nothing to discuss. We need to practice listening to other points of view and to take off our judge’s robes and leave them at the cross. (HN)

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, September 11th, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Sep. 4, 2011 (Andre Pekovich)

Andre Pekovich concluded the summer's series of sermons on Women in the Bible with one story about the prophet Deborah (Judges 4.1-16). Deborah was yet another woman viewed as a paradigm of faithfulness in Judges (whereas some male judges were seriously flawed, such as Samson). Deborah held court under her palm tree, from which she gave her judgments, thereby helping to keep the peace within Israel. When the time was propitious for Israel's 12 tribes to challenge King Jabin in battle, she summoned warriors from the 12 tribes to gather under the military leadership of Barak (who agreed to take on this risky venture only if Deborah came along). Only 6 tribes sent soldiers, so the army was less substantial than hoped. King Jabin sent his General Sisera to subdue Israel's disorganized men, providing them superior weapons, including chariots made of iron (not just wood). The military odds were against the Jews, but an unexpected blinding rain and ensuing flash flood mired the heavy chariots in mud, Baal (their god of storms) had let them down, and the army fled in disorder. General Sisera fled on foot, not to Heber, but rather Heber's wife Jael (Heber worshiped local gods but Jael still feared Yahweh). Jael provided Sisera a place to sleep in her tent, but then drove a tent peg through his temples. Andre then spoke on a second woman, Pilate's unnamed wife (Matthew 27.19) who frequently traveled with Pilate and served as his political adviser. When Jesus was brought before Pilate, his wife most unexpectedly sent him an urgent message, advising that he free Jesus because she felt he was innocent. This sage advice was ignored, and the consequences were considerable. Although this series has now concluded, there are still more than 100 women cited in the bible for their contributions to the development of Jewish culture, nationhood, and religious development, both in the Old Testament and New. The ministry of Jesus was unthinkable without the logistical and financial support of women who remained, as society then dictated, in the background. Historians now understand that the early church surely would have ceased to exist had women not championed the new religion. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, September 4th, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.