Questionable Living: Leaving Our Nets
Mark 1:16-20 – “As (Jesus) went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!” They left their nets immediately and followed him. Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their boat mending nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”
Jesus has returned from his experience in the wilderness and he is a man on fire. He has a gospel to preach; a Kingdom to proclaim. He soon encounters four men going about their business and offers them an exchange: ‘Leave everything you’re competent in and follow me into uncertainty’. This Sunday we’ll explore this: Why in the world did they say yes?
*Editors note: There was wonderful interaction and questions from the congregation throughout this talk (notably from our youth). We’ve tried to optimize the recording to allow you to hear the questions/comments… There is notable “hiss” during these portions of the recording, and some of the comments are still difficult to make out due to the constraints of our recording equipment.
Questionable Living: Wilderlove
“At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,”
The very next thing Jesus encounters following the amazing event of his baptism… is the wilderness. He comes up, soaking wet, the waters of the Jordan river dripping off him. The Spirit descends on him like a dove and he hears the words of God: “You are my Son whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” And then that same Spirit sends him into the wilds of the Judean country-side to be tempted by Satan. This Sunday we ask the question: “What’s up with that?”
Questionable Living: The Voice Of The Father
“You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
This week we continue our teaching series that considers what it means to live lives that provoke questions. In this talk, we’re going to put this declaration of the Father about Jesus right into the foundation of Jesus’ understanding of himself. How did this affect how he lived his life and conducted his ministry?
What would look different in your life if you could hear these words spoken over you? Was this just God the Father addressing God the son, uniquely? Or does this reveal something of the heart of God towards you and me too? What would be transformed in the knowledge that God loves you, specifically, that your being in this world causes Him pleasure?
***Spoiler alert, I think a deep revelation of this would result in change that would cause our friends to start asking some questions.
Questionable Living: Radically Transformed By The Love of God
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
Jesus lived his life in such a way that He never seemed to need an icebreaker with people. Wherever He went, questions would follow. His words, His actions and His very presence provoked curiosity. In this new series we’re going to take some time to consider how, like Jesus, God is calling us into “questionable living” (hint: isn’t so much about “mission”… it’s about the radical love of God).
All-Circumstances-Kind-Of-Thankfulness
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
In his first letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul encourages his hearers to “give thanks in all circumstances”. He goes on to say “…for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It’s worth noting that this is a community of people who knows a thing or two about “all circumstances”. They are, in the time of his writing, part of the suffering church. They are under persecution. Whatever their thankfulness is about, it’s not grounded in anything we might understand as “the good life” as it is typically sold to us these days.
Thanksgiving, while it’s not part of the traditional Christian calendar of Holy-days, in many ways, it can be among the most Christ-oriented days of the year. This Sunday we’re going to ask the question, “What needs to be true so that, in Christ, all of us can share in this all-circumstances-kind-of-thankfulness that Paul is championing?”
Guest Speaker: David Ruis – Sharing
David Ruis, National Director of Vineyard Canada, brings a powerful message about the nature of sharing in the Kingdom. Sharing resources, sharing space, sharing life.
A Listening People
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Mark 4:24-25 ‘”Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”‘
Discipleship distilled: What is God saying? What is my response?
Mission of the Church distilled: What is God saying? What is our response?
Ruckus Making God: The God Of Abraham
The Ruckus-Making God: The Way In Is The Way On
Speaker: Wayne MacQueen
Here we look at the story of Barnabas, zeroing in on Acts 13 and highlight how he (and Paul) strongly urged the new believers to continue in the grace of God. Why must we be strongly urged to continue in the grace of God? How does a ruckus-making God factor into this exhortation to continue in the grace of God?
