Far too often we think of God in perimeters that are far too small. Or, at least, I know that I do that. I don’t consider praying about a common cold or some other seemingly small issue, because I write it off as being too small to bother God about. Or, on the other hand, I neglect praying about Ukraine or Israel/ Hamas or Canadian or US politics because I say to myself, ‘well, what could God do about it?’ Either way, my lack of faith may be impeding God from truly showing His power to work in our world today. Is anyone else out there like me in this? I’m thinking that I need to reassess my prayer life in this regard--and my faith in God.

The story of Jesus meeting up with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road has to be one of my favourites, for who among us has not had times of sorrow and despondency when we were drowning in our upset and loss and unable to see where the future might be heading. But then, to know that Jesus is there for us, that He comes along side us, comforts us and helps us ‘make sense’ of it all: it is such as relief, and such a help! Thanks be to God that He is always there for us.

The key and rather seminal verse in all of The Acts of the Apostles is chapter 1, verse 8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world.” The word that I want to pick up on and highlight is the word, ‘witnesses’. This is addressed to all believers, young or old, male or female, all believers regardless of race or nationality or language or time. And by ‘witness’, Jesus means not just our words--though these are very important and crucial--but our entire lives--the way that we portray Jesus in everything that we do or say or are. Mary Magdalene, as we read today, was the first to be a witness, but then we, you and I, are called to follow in her footsteps. May we, by our words and actions, show forth the very alive, risen and glorious Christ. Thanks be to God so such a privilege.

I was asked to preach and celebrate yesterday at St. John’s Minster, Lloydminster, and so I decided to tackle one of the chief ‘objections’ to the Christian faith head-on, namely the question of whether Jesus truly died on the cross and was truly raised from the dead. Numerous skeptics (Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Frank Morison, Who Moved the Stone?, and Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ, for starters) have examined the evidence carefully and decided that the evidence was conclusive, that Jesus truly died and was risen. However, not everyone in the pew has had a chance to access such books nor read them, so I wanted to present the case as clearly as I could. I will leave it to you see whether I succeeded. Anyway, here is yesterday’s sermon for your ‘reading pleasure.’

In this era where rights and freedoms are so loudly proclaimed and fostered, the Bible ideals of humility (humbling oneself) and servanthood (serving others) are often overshadowed. And so that while the idea that Jesus took upon Himself the role of a servant still has some credence, the suggestion that we should do likewise is dismissed or overlooked, even in the church. Far too often, by way of contrast, we see individuals who trumpet their own ideas or agendas or ambitions, sometimes with little thought of how they impact either those around them or the church in general. Interesting--and this should be an even greater shock to our system--is that, on occasion, the word used in the New Testament is not ‘diakonos’ (from which we get the word, ‘deacon’), which means ‘servant,’ but ‘doulos’, which literally means ‘slave’. Servants had rights, a place in the household, and had tenure. Indeed, it is interesting, and informative, that both Paul and Timothy described themselves as ‘slaves’ of Christ (Romans 1:1 and Philippians 1:1). This should give us pause in terms of how we think of ourselves and how we act toward others.

I sort of wonder at times whether people generally pray as much as perhaps they used to. And whether their prayers are ‘real’, that is, heartfelt and dealing with the ‘real’ issues that they are facing at that particular time. Here’s where the psalms really stand out. They certainly are heartfelt and certainly deal with some real issues. Perhaps we can borrow a page from them--and do likewise. Just an idea.

God, in His promise to Abraham and Sarah, stipulated, promised, that Israel would prove to be a blessing to the entire world. That was His original promise, one that I believe has continued for all time, even though often Israel failed miserably in fulfilling it. It is here that Jesus did succeed, and it is here that He asks--commands is more like it--to continue that mission. But here we must ask ourselves: just how well are we doing with this? Are we effectively spreading His message of love and forgiveness? And, are we actually being a blessing to those around us? Given all that God, in Christ Jesus, has done for us, it is only right and proper to consider anew what we have done in respond to that.

oday’s reading and meditation remind us of something that is highly overlooked in our modern world, namely that ‘our God is an awesome God’. Our God is able to work wonders, both in terms of world events and natural phenomena, and in terms of individual lives. Some Bible critics have looked at the several plagues that Egypt suffered under the auspices of Moses and concluded that all or most of them were simply natural occurrences, things that happened on a somewhat ‘regular’ basis. But, that beclouds a couple of details that set the ones in Exodus apart from any others. Firstly, they happened, more or less, in close sequence to one another. And secondly, they took place precisely when Moses invoked God. Surely, neither of these could be a coincidence!

Needless to say, in a world where people often ‘write off’ God, we need to recapture that conviction that He can, and does, work, and then to go to Him, expectantly and persistently, in prayer.

Today’s passage, as is far too frequently the case, left me puzzled initially as to what its meaning for us today might be. However, in meditating upon it I came up with the conclusion that it has to do with the tension between the Law, that is, measuring up or being ‘good enough’ for God, and grace, which is accepting that we can never ‘be good enough’ and therefore need to accept God’s free gift of salvation. And whether we truly accept that grace, or still strain mightily to measure up, is still an issue for many people today.

One of my father’s favourite hymns was “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”, also known as the Mariner’s Hymn. Most of its verses end with the phrase 'for those in peril on the sea’, and well might this sentiment apply to many of us, at least at times. We may not feel ‘physically’ at sea, but we may feel awash with conflicting thoughts and feelings and duties. We may feel quite overwhelmed at times, and so this hymn, and today’s psalm and meditation, can be quite appropriate.

Today’s Scripture passage is probably one that doesn’t get much press, simply because it is hard to see how this short episode from Jesus’ life applies to any of us. However, to me the mere fact that He was so eager to learn and grow in the faith--you’d think that because He was God, He wouldn’t need to--suggests to me that we should do likewise.

And then the last line about His growing in 'wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man’ (to quote the old King James Version) says something about a balanced approach to life. He grew intellectually, physically, spiritually and society, so shouldn’t this be a model for each of us. If it was ‘good enough’ for Him, it should be for us as well.