Grassroots Church | Thunder Bay, Ontario

Pastor Steve explores the form of love revealed in the circumstances of Jesus' birth. It is a love of incredible vulnerability which, it is suggested, is exactly how God wishes to reveal himself first and foremost. The implications for what this means for his followers is to follow into this same way of loving others - particularly those deemed most difficult to love.

As we continue the journey toward Bethlehem, Pastor Steve shares >one< way that joy might become a more sustained reality in the life of the Christian through looking at the theme of joy in the New Testament and two traits that are often associated with it: 1. beleagueredness and 2. hope of deliverance.

The second week of Advent offers the gift of peace - but it's not the peace the world offers. At least, it's not the WAY of peace the world offers. Immanuel, God with Us, offers an everlasting peace through his presence and through forgiveness. Rather than using the tactics used by Caesar to attain peace--intimidation, violence, domination, fear, etc.--we're asked to follow in the way of Jesus in...

Pastor Steve opens the 1st Sunday of Advent by exploring how Christians are able to hold the reality of the world's despair while simultaneously putting our hope in a God who promises restoration. Both are realities and the Christian is asked, against all odds, to uphold hope because of the faithfulness and trustworthiness of the God who makes the promise in the first place.

Pastor Steve facilitates a conversation with 3 Grassrooters (Matt Denis, Robin Peace and Bill Ulrich), discussing some practical, real-world experience and perspective on the topic of sharing faith. This is a rich and, at times, vulnerable discussion you won't want to miss.

Many of us cringe when we think about evangelism. That's because many of our experiences with evangelism have been full of cringe. That sucks because you'd think the greatest hope we have and the source of our joy would be something we'd share freely and generously. But what if it doesn't have to be cringe? What if evangelism was as simple as our story? In a post-church, post-truth, cynical world,...

Pastor Steve ends the series on rediscovering the gospel using a "tool" called "The Gospel in Chairs" in which 2 versions of the gospel are presented - a legal gospel and a restorative gospel. This presentation was developed by Orthodox priest Anthony Carbo and made popular by pastor/theologian Brad Jersak among others. You can check out Brad's version of the Gospel in Chairs here: The Gospel in C...

Scott Wiebe shares an honest and vulnerable take on why he's still a committed follower of Jesus and why the life of the church is so valuable to him.

We all believe that Jesus died for our sins but exactly HOW that works is the stuff of theology. Pastor Steve explores the main atonement theories that have emerged over the past two millennia that have sought to understand the mechanics of the cross, ending with a particular strong challenge of what it means to follow Jesus in light of the cross.

Sin is not good news. It leads to hurt and wounding and ultimately to death. But we can be free from sin through Jesus, and that is good news. In the 5th message in this series on rediscovering the gospel, Pastor Steve looks at how sin fits into the redemptive story of Jesus. This message was originally delivered on October 20, 2024.

In the 4th message in this series on rediscovering the gospel, Pastor Steve shares a "course" of the dinner party that speaks to our longing for meaning and purpose, suggesting that the gospel is ultimately good because it invites us to find our vocation in joining God in his work of restoration and reconciling of all things.

Jesus is working to restore and reconcile all creation, including humanity. That's good news! In this sermon, Pastor Steve looks at what this means for Christians and the Church. Want to read the full "Weight of Glory" sermon by C.S. Lewis, where the closing quote of this week's sermon comes from? Click here! This sermon was originally delivered October 6, 2024.

Pastor Steve continues the series on rediscovering the good news of great joy for all people by focusing on how Jesus reveals God perfectly, once and for all putting to rest any doubt of the goodness, the merciful, compassionate, gracious and generous God that the serpent first tried to instill in the Garden.  .

When Jesus was born, the angel announced that this was "good news that will cause great joy for all people." We call that good news the gospel. But what exactly is that good news? How can we set aside those distorted versions of the gospel we may have heard growing up? Join Pastor Steve Bill as he outlines the beginning of a sermon series which will lead us to discover the truth about the gospel:...

Pastor Steve shares from Psalm 115, reflecting on the nations that turn to lifeless idols and the warning that those do so become like the idols themselves (lifeless). He explores a few examples of idols in our lives and the tendency for a form of 'death' to occur in our worship of them, where worship here means to ascribe worth. Or, in John Mark Comer's terms, to become an apprentice of.

Pastor Steve kicks off the fall with a firehose of information taking place at Grassroots Church this fall. Listen in for info about Roots & Shoots, a new children's choir, youth group, home groups, a new church library and a location for where we'll be meeting in October!

In the final message of the summer series, Pastor Steve dives into what many scholars have deemed the most important of Jesus' parables - the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. This story is often understood as being centred on the wayward younger son but the Eastern Orthodox Church calls this the Parable of the Loving Father - or even the "Love Sick" Father. Listen in as we explore the Good...

Pastor Steve tackles Jesus' parable of the Wheat and the Weeds in Matthew 13, with insights from a sermon delivered by Tim Mackie (of Bible Project). Listen in as he delves into the complicated nature of humans - that none of us are ALL good nor ALL evil and that the role of the Church, in this already-but-not-yet age is not to do the word of weeding but simply to produce wheat.

This was a special Sunday! Brad Woods visited our congregation and gave a presentation on story telling and listening that fit in perfectly with our ongoing series on Jesus' parables. This message was originally delivered on August 18, 2024.

Guest speaker Robin Peace looks at this parable from Matthew 20: 1 - 6. This parable shows how the generosity of God does not come the way we expect it to come. It shows how, in the Kingdom of God, grace is more important than our perception of what is "fair". This message was originally delivered on August 4, 2024.

Pastor Steve shares some thoughts on what is at the heart of Jesus' teaching on the Rich Fool. It is more than simply whether we should be saving our money or giving it all away. Rather, the heart of the matter is the heart. What posture do we have toward our possessions, our wealth, our need for security? Do we trust God or is our trust in our own ability and accomplishments? When it is the latte...

This week, special guest Scott Wiebe reflects on the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Kingdom of God, with insights from the world of forestry and plants!

Guest Speaker Richard Clark looks at the parable of the lost sheep. In a conversational message, he looks on how this story can lead us to acceptance, humility, repentance, and joy. Our parables "Summer School" series is designed to involve a bit more back-and-forth than a standard sermon. Unfortunately, that doesn't already translate well to a podcast. We have edited this down into a coherent mes...

Why did Jesus do so much of His teaching using parables? What is a parable anyway? How should we read them? Join Pastor Steve Bill as he looks at all of this and more in the first official sermon in our summer series on parables. This message was originally given on June 30, 2024.

Grassroots is going to summer school! Through July and August, we'll be looking through the parables of Jesus to discover what they have to say to us as Jesus followers in the 21st century. As a prelude, Pastor Steve shares about a posture we should strive to have in all of our interactions with each another: learning to be QUICK to listen and SLOW to speak. Andy Stanley's message "How Winning is...