Who are we, really, without all our stuff, our possessions?

In our consumer society, we’re constantly surrounded by so much stuff we can buy and have.

We’re tempted always to want more.

We become what we buy.

We so closely identify with all our possessions, which then become to “possess” us, enthrall us, overwhelm us.

The...

Why does Jesus sound so stressed, strident, divisive? (Luke 12:49-56) Jesus saying that he hasn’t come to bring peace, but instead, division, is really strange. Jesus saying that households would be divided father against son, mother against daughter, confuses us. Why does Jesus say this? Why this upsetting image of conflict and division?

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One of your questions for this summer’s “Wrestling with the Big Questions” sermon series, had to do with our parents, and the Fourth Commandment which states we are to honour our parents.

And how is it that we can honour our parents, in situations where one or both of them had a decidedly negative or destructive impact on us?

A...

Two weeks ago, I was reclining on a lounge chair on a small beach area on Golden Lake, west of Eganville. It was early evening. The sun was setting over the trees at the western shore of the lake. Nothing stirred. Everything was serene, calm, quiet.

I loved it. The water surface was as flat and smooth as a mirror. The air and sky around me had...

Have you ever had that nudge, that inkling to do something good, but you never end up doing it? To send a card, a note or letter – of thanks, or of congratulations, or of sympathy to someone – but you never do it?

We see or hear about a need in the church – a need to update the website, or a need to invite a friend to church,...

On the surface, this story seems to be, again, one of those amazing, spectacular “miracle stories” of Jesus – that Jesus can heal someone even from a distance. Merely by mention of a word, and not even being right there in the same room with the person, touching the person, holding the person, looking into their eyes, Jesus...

I don’t know if you’ve ever had the embarrassing experience of someone giving you a gift, only to realize, after opening it, that you absolutely don’t have any idea what it is, or what it’s for.
What’s even worse, is when the person who’s given you the gift is standing right there in front of you, watching you...

It struck me the other day, when I realized that many of you in the Confirmation class, I actually baptized, 14 years ago in 1999, when you were just barely born, squirming, gurgling sleeping or crying in my arms. Imagine that. From baptism to confirmation. Wow!

For all of you, your baptism marks that moment when we all realize how, in...

It was interesting to me, the other day, my youngest daughter, 9-year-old Susie and I, happened to be eating supper at the table together – Patty and Sarah were away for an appointment – and I suddenly had this moment of awareness, in the middle of mouthfuls of spaghetti, that everything around us was quiet, peacefully quiet, that we...