|
|
Sermon: Good Christian teachings point us to Jesus and remind us of our place in heaven. |
 |
 |
 |
|
Philippians 4:1 "Is It Alive?" A sermon by the Rev Roland Kubke February 28, 2010
2nd Sunday in Lent: Jeremiah 26:8-15; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35
Every year or so, as spring approaches, countless Canadians fumble through their junk drawers looking for vegetable seeds. They look for the seeds that they seem to have forgotten to plant year after year and wonder if they can't somehow use them this year for a change. The problem is that sometimes those seeds are really old. Very old seed may not sprout, and it is a shame to put all the work into planting them and to invest all the time into waiting for them to sprout only to have nothing come up. In our short growing season, you can run out of time if that happens. What is a person to do when confronted with a drawer full of seeds that are ready to receive their pensions? Well, instead of simply throwing those seeds out, or taking a risk in finding out the hard way if they are alive, there is a test you can do on them. You can put a few onto a damp paper towel and put that towel into a plastic bag. After a few days, if most of them have sprouted, then you know the packet of seeds is still good. That test is called a viability test and it's a handy test to assure you that you are not wasting your time sowing suspect seeds. Sometimes people wish that they had a similarly easy test when it comes to checking out what is happening in pulpits nowadays. In one church, a pastor will firmly and convincingly preach about the grave sinfulness of homosexual activity or of abortions, or casual sexual relationships, or gambling. In the church next door, another pastor will proclaim that these are not sins at all and are only choices. On it goes with one teaching after another, not just on social issues but also on some of the most basic doctrines of faith. In the end, honest, sincere Christians are often left totally confused. They wonder how they can know which teachings are right. They wonder, "How in the world can I stand firm in the Lord when Christian pulpits are pulling me in two directions at once?" Well, there is a viability test that Christians can use. There is a test that Christians can use that can give them a good idea about which teachings will lead to life. Paul gives us a clue about that test in our epistle lesson this morning. You see, Paul points us not to this life, but to the next. He reminds us, "Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord, Jesus Christ." Paul reminds us that if our teachings show us Jesus as Saviour, then we will be able to stand firm in the face of those people who are the enemies of the cross of Christ. That is our viability test. Do the teachings we hear point us to Jesus and to what only He has done so that you might have eternal life? If they do, we can be sure those teachings are worth hearing them! |
|
Read more...
|
|
Sermon: The things we say about our faith need to be supported by the things that we do in faith. |
|
|
|
|
Romans 10:9 "The Actions that Give Life to Words" A sermon by the Rev. Roland Kubke February 21,2010
First Sunday in Lent: Deuteronomy 26:5-10; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13
William Shakespeare observed in one of his plays, “People who talk much don’t do much.” There are many people who would agree with that. It seems that some of the people who are the least reliable for getting things done also seem to be the most gifted at talking themselves out of responsibility. There simply is no shortage of people who would rather talk about things than actually do anything! How important it is for actions to support your words! In our text today, Paul wrote, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Your mouth is all about words and your heart is about the things that move you to do the things that you do. Faith is about motives, motives so strong that you can’t help put into practise the things that confess and the things that you believe. Thank God that He moves us not just to speak the words of faith, but to live our faith in gratitude to Christ! |
|
Read more...
|
|
Sermon: Your personal relationship with Jesus matters to all Christians. |
|
|
|
|
Jeremiah 1:4 “Formed for a Purpose” A sermon by the Rev. Roland Kubke January 31, 2010
Lessons for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany: Jeremiah 1:4-10; 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13; Luke 4:31-44
The interest in the Vancouver Olympics is really rising as we come close to this popular event. In the lead up to it, there have been a number of stories in the news and in magazines and on TV about individual athletes. Some of those documentaries have mentioned the fact that it is certainly very costly to become an athlete of that caliber. It is not just costly in the fact that such people often have to quit their jobs to train full time. It is not just costly in equipment and travel and other things that actually cost a great deal of money over time. It is also costly in how the commitment to be an Olympic class athlete takes these people away from family and friends. It is costly in the risk to life and limb as athletes keep pushing their bodies to the limit. Eventually, something breaks down, or worse, a misfortune during a race can lead to lifelong injury and the loss at a chance to win a medal. Why do athletes do it? Certainly, a huge part of this has to do with the will to achieve something personally. There is much to be said about the desire to be the best in the world at something. Part of it has to do with the fame and the adulation many athletes receive. Sports facilities get named after some. Main roads in cities like Spruce Grove get named after others. Then again, there is the chance to make big bucks with promotional contracts. A big part of it, though, is more than just personal. A big part of it has to do with representing your country. If Olympic athletes only competed as individuals, chances are pretty good that the Olympics wouldn’t be the big deal that it is for so many people. Instead, the fans see this very much in a community spirit. It is not just an individual Canadian athlete, but Canada as a country that stands to win in the minds of many people. We speak of how many metals Canada can take home and how well Canada has done and every other country speaks the same way. The sense of national pride is so important to so many people that tax payers are willing to allow their government to spend billions of dollars on something like hosting an Olympics just so that Canada can have a place in the limelight alongside the individual athletes that compete under the Canadian flag. This is something that holds true when it comes to spiritual things, too. We often talk about faith as being something that belongs to individuals. We see it as something that individuals experience and we see the life of faith as the life that individuals lead. Yet, those individual experiences and individual risks and individual blessings that come out of faith are not just about specific people. What you experience actually belongs to all believers on some level. What each of us encounters in our relationship with Jesus Christ has an influence on the entire nation of believers. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Sermon: Sometimes it takes time for the right thing to be proven right. |
|
|
|
|
Luke 5:1-11 “The Smart Thing” A sermon by the Rev Roland Kubke February 7, 2010
5th Sunday after Epiphany: Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 14:12-20; Luke 5:1-11
Have you ever been surprised when you have tried to do something you often do, but this time it didn’t work? What is the first thing you do when that happens? Well, you try it again, but this time you pay more attention to what you are doing. If it doesn’t work at the second attempt, then you try a third time, but the third time you probably use more force. If it still doesn’t work, what happens next depends on how smart you are. If you are smart, you try to tackle the problem in a new way. You try a different key or put in a new battery or unplug and re-plug the system. You may even simply give up and come back to it at another time when your mind might be clearer. Generally, you would assume only a foolish person would simply keep trying to do the thing that used to work before and to do it over and over and over again. We come across something like that in our Gospel lesson this morning. The disciples, who were all very experienced fishermen, went fishing. They did what worked for them many times in the past. They used the techniques that worked best for them. They had gone out at night. At night, they would hang a lantern from a pole. The fish would be attracted to the light and they would be easier to catch with their nets. That night, things were different. There weren’t any fish; the nets remained empty. The disciples did the smart thing. They called it a night, went back to shore and were still doing the necessary maintenance work on their nets when Jesus arrived with a huge crowd of followers. The disciples were smart enough to not do the same thing over and over again when what they were doing simply didn’t work. This is where our Gospel lesson gets very interesting. There are times when our Lord Jesus asks us to do something that doesn’t seem smart at all at first glance. Sometimes He asks us to persist in doing the very same things that don’t seem to work for us in the first place. Why? It is because there is something that we have to learn. You see, the success we encounter in doing the Lord’s work isn’t about our own intelligence and skill when it comes right down to it. Our success in doing the Lord’s work is really about God’s promise to bless the work that we are doing in His name. Thank God that He gives us the faith to focus on what He Himself calls us to do, for only then are we really serving Him! |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 8 of 14 |
|
|
|
News
