Grassroots Church | Thunder Bay, Ontario

Guest speaker Scott Baker takes time to look at what it means to Christians that Jesus worked as a carpenter. He looks at what that might have been like for Jesus, and what it means for how we view our own relationship with work, and how we should treat people who work with us. It's a little bit of a Father's Day message. Scriptures this message: Mark 6:1-3, Matthew13:55-57; Matthew 20:1-7; Luke 3...

In the final message in the series, Pastor Steve talks about how we might begin to go about taking all of the beautiful truths of the Jesus of the Centre that we've learned and move them from our head to our heart; from intellectual ascent to transformation of our being. What does it mean for Jesus to become more than just a list of concepts for us?

Continuing our series on Jesus' teachings and character, Pastor Steve looks at how Jesus as a non-violent peacemaker. In a world saturated with violence, Jesus calls us to bring peace. Pastor Steve also examines why the modern church often avoids this aspect of Jesus' life and teachings. This message was originally delivered on June 2, 2024.

In this message, Pastor Steve looks at how Jesus stands with the "least of these", who are people who recognize their profound need for Jesus. As Christians, we are to model ourselves after Jesus and  care for the poor, the sick, and the oppressed. We also need to make sure that, like the "least of these", we never lose sight of our need to have Jesus move in our lives. Finally, we seek to be radi...

Pastor Steve looks at the unconditional and profound love that Jesus reveals. God loves the whole world, that love looks like Jesus laying down his life on the cross, and there is nothing we need to do to earn that love. Pastor Steve references this podcast with Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries that is worth checking out. We kept the final song as it related so well to the message. It so...

Pastor Steve resumes the series on revealing the Jesus of the Centre by looking at the means in which the work of Jesus is done on earth - How does Jesus do what he does? In other words, what does Jesus' power look like? We find out that Jesus is never coercive and that the form of power Jesus uses looks entirely unlike what we know to be power. This is a power that works "with" us... not "over" u...

In this special presentation, Lifewater Canada president Lynda Gehrels speaks to the Grassroots congregation. Lifewater Canada is a charity based out of Thunder Bay that provides drinking water to communities in Africa and Haiti. It is regularly recognized as one of the most effective charities in Canada. Grassroots Church is proud to support Lifewater Canada. You can find out more about Lifewater...

Pastor Steve resumes the series on Revealing the Jesus of the Centre by exploring one of Jesus' most distinctive teachings: Enemy Love. Why does Jesus seem to care more about grace and forgiveness than he does about tit-for-tat sense of justice? And what does this mean for followers of Jesus? Listen and find out!

Using the baptism of Jesus and the following 40 days in the desert in which Jesus was tempted by Satan, Vincent shares on the need to find our identity in God's love, resting in that truth rather than having to "hustle" in order to find approval from those around us.

Grassroots Church joined Jesus Collective in 2023 with a goal of making Jesus the centre of everything. But what does that even look like? Exactly who is the Jesus of the centre? In this first message of our new series, Pastor Steve demonstrates how talk of being "Jesus centred" is futile if we don't have a clear understanding of exactly who that Jesus is. He establishes 3 assumptions that we need...

In this Easter Sunday sermon, Pastor Steve Bill looks at what it means to live our lives knowing that Christ is risen, and that resurrection is part of the plan for all of us. This message was originally delivered March 31, 2024.

In a special Palm Sunday sermon, Pastor Steve Bill preaches on how Jesus demonstrates an alternative to the violent, conquest-focused type of power that dominates our world. Scripture readings are Matthew 22:1 - 11 and Philippians 2:8.  You can view the Brian Zahnd tweet about muscular Jesus here.  This message was originally delivered March 24, 2024. We had a few technical issues this week which...

Pastor Steve Bill explores fasting in the tenth and final installment of our series on Spiritual Disciplines. He explores how fasting can be a practice that allows us to bring our "fleshly" desires into better balance. For additional resources on spiritual disciplines, go to www.practicingtheway.org.  This message was originally delivered on March 17, 2024.

To explore journaling as a spiritual discipline, we hear from two guest speakers this week. First, Carol Freeman shares about her remarkable 40-year practice of keeping a daily journal. Following that, Matt Denis shares some practical tips on how to use journaling to promote spiritual transformation. This message was originally delivered on March 10, 2024.

In the 8th installment of our series on spiritual disciplines, Pastor Steve Bill shares about Soul Friendships. He explores how we can model ourselves after Jesus' friendship structure to cultivate relationships that lead to true spiritual transformation. This message was originally delivered March 3, 2024.

In this message, Pastor Steve Bill looks at why Jesus asks us in Matthew 6 to do good works in secret, and how we can live that out in our lives today. This message continues our ongoing series on Spiritual Disciplines. Steve references the activity "Coldest Night of the Year" a few times during this message, including a slideshow video of photos from this year's activity. You can find out more ab...

Angela Wiebe shares on the theme of Silence and Solitude. She shares some of the reasons behind the practice and shares some practical tips from her experience. Enjoy this sixth installment of Grassroots' Spiritual Disciplines series! You can find the John Mark Comer podcast that Angela referenced right here.

In the 5th installment of our series on spiritual disciplines, Pastor Steve Bill uses Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan to explore the concept of service. Steve looks at the concept of compassion fatigue, what we need to be ready to sacrifice to make service a habit, and some of the benefits of living a life in service to others. You can find one of the positive news sources Steve referred to her...

Paul Wolfe shares on the theme of submission as a spiritual discipline and, unlike most sermons on the topic of submission, this one is not "icky." Have a listen!

In this 3rd installment in the spiritual disciplines series, Pastor Steve discusses the discipline of scripture reading by addressing some of the hang ups many of us have when reading the Bible. Using a sermon from John Mark Comer, Steve shows how neither a liberal nor a conservative ideology properly encapsulates the Bible and that for disciples of Jesus, the primary objective of scripture readin...

Students share stories of addiction and recovery through the ministry of Adult & Teen Challenge here in Thunder Bay. Listen and be encouraged, challenged and inspired through testimonials of experiencing God's transformative grace.  Learn more about Adult & Teen Challenge and consider becoming a monthly donor here: https://www.teenchallenge.tc Pastor Steve provides a brief review and updat...

In our second sermon on spiritual disciplines, guest speaker Scott Baker looks at prayer from the perspective of someone who has always struggled with the practice. Read about the prayer of Examen here. Find out more about the prayer Labyrinth at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Thunder Bay here. Find out about Take our Moments and our Days, the Anabaptist Prayer Book, here. (Includes links to downlo...

To kick off the new year, Grassroots Church is beginning a series on Spiritual Disciplines called "Renewed Rhythms". In this first installment, Pastor Steve Bill provides an overview of Spiritual Disciplines and their role in the Christian life. He then looks at the first discipline: Sabbath. Several times in this sermon Pastor Steve references a little paper journal that was distributed at the se...

On this New Year's Eve Sunday morning service, Pastor Steve Bill reflects on how we have seen God's faithfulness to Grassroots Church over the past year. He also reflects on how we can recognize God's faithfulness through God's presence, even in times when our circumstances are difficult. The service closes with a few short testimonials from congregation members. This service was originally record...

We conclude our Advent series looking at the theme of Love. Pastor Steve explores how Jesus defines love both at the manger and the cross. This service was originally delivered December 24, 2023. We've left in a few of the musical pieces and children's readings. Merry Christmas!