Messages

Being Good News – “Love One Another”

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34

Jesus gave this command in the hours before his crucifixion. As the bearer of the best news, Jesus Christ reveals to us what love is through his life, death, and resurrection. Our greatest act as his followers is to act in love to one another.

What Does It Mean to “Love One Another”
Normally, jealousy, envy, revenge, and comparison trump most everything else. The notion of love, empathy, and compassion is almost unique, and definitely good news for all.

So let’s get practical on ways to “love out” John 13:34…
1. Check on your Christian family – visit them, call them, and be fully present
2. Help a friend plan a church event – help the helpers help everyone else
3. Host a friend for the night – know someone going through a difficult time? Give them a “get away” and have them over for a meal, a movie, a chat and a prayer.
4. Volunteer – Help each other with their thing (clean a garage, build a fence, clean a house, etc).
5. Do a favour – help a hectic day be easier and do an errand to someone
6. Spend some time in prayer – Make some time for a specific prayer for a specific friend’s specific need
7. Take a meal – know someone recovering from an illness or surgery, take a meal, and set up a roster so others can help as well.
8. Write a letter – encourage, appreciate and show a little love
9. Forgive someone – forget the grudge, forget the justice, no matter the pain
10. Practice radically ordinary hospitality – open your house to everyone, neighbours and Christian friends alike. It makes neighbours friends, and friends family in Jesus Christ.

I am very excited about our new Christmas series we are starting today.
Our Series is called “It’s all Good News.”
In a year of covid, losses, transitions and political campaigns, when we hear any good news, we perk up and hope it’s true—even before believing it.
So if the message of Christianity is supposedly good, why don’t more people perk up, lean in, and give it a go?
Perhaps we need to take a fresh look at this good news to see if our current version is in line with the original one. And then look to see if our own lives, individually and together as a church family, reflect the good news we celebrate at Christmas.

Jesus said, “More than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants”. Matthew 6:33
When we die, they put your name on a stone, the date you were born, a dash, and the date you died. And when we get to heaven, we will be asked what we did with our “dash.”
There would be nothing worse than getting to the end of your life and saying, I wish I had lived differently.
John Ortberg, writer and preacher from the US, says “We need to ask ourselves what we are doing (or not doing) with our lives now, that could lead to deep regret”.
In other words, it is very important we spend some time evaluating our lives before it’s too late. I think we all want to live our lives without regret, and be able to say, I spent my life wisely doing the things that were important.
And because there is no rewind button for the actions and words we say and do, this is worth a periodic “stop and think about it.”
Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse, wrote a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Ware discovered that there were five common regrets of people facing death:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish I had risked letting myself be happier.

This weekend we are looking at how to live a regret-free life. Because life is too short, and too valuable, to waste our “dash.”
Living well with you,
Pastor Brian

2 Timothy 2:1-13 – You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus

Pastor Brian Krum – “Small Faith”

A graceful message to remind us we only need enough faith to step out.

Pastor Brian Krum – Our Big God

If we knew how big our God is we would see Him, our prayers, ourselves and our cares differently.

Pastor Brian Krum – John 15 – “Remain in me(Jesus)”

Remain > Obey > Joy

Ann Ling – “Love the Lord with all your Heart.”

Shania’s encouraging message from Ruth 1 –
“From Hardship to Hope.”

Written version: 2020-09-27 Ruth 1 – Shania Norman

Pastor Russell’s farewell message – ‘The Lord bless you and keep you’