Lection: 1 Corinthians 9

October 8, 2017

Deuteronomy 8:7-18
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Luke 17:11-19

“Overflowing Thanks”

This morning’s scripture readings invite us to reflect and to respond. As we celebrate Thanksgiving weekend together with our Canadian neighbours, friends, and families, we are invited to remember that this holiday is about more than a big meal and pumpkin-themed decorations.

We don’t call it “Turkey Day” because it’s not just about the menu, but it can be for us, as Christians, a special time of reflecting on the goodness of God and responding to that goodness with our lives of service and generosity.

The passage from Deuteronomy that we just heard is Moses addressing the Hebrew People. They are at the point where they have just finished their long 40-year journey through the wilderness, and they are about to cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land.

You will remember that they have been through a terrible time. After escaping slavery and a harsh existence in Egypt, they have wandered through the wilderness for years – living in tents, coping with scarcity and danger, complaining and arguing with each other at times, and sometimes nearly giving up hope.

But soon all that will be over. Moses tells them that God is bringing them into a good … Read more »

August 28, 2016

Sermon by the Rev. Amanda Currie

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
2 Peter 1:1-15
Luke 4:1-13

“The Fruit of the Spirit is Self-Control”

If there is one model of self-control for us to look to for inspiration, it has to be Jesus. After all, he is the one that the Apostle Paul described as being “tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Right from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Luke’s Gospel tells us that he experienced temptation. He had just finished being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit when the Spirit led him in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil.

Now, another version of the story, in the Gospel according to Mark, says that the Spirit DROVE Jesus out into the wilderness, but in Luke’s Gospel the Spirit seems to play more of a supporting role, rather than being the force responsible for him being out there. Luke writes that the Spirit “led [Jesus] in the wilderness,” seemingly guiding him through the challenges and temptations that would come his way, and helping him to get through them.

Indeed, when Jesus returns from the Jordan after his baptism, Luke tells us that he was “FULL of the Holy Spirit,” and I cannot help … Read more »

February 8, 2015

Isaiah 40:21-31
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

“Balancing our Discipleship”

I spent most of the last week in Baltimore, Maryland, at the annual conference of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (also known as APCE). The Presbytery of Northern Saskatchewan was able to fund the trip so that a team from Saskatoon and Prince Albert was able to attend the conference – learning and gathering resources and ideas for ministry with children and youth for our congregations.

Martha Fergusson, Logan de Bruijn, Ted Hicks, and I came home last night with pretty tired bodies from a busy week, but with our minds rushing with ideas and our hearts full of hopeful possibilities for the future of our ministries and congregations.

The conference wasn’t a holiday, and it wasn’t even a retreat (an event designed specifically for rest, renewal, and prayer). It was a busy conference packed full of key note speakers, workshops, discussion forums, and networking opportunities. There were books to consider buying, and resources to gather for current or future possibilities for our ministries.

But there was also lots of worship at APCE… gathering songs, early morning communion services, and several wonderful worships with inspiring preachers, creative liturgy, and opportunities for prayer and reflection. The hotel … Read more »

February 5, 2012

Isaiah 40:21-31
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? It is God who sits above the circle of the earth… who stretches out the heavens like a curtain… who makes the rulers of the earth as nothing… Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. God does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

The prophet Isaiah addresses these questions to the People of Israel in exile in Babylon. The people are complaining, you see, that God has disregarded them, that God has forgotten them. I can understand their complaint. Really, I can. They’re tired. They’re exhausted, actually. And after all the challenges and trials they have endured, after waiting so long for some kind of help,  who can blame them for getting a little bit frustrated with God?

Why are we still living in this God-forsaken place? Why are our enemies still triumphing over us again and again? We thought we were supposed to be your chosen people! Why is this misery just going on and on … Read more »