The Presence of Hope

A couple of months ago, I started dreaming, pondering, planning Advent. A colleague and I got together and bounced ideas off one another and by the end of that afternoon, I had an initial focus, along with the scriptures I planned to use. A couple of weeks after that Byron, Jessie, Ryan, and Lynda and…

Hearts for Abundance

What does it mean to have a heart for abundance? In North America and Europe, abundance is usually marked by the accumulation of things. Are any of you familiar with the comedian George Carlin? He can be rather crude, but he has this great monologue on stuff… He talks about accumulating stuff… and how we…

Walking In God’s Path

I went to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood last week, the movie about Mr. Rogers life. It’s a beautiful story about a beautiful human being, I remember watching it Mr. Rogers with my son. I don’t think I realized how much we must have watched it until the closing song, which I knew…

How Do We Live Hope?

  Serving… walking… performed… casting… burned… prayed… realized… going… filled… turn… follow… prepare… telling… wondered… came out… making signs… give… went back… avoided… have lived… go out… gave birth… shared… able… shouted… spread… wondered… became… restored… sang. Anyone have an idea of what all those words had in common? They are all verbs! Action words!…

Where Do We Find Hope?

Where do we find hope? What does it mean to be hope-filled people of faith? What does this ancient story have to say to our current reality? Today we heard the first part of the second chapter of Luke, in the coming weeks we will hear the rest of the story. This week we find…

Generous With Hope

I don’t know about you, but it’s been an emotional week, the US election, Leonard Cohen dying, Remembrance Day. Whatever your political persuasion, the election of Donald Trump will have a profound effect on us as Canadians and the world. As Pierre Elliot Trudeau stated years ago, “When the US sneezes, Canada catches a cold.”…

Love is Love is Love

It’s been a tough week… locally and around the world… tragedy and terrorism… tears and turmoil. We bring all of that into this place O God… and we also bring hope… and trust… hope and trust that those things don’t have the final say… amen. There are a variety of things colliding this Sunday… it…

The Jesus Business

That passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth is often read at weddings, to the extent that one year, I was tempted to take if off my suggested list of readings for weddings. And a few months ago, I saw something on Facebook; advice to a teenage girl on how to know whether…