Teachings from Unionville Alliance

As we head for another Christmas, it’s an opportunity in the story of the nativity to marvel again at the truth of John 1:14 ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…’ These events only happened once in human history, and they will never happen again. If those thoughts didn’t make you pause for even a second in a sense of wonder, you’re too familiar with the story.

The first Advent of Jesus wasn’t a last minute idea or something that God decided to do when everything else didn’t work. The birth of Jesus was conceived in the heart of God from before the foundation of the world. From the Garden of Eden we see the birth and victory of Jesus predicted as his story is written so beautifully throughout the Scriptures. Through significant events and empowered proph...

As Israel rebuilt the altar, temple, and walls of Jerusalem, they faced a lot of opposition both from within and without. Ezra and Nehemiah confronted enemies that actively planned against what they were doing. They faced discouragement, orders to stop the work, deception, a lack of support, and even betrayal. Nevertheless the work of renewal and rebuilding continued until the temple and walls wer...

With the temple destroyed and the people taken into captivity, Israel had lost many of the spiritual rhythms that the Lord had instituted in order to keep them spiritually healthy. As they returned to Jerusalem to rebuild, they restored those rhythms of sacrifice, worship, service, rest, and the celebration of the feasts. For our season of rebuilding to have a lasting impact, we also need to devel...

Israel was engaged in a rebuilding campaign and they started to renew the feasts that they were commanded to celebrate. As Ezra read and taught the word of God, they realized that they had been living in disobedience to the Lord. The leaders and the people responded with a prayer of repentance and confession as the Spirit convicted them of their sin, disobedience, and rebellion. As they had seen i...

The children of Israel had not only disobeyed God’s word, but they had not been listening to God’s word to know his ways and purposes. The Lord inspired Ezra the Priest and Scribe to read, study, and teach the word of God to the people as they returned to Jerusalem to worship. It was a season of renewal of God’s word that led to repentance, restoration, and revival. The Lord is calling us back to...

As groups of Israelites returned to Jerusalem, they realized that the first thing that had to be done was the rebuilding of the altar and temple. They understood the centrality of worship and sacrifice in their daily lives as they sought to put God first in everything. Through diligent work, sacrificial obedience, and faithfulness to the word of God, they were able to restore some of the rhythms o...

Through Jeremiah and other prophets, the Lord promised to visit his people and open a way for them to return to the Promised Land after decades in captivity. After inspiring the hearts of heathen kings to let Israel go, Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel and other leaders made the journey from Babylon back to Jerusalem with a deep desire to renew, restore, and rebuild the covenant that God made with them....

As we conclude our Vision Month, let us renew our vision to touch our world through Jesus, one life at a time. Jesus charged us with a Great Commission because of his heart for lost people and he desires that we share in that mission. He has called us to be his light in this world and to be the salt of the earth. We are to be disciple making disciples. Who will be the one person that you can disci...

Who is Jesus? Did he really exist? Can we believe the Bible? Was Jesus fully human? What did he say about himself? Is there evidence to support his claims? As we examine these important questions through Alpha, join us on a journey into the deep, meaningful, and life changing statements of Christ and how he can radically transform, change and save us. He is the single most important figure in huma...

Prayer is one of our core values at Unionville Alliance Church and it is one of the means by which we draw closer to Jesus and are transformed into the character of Christ. Praying individually and corporately is part of our growth in prayer as we listen to the voice of the Lord. We can pause, rejoice, ask, and yield in our times of prayer. It’s all about a relationship with Jesus as we approach h...

Jesus left us with a great commission to go and spread the good news of the gospel. On this Mission Sunday we will look at the role Unionville Alliance fulfills in both local and global missions. As part of the Alliance Canada, we will see our place within a larger mission-focused vision to reach the nations for Jesus. How are we responding to Jesus’ commission both corporately as a body of believ...

In life, we have obstacles that can try our patience. Jesus calls us to be different; to be set apart from the worldly way of reacting and be Christ-centred in how we manage unpleasant situations. Do you see yourself as a peacemaker?

Throughout the world today, thousands of Christians are being persecuted, rejected, and killed for their faith in Jesus. This shouldn’t be a strange thing as Jesus forewarned us that this would happen as people oppose and stand against the kingdom of God. In Canada, we live in relative safety with freedom of religion. However, there are times that our faith, morals, and beliefs will be tested, opp...

What is the heart of Jesus for us during times in our lives whenever heartache and brokenness can feel beyond repair? By reflecting upon the Beatitude of Jesus - “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matt. 5:4 NLT) – we will see how through the actions of Jesus toward the brokenhearted reveals the heart of God.

What does pure in heart mean? Why is seeing God such a hack to happiness? Exploring these questions by looking at the Israelites, we find they had divided hearts. Their hearts and minds were not singly focused on God. A divided heart obscures one’s ability to see God. The inability to see God adds stress, sorrow, frustration to one's life. Jesus teaches us that purity of heart is a prerequisite to...

In this world, to be successful you often have to shout your own praises, fight for your rights, and let others know how skilled and talented you are. But within God's Kingdom, it's the total opposite! It is the meek and humble who are granted places of prestige and authority. Jesus lived out this humility not only in his death on the cross, but in washing is own disciples feet thereby leaving us...

We have needs and wants to be fulfilled. We invest time and energy seeking fulfillment. God invites us to seek after Him for this is the way to true fulfillment. How will we RSVP to God's invite?

Notice Jesus doesn't say, "Blessed are the poor, but blessed are the poor IN SPIRIT." Jesus is not talking about your money, but about your spirit--those who are 'spiritually bankrupt' and totally dependent on God.

We live in a busy world with little time for ourselves much less others. We are always on the go while thinking about the next thing to do. However, Jesus always created space for others and modelled for us how we should create space for our neighbours. As we seek to fulfill the second great commandment, let’s learn to pause to create space for others, take a risk to create space for others, and l...

Fatherhood is from God, having been created in his image and adopted as Sons and Daughters. We need to be imitators of God’s example as our heavenly father. He calls us to be Protectors, Providers, and Priests for our families, and to abide by the principles and qualities required to live up to the high and holy calling as parents.

Prayer is a vital part in laying a foundation for missions as well as making the most of the opportunities God brings along to share our faith.

The second great commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself. This can be difficult as we seek to reflect Christ in our community. Being neighbourly is not an attitude, but an action that requires us to step out of our comfort zone and respond with compassion just like the Good Samaritan did in the story that Jesus told to answer the question, who is my neighbour? We can live out the second...

God walked with us in the garden, dwelt with us in the Israelite camp, and lived in our village before ultimately going to the cross. John 1:14. What is God's heart for people who are unreached or underserved? What does His example mean for our own lives, whether we intentionally move into a marginalized community or shine for Him in the neighbourhoods we live in now?

A look at three generations of one family shows God is at work to bring about his redemptive purposes despite are frailty and sin. Families are important to God. He wants us to be nurtured, cared for, loved and cherished. He wants all people to grow into healthy, mature, well adjusted, God loving adults. The main avenue he chose to accomplish this is the family. Amid our brokenness, our failures,...