Forward Church Rewind Podcast

This small section points out that it’s good and valuable to plan. Ministry often requires us to think ahead, to plan, to strategize. But, we must always recognize that our plans are secondary to God’s plans. Make your plans, but then place your plans in God’s hands.

These are 9 of the most encouraging verses in scripture. Jesus has defeated sin and death. If we are in Christ death no longer needs to hold any fear for us. Because Jesus has defeated death, no matter what this mortal life may bring, we can be “steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work because we know that our labour in the Lord is not in vain.”

Although you’ll need to deal with what Paul is talking about here as he deals with the issue of tongues and prophecy, Paul’s primary concern here is not about answering all our questions about tongues and prophecy and instead is about the benefits of each of those gifts. In short Paul’s argument is that prophecy is a more desirable gift because it benefits the hearer while tongues benefit only the...

Imagine a community of people that all functioned with this phrase as their motto: “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” Imagine how radically different that type of community would look in a world that trumpets “do what makes you happy.” Community isn’t easy, we are different people coming together with different backgrounds, different personalities, different perspectives...

Last week in our Imperfect series, we looked at the fact that our rights and freedoms need to be constrained by our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This week, we consider whether we are living living in a posture of love for Christ where we are willing to set aside our rights/freedoms/preferences for the sake of reaching as many people as possible with the gospel. On the Rewind Podcas...

Three of the hardest words to ever say: "I was wrong". On today's episode of Rewind: Our culture puts a high value on rights and freedoms, which are good things, but they aren’t the ultimate thing. We've made it to chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians in our Imperfect series and this week on the podcast, you didn't disappoint with sending in your amazing questions. We discuss how our freedom as Christians s...

Underlying all Paul’s writing in this chapter about marriage and singleness is this concern, that as God’s people we would live lives of undivided devotion to him. The issue for each one of us isn’t ultimately our marital status, the issue is that God our ultimate loyalty would be to God above anyone and anything else

Both singleness and marriage are good gifts from God, they both come with their own benefits and their own responsibilities. Marriage brings with it the good gift of sex, but that gift also comes with restrictions and responsibilities. Singleness grants to the single person a level of freedom that those who are married do not have, but that freedom comes with the reality that sex is reserved for t...

As Christians we celebrate Easter because Easter changes everything. The belief that Jesus truly died, was buried, and then rose again on the first Easter Sunday is the cornerstone of our faith. As Paul says, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then we would be the most pitiable people of all. But because he did rise, we can have confidence that those who place their trust in Jesus for the forgive...

As humans, it is natural for us to want to seek justice when we feel wronged. However, as Christians, we must remember that we have been forgiven through Christ's death on the cross and that he will ultimately bring about justice when he returns. This passage offers us insight into how we often react to being wronged in unhealthy ways and how we can choose to respond in more healthy and godly ways...

One of the main reasons Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians was their apparent lack of concern for sexual immorality within the church. Paul emphasizes the importance of addressing this issue and administering church discipline out of love for Jesus and love for the brother or sister who is engaging in sin. This sermon provides an opportunity to explore the importance of holiness and the nece...

On this week's episode of the Rewind podcast Pastor Derik fills in for Blair as Pastor Darryl and Pastor Andrew answer questions like: "What's the difference between feeling ashamed vs. being repentant?" "How can you speak the truth to others without coming off as judgemental?" and "Won't showing grace to others just cause people to take advantage of us?" Plus Andrew and Darryl share about leaders...

“Despite their self-perception as wise, mature, and sophisticated, Paul makes it clear to the Corinthians that they still have much growing to do. Their tendency towards quarrelling and jealousy is a sign of their immaturity. There is no place for such behavior in the body of Christ. When we allow ourselves to be divided by boasting, factions, or allegiance to specific leaders or teachers, it demo...

As Paul has previously stated, wisdom is the understanding of the gospel message of Christ's death and resurrection. Those who are mature in their faith are those who have fully embraced this message. It is only through the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we can come to a true understanding of this wisdom. Logical arguments or persuasion will never be enough to fully convince others to believe th...

2000 years ago, God in the ultimate act of love he ultimate act of love, became a human and lived among us. Born to an unwed peasant mother and raised by her carpenter husband, Jesus lived a perfect life, teaching about the kingdom of God and proclaiming his own divinity. Despite his innocence, he was arrested and sentenced to death by crucifixion at the hands of the religious and political leader...

The gospel message may seem foolish or weak to those who hear it, but that's how God often chooses to build his movement. Rather than seeking out the powerful or influential, he calls the weak, powerless, and foolish to proclaim the good news. In fact, the gospel was just as foolish to the people of Corinth as it may seem to those in Southern Ontario today. But despite its apparent foolishness, th...

The problems of division, factions, and idolizing church leaders are not unique to our time. From the earliest days of Christianity, believers have struggled with maintaining unity and avoiding the temptation to put leaders on pedestals. In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul seeks to address these issues by reminding them that the church belongs solely to Jesus. It is through Jesus' death a...

Paul begins his letter to the Corinthian church by expressing gratitude for the grace of God that has been bestowed upon them through Jesus. Similarly, we have much to be thankful for in the Corinthian church, as it serves as a reminder that if God can work through a community as flawed and in need of grace as the Corinthians, then there is hope for us as well. This Sunday, we will delve into the...

The world is an unsteady place. Our lives can be turned upside down in a moment. One event, one phone call, one diagnosis can shake us or shatter us. Sometimes God allows this shaking to reveal to us our own fragility and the fragility of the things we have built our lives upon. There are a few things we need to know when we are feeling shaken. First, while God may shake us God himself is is never...

Haggai was a post-exilic prophet sent by God to exhort the small community of Jewish people who had resettled in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity and exile. The community that had returned, returned to a city in ruins and a temple that had been destroyed. Their initial excitement and joy at returning quickly turned into a struggle just to get by. In the grind of trying to rebuild their liv...

We will be walking through John 11 & 12 and the story of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus and his resurrection. Looking at the various ways they said yes to Jesus and challenging us to make the coming year a time when we will live to say yes to whatever Jesus is saying.

All of us have a deep need to be loved. We’re also terrified that we’ll be rejected. For many of us our search for love and our fear of rejection are the driving forces behind the story of our lives. One of the most incredible truths we find in scripture is that there is a God who both loves us fully and knows us completely. The good news for those who are searching for love is that love came sear...

We often go searching for joy and settle for happiness instead. Happiness is a product of the present, it’s a result of my current circumstances. Joy however is rooted in both the past and the future. In order to find lasting joy and not just momentary happiness we have to root ourselves in the faithfulness of God in the past and the certainty of what he has promised to us in the future. We can fi...