Toronto Alliance Church

We've been going through different themes through this year's advent Sundays. Today's theme is Peace. What comes to your mind, what issues, what situations are in need of peace? Where are you longing for peace? Today I will preach from Isaiah 9:1-7 on the things that make for peace. Extra reading: Luke 1:67-79 Preacher: Andrew Hubbard

I want to talk about good news. Good news is hard to find these days. There's big issues that everybody faces. Economic uncertainty, the reality of wars, and everybody feels it. People have to push a little harder through the messaging just to find good news. But everybody wants good news. Sometimes we're scraping the bottom of the barrel for good news. We get happy about Apple bringing ou...

People use the word "freedom" to describe many different things. The word "freedom" can be used when you find a better place to rent, or entering retirement. Children who grow up say that, or those fleeing persecuting government. It's a word that's used in many different ways. When you look at what God says about that word, though, our own description of "freedom&q...

God has created us for a purpose. We are created with something specific in mind. This is the last sermon in our series about living faithfully amid spiritual decline. In such an environment, thoughts of God's purpose for us aren't as common as doing what I want. But walking in the purposes of God, we do the greatest and most desirable things that we can with our life, bearing eternal frui...

We are going through a series on how to thrive as believer in a time of spiritual decline. We've been walking through the life of Elisha the prophet. It's really a time of decline and of great trouble in Israel. Israel at this time is split up into two parts. There is the South Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom, which in itself is already a really bad sign that there's division that has...

If there's one thing that would make a huge difference in our lives if we were to invest ourselves in it consistently, it is this the practice of worshiping God. Scripture commands us to worship. It says in Deuteronomy, "you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." Today, I want to talk about the practical impact of a life that is devoted to worshiping God. Not...

There are certain qualities that are unique to God. No human possesses them. One is that he's present everywhere, all the time. That can never be said of anyone. He knows everything. That can never be said about anyone either. His power knows no limit. It's unique to God. He's eternal. He gives us eternity, but we have a definite beginning. He never had beginning. There are qualities t...

We live in a time of spiritual decline. Our nation is one, it seems, that wanders from God. But that doesn't mean that God stops working or that there aren't people eager to do his will. There's probably fewer of them, but they just stand out brighter, as bright lights against the dark backdrop. And God manifests his powers and his presence. God is still ruling, reigning, he's on t...

Much as we don't desire it, times of want come to us. In the last couple years, I've seen the need at our front door increasing. And many of us in the last year have changed where we shop, there are certain things we no longer buy or eat or do, because things are more expensive and the level of income hasn't changed. How do we live faithful to God in a season of financial want? How doe...

Some people feel that miracles are uncommon. I don't agree. I see a lot of miracles. I see God do a lot of extraordinary things. And in a day of spiritual decline, this is actually I think all the more so, the miracles become even more obvious. God doesn't change. Whatever the season we find ourselves in, God manifests himself to his people who follow him faithfully. I wanna think with you...

I called today's message "More than enough," focussing on how it is that God provides. He does that quite practically for what we at TAC do here in living in a city where things are more expensive all the time. The Bible says, "My God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory." Jesus teaches us to pray, "give us today our daily bread". We know G...

There's a saying in that comes out of scripture that reads, "Bad company corrupts good morals," or "Bad company corrupts good character". The thought behind it is for us to consider the company that we keep because there is an influence upon us and upon our character. Parents of course know this and have watched the effect of both great and not so great company on our kids....

How does one live faithful to God amid spiritual decline of a city or of a nation? How does that happen? Our world is changing, and we'd probably say that many of the changes aren't positive. I think that we'd say that too causes us concern. And so here in these next few weeks, I want to think through that with you and some of our small groups are going to further unpack it. We'll...

Today we hear from several people about ways they serve at TAC and then hear Pastor Bill Dyck talk about what's so special about the Church. "I love hearing those testimonies of people serving in the Church. That's what the church is. The church is Christ but it's people and it's through the very ordinary service and the giftedness of ordinary folks in the church. I want to as...

What is it that makes people marvel? In the Marvel movies we see amazing creatures doing all kinds of superhuman things that capture the imagination. What is it that makes you marvel? Like your jaw just drops, and it stops you right there, and fills you with with a sense of amazement? Jesus also spoke of what makes people marvel. I want to do that here today. This is the closure of our summer serm...

This is the 2nd last sermon in the series "The Bottom Line that Really Matters" where we are going through our denomination's statement of faith point by point, to be renewed and refreshed in the things that we affirm as true and really hold to and care about. I was reading a book by Dallas Willard called The Divine Conspiracy. In it, he talks about how ideas have effects that are no...

Following our convictions and truths shapes our journey, guiding our choices along our life's path, like an adventure. Our Christian walk is like an adventure too."Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan embodies this idea, depicting characters Christian and Christiana on a journey of faith, encountering challenges where they learn that following God's path is best. This summer we...

This summer we are doing a series called the Bottom Line that Matters, walking through our statement of faith. This morning, we'll talk about salvation. The point is that the ideas of salvation matters and has traction. I listen to a podcast where the host is a professor who's read a lot of Russian literature. He made an interesting comment, that Russian writers of past - Dostoevsky, Tolst...

Seems like nothing brings a person into sadness and despair like illness. There could be other things, but it ranks right there in the top. A person could be going on just fine and dandy. Everything's just going the way we always dream and hope until a doctor gives some really bad news and our future suddenly becomes uncertain. But nothing renews hope like the possibility of a cure. And if the...

When someone says "what makes you tick", usually they are asking what motivates or interests you. But I want to get at something a bit deeper. When you think about humanity, at what point does humanity thrive? How are we supposed to be? How are we supposed to function, where I'm doing what I should be doing, where I am what I'm supposed to be, where I feel alive and I am in the g...

Jeremiah 23: "Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks rock in pieces?" Hebrews 4: "The word of God is living, it's active, it is sharper than any double edged sword piercing to the division of soul and spirit of joints and mouth, discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart." Psalm 100 and 19: "The word of God is a lamp to...

On a long flight, a plane sets a course and doesn't veer much right or left but keeps going straight for many hours. But imagine that the plane sets off on a slightly wrong course. By the end it is in a completely wrong country. This summer we're talking about the bottom line that matters, walking through our church's statement of faith and what Christians hold to. But why does it matt...

We're going through a series this summer about our denomination's statement of faith. Some people think these things about theology can be kind of boring. But the things in our doctrinal statement as a church define how God has shown himself to us. We believe that worshiping God correctly makes a big difference on our lives as well as how we think about things, how we process things, how w...

On the news we see wars going on - soldiers, tanks, guns. There's another war too that is going on that's much more serious, a war over ideas, systems of thought and truth. It's a deadly battle. I'd like this summer to systematically go through our church's statement of faith. For some, that is exciting, but for others, it brings an immediate yawn. But the truth matters. Recent...

During the summer we often look for a place of rest and rebuilding of our souls. When I grew up on the farm, there were different seasons, but in the city it's always hyper drive. We need different seasons, and summer can provide a bit of a step back. When we think of a safe, rejuvenating place for summer, maybe a certain place comes to mind, a place devoid of certain stresses. Maybe we think...