Foothills Alliance Church | Audio

Belonging - Ephesians 4:11-16: There is something unique and special that occurs when believers in Jesus connect and lean together in the same direction. There is a sense of belonging that isn’t found anywhere else this side of heaven. The common thread in our connection is found in the person of Jesus. Paul describes Jesus as the ‘head’ of the church which gets one to thinking … what does our ‘ch...

Belonging - 1 Kings 19: Do frantic thoughts keep you awake at night? Overwhelming emotions that consume you and leave you feeling powerless and all alone? Has the pandemic taken a toll on your sanity? Has it ever gotten so bad you weren’t sure you even wanted to live anymore, wondering — Why isn’t my faith strong enough to handle life right now? Where is God in the dark? Elijah was a man of deep f...

Belonging - Luke19 v 1-10: Okay, admittedly this sermon title is a bit of click bait. But now that I have your attention, what is the first few words that come to mind when you hear the words: “the church?” Were they positive? Negative? Why? Now I want you to do the same only with the word: “belonging.” Were any of the words that came to mind the same as what you thought with “the church?” There a...

Belonging: If you’ve been around Foothills, you’ve likely seen the sign on the wall or heard us say, “We’re better together.” And if we ever doubted that, these last 18 months confirmed it. In the face of worldwide disconnection and seasons of unwanted isolation, we’ve discovered how essential relationship is. Our God has known this all along. So, it’s not surprising his restoration plan for broke...

If Jesus Was Serious - Mat 7:24-29: Have you ever considered the ‘scariest’ verse in the Bible? Well, this week we will learn of those who appeal to Jesus as having done great things for him in His name, only to learn that Jesus says he never knew them!! How can this be? Was Jesus serious in this? Apparently, somewhere along the way they made a poor choice when they came to, what I call, the Fork...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matthew 7:1-5: This week Jesus confronts us with the practice of judging others. It’s a timely word, because from time to time we all find ourselves falling into this harmful practice that can lead to prejudice against others for no reason other than they are different from us. Our time in God’s Word will find us learning the difference between discernment and judgement and...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matt 7:1-5: One of the grandest privileges on my life has been being your pastor at Foothills Alliance Church over the last 20 years. I can hardly believe this will be my last Sunday at church preaching as your lead pastor. You have been so kind, so encouraging, so honest, so gracious and I am beyond grateful for your influence in my life. This weekend we will look at Paul’s...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matt 6:25-33: J.I. Packer defines the kingdom of God as the place "wherever the lordship of Jesus is acknowledged in repentance, faith and new obedience." The whole of the sermon on the mount is not just talk for Jesus, nor should it be for us. If Jesus is serious, and he is who he says he is, then what we've been looking at should shake us to our core. As we look at Matthew...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matt 6:5-14: There are moments in life when God feels so close that I am overwhelmed with his presence. Last week, floating on a northern Saskatchewan lake surrounded by blue sky and water, green forest and bright sunshine I had one of those moments. I turned my heart towards God in peaceful praise and felt the embrace of his love. But what about those other moments when lif...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matt. 5:45: Storms.  They happen. Right now, British Columbia is praying that they’ll happen! But, sadly, any hope of rain appears to be accompanied by lightning.   It’s how we feel at times. We know rain has value, but sometimes that rain seems to be excessive and sometimes appears to bring other unwanted realities with it.  Jesus, speaking to those listeners on the mountai...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matt. 5:38-48: A dear friend sent me a note after last weekend’s message and said something to this effect: “Didn’t the text for this weekend include verses 31 and 32 where Jesus talked about divorce?  Does that mean we get a whole weekend on it next weekend? Lord knows enough of us are curious about it!”  Essentially, reading between the lines of the text, she might have be...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matt 5:21-30: Demographic surveys indicate an increasing number of people who rarely attend a faith-based service. The fastest growing religious group appears to be a group called “nones” – those who have no religious affiliation. Some cry “persecution” and assume the posture of victim. I’ve studied the life of Jesus pretty closely, I see no victim mindset within him. Others...

If Jesus Was Serious - Matt. 5:1-16: How many of you have had someone offer to pay for a coffee or a meal for you and you responded awkwardly with: “are you sure?” Has the person ever changed their mind after you asking that?   I’m not sure if we say that because we’re polite or we have trouble receiving a gift. Either way, when we consider it, it’s an odd response to a generous offer.   I find th...

Love Where You Live - 1 Peter 3:15: I was thinking that I should name this message, "How Do You Like Your Neighbour?" as focus on engaging  with  the  people God brings into our lives. This made me think of the one and only – Mr. Rogers! Don't we all miss him, at least a little? Mr. Rogers taught us so many things in life. He taught us to be kind, that were special, that we’re to accept  people  a...

Love Where You Live - Luke 15:11-31: This weekend we continue our Love Where You Live emphasis. We will take time to honour Fathers for their influence in our lives realizing. Sadly, we also recognize some people can’t join in such a celebration due to an absent father, or one who failed to offer care and nurture along the way.   Our time in God’s word will find us focusing on the Father Heart of...

Love Where You Live - Luke 10:25-37: This pandemic has been long, and for many, incredibly difficult. But, there have also been blessings with COVID-19. I’m healthier today than I’ve been in years — I weigh what I weighed when I got married! And I’ve met remarkable people along the way. I’ve got to know a man who’s fairly new to Foothills who taught for years at the Medical School at the U of C. H...

Love Where You Live - Matt. 22:37-40: In everything you do, God is present. Everywhere you go, you are a child of God, a servant to Jesus, and sent by the Spirit. Everything counts. Christ plays a role in the everyday stuff of life. As Jesus saturates our lives, they change. Often the change is not what we do, but how we do them. The focus of our lives shifts from ourselves to God and his mission....

All You Need Is Love - Hebrews 13:4-6: This weekend, I'll be teaching a topic I rarely preach about: sex, singleness and surrender. Human life and sexuality aren't just behaviours –  it's about beliefs, and ultimately, about the way we view the world and determine how we will respond to it. The language centers around the concept of a worldview.  Everyone has one. It comes from  a Germanic word: ...

All You Need Is Love - Romans 12:9-21: How have your relationships been this last year and a half? Have you felt tensions because of the circumstances in Alberta and the rest of the world? When was the last time you had a conversation with a friend where you disagreed on vaccinations, restrictions, politics, ethics etc.? How did it go? What did it make you feel? We’ve seen polarization cause relat...

All You Need Is Love - Exodus 20:12: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.”  Words that easily make any teenager cringe! What about when they don’t understand?  Or they’re being unreasonable? Or they are just plain wrong? I said last weekend that “parents are not always right but they’re always necessary.”  We’ll talk about that this weekend. We’ll also talk about the shift f...

All You Need Is Love - 1 Thess. 5: Mother’s Day – one of the more terrifying days for many husbands and children. How do we find a way to honour the woman who birthed us or our children? How do we find a card to express the measure of gratitude we feel? But we remember that Mom’s can also feel angst on a day like this. Am I being that parent who obsesses on secondary issues and neglects primary th...

All You Need Is Love - Ruth 1: This weekend we commence a new series on ‘Relationships,’ and rightly so! Covid has placed incredible pressure on our households over the past year and, to some extent, our relationships have borne the brunt of the disruption around us.  It is fitting to be reminded that  through our relationships with each other,  we can experience God’s presence practically and pow...

How to Pray - 2 Corinthians 12:1-10: Most of us would easily agree that prayer is a beautiful, sacred and comforting reality in our lives. But we would also just as quickly acknowledge that it is also a complicated, confusing and mysterious reality. Those latter emotions especially arise when our prayers seem to go unanswered, when God seems eerily silent or when life becomes unthinkably unmanagea...

How to Pray - Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 23:46, John 4:24-37: Prayer.  The very word so easily evokes a sense of guilt, inadequacy and disappointment.  But it also reflects a struggle we desperately know we need to understand.  As one writer says, “there’s no one on a plane that’s going down who isn’t praying.”  Is prayer intended only for moments of utter desperation and despair?   Last weekend, we w...

How to Pray - Luke 11:1-9: How’s your prayer life? What did you feel when you read that? Did you feel guilt? Did you feel indifference? Did you feel encouraged because you remembered to pray today? It’s a weighty question. It’s like being asked how your workouts are going when you haven’t been working out. Prayer is an incredibly universal act. Everyone prays – even atheists pray! It might look di...