Our Family DNA
/In this teaching, John Hau talks about the DNA of our church family from Acts 19. We learn how God invites us to be a family that loves the city, is centered on Jesus, and transformed by God’s Spirit. Preached September 11, 2022.
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Taking Part in the Community of God
/In this final teaching of our summer series on the Rule of Life, Mitch Claassen reminds of us the importance of being part of the family of God to grow into the people of God. By giving us a vision for the church in the story of God, showing us God’s initiative for the start of the church, and addressing misunderstandings, Mitch invites into this sacred life together. Originally preached September 4, 2022.
Generous Living
/This week, Brad Sumner, pastor of Jericho Ridge Church, teaches on living generously from Proverbs 11:25. Brad reminds us of the radical, merciful, consistent, and indiscriminate love of God which invites us to become generous followers of Jesus. This teaching is the seventh in our Summer Rule of Life series and was preached Aug 28, 2022.
Spiritual Direction
/In this teaching, Gordie Lagore, pastor of Vancouver Eastside Vineyard Church, shares about the practice of spiritual direction. Sharing from his own story and several Biblical passages, Gordie explains that we need others to help us discern and be attentive to God's working in our life and sharing the good news with our neighbours. This teaching is the sixth in our Summer Rule of Life series and was preached Aug 21, 2022.
Sabbath
/In the fifth teaching from the summer series on Rule of Life, we explore the practice of Sabbath. Starting with the words "good" and "blessed" in Genesis 1, we learn about how to practice Sabbath with the elements of stopping, resting, delighting, and celebrating. Preached Aug 14, 2022.
Contemplative Prayer
/In this week’s teaching, Mitch Claassen applies Romans 12:1-2 to our lack of experience of God and how the practice of contemplative prayer, through the eyes of Teresa of Avila, can help us to meet and experience God. This is our fourth teaching in our summer series on the Rule of Life. Preached August 7, 2022.
Spiritual Friendship
/In the third week of our Rule of Life series, we explore the practice of spiritual friendship. We learn the importance of friendship, why it’s so difficult to make and maintain friendships in our city, and some principles for spiritual friendship. Preached July 31, 2022.
Four Directions for a Rule of Life
/In our second week in the Rule of Life, guest speaker, Andrea Tisher, pastor at Southwest Community Church in Kamloops, BC, shares on four directions, up, down, with and out that can help shape us as individuals and communities in partnership with Jesus. Preached July 24, 2022.
Vision for the Rule of Life
/In this teaching, we recap previous teachings and gain some fresh vision and perspective about the Rule of Life. This is the first teaching in our summer series on Rule of Life preached July 17, 2022.
Bounded, Fuzzy and Jesus Centered Churches + Q&R
/This is the final teaching in the first half of our study on the letter to the Galatian church. In our gathering, we had a quick summary of the three ways of organizing a church (bounded, fuzzy and Jesus centered), followed by a brief question and response, and finally some experiential learning. Due to the interactive nature of the teaching, we only recorded the first two sections and the questions were not recorded. Recorded July 10, 2022.
Jesus Centered Baptism // Galatians 3:27-29
/In the eighth teaching in this series, we look at one of the most famous texts in the New Testament to learn how Paul describes baptism as a practice using the Jesus-centered language of unity, direction, and identity. Preached on July 3, 2022.
Grace and God's Word - Community, Spirit and Scripture Centered on Jesus // Galatians 3:1, 5-18, 4:21-31
/In our seventh sermon in Galatians, we explore various texts in Galatians to learn about Paul’s radical, Jesus centered interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures and weave it into the Anabaptist practice of Community Hermeneutics. Preached June 26, 2022.
The Grace of the Spirit // Galatians 3:1-6
/In our sixth sermon on becoming a church centered on Jesus, Paul finally begins to address the Galatian church. Through his difficult words, we learn about the gift of God's presence with us through His Spirit and why we mustn't leave grace behind. Preached June 19, 2022 - reuploaded June 20.
Grace That Confronts Our Idols // Galatians 2:15-21
/In the fifth sermon from this series on Galatians, we explore how our idols keep us from being the kind of community the church is called to be. In this passage, Paul confronts Peter with the gospel calling him to the pattern of Christ’s dying and rising as a paradigm of addressing idols. Preached June 12, 2022.
When Fear Overtakes Grace // Galatians 2:11-14
/In this episode, we notice how fear causes Peter to walk away from a Jesus centered faith and how Paul invites him back to grace. Preached June 5, 2022.
Grace That Allows Us to Bless // Galatians 2:1-10
/Today we learn how Paul's interactions with Christian leaders from Jerusalem shed light on how being Jesus-centered allows us to bless, partner, indigenize the gospel and engage in ministry. Originally preached on May 29th, re-recorded June 1, 2022.
How Grace Intersects Our Stories // Galatians 1:13-24
/In our second week in Galatians, we focused on Paul’s story as a location of God’s gift of grace. We learn about the nature of our stories, the nature of grace, and how grace transforms our stories as we continue to learn how to become a church centered on Jesus.
Note - this episode has some audio issues in the first 3 minutes.
A Jesus Centered Church // Galatians 1:3-5
/This week, we start our new series on the letter to the Galatians. which will clarify and cast vision for our value of being a church centered on Jesus. In this teaching, we learn the difference between bounded, fuzzy and centered set groups and how God invites us to put Jesus at the center of our lives and communities. Preached May 15, 2022.
New Life in New Places // 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
/This week, Pastor Mitch Claassen preaches from 1 Corinthians, showing us how the apostle Paul is convinced that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus invites us to look for new life in new places.
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas - John 20:24-29
/This week, Aaron White from 24/7 Prayer, gives us insight into the dual nature of Thomas which invites us into an embodied faith as the body of Christ today.