Elevation Waterloo Sermons

Palm Sunday Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem was a sign to the crowds that God was with them and was at work redeeming their broken world. But it wasn’t only a sign for the people who first lined those streets with branches in their hands; it was a sign that God would one day respond to our prayers and come to us , as well. Mark 11:1-10

Series: Lent 2020 - Responding to the Good News Some Fell on Good Soil For all of the ways a seed can fail to take root, there is always the possibility that what’s lying dormant inside will explode into new life! When Jesus encounters a blind man at the side of the road, we witness a miraculous kind of new life that continues to be available to us today. Mark 10:46-52

Series: Lent 2020 - Responding to the Good News "Some Fell Among Thorns" As Jesus reminds us in the parable of the sower, and has his disciples exemplify in their clamouring for positions, a lot of weeds can come into our lives and choke out the good news that has been planted in us. During this time of lent, and season of isolation many of us will have to wrestle with new weeds, but hopefully can...

Series: Lent 2020 - Responding to the Good News Some Fell on Rocky Places One of life’s more challenging lessons is that not every good beginning has a happy ending. When the storms of life start crashing around us, it can be easy to lose our grip on the good news we’ve been given. This was every bit as true for the first followers of Jesus as it is for us today. Mark 4:35-41

Series: Lent 2020 - Responding to the Good News Some Fell Along the Path For some people, even the best news of all can be received in a negative way. This morning's reading features two instances where some incredibly good news resulted in religious bickering. Let's take a look at some of the 'birds' that threaten to steal away our joy.  Mark 2:1-17

Series: Lent 2020 - Responding to the Good News Scattering the Seed Jesus often used parables to help his audience grasp the deeper truths he wanted to share. On this First Sunday of Lent, we’ll be introduced to one of his classics - a parable that helps us grow in our understanding of the different ways people respond to the good news of Jesus. Mark 4:1-20

Series: Level Two Prayers Now, Add 1/4 Cup of Fasting At the core of a healthy life of faith is a relationship with God, who created us to love and be loved. In prayer, we make ourselves available to God and we invite God into the flow of our lives. But what happens if our prayers are growing stale or if they're disappearing altogether? Matthew 4:1-4; 9:14-15

Series: Level Two Prayers Prayer and Presence  At the core of a healthy life of faith is a relationship with God, who created us to love and be loved. In prayer, we make ourselves available to God and we invite God into the flow of our lives. But what happens if our prayers are growing stale or if they're disappearing altogether? Matthew 26:36-44

Series: Level Two Prayers Postures and Practices At the core of a healthy life of faith is a relationship with God, who created us to love and be loved. In prayer, we make ourselves available to God and we invite God into the flow of our lives. But what happens if our prayers are growing stale or if they're disappearing altogether? Matthew 6:5-13

Series: Level Two Prayers Beyond the Basics At the core of a healthy life of faith is a relationship with God, who created us to love and be loved. In prayer, we make ourselves available to God and we invite God into the flow of our lives. But what happens if our prayers are growing stale or if they're disappearing altogether?  2 Chronicles 7:11-16

Series: Here's What We See A Diverse Community At the start of a new year, Elevation's leadership would like to help paint a picture of what our community could look like down the road. We'll be unpacking four opportunities that, once embraced, will lead us into a season of healthy growth and maturity. While this isn't quite a "five-year plan," we definitely want to start building some five-year m...

Series: Here's What We See A Renewed Spiritual Vitality At the start of a new year, Elevation's leadership would like to help paint a picture of what our community could look like down the road. We'll be unpacking four opportunities that, once embraced, will lead us into a season of healthy growth and maturity. While this isn't quite a "five-year-plan," we definitely want to start building some fi...

Series: Here's What We See A Culture of Invitation At the start of a new year, Elevation's leadership would like to help paint a picture of what our community could look like down the road. We'll be unpacking four opportunities that, once embraced, will lead us into a season of healthy growth and maturity. While this isn't quite a "five-year-plan," we definitely want to start building some five-ye...

Series: Here's What We See "A Place to Call Home" At the start of a new year, Elevation's leadership would like to help paint a picture of what our community could look like down the road. We'll be unpacking four opportunities that, once embraced, will lead us into a season of healthy growth and maturity. While this isn't quite a "five-year-plan," we definitely want to start building some five-yea...

Advent Three: Walking Humbly Advent is a time we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus' birth has endless implications for humanity but perhaps the most significant is his introduction of the coming Kingdom of God. During the four weeks of Advent, we will focus on this slow kingdom coming. This week we look at humility as a key ingredient of that kingdom. Luke 2:1-7; Philippians 2:5-7

Advent Two: Loving Mercy Advent is a time we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus' birth has endless implications for humanity but perhaps the most significant is his introduction of the coming Kingdom of God. During the four weeks of Advent, we will focus on this slow kingdom coming. This week we look at mercy as a key ingredient of that kingdom. Luke 1:39-55; 1 Timothy 1:15-16

Advent One: Doing Justice Advent is a time we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus' birth has endless implications for humanity, but perhaps the most significant is his introduction of the coming Kingdom of God.  During the four weeks of Advent, we will focus on this slow Kingdom coming. And we begin this week with justice as a key ingredient of that kingdom.   Micah 6:1-8

Series: Old School Bible Fights Title: Foreskin vs No Foreskin Today, few of us could even imagine getting into an argument about the spiritual value of circumcision, but for the Early Church, this was the hottest of all hot topics. We can learn a lot from these first followers of Jesus as we pay attention to how they wrestled with what it meant for them to honour God. Acts 15:1-11

Series: Old School Bible Fights Title: Right vs Wrong Job was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. And yet, despite all of this, his life fell apart in an instant. In this ancient story, we get to listen in on a group of friends arguing back and forth with one another as they sought out an explanation for Job’s sudden misfortunes. Job 1:1-22

Series: Old School Bible Fights God vs King The nation of Israel wanted to be like all of the nations around them.  They didn't want to follow God's lead; they wanted a flesh-and-blood king.  The argument between Samuel and the people might have been short-lived, but the consequences reverberated for generations to come.  1 Samuel 8:1-22a

Series: Old School Bible Fights Fruit vs Fat In the early chapters of Genesis, our origin story, we find ourselves a classic sibling rivalry. You've got Abel tending his flocks and Cain working the soil, but when they come to present their respective offerings to the Lord, things go sideways very quickly.   Genesis 4:1-16

Series: Things Jesus Didn't Say "Max Out Your RRSP Contributions" In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had a lot to say about how his followers should orient their lives, but sometimes we mix in our own aspirations with his words, which is bound to make a mess of things. Let’s see if we can’t figure out which is which and keep ourselves moving in the right direction. Matthew 6:19-34

Series: Things Jesus Didn't Say "Post Only Your Best Photos" In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had a lot to say about how his followers should orient their lives, but sometimes we mix in our own aspirations with his words, which is bound to make a mess of things. Let’s see if we can’t figure out which is which and keep ourselves moving in the right direction. Matthew 6:1-18

Series: Things Jesus Didn't Say "Look Out For Number One" In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had a lot to say about how his followers should orient their lives, but sometimes we mix in our own aspirations with his words, which is bound to make a mess of things. Let’s see if we can’t figure out which is which and keep ourselves moving in the right direction. Matthew 5:21-48

Series: Things Jesus Didn't Say   "Life Should Be Easy" In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had a lot to say about how his followers should orient their lives, but sometimes we mix in our own aspirations with his words, which is bound to make a mess of things. Let’s see if we can’t figure out which is which and keep ourselves moving in the right direction. Matthew 5:1-20