To hear Jeff's recent messages, please click at the links below or visit Jeff's Blog:
March 7: The Apostles' Creed: I Believe
The Apostles’ Creed has been around for some 1600 years. In some churches, it is said weekly; in others, around the time of a baptism or the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In some churches, it isn’t said at all – but all people who are part of the Christian church can affirm the words in this creed. But what does it mean?
This series is looking at the Creed and its meaning for today. This week, we are looking at the first stanza: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth”. Based on Psalm 24, the first part of the “Christianity 101: The Apostles’ Creed” can be heard by clicking this link.
The LifeConnect Group questions for this message can be found here.
February 28: Olympic Determination
Olympians are marked by their determination. You can’t achieve the kind of results they seek without being determined!
The apostle Paul demonstrates in Philippians 3.12-4.1 that determination is part of the Christian life: a determination to press on, to forget the past, and to make a difference in others’ lives by the power of the gospel.
You can listen to this message here.
The LifeConnect Group Discussion Questions can be downloaded here.
February 21: Olympic Sacrifice
When we think of the Olympics, we can’t help but think of sacrifice. Think about everything that athletes have to give up in order to focus on their sport, and their desire to be the best in the world at it!
God calls the church to make Olympic Sacrifices. If we are going to reach the community for Jesus, we need to step away from our comfort zones and be the church that has an irresistible environment in which people can encounter God and engage in a relationship with Jesus.
At St. Paul’s we seek to encourage people to connect with God, grow in Christ, and serve in community. And to live that out, we need to sacrifice.
Based on Paul’s words to the church in Philippians 3.1-11, you can listen to the message here.
The video used in the message can be viewed (though not with great clarity or completely) here.
The LifeConnect Group Discussion Questions can be downloaded here.
February 14: Olympic Love
With the Winter Olympics taking place in Vancouver, I thought we’d spend a few weeks looking at “Olympic” characteristics for followers of Jesus. This week, with it being Valentine’s Day, we started with “Olympic Love”. What constitutes “Olympic Love”?
Based on 1 John 3.11-20 (with a bypath into Genesis 4.1-9), you can listen to “Olympic Love” here.
The LifeConnect Group discussion questions can be found here.
January 31: MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS: The Buck Starts Here
How we handle our money is a sign of our spiritual maturity. Is that news to you? The Bible has so much to say about how we handle our money, and what it says really points to the reality of our use of money as a part of our growth in Christ.
Harry Truman said “The buck stops here”, relating to responsibility. When it comes to how we handle our money, the buck starts here, too – we need to be responsible for how we save and use our money. Scripture tells us much about this, including our text, Proverbs 6.6-11. You can listen to the message by clicking here.
The LifeConnect Group questions for this message can be found here.
January 24: MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS: Eternal Investments
God has given each of us a business to manage, and he calls us to have a good business plan. As we’ve explored in earlier weeks, that means getting out of debt and living within our means. It also means being obedient and faithful to God in our giving.
Giving is a sensitive subject for many, yet the Bible does not shy away from it at all! Jesus spoke more about money than he did about prayer - a sign that money has always been something with which God’s people need to deal appropriately.
In this message, based on Malachi 3.6-12, we learn what the expectations were under the old covenant…and how the bar was actually raised in the new covenant. Click here to listen to “Eternal Investments”.
The LifeConnect Group questions for this message can be found here.
January 17: MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS: Act your Wage
Canadians, like the majority of people in the western world, are both among the most affluent people and the most indebted. Jesus says we cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6.24), and being in debt puts us in the service of money. How can we dig out of it?
Live within, even beneath, your means. If you will do that, by saying ‘no’ to some things, the time will come when you will be able to say ‘yes’ to many things, and use the money God has given you to manage for his glory.
The message is based on Matthew 6.19-24, and you can listen to it here.
The questions for the LifeConnect Groups this week, based on this message, are here.
January 10: Minding the Business
God has given each of us a ‘business’ of a sort – the business of managing of our own lives and livelihood. Today’s message focused on the importance of minding the business by steering clear of debt as much as possible. Debt is a major problem in our society, and left unchecked, it results in thousands of bankruptcies each year.
The message is based on Matthew 25.14-30, and emphasizes the wisdom of Proverbs 22.7: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Listen to the message by clicking here.
January 3: On the Outside Looking In
The visit of the wise men, the “Magi”, to the child Jesus was a prettybig deal: it meant more than just the giving of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These visitors were Gentiles, being brought “inside” into relationship with God, who had formerly only been available to Jewish people. The wise men represented all Gentiles when they visited Jesus. They represented me and you.
I’m glad they made their way to see Jesus! Like a walk from Toronto to Lethbridge, these wise men gave sacrificially of their time and their treasure. How about us?
The message is based on Matthew 2.1-12 and can be heard by clicking here.
December 27: Lessons from Seniors: Simeon and Anna Behold Their Saviour
The story that follows the birth of Jesus is his circumcision and presentation in the temple. Two venerable old folks, Anna and Simeon, are there when Mary and Joseph present Jesus (as any faithful Jewish family would). Each of them knows, and says, that the Saviour, the Messiah, has come in the form of this baby named Jesus.
In this message, learn some lessons from these seniors about the Christian life. Click here to listen to “OurEyes Have Seen Salvation”, based on Luke 2.21-40.
December 20 "A GRINCH-FREE CHRISTMAS: Having a life that's grace-filled"
Grace: the unmerited favour of God. What a gift to receive at Chrismtas! Too often, we eschew this gift and end up, like the Grinch, with shrivelled hearts. How do we eschew it? By choosing works over faith! And it’s not just people who don’t follow Jesus who do this: think about the people who love Jesus but think they have to do certain things – often culturally sensitive but not biblically relevant things – in order to be ’really’ Christian. Based on Romans 3.21-31, which Martin Luther referred to as the central text of the epistle and of all of Scripture, you can listen to this message by clicking on the speaker icon above.
For previous messages, please visit Jeff's Blog.