Sun. Mar. 24, 2013 (Carl Friesen)

On Palm Sunday, Carl Friesen told of growing up in a world of daily rituals--milking cows, shower, breakfast, devotions, school. There were also the weekly rituals of church (without fail) and even rituals for dressing. Our rituals informed us as to who we were and were not. The same was true in New Testament times. Luke 9.51- tells of Jesus "turning toward Jerusalem" for the ritual of Passover. According to that ritual, countless pilgrims gathered along the way, singing and chanting while walking. But this ancient ritual took a new turn when a group of followers gathered around Jesus while he symbolically rode into Jerusalem on a colt. Before long, a song that was part of the singing ritual was updated from "Blessed is he" to "Blessed is the king that comes in the name of the Lord." Then another ritual was upended: Yes, they went to the temple as pilgrims, but Jesus then occupied the temple (it is generally agreed that this mistake lead directly to his death before the end of the festival). Throughout the coming week's Passion story, one will encounter terror, abuse of power, lies, show trials, dreams, and unholy alliances. Some hopeful Jews saw Jesus as exemplifying the story of salvation (sharing food, washing feet, riding the colt) but all hopes are dashed when he is killed. This whole story is absolutely insane ... unless there is an Easter morning. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, March 24th, 2013 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Mar. 17, 2013 (Janice Kreider)

Janice Kreider spoke about the visit of Jesus to the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha as described in John 12. Martha serves dinner and Mary brings a jar of expensive aromatic oils, massages Jesus’ feet, and wipes them with her hair. Feet, in arid conditions, likely had a bad smell. The fragrance of the oils fills the house. Fragrance is mentioned often in the Old Testament (incense, offerings, etc.) and rarely in the New Testament. Judas wonders why the oil wasn’t sold and the proceeds given to the poor. Jesus supports Mary, who is part of the disciples group, and silences Judas. Mary got it right; her behaviour, though possibly viewed as outrageous, is cast in a positive light. Paul continues on the aromatic theme in his epistle: “Because of Christ we give off a sweet fragrance….” (HN)

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, March 17th, 2013 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Mar. 10, 2013 (Jenna Veenbaas)

Jenna Veenbass returned to PGIMF and used her oratorical gifts in a dramatic monologue of the story of Ruth. Aliens, famine, the difficult life for single women, poverty, are issues in this account. Due to a famine in the Bethlehem area a Jewish family moved to a neighbouring country to find work. The husband died, leaving Naomi and her sons. One of the sons married Ruth, a Moabite. Both sons died and only Ruth and Naomi were left. Naomi decides to return to her Jewish homeland and Ruth insists on accompanying her. They arrive in Bethlehem during the barley harvest and being poor Ruth goes to gather grain left from the harvest in a field belonging to Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi. Naomi instructs Ruth to make herself appealing to Boaz; they marry and becomes the grandmother to Jesse, David’s ancestor. Jenna demonstrated that not every sermon needs a theological exposition; story telling with a dramatic effect brings the story to life. Thanks Jenna, for saying things well. (HN)

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, March 10th, 2013 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Mar. 3, 2013 (Laura Eriksson)

On the Third Sunday of Lent, Laura Eriksson spoke on "Unexpected Warnings and Welcomes". "Warnings are good for us, even if we do not like them and ignore them." At that point, the fire alarm went off and the entire assembly laughed as the vast majority of us proceeded to ignore it (I counted 15 teachers/former teachers/principals present!) Even so, warnings do make us aware of possible dangers. Lent reminds us to 'come', 'return', 'repent' (it is time for a spiritual tuneup), 'return to the God whose ways are higher than our ways'. We are surrounded with warnings daily (email, food, poisons, environment, scams) but the most difficult to accept is the warning to repent. The story in Luke 13, telling of people trying to interpret the latest news and why others were killed by a falling building or Roman soldiers. They were surprised when Jesus told them they should repent from judging others and instead, repent so that they are ready, should an unexpected calamity fall on them. The next story in Luke told of the gardener giving the fig tree one more in year which to produce fruit, and how he was going to invest time and nutrients so that the tree could benefit for this one last chance to be fruitful. Laura concluded with a thought I hope to ponder this coming week: "True repentance is not so much about looking at the past and saying 'sorry', but it is about looking to the future and saying 'Wow!'" [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, March 3rd, 2013 using your browser's preferred media player.