Benediction Church, #HamOnt

Date: Sunday June 29, 2025 Scripture: 1Kings 12:1-16 Speaker: Mike Mileski Series: Money Talks In a world of Ahab's, will we be a Naboth? In this ancient scam, the wealthy King Ahab and Queen Jezebel take advantage of a man with much less, and have him killed in order to seize his property. Most of us won't be involved in something so cruel or underhanded. But this story forces all of us t...

Sunday, June 22nd, 2025 Scripture: Genesis 1:26-28; Revelation 22:3-5 Teacher: Nathan Tomes In this wrap up to our series on Creation, we're challenged to think of the Image of God not as some ability that we have that animals don't, but as an identity and a calling. It's two things not one, and it makes a huge difference for how we relate to ourselves, one another, and the world. #ima...

Sunday June 8th, 2025 Teacher: Dr. John Walton. Moderator: Mike Mileski In this final lecture, Dr. John Walton addresses the ancient context and language of Genesis two. What does it mean that humans were created "from dust"? Was Eve really formed from Adam's rib? Dr. Walton also answers questions submitted by conference attendees.

Teacher: Dr. John Walton. Moderator: Mike Mileski In this lecture, the first of our The Lost World conference, Dr. John Walton orients us to the ancient meaning of Genesis one. What is God trying to communicate in this story? What makes this passage so important? What does it NOT say? Following his lecture, Dr. Walton answers questions submitted by conference attendees.

Sunday, June 15th, 2025 Scripture: Isaiah 45:18–23; Philippians 2:9–11 Teacher: Dr. John Hilber One of the thorny issues in Creation Conversations is the fact that many ancient Near-Eastern cultures told stories that greatly resemble what we read in Genesis. For some, this suggests that maybe Genesis isn't a reliable account of Creation after all. Did ancient Israelites plagiarize the Babylonians,...

Sunday June 8th, 2025 Scripture: Colossians 1:15-23 Teacher: Dr. John Walton What was God's aim in creating the world? Humanity? A garden? The tree? What did it all mean? In this message, Dr. John Walton, author of the "The Lost World of..." series presents Order as a unifying theme of the Genesis story, and indeed, all of Scripture. At Creation, God's aim was to bring order, and...

Sunday June 1, 2025 Scripture: Psalm 8 Teacher: Mike Mileski Our culture seems divided between those who trust *either* in science, *or* in the Bible. Yet this isn't a choice God asks us to make. Studying the biblical teaching about creation is like any other important work: we need to be equipped with the right tools and information. If not, we'll fail to see what's there, or, we'll impose meanin...

May 25, 2025 Mike and Heather Mileski While not yet "old" Mike and Heather have definitely learned a few things about aging, and wrestling with the implications. What's the hardest part of getting older? What are the blessings of aging? Should Christians retire and collect shells, or is there some other way we should look at our senior years? #aging #retirement #thegospel #newlife #r...

Can a Christian's anxiety or depression be cured by trusting God more? Should we go to therapy, or is that dangerous? Isn't it true that our mental and emotional problems are really just spiritual warfare? This week, Mike and Heather share candidly about their own journey as a couple navigating diagnosed mental illnesses - what it's meant for their family, their marriage, and their fai...

May 11, 2025 Mike and Heather Mileski What are the signs of a healthy church? How can we know if it's time to leave a church? Is there really such thing as a "good" church, and what's our responsibility? In this session, Mike and Heather discuss some of their best and most painful church experiences, and what they've learned from it all. #church #membership #jesus #thegospel...

Sunday May 4, 2025 Mike and Heather Mileski How is practicing our faith in Hamilton different from other contexts, like the country? What are the challenges that come with being a Christian in the city? What are some unique advantages or opportunities? In this recording, Mike and Heather kick off our Life Lessons 2025 series with a conversation about what it's like to practice the way of Jesus...

Sunday, April 27, 2025 Teacher: Mike Mileski This morning we concluded our Passion series with some review and reflection on the meaning of the Cross. By creating space and time this contemplative prayer exercise, we hope you'll invite God's Spirit to internalize all these beautiful truths about what happened when Jesus died. #prayer #contemplativeprayer #scripture #church #thegospel #viso...

Sunday April 20, 2025 Scripture:  Acts 2:22-36 Teacher: Mike Mileski Peter explained how when Jesus died, death couldn’t hold Him. It was impossible for Him to stay dead. In that case what was the point of the Cross? Jesus went down into Death and blew it up from the inside, freeing those who'd been trapped there. And in case there was any doubt, He proved it by rising from the dead on Easter...

Sunday April 13, 2025 Scripture:  Rom 5:12-21 Teacher: Mike Mileski When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden, all humanity was brought under a curse and God’s image in us was distorted. God has sent a second Adam: His Son Jesus. Where the first Adam failed and disobeyed, Jesus has succeeded by obeying all the way to the cross. The Cross is a picture of a new start, and the decision each of us must ma...

Sunday April 6, 2025 Scripture:  Col. 2:9-15 Teacher: Mike Mileski Since the beginning of time, we’ve been tempted, deceived, and shamed by Satan, our accuser. He uses the Powers against us, and his schemes leave us feeling defeated. But at the Cross, Satan was disarmed of his greatest weapon and utterly defeated by Jesus. The Cross may not have looked like a victory, but it was! This what the def...

Sunday March 30, 2025 Scripture:  Eph.2:11-22 Teacher: Lane Fusilier Our culture is divided across all sorts of lines: Race and religion. Liberals vs conservatives. The wealthy vs the poor. Traditional vs modern. As often as we participate in these divisions, we are rebuilding the very walls that Jesus died to destroy. On the Cross, Jesus died to make peace and tear down all the walls between us....

Sunday March 16, 2025 Scripture: Romans 6:15-23 Teacher: Mike Mileski In Scripture, slavery is a metaphor for sin. And from the beginning, God has made provision for slaves to find freedom, through a ransom. Once we realize the price that's been paid for our freedom from sin, it transforms us. We'd never go back to our old masters. Or would we? #slavery #gospel #redeemer #ransomtheory #atonement #...

Sunday March 16, 2025 Scripture: Isaiah 53 Teacher: Danielle Visser The image of Jesus on a cross strikes some of us as an overreaction - like "surely there's nothing I could have done to deserve THAT". Others assume that as horrible as the Cross is, it's not enough - like "My sins are too serious; I'm unforgivable. THAT would never work for me." In this message, Danielle goes to the Scripture to...

Sunday, March 9, 2025 Scripture: Romans 3:21-26 Teacher: Mike Mileski The Cross means different things to different people. And yet, the Scriptures tell us many reasons why it was necessary for Christ to die. In this message, we study what some have called "the most important paragraph in the Bible" to understand how Jesus solved the most serious problem facing the world. #gospel #righteousness #a...

Date: Mar 2, 2025 Scripture: Matt. 5:10-12 Speaker: Mike Mileski In our culture, it's hard to imagine having to endure opposition on account of our faith, but there have been times when identifying as a Christ follower resulted in terrible, painful persecution. In this message we wrap up our study of the Beatitudes by exploring the reasons for persecution, its roots, and its results for the Ch...

Date: February 23, 2025 Scripture: Matt 5:1-9 Speaker: Mike Mileski Anyone who has spent time in a church community knows that Christians are not immune to conflict. When it comes, some will go on the attack; others will run and hide from it, and some will try and ignore it and pretend everything is okay. The choices we make about how to resolve conflict show whose we are - and in this beatitude,...

Date: February 16, 2025 Scripture: Matt 5:1-8 Speaker: Mike Mileski People wear masks for all kinds of reasons - we want to appear different than we are because we fear rejection, or because we crave acceptance. In this study, we learn that our greatest problem is the problem of a divided heart - we anchor our hearts to too many different, unhelpful things, instead of one glorious, beautiful thing...

Date: February 9, 2025 Scripture: Matt 5:1-7 Speaker: Mike Mileski Many of us divide the world into good guys and bad guys; safe and unsafe, lawbreakers and law abiders. And on that basis, we'll make all our decisions about who deserves our friendship, our time, and our kindness. In this beatitude, we learn how mercy - according to Jesus - upends all of that. Mercy is a challenge, and choice,...

Date: February 2, 2025 Scripture: Matt 5:1-6 Speaker: Mike Mileski There are people who hunger and thirst for righteousness - they long to know that they're been forgiven, seen, and loved by God. Assurance can seem elusive, and many will struggle to find it. In this study, we learn that the struggle for righteousness IS our assurance! And those who hunger and thirst for it will be satisfied! #...

Series: Beatitudes (part 3) Date: January 26, 2025 Teacher: Mike Mileski Who are the "meek"? This might be the most counter-cultural of all the Beatitudes! Jesus embodied meekness, yet He wasn't weak. How do we know whether we're meek? What will it look like for His people to follow His example, and inherit the earth? #beatitudes, #gospel, #jesus, #beatitudes, #meekness, #Kingdom...