Benediction Church, #HamOnt

Series: Beatitudes (part 2) Date: January 19, 2025 Teacher: Mike Mileski The pain and suffering we face cause people to react differently: we escape it, we numb ourselves to it, or we may lose our faith. Yet we have a God who can handle our questions, our doubts, and our pain. He welcomes it, and says "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." We hope this message will be...

Series: Beatitudes (part 1) Date: January 12, 2025 Teacher: Mike Mileski The Sermon on the Mount is regarded by many as one of the greatest, if not the greatest collection of teachings ever shared. In it, Jesus shares many of His most important, counter-cultural ideas. This week, we're introduced to the Sermon on the Mount, and the first of Jesus' Beatitudes. What's Jesus' goal in the Beatitudes,...

Series: The Perfect Gift (Part 6) Date: December 29, 2024 Teacher: Mike Mileski It's so easy to rush ahead to thoughts about the new year ahead, and forget to reflect on what's happened in the year gone by. So this week's recording is a prayerful reflection exercise: We review each of the themes of Advent (hope, peace, joy, love, and Christ) and created quiet space in which to examine, and hear Go...

Series: The Perfect Gift (Part 5) Date: December 24, 2024 Scripture: (John 1:1-13) Teacher: Mike Mileski At this time of year, Jews celebrate Hanukkah, or as a reminder that when things seemed darkest, a miracle occurred, and the light was restored. It points the way to God's true and greater light: Christ who is God incarnate. He said so while celebrating Hanukkah. There is a lot of darkness, but...

Series: The Perfect Gift (Part 4) Date: December 22, 2024 Scripture: (Matthew 1:18-24; 2:13-23) Teacher: Mike Mileski It turns out that a lot of what we call "love" in our culture really isn't. It's often self-serving, fragile, and conditional. God's love is not, and we see it demonstrated in the choices of Joseph, who married Mary, and served as father to Jesus. If you struggle to know what real...

Series: The Perfect Gift (Part 3) Date: December 15, 2024 Scripture: (Luke 1:26-56) Teacher: Nathan Tomes When Mary of Nazareth received the news that she'd be mother to the Messiah, it would have been easy for her to react with self pity over the disruption of her plans and goals. Instead, she bursts out in one of the most beautiful, joyful, important, and disruptive prophetic songs ever recorded...

Series: The Perfect Gift (Part 2) Date: December 8, 2024 Scripture: (Luke 1:57-79) Teacher: Mike Mileski Often, what passes for "peace" really isn't - like in the Pax Romana, when Rome conquered and destroyed and enslaved, and the world called it "peace". John's parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth weren't deceived because because they'd been praying for God's TRUE peace: His Shalom. Advent is their s...

Series: The Perfect Gift (Part 1) Date: December 1, 2024 Scripture: (Luke 2:22-39) Teacher: Mike Lewis The years before the arrival of Jesus were dark, difficult ones for God's people. As an oppressed, conquered people, many in Israel had given up hope that things could get better. Two important exceptions were Simeon and Anna. Their hope - in spite of appearances - is a powerful testimony to all...

Series: Formed (Part 9) Date: November 24, Scripture: 2Corinthians 3:12-18 Teacher: Mike Mileski Over the last several weeks we've learned about spiritual disciplines by which God forms us - like a potter with clay - into the image of Jesus. In this final message, we review and reflect on what we've heard and invite God to speak to us. This guided listening prayer creates space for us to slow down...

Series: Formed (Part 8) Date: November 17, 2024 Scripture: Acts 8:26-40 Teacher: Mike Mileski Many of us have cringey evangelism stories to tell. Somehow we learned that evangelism is about proving Christianity is the best religion, and those who reject it are fools. In this message, Philip's conversation with the Ethiopian Eunuch gives us helpful lessons about what Gospel proclamation is and isn'...

Series: Formed (Part 7) Date: November 10, 2024 Scripture: Psalm 96 Teacher: Mike Mileski Everyone is a worshipper, and everyone worships. What happens when Christians gather for corporate worship? In this message, we learn to see the regular gathering of God's people for worship as one more spiritual discipline that God will use to make us more like Jesus. It's not about "going to church" - it's...

Series: Formed (Part 6) Date: November 3, 2024 Scripture: Luke 12:13-21 Teacher: Mike Mileski Jesus had more to say about money than virtually any other subject. He knew that sometimes, what we own actually owns US. In this message, we're challenged to relate to our wealth and possessions as stewards - managing what God has entrusted to us - in order to find freedom from greed, materialism, coveti...

Series: Formed (Part 5) Date: October 27, 2024 Scripture: Philippians 3:7-14 Teachers: Lane Fusilier and Mike Mileski This week is a special one on one conversation on suffering between Pastor Mike and retired pastor Lane Fusilier. Lane's stories of personal loss and suffering make him a powerful voice for those of us wrestling with how to go through suffering in a way that makes us more like Jesu...

Series: Formed (Part 4) Date: October 20, 2024 Scripture: Psalm 119:97-106 Teacher: Mike Mileski The aim of reading Scripture isn't just to add more Bible knowledge to our brains, but to internalize God's Word. What method(s) of study will help us do so? How do we know we can trust the Bible? What do we do when we find apparent mistakes in there? This message sets out to show why and how the regul...

Series: Formed (Part 3) Date: October 13, 2024 Scripture: Luke 11:1-13 Teacher: Mike Mileski Corrie Ten Boom said "When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.” More recently, Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen said "The only way to pray is to pray, and the way to pray w...

Series: Formed (Part 2) Date: October 6, 2024 Scripture: Mark 2:23-3:5; Luke 13:10-17 Teacher: Mike Mileski By nearly every available measure, we live in an Anxiety Culture. Like the Ancient Hebrews, we live in fear of we know not what or whom. To that culture, and to ours, God calls us to practice Sabbath. It's perhaps the greatest tool in our anxiety toolbox, and the most ancient spiritual disci...

Series: Formed (Part 1) Date: September 29, 2024 Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13 Teacher: Mike Mileski We make choices every day about the kind of people we'll be. We pattern our lives after rabbis who (rightly or wrongly) form our thinking, our loves, our practices, and send us out to make more disciples of them. In this message we're introduced to Jesus not as a head of a world religion, but as a Jewi...

Scripture: Matthew 17:24-27; Mark 10:13-16 Date: September 22, 2024 Teacher: Mike Mileski In the conclusion to this series, we ask what it really looks like to "carry our cross" and follow Jesus. We need to be really honest: the Christian life isn't usually a choice between A and B, where A is clearly God's will and B is clearly not. We need to learn the NORMAL rhythm of preachin...

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 Date: Sunday September 15, 2024 Teacher: Mike Mileski Of course Jesus' followers want others to hear about Him, to be saved, and to follow Him their whole lives long. But the HOW matters. In this message we learn what it should look like when the Ekklesia - Jesus' "called out" people - are on Mission. #mission, #evangelism, #church, #ekklesia, #Jesus...

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47 Date: Sunday September 8, 2024 Teacher: Mike Mileski There are all sorts of reasons (some good, some bad) why people are leaving the Church. This message is an honest, warts-and-all, biblical description of what the Church has always been since its earliest days: beautiful, messy, and necessary. Why should our experience of Church community be any different? Rather, we shou...

Date: September 1, 2024 (Labour Day) Scripture: Luke 10:38-42 Teacher: Mike Mileski Most of us spend our days feeling crazy busy, like our schedules are out of control, and we can't get done the things we need to. Interestingly, all the studies show that we're less busy than any previous generation. In this study of Jesus' visit with Mary and Martha, we learn that we probably have a lo...

Date: August 25, 2024 Scripture: John 11:1-44 Teacher: Dwayne Cline Death is the ultimate enemy. When His good friend Lazarus died, Jesus' pained and angry reaction show us just how much He hates death. In this message, our friend Dwayne Cline shows us that this miracle is a signpost of a new world where there's no death, no dying, no goodbyes.

Date: August 18, 2024 Scripture: Mark 5:21-43 Teacher: Nathan Scott Sometimes we feel sure we know how God should work, and when He doesn't, it's easy to get frustrated with Him. Imagine being Jairus, who pleaded with Jesus to heal his dying daughter, and on the way to do so, He stops instead and heals someone else. In this message, Nathan Shares how stories like this don't weaken our...

Date: August 11, 2024 Scripture: Luke 5:17-26 (ESV) Teacher: Rony Mikhael Though one paralyzed man was healed, this is also a story of how three communities view Jesus: the religious leaders, the crowds, and the ones who carried this man into the presence of Jesus. In this message, our friend Rony Mikhael shows that Jesus isn't only about meeting physical needs; He's building a community t...

Date: August 4, 2024 Scripture: Mark 8:22-26 Teacher: Rolf Nanninga This miracle raises a lot of good questions because Jesus doesn't heal the man born blind in the way that we might have. That's the way of Jesus - sometimes He doesn't behave the way we expect Him to, or answer our prayers the ways we wish He did. In this message, our friend Rolf Nanninga challenges us with the questio...