Sermons from Southpoint Church

Fear usually isolates us, but a "theology of proximity" imagines fear leading into deeper connection. "Give me your hand” is that movement towards greater proximity.  Boyung Lee in her 'A Sanctified Art' commentary redefines faithfulness from following rules to drawing near to those who are vulnerable. Faithfulness risks joining those who are at risk. It means being vulnerab...

Even knowing the road ahead will be painful, disorienting and with a high risk of death, what is it that prompts both Mary and Jeremiah say "yes" to what is asked of them?

We do not always witness the where and the how of God’s work. The movement of God does not always arrive with clarity.  At times, it is almost imperceptible because it does not resolve as we had imagined.  And yet, we are still invited to pay attention and to tell each other what we see:  “Now it springs forth—do you not perceive it?” “Tell what you hear and see.”

“Every Advent, we light candles, sing carols, and pray for Christ’s coming because we believe God entered a frightened world to bring good news… God chose to take on flesh in the time of Herod. God intimately knows the fears we experience. Instead of donning some kind of armour, God chose to arrive in the most vulnerable embodiment: that of a newborn baby without a sure place to rest… We can join...

Remaining faithful to one another, and to where we live ... filled with life, filled with hope.

The Pharisees tried to make the Law small and defined so they could fulfill it. But Jesus wants us to focus on the biggest, most fruitful expression of the Law, one that is so expansive and life-giving that only God can fulfill it.

Luke 19:1-10

God hears our cries. God shares our eagerness for justice. In Richard Rohr’s daily blog entry “Prophetic Solidarity and Compassion” he wrote, “Empires are never built or maintained on the basis of compassion... Empires live by numbness. Empires expect numbness about the human cost of war. Corporate economies expect blindness to the cost in terms of poverty and exploitation. Governments and societi...

May we notice and enjoy God’s gifts, and let that enjoyment spill over into praise and thanksgiving.

The gospel’s life force will not be stripped of its wild power to heal and renew. Jesus continues to call people into a way of life that is alive, unruly, and renewing. Each small act—whether a moment of truth-telling, a word of repentance, a gesture of forgiveness, or humble acts of service—becomes a container for the re-wilding power of Love.

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus speaks of a rich man who wore expensive purple linen clothes and ate sumptuous feasts every day, while a poor man named Lazarus begged at his  gate.  Covered in sores which dogs came and licked, he longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.  Yet the rich man did not draw near nor show compassion to the poor man.   As is so often in Jesus’ parables, he tur...

This week, Scott Hill shared about his dad, one of his role models in “eco-discipleship”. I wonder who modelled for you how to love and care for creation?  In our scripture passage this week, Luke 16: 1-14, we find an unlikely role model—a dishonest manager who, after losing trust with his employer by cooking the books, was about to lose his home.  Like the dishonest manager, the collective human...

It's the beginning of Season of Creation! This year's theme is "Making Peace with Creation" and we are continuing our year-long journey with the lectionary, through the Gospel of Luke. As ever, we are also asking the question "What Does Love Look Like, Now?" Today, we are attending Jesus' parable in Luke 14: 25-33.

This summer, we’ve been practicing table talk. We’ve made space to share and space to listen. As we draw this summer series to a close, pause to remember the many times you’ve sat at Love’s Table. What tables have been memorable in your life? Who sat at them with you? What happened at these table that you treasure?

In this sermon, we explore the energy of peace-keeping and peace-making. When have you felt the quiet inner discomfort of peace-making? When have you known the fiery energy of peace-making?

In the passage, Jesus invites the listeners to let go of their belongings and assures them that this letting go will not lead to scarcity as feared, but into a different kind of abundance. 

Today, we are exploring the vulnerability and weight of having abundance. 

Today, we are exploring the vulnerability and weight of having unmet needs. 

A presence that does not let go. A Holy Someone who has come near to us — who waits in the space between vulnerable people, hoping that peace might be shared across a table, but not forcing anything.

We worship a God who is, at their very core, a community of love who shares power in deference and delight, who listens and exalts rather than dominates. As followers of Jesus, we, too, are welcomed into this deep, collaborative communion. 

Today is Pentecost.  Today a new community is being birthed into being. Today, we experience a God who does NOT fit into our boxes, categories or the constraints of our binary male/ female language. Today, God is wind. Today, God is fire. Today, God blows where they will.  Today, our young people prophesy.  Today, our elders dream dreams. Today, we are caught off guard by the possibility of imposs...

What if the oneness that Jesus prays for us and for the world is a whole lot messier than we’ve often taken it to be? What if this oneness is not the tidy togetherness of a potted plant, but rather an ongoing, shapeshifting process of listening and revealing, giving and receiving, as we seek to inhabit the position of guest and neighbour in places that aren’t our own, those that we come into? 

“What does love look like now?” We’ve been asking this question while moving through the liturgical calendar this year. The lectionary passage for this past Sunday is found in John 13, the account of Jesus’ last supper with the disciples. The chapter shows that Divine Love in this text looks like One who serves, speaks truth, shows compassion, and builds community. After asking “What does love loo...

In this passage, people come to Jesus. They don’t know if he is the messiah, and they want proof so they can get their head around Jesus. “Tell us who you are!” Jesus' response points to a different kind of knowing, not one based on a cerebral understanding but one based on the attachment of the heart: “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them… life… no one wil...

In John 21:1-19, Jesus gave Peter the invitation that would shape his life from that moment onwards: “Do you love me, Peter? Then feed my sheep.” Verbs, not nouns, drive the storyline forwards, yet is the presence of Jesus that provides the wild abundance. As we align our actions with the wisdom of Jesus, what wild abundant love might Jesus draw us into?