Bethel Ontario

#LivingGod

“A dead god, a god that we concoct for ourselves, is controllable, containable, manageable. It's an idol that stays put and can be dependably used for our own purposes. A living god shocks, moves, and uses us for god's purposes. A true living god surprises and still speaks. It is time that we all attempt to do something strange in this land in the current age. We are going to try to take god a little more seriously and ourselves a little less so.”

#WalkTheTalk

“You see, it's not just very important. It's absolutely vital that as followers of Christ, as Christians, we actually do follow the example of Christ. That's the point. It doesn't matter where we are or whom we are with. The words we speak and the things we do should always reflect our faith. Sometimes we are good at telling other people what they should do and how they should live, but we fail to follow our own instructions. We need to, as the saying goes, walk the walk, not just talk the talk.”

#SpiritOfLove

“Me, I can hear you thinking, how could I love God neighbor self like that? Well, you're right to ask. On our own, we really don't have a snowball's chance in hell of loving like that on our own. But with the help of God, the help of Christ, the help of the Holy Spirit, the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. The Holy Spirit has been given to us. We have been given the gift of love, the gift of joy, the gift of prayer.”

#RenderUntoGod

“Well, that would be everything. Your life, the boats, this water, the fish, maybe even the minted coin with the blasphemous image. Heck, even the emperor himself. Don't you find it interesting that Jesus turns this question about taxes into a question of worship? A question of what honor and glory we give to Caesar, the state, the governing authorities, and what we offer up to God. Jesus makes no attempt to carefully distinguish what exactly belongs to Caesar and what exactly belongs to God. One can imagine his critics standing there with their mouths gaping open saying, well, but but what is God's?”

#PrayerChangesEverything

“Don't worry, but pour it out. Don't worry, but beg and plead and pound on the doorways of heaven with both fists, even as you know, not hope, not assume, but know that you are heard and that answers are already all around you. When you open your eyes and put one foot in front of the other, the answers are there. Don't worry because you don't have time to worry. You are so busy bending God's divine ear. Don't worry because your life is now a prayer, and the answers are coming fast and furious and surprising.”

#LoveBeforeObedience

“Can it be that God first wants to establish a relationship with the people before commanding them to obey? God seems first of all to desire love from the people. Affectionate relationship before God wants obedience. The Passover, the manna from heaven, and the water from the rock all happen before there are any rules and regulations. First, we learn who God is, loving, caring, active in deliverance. Then we are told in effect, because this is who God is, now here's how you ought to live in the light of the reality of God's true nature.”

#FaithInTheQuestions

“It takes faith to complain. I'm gonna say that again. It takes faith to complain. Sometimes our complaining and our questions are based upon our deep faith that God is good, that God really does work with us and for us, and that the situation we're in doesn't match up with what we know about God. And now another observation about that basic question. Perhaps when we complain and we raise questions about God being with us, we are inviting God to go ahead and be God. We are saying in effect, Lord, show me some of your glory. I know that you love me, and on the basis of that knowledge, I would love to turn this impossible situation in my life over to you. Lord, once again, surprise me with what you are able to do.”

#GraceForAll

“As for the question of who has really earned the grace of God, the answer is none of us. It is truly a gift, and we are blessed that no matter when we finally come to receive it and accept it, it is given to us. The workers who came at the end to enter the vineyard were given the grace and compassion just as those who came at the beginning. What a generous and loving God. So let us cross the wilderness with perseverance and grace, thanking God for all the gifts we receive and doing God's work of sharing those gifts with all.”

#FaithIsEndurance

“Maybe here we can understand better what conquering really means. In those letters, the conqueror isn't the one who vanquishes the foe, whoever that foe may be. But rather, the conqueror is the one who holds on to faith to the end. The one who holds on to faith through trial, holds on to faith through suffering, holds on to faith until the light begins to shine once more. It isn't about who is defeated. It is about who endures.”

#HopefulRestoration

“You see, it's all about restoration. God's persistent and tender care Jesus has taught us is like that of the shepherd who leaves the flock in search of just one little one who is lost, because it's all about finding and seeking. Think lost coin. Think treasure in the field and restoration. Think prodigal son and each one of us. If God wills that that not one little one should be lost, then the process outlined by the earliest church in this gospel passage is not about punishment. Rather, it is about methodical, respectful, earnest, always hopeful restoration.”

#WorksFromFaith

“And so, now all that he did, he did because that implanted word, because of that new pulp revived, because of that soul preschool. has the power to say the soul. That's what he wrote. Not merely the works loser, the word implanted. Those works grew out of the salvation. They didn't earn it. You can't earn salvation by your works. That the works can grow out of your salvation. The works will grow out of that word of Glennon. The works came about because of salvation, by faith, because of the word.”

#BeStrongInTheLord

“Spiritual warfare for spiritual people. Stand firm, stand up to the enemy, but don't try to do it in your own strength. Do it in God's strength. Be strong in the Lord. Now here's something I don't usually do, but I'm gonna do this. Say this with me. Be strong in the Lord. Ready? Be strong in the Lord. Oh, yay. You did it. Thank you. That's a good one, but, you know, The good news is we do not fight these battles alone. We have god's armor. We have god's strength within us just like the little boy with mister Rogers. We have more strength available to us inside us than we could ever comprehend. It's God's strength. It's not yours alone.”

#GratitudeDrivesFaith

“``Giving thanks, it's behind or underneath or supportive of our journey of faith. It drives stewardship. It drives mission. It brings us faithfully to worship week after week, whether you're here or whether you're out there. It drives us to our knees in devotion. It drives us to prayer. It opens the living word of God as we explore the scriptures. We're grateful for what we learned and we wanna know more. Gratitude is the best motivator for evangelism. We tell the story because we're grateful for God's activity in our lives.”

#JesusMakesPossible

“``Here here's the thing. Anybody see remember Adrian Monk? Yes. Yes. Yes. That's what Adrian Monk would say. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Whatever Jesus commands, Jesus makes possible. The commands of Jesus taken seriously create miracles. We are told in many places in the in the gospels that we can do mighty works in Jesus' name, and it's true. Don't shy away from difficult tasks because we are given the power of the spirit. We know there are labors that the Lord needs to be done, and his plan is that we are the doers. I know there are many unexplainable things that I've encountered and that others have encountered for which the only proper response is to give praise and be thankful to God.”

#ForbearanceOverTolerance

“``Now this, this is important. Forbearance and forbearing is not tolerance. Granted, we can use more tolerance in the world, but tolerance is a very low bar. You see, when I tolerate something, it means there's something or someone that I really don't like, but I'll put up with it. Forbear. an old fashioned word. Turn it around. and then put somebody in the next spot. I'm going to bear this person. Forbearance is to actually bear burdens with another person. You're in this together. I am bearing this for you. Let me help you. I'm going to walk with you. I'm going to be together with you as you are troubled. I'm going to help you bear whatever that burden is. And in order to do that, we have to love. We have to love to forbear.”

#RootedInLove

“``But all those approaches, all that worrying about how did this happen, it it misses the point. The point is that when we are rooted and grounded in love in Christ and God, we are filled with the abundance of God's love. as we reach out to grasp the spiritual abundance that God can provide, how can you imagine that we might demonstrate that we are full of the fullness of God? Would we appreciate our own gifts and those of others more joyfully? Would we initiate responses to others' needs and the confidence that God is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine? Being rooted and grounded in God's love, it's enough to change circumstances. It's enough. It's more than enough for God to work with and work through, and that's the miracle.”

#NothingSeparatesUs

“``Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing. That's the response to such a question. Nothing in this world or beyond it can cause Christ to stop loving us, stop calling us, stop leading us. Nothing. In all these things, we are more than conquerors. And remember that in being assured that we cannot be separated from that love, we are also assured that we cannot be truly separated from each other, for we are the body of Christ in the world. How amazing. Every little thing, every sigh, cry, prayer, mishap, challenge, every single things in our lives can bring us closer to God and can help us to grow into God's amazing community, God's reign.”

#SpeakTruthNotSilence

“``We wouldn't have had this violent ending of the ministry of John if John had just kept quiet. Silence is the easy way out. Jesus Christ was not crucified for his times of silence and solitude. He was crucified in great part because of what he said. Silence can be a great temptation. There is the silence of those who have nothing to say in the face of some grave injustice, the silence of despair and silence after disaster, the muzzling of those who speak truth and power.”

#GodWithUs

“``He taught that loyalty to God did not mean standing apart from others. It meant standing in solidarity with others. And one of the most important words in theology is with. God is with us. Jesus was God with us. Emmanuel, his nickname, literally means God with us. That shifts how we do ministry. We don't do for others. We don't do for credit, for our selfie, while we do for others. We are not empowered over them to do for others. We are with them. We are walking with them. Loyalty to God doesn't put us above other people. It puts us alongside them, especially alongside their pain. And that's why for Jesus' allegiance to God demanded that he align himself daringly with the poor, with the hungry, the imprisoned, the sick, the stranger, and the weak.”

#FaithOverFear

“``Will we deny faith's power or respond to Christ in faith? How do you have faith when the supposed faithful push you away and revile you, even if they tolerate you? No. The call here is to trust the love of God. The call here is do not fear, only believe. Put that together with the commandments to love God and to love neighbor, the instruction to not judge, lest we be judged, and the command to show hospitality.”

#ProclaimFromRooftops

“That is the sword that Jesus brought and now hands to us to wield, not to bring violence, not to destroy, but to bring truth and justice to a world sorely lacking both. That is the result of this proclaiming in the light thing. And notice this. We are not to proclaim in the darkness. We're not to hide it. We don't hint, suggest, whisper. We shout. We proclaim from the rooftops.”

#FaithOverLimits

“Too old. He doesn't ask whether Abraham is too old. God does not ask whether the circumstances are favorable. The question is, is anything too limitations or our limitations to God's possibilities. And that is often the shift that faith requires. Because faith faith is not pretending limitations don't exist. Faith is remembering limitations do not give the last word. This story tells us that what seemed impossible was simply waiting for its season. The promise was delayed. It was not denied.”

#CalledAndSent

“Pause a moment here. Something significant is going on. According to Matthew, anyway, Jesus calls the 12 in order for them to be those laborers that are so few. The community isn't called together for their own sake. The 12 aren't called in order to just tend to their own souls, to make sure they are right with God. No. They are called to go out, to be the church that sees the crowds, that has compassion. As we work through the rest of this text, we can't help but wonder how that might apply to us today.”

#WorshipAndDoubt

“``When they saw him what? Well, what else? They worshiped. What else would you do when the resurrected lord appears on a mountain in your backyard? You worship. They worshiped. They shouted. They broke out the guitars and drums and raised their hands and hugged everyone with tears rolling down their cheeks as they sang, it's good to be in the house of the Lord, except they didn't. Matthew, understating again, says, they worshiped him, but some doubted.”

#UntamedSpirit

“But Pentecost Pentecost burns those distinctions to the ground. On Pentecost, the spirit did not descend upon one nation only, one race only, one language, one gender, one class only. The spirit was poured out upon all flesh. Maybe that's why Pentecost feels so untamed because the spirit refuses to stay inside the boundaries we create. The spirit blows where it will. And throughout scripture, wherever the spirit shows up, fire is never far behind.”

#HolySpiritPouredOut

“``When Peter starts preaching to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit cuts him off. Then for the first time in Acts, the Holy Spirit shows up and pours itself out on the Gentiles, a whole new set of people, not when they are baptized or after they are baptized, but before they are baptized, which is why Peter asks the rhetorical question. Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit? Clearly, the answer is no.”

#DesertBaptism

“Yet apparently, there's nothing about Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit to hold the Ethiopian back from baptism. Now while all this is going through Philip's head, a miraculous spring bubbles forth in the desert. Surprise. So even though it's the desert in the middle of the day, and even though this Ethiopian is from the end of the earth, so far as Philip was concerned, And even though Philip did not have a theology that explained what he was doing bringing this foreigner into the household of God. Philip listened to the spirit, abided in God, and Philip baptized the Ethiopian.”

#RadicalHospitality

“``Hospitality is difficult. It tests us. It calls. It pushes us out to our growing edges. I keep coming back to this image of Jesus casting out the sheep from the sheep pen and then calling them out to the pasture in the wilderness. I keep thinking about how often in the gospels, Jesus breaks bread with the outcasts and those society considered sinners. I keep thinking of how often Jesus held these outsiders up as examples of profound faith, of how Jesus chose the despised to befriend.”

#FaithInActionNow

“Well, if we don't start here, if we don't watch that piece of fish being eaten, if we don't grab hold, we won't see. And if we don't see, then we're likely to turn our message into one of only the hereafter, only the sweet by and by and not the here and now. We might even be liable to think that all the resurrected one cares about is getting souls into some spiritualized, idealized heaven somewhere else instead of feeding those who are hungry for breakfast right here in our own neighborhoods.”

#JesusFindsAWay

“For those who do not have ears, for those who cannot see, for those who are unable to walk up the church steps, or for those who fight invisible battles with their bodies or minds, God finds a way to appear even when the church and society erects barriers in the way. He doesn't like your closed doors. We try to shut him out like we shut out a cat on the wrong side of the door. We act like we don't see him, but Jesus is persistent. He keeps banging. He keeps coming through. And in our darkness, he appears with a shaft of light that's almost blinding, and he says, peace be with you. Amen. Amen.”

#EasterByGrace

“What did Peter do to deserve this? What did he do? Nothing. And what did the women do? They said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Nothing. What did any of them do to make this Easter moment happen? Nothing. What do any of us do to deserve Easter? Nothing. And what do we do to receive Easter? Nothing but receive it. Who's who in the Easter story? Not them, not us. Only him.”

#HumbleKing

“What foolish person would draw attention in such a meek, easily mocked way? It's a bit of mystery afoot there. As we begin to understand that Jesus never protects his own dignity, but is ready to fling it aside to love anybody, everybody. And why are we on that road shouting, hosanna? After all, we are there. We are probably among that crowd. We know that before this week ends, the palm branches will be drying on the roadside. The joyful crowd will become an angry mob, and Jesus will replace the robes of victory with a crown of thorns.”

#CostOfFollowingJesus

“You can't say the things Jesus said and do the things he did and get away with it. The authorities won't stand for it. The people will eventually wander away. They are standing on the threshold of a dark calamitous time. And yet and yet Jesus speaks of that time as the time when he will be glorified. Some glory. He speaks of a seed falling to earth and dying, but then through death, that seed bears much fruit.”

#NoCondemnation

“The person who has heard this word can stand up and breathe as if for the first time. This is the core of the gospel, the good news, the best of news. When we hear this word, it's like a huge burden has been lifted from our backs. No condemnation. We realize that the trouble between us and God has been ended by God. God could have condemned us, but in Jesus Christ, God says, no condemnation.”

#ThreeDayResurrection

“In the guise of protecting their religion and in the very real sense of protecting their perceived power, they will condemn him. They will horribly torture his body. He will be nailed down to a cross. That's the human verdict, the end of God's temple, this bodily meeting place between us and God. But just wait three days, and we will discover God's infinite determination to be in fellowship with us. The temple shall be raised. Amen. Amen.”

#ChurchSignIrony

“You know, sometimes churches put ads on, well, now social media, and often signs on their lawn or front signs in an attempt to attract passersby. The friendliest church in town or lonely, anxious, come to our church. We'll fix that. Imagine how many people this church would attract if we put a sign out front saying, are you looking for more pain, anxiety, suffer suffering, and stress in your life?”

#GoodNewsHope

“This is the good news. God is faithful, merciful, and full of steadfast love. God remembers creation and the everlasting covenant of forgiveness. God has come in Jesus Christ, beloved son and savior of the world. Come back to God, for it is only here that we find true hope, true life, and true joy. Amen. Amen.”

#LiveTheBlessing

“And he says that blessing is not a one way gift from God. It is a lived reflection of God's intent toward us. Love, do good, give freely. Here's an example. He finally restates these one last time, More concisely, he says, but love your enemies, do good and lend, give freely, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great.”

#BlessBreakShare

“We remember that Jesus knew when it was the last Passover that only a few words were needed and the simplest meal prepared. Jesus blessed, broke, shared, and whispered, for you.”

#LoveNeverEnds

“And if we were able to do this even a little, then would it be possible that those not yet in the faith, not yet on a path to discipleship might believe us when we proclaim a God of love and not hate? Would it be possible that they would believe us because they could see it in our own lives and in our dealings with one another and with the world? Would this more excellent way be possible, be excellent? This is not something easy. It's not even a no brainer that it ought to be. This will take some major work in each of us and all of us just to begin. And it will, unfortunately, take time because we have a long way to go. We have a long way to go if the world that we see before us, if anything, is anything to go by. The good news here is that the seed from which this whole task grows is found in verse eight of this amazing, incredible, almost too high to grasp chapter 13. Here it is. Love never ends. Thanks be to God. Amen. Amen.”

#JesusAtCenter

“``I want you to notice that at the center of this circle or sphere is Jesus. As the radii extend, we see different people, denominations, communities, etcetera. Do you see it? I hope so. Now I want you to consider this, that as each entity at the ends of the spokes moves closer to Jesus, to the center, they also move closer to one another. With Jesus at the center, even though we are diverse, we are unified.”

#PropheticTension

“``As we spend a moment with Isaiah, we are reminded that prophets often stand in a place of tension, a tension between what is and what ought to be. In this passage from Isaiah, the prophet finds himself in such a place. Now in the previous chapter, he had painted a stirring portrait of what is to be. And God had sent him to bring the good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners. That's news we could use right now, isn't it? I think so. For those who have returned from exile, Jerusalem is to be repaired and built up. It is to enter a time of wealth and abundance. Now they're not there yet. Actually, the reality is that in that moment, Jerusalem is in ruins, devastated and hungry. They have work to do.”

#FaithBreakup

“``It's really a personal thing because for us religious folk, so much of how we see ourselves is tied up in how we see ourselves with god. So when that breaks so that we might live into a larger reality, it feels like a breakup. There's a disconnection that must be endured before a new connection can be made.”

#TimelessCallForJustice

“God who keeps faith with us even when the world is falling apart. And even when we're not sure. So when Jesus tells this parable of a widow facing down a corrupt judge, it feels like it could have been written yesterday? Huh? This week? Rarely does a Biblical story speak so very directly to the moment that we are living through.”

#AnimalCompanionsEnrichLife

“Where would we be without all of our non-human animal friends? We would have a much less rich, lesser rich, I don't know, vocabulary. Comparisons. Animals also have provides for our body covering, for our skins, food for our bellies, bones for tools, oil for light, labor for fields and farms, goats that mow the lawn, right? That's right, Grayson. And subjects for scientific experiments that have benefited us. And yet, for most of us, as we live in suburbia or urban areas, the creaturely world comes mostly through the companionship of the animals that we call pets.”

#MustardSeedFaithPower

“``But one thing everybody there understands, and one thing anybody who's ever been near a mulberry tree knows, once you've got a mulberry tree, it will be there pretty well forever. Why did I go off on that tangent about the mulberry tree? If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea. I'm guessing that maybe Jesus' parents had a mulberry tree in their yard. I don't know. But it's obvious he knew about them, and he knew how impossible they were to uproot. He understood. He understood how big of an illustration that was. If you have mustard seed faith, you can say to that tree, be gone, and it will.”

#BuildingBridgesDaily

“The chasm Jesus is pointing out is the one right here. The chasm between rich and poor. The privilege and oppressed. That chasm can be overcome. Indeed one can cross over a chasm.”

#AgentsOfHealing

“The church acknowledges the cries of others in distress and makes them their own. That church processes collective trauma, which I think we're dealing with right now, and prays for the capacity to grieve fully and to heal in order to be released as agents of healing. That church has no fear of the lamenting question, is there no balm in Gilead? Because that one responds saying, we have the balm, when we bring the balm, we are the balm.”

#PowerOfIntercession

“God's anger burned against Israel in that moment. But Moses, Moses stood in the breach, pleading for mercy. Moses reminded God of the covenant, of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And scripture says God changed God's mind. Turned away wrath and gave the people another chance.”

#HopeInGodsReshaping

“Whenever the clay is marred, or spoiled, or something goes wrong, there's something to notice here. The potter does not throw it away. The potter doesn't discard it. Instead, the potter reworks it and shapes it into something new. So this is actually, instead of something to be scared of, this is a word of hope. It means that God does not abandon us when we mess up.”

#HumbleSeatsFirst

“First, he talks to the guests. He says, don't be scrambling for the best. Seats. Don't try to push your way into a position of honor. Because if you do, you just might get embarrassed when the host asks you to move. I'm sorry, that's the seat for the vice president of no matter what. Instead, take the lowest seat and wait to be invited forward. Now, at first, that sounds kind of like social strategy, like you signed up for a webinar on how to gain friends and influence people and get the best place, right? It sounds like it. Humble yourself so that you can get noticed and promoted. That's not really the point. Jesus is reminding them that the social climbing game is not the way of God's realm. In God's economy, the first will be last and the last will be first.”

#ConsecratedToBuild

“Let's just sit for a moment with the knowledge that God is the original builder and planter. He tells Jeremiah, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. before you were born, I consecrated you. The creator formed, that is built, Jeremiah. And planted him in his mother's womb. That's the symbolism. God did the same with us. All of us are consecrated from the womb to build communities founded on principles of God's love, God's grace, God's justice, God's compassion.”

#FaithThatDivides

“God's word is fire. It's a hammer that shatters illusions. And Jesus acknowledges that this truth, kind of sadly, that that truth can cut right through friendships and even families. He's not saying, I demand that you fight, father, son, mother, daughter, mother-in-law, daughter, and he's not saying that. He's not saying, I came to make you all fight with each other. No. What he's saying is that it's going to happen. You need to be prepared to stand in God's world, to proclaim God's word, to follow the way of God, even if your little brother says, oh, that's stupid, and I won't get enough toys if I do that.”

#FaithfulnessOverBusyness

“Isaiah warns us not to confuse religious busyness with faithfulness. Doing a whole bunch of church things doesn't necessarily make you faithful. In fact, it's kind of like the guy praying on the corner. Oh God, I'm so glad I'm not like these sinners. I'm so glad I'm so holy. Don't confuse that with actually being faithful.”

#WorshipAsCounterculture

“But God calls him a fool. Not because he's rich, not at all. He calls him a fool because he's hoarding it all for himself. Because he is alone in his abundance. Because his treasure is not aligned with God's purpose. It is not wrong to plan. It's a good idea. It's not wrong to have wealth. That can be a true gift. It can make it possible to do so many wonderful things. But it is spiritually deadly to place our trust in what? We can control, collect, or consume.”

#GratitudeRootedInGod

“We want strength for the moment we need it. We want it to appear like magic. Instant strength, instant gift, whether or not we're prepared for it. Strength can come as a miracle and a gift, but more often it comes because we are prepared. We have studied. We have practiced. We've put in the work to build up those spiritual muscles. We've put in the work to build up those physical muscles.”

#HolyGathering

“Getting focused, sitting at Jesus feet, listening to Holy Spirit, being aware of God, gathering together. Yes. In prayer, in fellowship, in worship. Instead, we tend to scatter ourselves and not focus on the Holy.”

#LawVsHeart

“After all, I'm only human. Just give me a list of the people I have to take care of. And whoever's outside of that line, I need to draw a line around my community of care. If they're undocumented, I don't have to care about them. If they're trans, I don't have to care about them. If they're queer at all, I don't have to care about them. If they're any color but white, I don't have to care about them. Who's our neighbor? Who's our community of care?”

#continueTheWork

“For me, the only way to make a lasting difference in all of this is to continue being the church, to continue doing the work, to continue following God's, Jesus' Spirit's instructions, even when we think we know better. Even when we're so full of pride that we don't want to do the very things that will heal us.”

#CostOfDiscipleship

“When we study the ideas of Luke, we learn that Jesus calls all to follow him. To join him on his journey to the cross. But, they find out that being that traveling companion is not cost free.”