Thinking After

Category: Sermons

  • A Sermon for the Week of Prayer

    It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything; recovering from a back injury has necessitated that I limit the amount of time I spend in front of the computer.  I thought I’d break my silence with the text of a sermon I preached in the Providence Community Chapel yesterday during the school’s Week of Prayer.  Perhaps the sermon can in some way be as edifying for you to read as it was for me to preach.

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  • “Of First Importance”

    I preached the sermon below this afternoon in the Providence Seminary chapel as part of the ongoing sermon series “Christ and the Pandemic.”  The Scriptural text for my message was 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (more…)

  • The Resurrection and the Groaning of Creation (Video Link)

    My colleague Joshua Coutts, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Providence Theological Seminary, was invited to record an Easter message for the congregation of Fourth Avenue Bible Church in Niverville, Manitoba.  His meditation based on Romans 8:18-25 proclaims the reality of the resurrection amid our current global struggle with COVID-19.  You can view it here.

  • An Easter Sunday Sermon (Audio Resource)

    Last Easter Sunday I had the privilege of celebrating the resurrection with the Church of Pentecost in Winnipeg.  Overseer Gabriel Addo-Asante has shared with me a recording of my sermon.  In some ways, we find ourselves, just a year later, in a much different space.  In other ways, though, it is the same world:  God’s good creation marred by Sin, held in captivity to Death, redeemed in Christ’s cross, awaiting the final revelation of the children of God.

     

  • A Good Friday Sermon (Audio Resource)

    The social distancing measures that have been prescribed in the attempt to “flatten the curve” of the Coronavirus pandemic, have resulted in the unprecedented (in our lifetime) necessity of celebrating the events of Holy Week and the season of Easter in relative isolation in our homes.

    In the attempt to encourage the faithful, and also recognizing that many people now have additional time on their hands, I will be aiming to make available some audio and video of previously recorded sermons and lectures.

    Last summer, one of my Good Friday sermons, “The Death of an Extremist” appeared in the journal Theodidaktos published by the Evangelical Mennonite Conference.  I was able to track down an audio recording of the service in which the sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Community Church in Scarborough, ON in 2009.

     

  • Living Well, Dying Well

    I had the privilege of preaching at Niverville Community Fellowship this morning.  In November, I will be presenting series of seminars in their adult education program on ethical issues surrounding Medically Assisted Dying.  However, from a Christian perspective, it’s impossible to ask what it might mean to die a good death, if you don’t first consider what it means to live a good life.  Hence the title of my upcoming series, “Living Well, Dying Well.”  In advance of that series I preached a sermon this morning that brought Psalm 8, Genesis 3:1-7 and Hebrews 2:5-18 into conversation.  You can watch the sermon here.  (The sermon begins around the 36 minute mark.)

  • “The Death of an Extremist”: A Good Friday Sermon

    Over the summer, my Good Friday sermon “The Death of an Extremist” appeared as the Feature Sermon in an issue of Theodidaktos on the theme of “Atonement: What is the Message of the Cross?”  Theodidaktos is published by the Evangelical Mennonite Conference.  The sermon goes back to my time serving as a congregational pastor in Toronto, but it is one of my favourites, narrowly missing the cut for inclusion in Leaps of Faith. (more…)

  • The Grammar of Resurrection: An Easter Sunday Sermon Excerpt

    I had the great privilege yesterday of celebrating Easter Sunday with the Church of Pentecost in Winnipeg.  Thank you to Overseer Gabriel Addo-Asante for the invitation to share in the ministry of the Word on the Day of the Resurrection.  Here are a few paragraphs from my sermon on Luke 24: (more…)

  • Easter Sunday

    I’m looking forward to the privilege of proclaiming the resurrection on Easter Sunday at the Church of Pentecost Canada in Winnipeg.  Hopefully not too many people are scared away by my appearance on the poster!

  • Advent Resources

    With the first Sunday of Advent nearly upon us, I thought that I would go back through the archives and pull together some of the most memorable postings pertaining to Advent that have appeared on the blog.  In the days ahead, I will also be posting some Advent-themed quotations from Stanley Hauerwas which appear in Minding the Web.  Here are some of the notable previous posts: (more…)