July 31, 2022Exodus 20: 17 I have friends and former colleagues who teach marketing and advertising at the college in Sudbury and I really hope that they aren’t listening or reading this online this morning. Click here for service When I worked as a journalist, the newsroom folks always considered advertising a necessary evil … after all it paid the bills, but…

July 24, 2022Exodus 20: 12-16For the parents and grandparents among us, this might sound familiar… Click here for service You give your child some instructions aimed at keeping them out of trouble or protecting them from harm … like don’t climb that tree … or don’t run around the pool … and the response is simply “why?” You try your best to…

Exodus 20: 3-11July 17, 2022 God’s grace and peace be with you… For the past few weeks, a few moments of each Sunday service have been set aside for silent reflection … for contemplation … and for prayer. Click here for service The plan is for this time of stillness to remain part of our worship until we host our “Back to…

July 3, 2022Ruth 4: 1-18Pentecost +4 In my college days, I would visit New York City on a regular basis. This was the time before the city got sanitized … if you watch a police movie from the ‘70s, you can see what the streets looked like. Click here for service During one of my first solo adventures in the city, I…

June 26, 2022Ruth 3: 1-18Pentecost +3 If you ever want to scandalize someone who’s studying the Bible, just tell them that when a body part is mentioned, it really refers to a different body part. A few years back, I was in an Old Testament course at Conrad Grebel in Waterloo. Click here for service For some reason, the seminary wasn’t offering…

June 19, 2022Ruth 2: 1-23Pentecost +2 When last we were with Naomi and Ruth, they had arrived at Bethlehem just as the city and region were enjoying the first bountiful harvest in years. Click here for service The two widows had left Moab because their prospects for the future seemed dim after the deaths of their husbands.  Naomi had decided to return…

June 12, 2022Ruth 1: 1-22Trinity Sunday It is a chaotic time in Judea. Click here for service It is an in-between time before the rise of kings and judges had been left to handle leadership duties. For the most part, the people were left to their own devices. So, there was a lot of uncertainty in the air. Add to this normal…

Acts 2: 1-21PentecostJune 5, 2022 The apostles and others have gathered in Jerusalem for the harvest festival … Shavuot  … which is also known as the Feast of Weeks. The day wasn’t called Pentecost at the time … that’s a label that came later when the story was told in Greek. Click here for service The festival drew people from distant regions to…

May 29, 2022Philippians 2: 1-13Easter 7  In case you might have missed the news, there is a provincial election in a few days. An election seems like an ideal time when we can put the gospel into action.  It’s when our call to serve the community … to better the lives of people who are at risk of being left behind or…

May 15, 2022Acts 17: 16-31 This week’s passage from Acts has me remembering the cereal aisle at the Safeway in Transcona.  Click here for service When I was a kid, my parents and I would do grocery shopping on Friday nights after dad got home from the flour mill. While they picked up the essentials, I was sent to the cereal aisle…