Lost and Found

 
April 29, 2012 
The God you are looking for is looking for you #3
 David Dawson

 Audio / Questions / Leaders

 This is our third sermon on the parable of the prodigal son. It is a marvelous story, rich with the message of the gospel. We have explored the grace of the father and the restoration of the younger son. This morning we will examine in more detail the older son. The story does not end with the return of the younger son, but rather ends with the indecision of the older son. Why is this older son in the story? What does he teach us about what it means to be lost and found? The truth is that there are two ways to be lost; two ways to reject God. May we avoid the dangers represented by the elder son. May we not let our goodness keep us from God.

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When End things come to the Good.

 
April 22, 2012 

Kevin Thiessen

Audio / Questions / Leaders

In Acts 9 we see the beginning of a significant friendship between Barnabas and Paul. Over the next few chapters of Acts, we witness the empowering blessing of endorsement, the relational and experiential gift of partnership in the Gospel, and the celebration and conflict of completion. Throughout it all, we observe how God continually works things out according to His will, with us, through us, and sometimes ... even in spite of us. Today, along with missionaries Rod and Donna Black, we consider how to finish well, and how to create and live in relationships and partnerships of grace and trust.

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Two Ways to Sin

April 15, 2012
The God you are looking for is looking for you #2
Dave Marttunen

Audio / Questions / Leaders

Luke 15 is an extraordinary story of grace being worked out in a family. Like no other story Jesus told, it confronts our sense of justice, honour, and respect on personal and social levels as it introduces us to our need for grace. In the story of the two lost boys, who look for fulfillment on two opposite paths, both miss the Father’s heart. One rejects Dad at the start of the story, the other judges him at the end, but both are paths that lead away from the father, not towards him. Today, through the lens of Luke 15, we will discover the truth about sin and ourselves. Everyone needs a Saviour.

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The God you are looking for is looking for you.

April 8, 2012
The God you are looking for is looking for you #1

Dave Marttunen

Audio / Questions / Leaders

prod·i·gal /ˈprä-di-gəl/

Adjective: Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.

Noun: A person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.

According to this definition, there are two prodigals in the story from Luke 15. The first prodigal is easy to spot; it’s the boy. He demanded his inheritance early, left his dad and spent it all in riotous living. He was a party boy to the core. His self-focus can be reduced to the bumper sticker slogan: if it isn’t fun it isn’t done. But there is a second prodigal. It’s the Dad. He couldn’t wait to lavish love on the boy. He runs, kisses, clothes and parties over the boy. It’s a picture of a dad who is truly a prodigal; lavishing his love recklessly on his son. Easter, as no other event in the Bible, celebrates God’s lavish love. He gave his only son for us. Remarkable. As we understand the truth of the story, it melts us in the right places and makes coming home the only reasonable choice. Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the truth that he conquers death, the awful curse of sin, so that he can lavish his forgiveness on us.

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Christ Has Conquered All

April 1, 2012 AM
Discipleship on the Edge Final
Dave Marttunen

Audio / Questions / Leaders

We short change ourselves when we believe that Heaven is simply a destination. In such a view, Heaven becomes little more to us than an improvement of life as we know it. This view robs us of what God intends. We settle for less and as a result live inadequately. It is like settling into a prison camp when God has freedom to offer. What God wants for his followers is vastly greater than a destination. Jesus Christ in his revelation prepares us to receive so much more than improved circumstances. He prepares us to receive himself. What Christ promises the persecuted and co-opted Church is hope that transforms. Through an adequate vision of our future we dust off our spiritual mediocrity and shoulder disappointment and suffering because this we know; the best is yet to come!

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