2026 – Currie-Jesson

April 5, 2026

Matthew 28:1-20

“Goodness is Stronger than Evil”

As I was reflecting on the Gospel story for this Easter Sunday, a little song kept coming to mind. It goes like this:
Goodness is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate;
light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death.
Victory is ours, victory is ours through him who loved us.
Victory is ours, victory is ours through him who loved us.

One week ago, we gathered here with palm branches waving to sing “Hosanna! Save us, O Lord!” as we remembered Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem a few days before his arrest.

The Jewish people who formed the crowd on that first Palm Sunday were singing words from Psalm 118. They were remembering and celebrating the fact that God had saved their people in the past – rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, guiding them through the wilderness and into the promised land, and later bringing them back from the exile in Babylon. And they were hoping that God would save them again – from poverty, from illness, from oppression, and from all the other struggles of their present context.

The people wondered that day if this Jesus from Nazareth might be the one who was coming in … Read more »

April 3, 2026

John 18-19
Matthew 25:31-46

“J.S. Bach and the St. John Passion”

On Good Friday, April 7, 1724, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion was first performed at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Through the centuries, this setting has remained one of the most revered musical settings of the Passion narrative. Composed in two parts, intended to be performed before and after a sermon during a Good Friday service, the piece contains the text of John 18-19, sung by a four-part choir and several soloists.

When I started to read about Bach’s St. John Passion, I quickly discovered that there has been significant controversy surrounding its performance in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. Perhaps the average listener without a working knowledge of the German language wouldn’t notice, but there is an issue with how “the Jews” are depicted in the text.

“The Jews” (Juden) are the ones who arrange for Jesus’ arrest, who accuse him of blasphemy, who refuse when the Roman Governor Pilate suggests that he could be released, and who relentlessly call for his crucifixion. In the narrative that is presented, “the Jews” are clearly portrayed as the “bad guys” who killed Jesus the Lord. It’s no surprise that many people have … Read more »

March 29, 2026

Psalm 118:1-4, 19-29
Matthew 21:1-11

“God’s Steadfast Love Endures Forever”

O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever!
Let the people of First Church say,
God’s steadfast love endures forever!
One more time:
God’s steadfast love endures forever!

On this Palm Sunday, our liturgy draws upon an ancient tradition of prayer and praise – one of the Hallel Psalms that were recited during major Jewish festivals, the pilgrimage festivals including Sukkot, Shavuot, and Passover, when ancient Jews would travel to Jerusalem to make sacrifices and honour God.

Psalm 118 begins and ends with that antiphonal call and response:
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever!
It is a communal declaration of God’s faithful love, and a processional hymn that may have been sung as worshippers approached the temple gates.

One of the festivals that featured Psalm 118 was Sukkot (also known as the Feast of Booths) in which Jewish people remembered their ancestors’ journey through the wilderness after God freed them from slavery in Egypt. One of the practices of that festival, still enacted today by faithful Jews, was to set up temporary tents, booths, or shelters. They would have at least three walls and a roof, but they … Read more »

March 22, 2026

John 11:1-45
Ezekiel 37:1-14

“Greatly Disturbed”

This morning’s Gospel story includes the Seventh Sign of John’s Gospel, the final miracle of Jesus that is included by the Fourth Evangelist to help convince those reading this book that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the One sent by God into the world.

Within the narrative of John’s Gospel, this incident in which Jesus raises Lazarus from death, accomplishes two important things. First, it does convince many people to believe – the Twelve Disciples who came along with Jesus, Lazarus’ siblings Martha and Mary, their friends and neighbours, and others who were present to witness the absolutely shocking and amazing miracle of making a dead man live again. The text tells us that many of them believed in Jesus because of what they saw, and others likely had their faith strengthened and confirmed.

The other thing that this Seventh Sign does is that it convinces the authorities and those opposed to Jesus and his mission that they had better do something to stop him, and do it quickly. Immediately following this episode, the religious leaders decide that Jesus must be put to death (John 11:53). They are worried that a sign such as this will … Read more »

March 15, 2026

“God Chooses Who?”

John 9:1-41

What happens in this morning’s Gospel story is not unusual. Or, at least, it’s not unusual for the Gospels in which Jesus heals people who are blind, allowing them to see, at least five times. This is the kind of thing that we are used to hearing about Jesus – he healed people from diseases, from illnesses, from demon-possession, from deafness, and from blindness.

The healing stories demonstrate Jesus’ compassion and care for the people he encountered. And they also show that he has power from God, drawing crowds of people towards him where they will hear his preaching and teaching.

In John’s Gospel, there aren’t quite as many healing stories – only three, actually – because the 4^th Evangelist just selects a few examples of the things Jesus did, in order to make his theological points and convince his readers to believe.

In the Gospel of John, the three healing stories combined with four other miracles, make up the seven signs that point to Jesus’ identity as God’s Son. At the end of the book, the author writes, “Jesus did many other things that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe … Read more »

March 8, 2026

Exodus 17:1-7
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42

“Thirsting for Reconciliation”

Thanks to Jessica Bonish for pointing out that today is International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day (IWD) has been celebrated on March 8^th for the last 115 years. It commemorates women’s fight for equality and liberation along with the women’s rights movement. International Women’s Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. Spurred by the universal female suffrage movement, International Women’s Day originated from labour movements in Europe and North America during the early 20th century.

So, it seems very appropriate that the Gospel reading from the lectionary today is about Jesus having a conversation with a woman. We hear about Jesus breaking the cultural norms of his day by engaging with a foreign woman, demonstrating his respect and care for all people, regardless of social status. But at the same time, we may note that the Gospel writer doesn’t include her name, which happens much more frequently with the women characters than it does for the men.

However, even if we don’t get to know who the Samaritan woman was, the detailed story makes it clear that Jesus knew her. Not that he had met her before, … Read more »

March 1, 2026

Psalm 121
Genesis 12:1-4a
John 3:1-17

“Look Up!”

Psalm 121 is one of my favourite psalms. It’s a passage that I often turn to when life is stressful, when I’m feeling worried or afraid. And it’s one of the psalms that I often share with people that I am caring for in times of distress.

But I realized this week that I may have been reading it wrong, or at least mis-interpreting the first line. It begins, “I lift my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come?” And I always thought of the hills as a place of hope and strength. I thought of the mountaintop experiences of many biblical people encountering God up on the hills, and I assumed that when the psalmist looked up at the hills it was a metaphor for seeking God’s help. After all, in the very next verse he says, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

What I hadn’t noticed, however, was that Psalm 121 is one of the Psalms of Ascent. It was a song sung by Jewish pilgrims as they travelled up to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals. And rather than it being a joyful, hopeful, anticipatory travelling song, … Read more »

February 22, 2026

Matthew 4:1-11

“Avoiding Temptation in Lent”

This message was written by the Rev. Amanda Currie, and presented by the ministry team at First Presbyterian Church in Regina, Rev. Amanda Currie and Rev. Sumi Jung.

AC: Hey Sumi! Your husband sure did a good job of acting like the devil who was tempting Jesus.

SJ: Yes, he was so sneaky and so tempting. He reminded me of the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Except in this case, Jesus was able to resist his terrible ideas.

AC: Every time the devil gave Jesus a bad idea, Jesus turned to the Bible to find wise words from God. He used God’s words to give him strength to resist evil and choose goodness instead.

SJ: But did you notice that the devil quoted from the Bible too? We have to be careful when we hear someone quoting from the Bible to make their point. It’s not hard for people to take a passage out of context and twist it to mean something that is not from God.

AC: That’s true, Sumi. We do have to be careful when we hear the Bible being quoted like that, and any time we are interpreting the Scriptures and … Read more »

February 15, 2026

Matthew 17:1-9

“From the Mountains to the Valleys and Beyond”

For all the years that I was serving as the minister at St. Andrew’s in Saskatoon, I kept up the tradition of my predecessors who liked to schedule the Presbyterian World Service & Development service on the last Sunday before the Season of Lent begins.

It made a certain amount of sense because our practice was to have our annual appeal for PWS&D during Lent, so just before the season began we would dedicate a Sunday to telling the stories of that ministry and encouraging folks to support it, just as we did a couple of weeks ago here at First Church.

However, the other reason that it was scheduled that way was because the ministers wanted to avoid preaching about the Transfiguration – the Gospel story that the lectionary always places on the last Sunday before Lent. I know, it’s kind of a strange story. When I announced the text we were going to be reading in Bible study earlier this week, at least one of our members let out a sigh, as if to say, “Not this one again!”

Jesus takes a few of his friends up to the top of a mountain. … Read more »

A Sermon based on Bach’s St. John Passion

The following sermon was written by the Rev. Amanda Currie on February 2, 2026, in reflection on Bach’s St. John Passion and John 18-19.

As a Christian pastor serving in Regina, it has been a blessing for me to sing in the Ignite Chamber Choir and join with the Regina Symphony Orchestra for the March 2026 performance at Holy Rosary Cathedral. In addition to the welcome challenge of learning the difficult and beautiful music by the masterful composer J.S. Bach, I have enjoyed the opportunity to reflect deeply on the Passion of the Christ as it is depicted in John’s Gospel and the way that Bach interprets the Passion through the music. By the time we were a month into our rehearsals, I knew that I wanted to write … Read more »

January 18, 2026

Psalm 40:1-11
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

“Safe Forever”

In our Wednesday Bible study meeting this week, we read and discussed the Gospel text. We talked about the earliest disciples of Jesus and how they came to know him, to believe that he was the one sent by God to be their teacher, leader, and saviour.

We noticed the people who were involved in their becoming Jesus’ followers – John, who pointed to the Messiah and essentially said, “That’s him!” Andrew, who met the Christ and then went to find his brother and bring him along. Jesus, who invited them to “come and see” to stay with him and get to know him.

And I found our conversation to be a little nostalgic. I found myself thinking about my parents who brought me to church, friends who shared their faith with me and taught me how to pray, and the gift of the Gospel texts themselves through which I get to spend time with Jesus, getting to know him, and to love him, and to learn his ways.

We marvelled at the fact that when Simon showed up, Jesus looked at him and already knew how Simon (soon to be renamed Peter) would become a servant leader … Read more »