From the Pulpit

Christianity asserts a number of seemingly counter intuitive truths. For example, wealth comes through poverty, maturity through childlikeness, exaltation by submission, life via death, glory by suffering, and freedom through enslavement.* Truths like these are difficult for us to grasp because our sinful nature screams rebellion and our ignorant world preaches their opposites. Another such realit...

This sermon was preached by Pastor Josiah to Stone Ridge Bible Chapel in Hamilton, ON on July 18, 2021. Key Passage: Ecclesiastes 5:10–20 Series: N/A Speaker: Josiah Boyd

A  common practice for many sport teams is to watch film from previous  games. Oftentimes a coach will lead these viewings, stopping the tape  from time to time to point out successes and failures, strengths and  weaknesses, areas to be applauded and areas to improve. The purpose  behind these sessions isn’t humiliation or confrontation but, rather, refinement, motivation,...

For the past several weeks we have been studying the letters to the Seven Churches found in the second and third chapters of the Book of  Revelation. There are two bed rock things we must keep in mind as we study these churches: First, they were  historical churches , that is they existed as  real churches with real pastors and real buildings and, second, they are at the same t...

Avid  hikers are used to receiving warnings before setting off on their  favourite trails—“beware loose stones,” “watch for bears,” “look out for  falling trees.” However, in 2021, apparently there’s a new hazard that  demands caution: The selfie. Says one New York news outlet, “what many  people don't think about is that every year dozens of people across the  countr...

Polycarp (AD 70–155), the bishop of Smyrna, was urged by the Roman proconsul to publicly renounce his faith in Jesus or face execution for the amusement of the anti-Christian culture of the day. In response to the deadly ultimatum, the man of God said: “Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never did me any injury. How then can I blaspheme my King and my  Saviour?” Thus, the fire was...

Imagine Oakridge got a letter from Christ. What would it say? What would  he commend us for as a church? What would he rebuke? Where would he  encourage us, and where would he correct us? These are the sort of  questions we can be asking ourselves as we take the next seven weeks to  read the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. Today  we’re going to start w...

Everyone loves a good story and I have a great story to tell today. It  is the story of future history. It's not fictional—the product of  someone’s imagination—but it's a true story . It's called "The  Revealing of Jesus Christ." This story is about the future, about the  things that must soon take place. But where did this story come from? It  came from God. It came thro...

There are many experiences in life that prompt mixed emotions. Walking a daughter down the aisle can bring a father sadness and joy, nostalgia  and pride. Dropping a child off at school for the first time—whether  kindergarten or university—is a feelings’ factory for parents. Attending  a Christian funeral both breaks the heart with grief and fills the heart with hope. These types o...

We talk a lot about grace in the church, and, rightly so! As Christians, we are saved by grace, live by grace, mature in Christ by grace, are filled with grace so as to extend grace to others, both inside and outside the church. The importance of God’s grace cannot be overstated. But there’s an enemy of God’s grace that lurks in every Christian church, in every Christian family, and in every Chris...

Philip  Melancthon, the great Reformation theologian, once said to his friend and mentor, Martin Luther, “Today you and I will discuss the governance of the universe.” It’s reported that Luther calmly responded: “Today we’ll go fishing and leave the governance of the universe to God.” That’s a picture of resting in the Almighty! And, Lord knows, our world could  use some of that today, c...

Expectations can dictate experiences. If our expectations of a relationship or situation are inaccurate, unrealistic, or misguided then disappointment,  disillusionment, and discouragement often result. To expect your spouse to meet all your needs, your job provide unwavering purpose, your education to secure sustained credibility, or your children to bring unblemished pride is a fool’s erran...

Without doubt, other than creation, The Exodus is the single greatest  event in the Old Testament. It is an incredible story. It is a story of  rescue and release. It is a story of God rescuing Israel from Egypt. He  not only rescues them from Egypt he leads them through the desert to the  Promised Land. It is a story full of the miraculous work of God on  behalf of his pe...

The Gospel according to Matthew is written in such a way that it oscillates between stories  about Jesus and the teachings of Jesus. All in all, there are five major sections of discourse in this particular book, the first of which is the oft-labelled  Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7). The second, our text of study today, is an instructional passage often referred to as the Commissioni...

Most  are familiar with this cinematic scene: A bomb with a visible timer is counting down to detonation and, apparently, the only way to disarm it  is to cut one of its two exposed wires. One, if snipped, will shut the bomb off while the other will set it off. It’s a binary choice with life at stake and time running out. In  many ways, that’s the situation Israel was facing in Matt...

While Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is arguably one of the world’s most famous works of art, if you’ve ever  seen it (whether in-person at the Louvre in Paris or in photos online)  you’ll know that it hangs on a plain, tan wall in a large, mostly-empty  room. The original rationale for such simplicity of presentation was to  help patrons avoid “museum fatigue” caused by over-stimulation...

As Christians, we have been saved unto eternal life. We have been moved  from darkness to light, from death to life. We have, by God's grace,  been raised with Jesus Christ and are seated with with him in the  heavenly places. We are forgiven of all sins—past, present, and  future—and are free from our deserved condemnation. Honestly, this list  could get very long if we s...

Current news headlines suggest that we have a lot to be afraid of. A spreading virus, a falling economy, government overreach, climate change, creeping totalitarianism, the disintegration of the family,  attacks on freedom of speech, and accusations of hate speech. It's like  we’re in a house of mirrors that, instead of seeing our own reflection  everywhere we turn, we see the refle...

They say "seeing is believing". While human beings have always sought to  understand and explain things that are confusing to them, now, more  than ever perhaps, the world is very skeptical of things that don't make sense. And while there are parts of Christianity that are agreeable to  most, the reality is that Christians worship a supernatural God whose  actions can't always...

In Hebrews 11:1 we see that hope is another aspect of faith in the unseen or the future. Hope is faith directed to the future . Hope in the secular sense is the expectation of good. Christian hope  goes beyond that to the expectation of God and Christ. I believe that  God not only worked in the past and is working in the present, but will  work in the future for his glory and my ble...

Suppose today Jesus was to ask you, “What are you seeking?” What would you say? What would you tell him? Could you tell him that you were seeking God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your strength and all of your mind? Could you even tell him that mostly you were trying to seek him but you slip just a little now and then? Could you say that? While world leaders today are busy talki...

It’s  wise to, once-in-a-while, be reminded of what we already know so as to  make sure we’re still moving in the right direction. It’s why a student  will return to their course syllabus, why a traveller will recheck their  compass, why a chef reviews their recipe, and why a contractor revisits  their blueprints. These actions are rarely taken with the intention of  ...

Key Passage: Hebrews 11:1–6 Speaker: Dr. Jim Rennie

In the early days of his earthly ministry,  Jesus made many bold claims. He said he was going to make fishers of men  (4:19). He declared himself humanity’s final Judge (7:22–23) and the  ultimate fulfiller of the law (5:17), a law he asserted had been  mishandled and mis-taught by Israel’s religious leaders (5:20–48).  Yet, perhaps Jesus’s boldest claim was that he was th...

Storms  in this life are as inescapable as they can be vicious. The rains of  depression, fearfulness, and loneliness fall. The floods of personal  sin, family tension, and relational brokenness come. The winds of  cultural tension, social pressure, and godless societies blow. And all  of it, at times, slams against the walls of our lives. In fact, so common is this experi...