St. Paul's Church

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be a Christ-follower if I constantly had doubts about whether or not I truly belonged to Jesus.  What could I do to lose my salvation?  Would I know what that was? 

One of the great doctrines of the Reformed tradition is called “the perseverance of the saints”.  But it’s not about jus barely making it through the sermon so you can get at the donuts at coffee hour!  No, this is the great truth of Scripture that reminds us that once we belong to the Lord, we are his forever.

This message is based on several texts: John 10.27-30; Philippians 1.6; Ephesians 1.13-14; 1 Peter 1.3-5; and Romans 8.35-39, all of which assure us of God’s love for us from which we can never be separated.

But what do you do with the person who seems to have had faith at some point but no longer believes that Jesus is Lord and Saviour?  Listen to the message here to find out.

July 18 - "What did Jesus do after the three wise men until he was an adult?" - Luke 2.21-40; 41-52

July 11 - "How do I know when God is speaking to me?" - 1 Samuel 3

People sometimes ask, “How do I know when God is speaking to me?”  It’s a good question.  After all, it’s fairly subjective, isn’t it?  If someone says, “God told me…”, how does one refute that?

This message, based on 1 Samuel 3, seeks to offer some touch points for discerning when God is speaking to us.  The main points are:

• God will never contradict his Word.
• God can use both familiar and unfamiliar means to speak to us.
• The meaning of what God is saying may not immediately be obvious.
• We can more clearly discern when God is speaking to us as our relationship with him grows and develops.

In the message, I share an experience I had recently where God used piped-in music in a store to speak to me – and I haven’t yet discerned what that means.  As you listen, maybe you can help me understand!

The message in its entirety can be heard by clicking here.

 Yogi Berra is probably better remembered for his interesting use of the English language than for his ability in baseball.  In this, the closing message in the “Christianity 101:  The Apostles’ Creed” series, we discover that with Yogi’s most famous malapropism, he was only half right.

The message deals with the last two affirmations in the Apostles’ Creed – belief in “the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting”.  It’s based on 1 Corinthians 15.12-58.

Click here to listen to the message, and find out which of Yogi’s famous sayings was only half right.

 You’re familiar with the ‘F’ word, aren’t you?  No, not *that* ‘F’ word, silly!  You know the one I mean:  forgive.  Just as in the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”, we affirm in the Apostles’ Creed that we believe in “the forgiveness of sins”.

Many people struggle with understanding the forgiveness of their sins, and seek to hold on to the remnant of what was forgiven.  But when God forgives a sin, he wipes it away completely!

In 1 John 1.5-2.2, John writes to his community (which had been plagued with Gnostics) about sin and forgiveness.  That’s what this message is based on.

You can listen to the message by clicking here.

In many cultures, there still is a lack of understanding between Roman Catholics and Protestants – to the point that many on each side don’t understand the meaning of the term “catholic”.  Yet in the Apostles’ Creed, we say, “I believe in…the holy catholic church.”  What does that mean?  (Further, we also say we believe in “the communion of saints”, which is what makes up the holy catholic church.)

Many Roman Catholics think it’s talking about them.  Many Protestants think it’s talking about Roman Catholics, too.  So why do Protestants say they believe in the holy catholic church?  Based on Ephesians 4.1-16, you can find out why by listening to this message.

Near the end of the message, a video is shown, which you can watch here.  (We stopped it at 6:16 when the story was finished!)

The LifeConnect Group discussion questions for this message can be found here.

May 9: The Apostles' Creed - To Infinity and Beyond

This Thursday is Ascension Day – the day when the church commemorates the time (noted in Acts 1.1-11) whenJesus went up into heaven.  In the Apostles’ Creed, we say that Jesus “ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”  What significance can this have for the church today?

Listen to this message to learn the relevance of Ascension for God’s people today.

Have you ever wondered what it means to worship – or why we even gather together to worship as followers of Jesus?  In this week’s message, I looked at Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.1-30 to help us understand the value of authentic worship as a day-to-day experience, and not just a Sunday morning ‘thing’.

The message began with this video to illustrate the point.  Check out the message here.

Probably no other phrase in the Apostles’ Creed gives us so much theological angst as “he descended into hell”.  Did Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, actually go to hell when he died?

What makes the conversation difficult is that there is very little Scripture to help us deal with this.  What we do have, difficult as it is, is 1 Peter 3.13-20a.

You can listen to the message here.  At the end of the message, I showed a video, which you can find here.

Jesus died for all.  Will you believe?

Jesus died.  Yet many people choose not to acknowledge this, or seek to deny it through various ridiculous claims.  The Apostles’ Creed affirms the biblical reality that Jesus “was crucified, dead and buried”.

Based on one of the accounts of Jesus’ death, in Luke 23.44-56, this message can be heard by clicking here.

The Apostles’ Creed says that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.”  We read of this in Mark 15.1-20.  But it seems to make so little sense on the surface:  Jesus, who lived a sinless life suffered.  That must be unjust suffering.  When we understand that Jesus suffered for us, it makes more sense!

The apostle Paul explained this to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5.11-21.  You can listen the message on Jesus’ unjust suffering by clicking this link.

March 14: The Apostles' Creed: God, In our Image

The beginning of the second strophe of the Apostles’ Creed says, “…And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Hoy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary…”

Jesus is God, in our image – but we have to be careful in this discussion, because it’s tempting to create a god who looks more like what we want God to look like (which makes us comfortable) instead of understanding, with Scripture, that God has come to us in human form in the person of Jesus Christ.

Based on John 1.1-18, this message can be heard by clicking here.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

 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.