Easter Epilogue 2013 - What The Resurrection Means To Me

2013.04.24 - David Barker - Easter Epilogue 2013

What The Resurrection Means To Me

Dr. David Barker from Heritage Seminary takes us through his personal story looking at what the resurrection has meant to him, and how it confronts the way we view the world and the way we interact with God.

There is also a brilliant little section about doubt and faith, and how they work so well together.

Audio recording is medium quality, but you should be able to listen along just fine.

A joyful, gospel sing-a-long ruckus is led by Jared Both - starts 42 minutes in.

Mustard Seeds. - Missing the Donkey

2013.03.24 - Kevin Makins - Mustard Seeds.

Missing the Donkey 

Luke 19

Have you ever looked at some person or group who claim to be “Christian” and just thought: 

“They just DON’T GET IT. How can I possibly share the same faith as THEM?”

If so, this is probably a sermon worth listening to. But can you do me a favour? If you’re going to start it, please listen all the way through. It only works as a whole! 

Music led by Alex Drumm and Justine Lodder - starts 35 minutes in.

Mustard Seeds. - Compassion

2013.03.17 - Dave Witt - Mustard Seeds.

Compassion

Mark 6

Dave takes us through “the feeding of the five thousand” and looks at how God is at work even when we are resentful/tired/lacking compassion.

Music led by Joel Cumby and Dave Hamilton - starts 28 minutes in.

Mustard Seeds. - The Spiritual Discipline of Just Showing Up

2013.03.10 - Kevin Makins - Mustard Seeds.

The Spiritual Discipline of Just Showing Up

Luke 14

“… the greatest spiritual discipline isn’t praying the daily office, or eating a vegan lifestyle. The greatest spiritual discipline is actually just showing up.”

Music led by Joel Cumby and Dave Hamilton - starts 38 minutes in.

Mustard Seeds. - Breathe

2013.03.03 - Jamie Robertson - Mustard Seeds.

Breathe

John 20

Church historian Jamie Robertson preaches a really incredible sermon about Jesus breathing on the disciples, learning to find rest in a busy culture, taming the ego, and how he had a small influence on Brad Pitt’s life… sort of…

Also, apologies but the sermon recording sounds pretty awful. We lost one of the mic’s and blah blah blah… it just didn’t work ok! SORRY! WE’RE TRYING SO HARD! WE DON’T HAVE A HUGE STAFF TEAM OR ANYTHING! WE’RE JUST TRYING TO KEEP THIS PODCAST SHIP AFLOAT!!!

But seriously, it’s not too bad if you listen hard. Just treat it like an art-film that “asks something of you” as a viewer! … it’ll be better next time.

Music led by Rachel Van Oostveen - starts 29 minutes in.

Mustard Seeds. - Go Tell That Fox

2013.02.24 - Kevin Makins - Mustard Seeds.

Go Tell That Fox

Luke 13

This text is Jesus at his absolute coolest. He is just SO COOL in this text. 

So cool.

A sermon about foxes, fire, selling security systems on the side of the road, tetrarchs, sin, and how annoying it is to name all your children “Herod.”

Music led by Rachel Van Oostveen - starts 42 minutes in.

Mustard Seeds. - You Don't Get To Know

2013.02.17 - Kevin Makins - Mustard Seeds.

You Don’t Get To Know

Mark 4

Anyone else feel super guilty that they don’t do all that they should in order to love God and others more? 

Anyone else feel completely overwhelmed by all the ways this world is busted and broken and falling apart? 

Anyone else ever tempted to just give up, eat some snacks and play video games for the rest of the month?

Ya, me too.

Music led by Aaron Craig - starts 33 minutes in.

Is the Bible...

Hello Podcasters of the EC Podcast!

This January our congregation is going to be asking the question:

“Is the bible:

violent
homophobic 
hopeful
good
fake
healthy
racist
sexist
true
honest
repulsive
accurate
the word of God
a double edged sword?”

The next three weeks we are looking at how to read the bible, and what it’s all about.

However, the sermon’s will not be recorded or podcasted!

We love posting the audio files online, and are blown away with how many of you regularly download and listen to them, and how many of you engage in conversations about them. Thank you so much for playing a role, even at a distance, in our community.

But we felt as if this three weeks needed to be very interactive, with lots of space for questions and feedback. We felt like it needed to be a bit more of an “in house” conversation! 

But it’s not too late to join us if you live close to Hamilton! The next two weeks (January 20 and 27th) we’ll be looking at the most difficult texts, and asking how we can possibly learn about God from them. 

So please join us if you can, and if not we’ll be back to regular podcasting in February. 

Thanks again for all your support! Grace and peace.

GET BEHIND ME SANTA! - Throwing Spears in the Devil's Territory

2012.12.23 - Kevin Makins - GET BEHIND ME SANTA!

Throwing Spears in the Devil’s Territory

Matthew 4

Our apocalyptic Christmas ends with Jesus vs. Satan in the wilderness.

As soon as you mention “the devil” you have some clarifying to do. In our world people can often swing to extremes, either seeing satan in every doorknob or denying spirituality all together.

But the New Testament is consistently warning us that there is a spirit of the world at work, and if we are going to truly defeat evil we have to first do battle with the powers behind the scenes.

Along the way we talk about political powers, redemptive violence, Disney movies, the NRA, and throwing spears.

Music led by Aaron Craig - starts 37 minutes in.

GET BEHIND ME SANTA! - Get Behind Me, Satan

2012.12.16 - Kevin Makins - GET BEHIND ME SANTA!

Get Behind Me, Satan

Daniel 7, Matthew 16

“Son of Man” was an apocalyptic phrase that lived in the imagination of the Jewish people. At the time of Jesus, people were looking for the Son of Man, the one who would overthrow their enemies and bring them victory and peace.

But things aren’t going to go exactly as they planned.

How do we respond when the story changes, when things get flipped on to their head?

Sometimes, we become the Satan.

Music led by Aaron Craig - starts 34 minutes in.

GET BEHIND ME SANTA! - The Christitunity of Apocalypse

2012.12.09 - Chris Cuthill - GET BEHIND ME SANTA!

The Christitunity of Apocalypse

Daniel 7

Chris Cuthill, professor at Redeemer University (teaching such fine courses as art, art history and pop-culture) looks at times of great change throughout history, the evils and fears present in them, and at how Christians have responded using Apocalyptic language and imagery.

He also talks about Pope-pooping devils, Trans-Ams covered in Revelation, the spirituality of zombies, and Homer Simpson.

It’s a real good one.

Raw demo of Brett Klassen/DJ CLUTCH’s cover of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - starts 39 minutes in.

Music led by Aaron Craig - starts 44 minutes in.

GET BEHIND ME SANTA! - An Apocalyptic Advent

2012.12.02 - Kevin Makins and Dave Witt - GET BEHIND ME SANTA!

An Apocalyptic Advent

Revelation 4, Revelation 17, Acts 19

You would not believe all the resistance we’ve faced getting ready for the Apocalyptic Advent this year. 

Part of that resistance is that for the first time in over two years, BOTH of the audio files that record the weekly sermon were corrupted. This, along with about a dozen other factors, gives us a sense that there may be some other powers at work in this whole thing. Powers that don’t like the idea of being exposed, which is what this whole sermon series is about.

But while the powers can corrupt our audio files, they can never silence our podcasting!

So Dave Witt and myself gathered in a local coffee shop to go over the basic ideas of what an Apocalyptic Advent looks like, and why we think it’s such a crucial tool for us to use this season.

Time to get apocalyptic!

Music led by Aaron Craig - starts 34 minutes in.

This Isn't Easy - Building on the Rock

2012.11.25 - Dave Witt - This Isn’t Easy

Building on the Rock

Matthew 5, Matthew 7

Sometimes we can think that grace is like a safety net: it’s only needed when we fall. 

Sometimes we think we can follow Jesus, without needing Jesus. But that would be a huge mistake. 

This Isn't Easy - Maybe You Won't Want To Be In Heaven

2012.11.18 - Kevin Makins - This Isn’t Easy

Maybe You Won’t Want To Be In Heaven

Luke 18, John 10

Have you ever stopped to think that maybe you won’t WANT to be in heaven?

Music starts 35 minutes in.

This Isn't Easy - The Cost of Incarnational Peace-Making

2012.11.11 - Wendy Gritter - This Isn’t Easy

The Cost of Incarnational Peace-Making

John 1, Philippians 4, Matthew 5, Ephesians 2, John 17

Wendy Gritter returns to the Eucharist pulpit with a compelling and powerful teaching on being like Christ: incarnational and peace making. 

Wendy shares from her own experience working with the lgbtq community and calls for Jesus disciples to do the difficult work of trusting the Holy Spirit.

(Forgive the recording again, still working out some new problems!)

Music starts 65 minutes in.

This Isn't Easy - The Light

2012.11.04 - Kevin Makins - This Isn’t Easy

The Light

John 3, Matthew 7, Psalm 32

When you see the words “confession,” “repentance” and “accountability,” what sorts of things come to mind? 

If I had to guess, for most of us these words are associated  with guilt, shame and judgement. 

But what if they were actually meant to be gifts? What if they were chains to bind us, but keys to freedom? What if they were light instead of darkness?

(Forgive the poor audio quality, bit of a sketchy recording!)

This Isn't Easy - The Narrow Path

2012.10.28 - Kevin Makins - This Isn’t Easy

The Narrow Path

Luke 16, James 2, Matthew 7

Why doesn’t God just prove himself beyond a shadow of a doubt? 

Music starts 32 minutes in.

Liturgy: Why We Gather and Why It Matters - Giving

2012.10.21 - Kevin Makins- Liturgy: Why We Gather and Why It Matters

Giving

Luke 12, Luke 16

This was the one sermon that I desperately didn’t want to preach.

Because seriously… it’s weird to talk about money.

But Jesus was never afraid to talk about money. In fact Jesus knew that where our money is, our heart would be. And so we have to talk about money, because we need to talk about the heart.

So what is giving, and why is it an important part of our liturgy? 

Also, I lost my notes this week… and so that was interesting… I must have REALLY NOT wanted to preach on money.

Music starts 46 minutes in. 

Liturgy: Why We Gather and Why It Matters - Prayer

2012.10.14 - Pastor Abraham - Liturgy: Why We Gather and Why It Matters

Prayer

Matthew 21, Ezekiel 22, Acts 12, Acts 16, Mark 11

Something amazing happens when you cross cultures and allow God to speak in a whole new voice.

Pastor Abraham is our brother from the Congo. He prays a lot and says “oooh brother… itisgoooood” - he also laughs and lot and brings a seriously convicting and encouraging word.

His word to us on prayer shook the whole congregation, and filled us with a desire to be people who stand in the gap.

Music starts 54 minutes in.

Liturgy: Why We Gather and Why It Matters - Word

2012.09.30 - Kevin Makins - Liturgy: Why We Gather and Why It Matters  

Word

Luke 22  

The word of God is like a double edged sword… and sometimes if you swing a sword around without knowing how to use it, you might end up hurting someone.  

This week we laughed a decent amount, Peter chopped a guys ear off, and we named the narratives we live in.  

Music starts 54 minutes in.