As we approach a new year and a new decade, it may be with excitement or trepidation. What will happen in 2020? Will things get better or worse? What is in store for my future?
Through Jesus, God has promised all those who trust in Him that they will ultimately experience the greatest future. We will explore "3 don'ts" and "3 dos" for a prosperous future.
God is our Way Maker, Promise Keeper and Light in the midst of darkness.
Have you ever made a promise only to break it? Were you ever promised anything by a loved one only to be disappointed? Our society functions on the basis of promises exchanged between people and institutions.
The Christmas story is actually part of God’s greatest promise that He has made towards humanity. It is important to connect the dots to understand how the birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of a promise God made to deal with humanity’s greatest threat. Join us as we explore God’s Word and find comfort and confidence in God’s promises to deal with the challenges we face.
What is the purpose of the church? What is the church to do and be?
According to one survey, when asked “Why does the church exist?”, 89% of church-goers said, “The church’s purpose is to take care of my family’s and my needs.” Is this a healthy view of the church’s purpose? We must ask ourselves, "why do I attend church?"
There are three questions to consider when understanding the role of the church: Who is the church? How should the church function? What should the church do?
The answers to these questions are found in three vital words: identity, community and cause.
We often think that worship is essentially singing or playing music to glorify God. This is just one aspect of worship. There are two sides to worship, first, the inner essence, and second, the external expression. Jesus rebuked the people who only worship God with their lips and not with their hearts (Matthew 15:8-9). Performing many external expressions of worship or doing many good works without movement in our hearts toward God is not worship.
Worship begins with the right mental understanding of his nature. This understanding moves our heart to value God supremely. Worship is designed to put the supreme worth of God on display. Once we grasp the true nature of God and value his worth, this becomes visible in the world through the acts of our mouth through praise and acts of love with the body.
Read MoreHave you ever made a decision and then days, months or years later, you look back and say, “What was I thinking?” Was it a temporary lapse of sanity?
Have you ever wondered why smart people make stupid decisions? Decisions we make in life take only a few minutes or even a few seconds, but can have a lasting impact on our lives. The quality of your decisions today will determine the quality of your life tomorrow.
We will explore such questions as, ‘Why do smart people make stupid mistakes?’ and ‘Can God fix our mistakes?’
Read MoreScience and Faith have concluded that unhealthy thinking patterns generally contribute to mental health conditions. Negative thought patterns can play a significant role in causing and worsening depression and anxiety. It is estimated that we think 10 thoughts per second and average around 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. That is a lot of thoughts!
Most of these thoughts are about what went wrong, what is wrong and what may possibly go wrong in the future. Our minds are consistently filled with negativity. These negative thought patterns form in our minds as strongholds and they become hard to break.
God promises that his truth is stronger than any lie. In order to destroy these negative thought patterns we are to first find them, free ourselves from them, focus on what is true and then continually feed ourselves with more truth.
Palm Sunday is a day we traditionally mark the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. It was an event of great insight, great misunderstanding and great hope. He rode in as a king, but not the king the people expected. Rejection, suffering, isolation and death were in Jesus’ horizon. There was a call of surrender on His life to give Himself for the salvation of humanity. So how would He fulfill this call?
Jesus had to surrender to the call of surrender. It was not easy for Him. His life teaches us that as we prepare for crisis events in our lives, surrender is the pathway to victory.
Jesus invites us to a call to deny ourselves and take up our crosses and to follow Him (Mark 8:34). Jesus surrendered to save and we are to surrender to serve. In what areas are we struggling to surrender? Why is it so hard to surrender?
When someone says, I have some good news and bad news to share with you, which do you prefer to hear first? Studies have shown that most people prefer to hear the bad news first, then the good news because it will leave them with a positive attitude. The young church in Colossae became the target of heretical attacks. Epaphras (a leader of the church) traveled to Rome to update Paul, who was in prison, about the condition of the church. In response, Paul wrote a letter of encouragement providing them with an understanding of the gospel.
So what is the gospel? How is the gospel to impact our lives, churches, communities and the world? Very often we view the gospel as a set of imperatives when it is really a narrative of God’s story of good news for humanity found in the person of Jesus. Humanity has experienced the bad news of fear, isolation and hopelessness. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has announced the good news of His provision of forgiveness—a family and a future.
Do you dread Monday mornings? Do you constantly hit the snooze button to avoid getting up for work? Very often when I ask someone about their job, they reply with hesitation, discontentment or frustration. According to a Gallup poll, 85% of workers worldwide admit to hating their jobs when surveyed anonymously. In Canada, 47% of employees aren’t happy with their jobs.
Their discontentment may stem from having a difficult boss, uncooperative co-workers, not enough pay, a challenging work environment, a lack of fulfilment and a host of many other reasons. An average person may work in 8-10 jobs within 2-3 different careers in their lifetime.
Why is there such high turnover? It may have to do with our vocational health. Chronic stress, burnout, feeling overworked, no time with the family, and no rest affects our overall health. Vocational health means experiencing our work as a follower of Jesus with a healthy balance between home life and work life. Being healthy does not mean our current job is the best or only thing God wants us to do, or that we love 100% of everything we do in our job, or even experience “success” or financial reward.
Isaiah 7 details the story of King Ahaz facing an impending invasion by neighbouring enemies. He feels frightened, overwhelmed and hopeless. Through Isaiah the prophet, God asks him to request a sign as a proof that he will support and protect Ahaz from defeat. Instead of replying with a sign, Ahaz seeks protection by creating unhealthy and unapproved alliances with other nations. Yet God gives an unusual sign, “The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” How does this sign impact Ahaz?
This unusual sign spoken hundreds of years earlier points to the birth of Jesus. We celebrate this Christmas season because of Immanuel, God with us. Through this important sign we will learn two vital truths that will help us understand how hope restores God’s presence, provision, promises and purpose for our lives. When life seems broken and hopeless, we must hold to the belief and hope thatGod is with us and restores us.
Many people struggle with three basic questions in life: Who am I? Do I matter? What is my purpose in life? As a result, we may go through life restless, having no idea and wondering why we are here or what God has purposed for us.
People generally will live out their lives in one of these three ways. First, through survival they seek just to exist. They may live without purpose, focus and hope. Second, through success they find happiness, wealth and fame. Finally, through significance they find God’s true purpose and make an impact through their lives in their world. God desires that we live our lives with significance.
The Bible is a collection of the most fascinating books ever put together. It is filled with drama, action, adventure, romance, mystery, horror, history, poetry, comedy and more. There are many riveting stories to read. We will explore the life of an obscure character named Ahithophel, who was a close friend of King David. Ahithophel had something lurking in the deep recesses of his heart that hindered him from living a fulfilled and successful life.
Ahithophel’s life will teach us the danger of harboring the pain of our past and the importance of experiencing release and freedom. Bitterness begins with a trespass committed to us or because of unfulfilled expectations we have placed on others. Hurts can gradually grow into anger, then into resentment, then to unforgiveness, then into bitterness, then into hatred, which can cause retaliation and finally result in violence.
Read MoreDuring an average person’s lifetime, a significant portion of their life will be spent single. Typically, the first 25 years of life and perhaps the last 10-15 years will be spent as a single person. At some point in our lives we are all single. So, how we live as a single will determine how fulfilled we will be even if we get married. Singleness can either be a stage of life or a desired state of life.
At times the grass may seem greener on the other side. Singles may long for a marriage partner to bring happiness, while marrieds may secretly long to be single again to escape any dissatisfaction with their partner. So, what does God say about living single? Is it God’s intention that everyone should pursue marriage? Is it possible that marriages struggle because we have not learned to live our single lives as God intended it to be?
Many voices today say that science and Christianity are opposed to each other. Some atheists claim that science has debunked religion and many in the general public think that the church is anti-science. And within the church, science is often portrayed as either incompatible with faithor challenging important Christian beliefs.
In Christian belief, God reveals Himself in both the written book of the Bible and the created “book” of the natural world.
Because of the consistent character of God, these two cannot conflict. While sincere Christians differ on their views of the age of the earth and evolution, we all agree on the essentials of the faith: all people have sinned and salvation comes only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We agree that the God of our salvation is the same God we see in the wonders of His creation. He constantly woos us through what He has made and says, “I exist and I want you to know me!"
Canada is a diverse country with people of over 250 ethnic origins. With diversity comes different perspectives on how we see and interpret the world. This is called a worldview. A worldview comprises one's collection of presuppositions, convictions and values from which a person tries to understand the world and life.
Very often we struggle to make sense of life or understand how to interpret and respond to the circumstances we face. Understanding how we form and use our worldview will help us make sense of life’s difficult questions. We will explore topics that may affirm, challenge or change our worldviews.
Most of us spend our lives wondering or questioning if God is trustworthy. Can I depend on Him during difficult moments? Can I trust Him with my life and family? We ultimately realize through Scripture and life experiences that God’s gifts are generous, and His care is constant. However, what if I were to ask you, “Can God trust you?” The answer becomes more difficult. Have we ever thought that God may be looking for people He can trust?
Trust is dependability—a deep confidence in someone. There are three questions we must ask ourselves. First, can God trust me through pain? Second, can God trust me with His provision? Third, can God trustme through prosperity? Genuine discipleship and servanthood is having the strength of character to be entrusted with treasure and still maintain our desire for God through pain or prosperity.
Have you ever felt that God has failed you? Have you experienced adversity that overwhelmed you and did not end as you expected?
Adversity visits all of us from time to time. Adversity is universal, impartial, painful, appears suddenly at times, and is often beyond our control. Unfortunately, followers of Jesus often think they are immune toadversity because they come to church, pray, or read the Bible. In order to stay afloat in the oceans of adversity, we must have resolute faith (trust) in God. When facing adversity, faith allows us to see who God is, see our identity as God’s children, and see our present adversity in the light of eternity. Trusting God does not mean that everything will work out to our desired outcome and it may seem that God has failed us; however, our hope that one day God will put everything right through resurrection in the new creation, gives us hope.
The identity that you embrace determines your freedom position. Stop believing the negative labels and start living as God’s beloved. Who are you? It is an important question to ask ourselves and how we answer that question determines whether we are living a free life or not.
Many people have their identity defined by a negative label. We see ourselves as failures and mistakes. We let a bad decision, a negative circumstance or someone else define who we are. Others let work titles or accomplishments define their identity. We package up all of our successes and never show any weakness. We become what the world wants us to be. Some wear religious labels and proclaim their great holiness only to follow in the footsteps of the Pharisees.
The identity that you embrace determines your freedom position. Stop believing the negative labels and start living as God’s beloved. Who are you? It is an important question to ask ourselves and how we answer that question determines whether we are living a free life or not.
Read MoreIn order to be free, we must face the fear, lies and unresolved pain by trusting that God is with us and that we are more than conquerors. Jesus invites us to go looking in our story for the broken and busted up things. He wants to take us on a journey where we finally face the things we’ve been scared to deal with. He wants to bring light into our darkness. But the enemy of our freedom uses fear to keep us held captive. He lies to us and uses scare tactics to prevent us from experiencing God’s great plan for our lives. He wants to kill, steal and destroy…everything.
Freedom requires fearlessness; it means we stop believing the lies and trust that God has our best interest in mind. He tells us not to fear, for He is with us. He comforts us and will walk through the valley with us. In order for us to be free, we must have the courage to explore what holds us captive. We have to stop believing the lies and accept God’s truth that we are more than conquerors.
We live in a pluralistic culture of people from various backgrounds, ethnicities and religions. We desire and make every attempt to live in peace and harmony with our co-workers, neighbours and friends. Within this diversity comes the idea of religious pluralism—the belief that all religions lead to the same God. It is an assumption that all religions are fundamentally similar and only superficially different.
There are many different worldviews, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age spirituality, etc. How do I know which one is true? How do I determine the correct path to God? Christianity teaches the exclusivity and supremacy of Jesus Christ. So, how is Jesus different from other religious leaders?
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