The Pastor's Blog

    ===   This Sunday we look at the deadly sin of lust. Lust is something, just like all the other deadly sins, that we all struggle with (to varying degrees). Where lust may be different, though, is our struggle with it is something we try our hardest to keep hidden. We're ashamed of our lust, and we don't want others -- especially our close friends and family -- to know about it.   To prepare for tomorrow, where we will talk about lust, I found this story about Rich Mullins.  Rich Mullins, a Christian musician and songwriter who...

Our Scripture reading for tomorrow morning is Matthew 6:19-34. === One of Greed's favourite words is, "Mine!" To prepare for our service tomorrow, I thought this illustration from C.S. Lewis's "Screwtape Letters" would help us prepare to think about greed and how greed encourages us to make more and more things "mine!" Here the fictional devil Uncle Screwtape writes to his nephew, Wormwood: "The sense of ownership [in human beings] is always to be encouraged. The humans are always putting claims to ownership that sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell and we must keep them doing so ......

Our Scripture Reading for this morning is Ephesians 4:17-5:2. === This morning we will look at the vice of sloth. To prepare for worship I invite you to do this short activity and prayer by Ann Voskamp (from her "A Lent to Repent and Refresh" resource) Read Acts 3:19 (a few times) "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Reflect (on the phrase that could re-form you) Repent (how does it convict you?) Refresh (live the reviving Truth of this Word) Prayer By Grace, today...

Our Scripture reading for this Sunday is Matthew 6:1-4 (but I invite you to read through verse 8), and Luke 18:9-14.  === Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung (author of "Glittering Vices") says "Chances are that we all suffer from vainglory -- a keen desire for attention and approval." Vainglory shows up when we feel the need to embellish our resume in order to get the attention of an employer, when we try to get more credit for something than is necessary, when we post things on Facebook or Instagram to get likes.  Vainglory also shows up when we feel the need to...

This Sunday we will begin a series on the Seven Deadly Sins. We begin with envy. Our Scripture reading is: Genesis 4:1-16. === Introduction The name "The Seven Deadly Sins" can be a bit misleading. We might wonder, "Why those seven and no others?" Even the term "deadly" can be a bit troublesome when we consider that Jesus died for all our sins, and only one sin is, as Jesus noted, unforgivable (Matthew 12:31-32).  In her book Glittering Vices, Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung notes that the seven "deadly sins" are better called capital vices. A vice is a bad habit or a...