Grassroots Church | Thunder Bay, Ontario

We continue the Advent series, looking at the theme of joy this week. The Good News of Great Joy spoken to the shepherds in the field did not bring about the end of oppression or living in fear for the people of God. So... what was so good about it?  Pastor Steve explores how joy in the New Testament comes from unexpected moments - in the midst of darkness and pain - not in the easygoing life, des...

The 2023 Advent series continues with a message on Peace. Pastor Steve Bill leads the congregation in a collective struggle to understand how we should live out the peace of Christ in a world that seems so dominated by violence. The Jesus Collective Podcast that Steve Bill referenced can be found here. You can find the text of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis here. In the spirit of the season, we h...

The 2023 Advent series begins with an exploration of the radical reorienting of reality expressed through Isaiah's prophetic oracles. It may be a form of naive hope that Jesus followers are to practice but if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we can begin to see this hope actualized in our lives.

In this 3rd and final message in the series asking why we bother going to church, Pastor Steve brings it home by challenging the church to carry out good deeds/works that speak to reconciliation in our spheres of influence.

In this sermon, Pastor Steve Bill looks at the concept of allelon ("one another") and how coming together as a church allows us to support one another in becoming more like Jesus. Pastor Steve referenced the book Shantung Compound - The Story Of Men And Women Under Pressure by Langdon Gilkey. You can access the 5+ hour Spotify playlist of Grassroots music here. This message was originally delivere...

Pastor Steve begins this series on why we church by looking at reasons we don't church and asking if being a Jesus follower actually requires going to church.

Vincent shares a message on what it looks like to follow Jesus through a Jesus Centred paradigm. Drawing from Jesus' command that anyone who wants to follow him, "must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

In Part 4, Pastor Steve closes ends the Galatians series by tying together the bookends of 1:4 "The Present Evil Age" defined by shame and exclusion with 6:15 "New Creation" defined by a type of community that transcends lines of division to be united in Christ. The last ~15 minutes of the message is a conversation with the congregation about boundaries we have created or have been on the receivin...

In Part 3, Pastor Steve looks at how a church that resists judgement and embraces diversity can become a rich and caring Christ-centred community. Scriptures referenced include Galatians 2:20-21; Galatians 3:26-29, and Galatians 4:7. The Relevant Magazine article on Kat Von D can be found here. For more reading see Mark Baker's book Freedom for Religiosity and Judgmentalism: Studies in Paul's Lett...

In Part 2, Pastor Steve explores the situation at Galatia more closely by looking at the distorted concept of grace that was being taught to Galatia. A form of grace that had prerequisites to being "in." If we're going to move past a bounded/fuzzy-set model for how to do church, we begin with an inward look at our own tendencies to build religion built on a false gospel that implies Jesus is not e...

Jesus clearly calls for the church to be unified - and we are clearly falling short of that ideal. In part 1 of this series, Pastor Steve Bill starts to look at the book of Galatians and what we can learn from Paul's letter to that community. Scriptures in this sermon include Galatians 2: 11-14; Acts 10; and John 17: 21 For further exploration see Mark Baker's book Freedom for Religiosity and Judg...

Guest speaker Amy Baker takes a look at the Great Banquet described in Luke 14 and what the church needs to do to bring about this vision of the Kingdom of God. This message was originally delivered October 1, 2023.

Pastor Steve Bill continues his recap of the Jesus Collective, this time focusing on the last 4 Markers of the New Reformation. Scriptures used in this sermon include Romans 12:14, 21; Acts 1:5-6; John 17:21-23. This sermon was originally recorded on September 24, 2023. For more information on Grassroots Church, visit our newly refreshed website at grassroots.church.

Pastor Steve Bill begins his recap of the Jesus Collective and the 5 markers of the new reformation. This sermon was originally recorded on September 17, 2023. For more information on Grassroots Church, visit our newly refreshed website at grassroots.church.

In his first official sermon as Grassroots Church's full-time pastor, Steve Bill preaches on how new situations can lead to doubt. When that happens, we can rely on each other to provide the perspective on our situation that we're unable to see. This sermon was originally delivered on September 10, 2023.

At Grassroots, we believe in protecting the vulnerable, and that evil can be overcome through the power of suffering love. That is why we were so happy to have some members of Bikers Against Child Abuse come speak to our congregation about the work they do in Thunder Bay. This presentation was originally delivered July 9, 2023.

Pastor Steve Bill summarizes the last two sermons before our small group discussion times. He goes over the essentials from his last two sermons based around the marker: "The church is defined by our shared center, not by the lines we draw." Grassroots Church is changing format for the summer starting next week. We're not sure what that means for the podcast yet - stay subscribed to this feed for...

Pastor Steve Bill expands further on the last of the Jesus Collective's Markers of a New Reformation: "The church is defined by our shared centre, not by the lines we draw." Listen for practical and spiritual ways to live in Christian unity. This message was originally delivered at Grassroots Church on June 25, 2023.

We are on the last of the Jesus Collective's Markers of a New Reformation: "The church is defined by our shared centre, not by the lines we draw." Pastor Steve Bill shares his thoughts on this marker in the first of a two-part sermon. This was originally delivered at Grassroots Church on June 18, 2023.

In this short homily, John Peace expands on the marker "The Holy Spirit empowers us to partner in God’s work of reconciling all things." This message was originally delivered on June 11, 2023.

Listen as Robin Peace explores the marker "The Holy Spirit empowers us to partner in God’s work of reconciling all things." This message was originally delivered on June 4, 2023.

In this short homily, Amy Baker shares her perspective on the marker "To be saved includes belonging to a community under Jesus called to live the life of the future now." This message was originally shared on May 28, 2023.

"To be saved includes belonging to a community under Jesus called to live the life of the future now." In this sermon, Vincent Ng explores how we are to function as a unified body to bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth. Originally delivered on May 21, 2023.

"God always looks like Jesus, and all scripture is properly read through him." In this homily, Pastor Steve Bill provides a brief overview of this statement ahead of a period of small group discussion.

Pastor Steve reiterates the 3rd marker of a New Reformation: Evil is Overcome through the Power of Suffering Love, through summarizing the Jesus Collective Sermon on this topic before the community breaks into small group discussions.