Newmarket Alliance Sermon Podcast

The second largest religion in the world - second only to Christianity - again shares some of our historical pedigree. People like Abraham, Noah, Adam, Jonah, David etc. are highly esteemed in Islam. They too believe in one God and one God only. 5% of Canadians - almost 2 million - are Muslims. There is a good chance you are neighbours with, work with, study with or interact with Muslims on a dail...

Israel and the Jewish people are back in the news in a BIG way lately. They comprise just 0.2% of the world's population and yet it's hard to argue that the Jewish faith and people have an outsized influence on faith and culture. Even with just a cursory understanding of Christianity, one can't help but immediately notice shared aspects of our faith. Many of their Biblical "heroes" are our "heroes...

If you say "religion isn't good", I wouldn't disagree with you. In fact, if you read the gospels… The biography of Jesus, you'll see how critical He was of religious institutions of the time. Nowadays, people are more apt to define themselves as "not religious but spiritual" It's exciting that there is an openness to "spiritual things" these days, but when you dig just a little deeper often the pe...

As we wrap up this biography of Daniel (the remainder of the book of Daniel is his prophecies) and how it relates to us as "modern exiles", it ends with Daniel's most distinguished moment in a life of distinguished moments. Christian exile you too will face lions! Don't be caught off guard or tempted to think that because your particular "Lion" moment doesn't have the same life or death stakes or...

We talk a lot at NAC about the grace of God... the forgiveness of God... a God who actually pursues us... and rightly so. Grace is really what separates us from all other small "g" gods and belief systems. But what makes grace so amazing is that we CAN be rescued from the very real results of our sin and rebelliousness. If there are no consequences for sin, there is no justice and that is not God'...

If you were taken captive, held against your will, and forced to take occultic classes in an evil regime, you would have every right to treat your oppressor as an enemy. I would even long for humiliating revenge! The model of Daniel and the words of Jesus some six centuries later challenge us to a different response, which goes against everything in our human nature. It comes down to difficult que...

Three God-fearing exiles, living in Babylon, who along with all the indignities of being a defeated, captured and enslaved people, also have the indignity of a forced name change. Their slave names if you will. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you’ve been raised in the church, you know the highlights of their story. They made the Hebrews 11 “Faith Hall of Fame”. But I wonder if many of us took a...

Sometimes things can actually go from bad to worse. It may in fact be the most profound crisis of your life. When that happens we have some choices. I'm sure you know those who got bitter, cynical... some who even abandoned their church community and their faith altogether. In Chapter 2, Daniel is faced with one of those "bottom falling out" moments and he actually provides us a template of sorts...

It's our Fall Kick-off and with that is a new Fall series which is in fact the foundational theme for our year. What does it mean to live as spiritual exiles? To live with a minority philosophy and worldview in a majority culture that is either ambivalent, unaware or sometimes outright hostile to the life Jesus has called us to. By walking through the book of Daniel, a template is laid out as to h...

What Pastor Jonathan really wants to share is more like a vulnerable diary entry of where God seems to be speaking to him about the future of the big and small "c" Church. A theme keeps emerging. It's come up in various words, verses and ideas but it has one commonality and it will direct us this year at NAC. It's not necessarily a popular idea. It's not without controversy. There may even be thos...

Pastor Kris shares some invaluable insights for parents in particular but really, for EVERYONE! We are excited as well to hear aspects of Kris's OWN story and testimony that may be new to most of us, as we get to see God's providence and calling in her life.

In this Summer Series called "This is my Story", Jonathan is excited to tell you one of the lesser-known stories from a lesser-known character of the Old Testament. It's a story of tragedy, battle, royalty and bloodlines that sounds right out of "Game of Thrones". What's amazing though is how plainly applicable this story is to each and every one of us in 2023.

Jeremiah is a prophet during a time when God's people are not only a minority but living as persecuted exiles. And while Jeremiah 29 is mostly known for its inspiring verse, the context around Jeremiah 29:11 - the verses before and after it - give an even richer context and instruction on how to live in these hostile times.

Crosslands Church and NAC joined together for a great service at Fairy Lake Amphitheatre Are you searching for purpose and meaning in all the wrong places? In places that can never truly scratch that "soul itch"? Pastors Fred and Jonathan - Pastors from their respective churches - believe true meaning CAN be found in an otherwise meaningless world.

As we spend this summer in a series called "This is my Story" it is only human nature to think of ourselves as the main player in the story - the "hero" if you will. So when we read Biblical accounts of Daniel or Paul or David or Ruth, we might be tempted to most relate to the protagonist. Nothing wrong with that. Recently though I've been interested in the "bit players"... the "cameos" or "footno...

** (due to Sunday's technical issues, we are missing the first 5 minutes of this great testimony) ** "THINGS I'VE COME TO BELIEVE AND LESSONS I'VE SORTA, KINDA LEARNED" We believe that for the Jesus-follower, the stories that happen in our lives aren't just a random, meaningless string of events. We believe there is an author at work in our story. That's where we get words like "providence" and ve...

YOUR Story Matters! I can't think of too many times someone has been argued into the Kingdom of God... I've never heard of anyone being bullied or shamed into God's Kingdom. And I don't think it's very effective to rationalize, debate, shame or pester anyone into making the most important decision of their life. Here's what I DO see happening a lot though; A neighbour, co-worker, family member, ba...

WATER IN THE WILDERNESS This summer we're hearing portions of people's true life stories... the good, the bad and the ugly... but in each I think you'll see the authorship of Jesus all over them. Tomorrow our own Don Wallar shares a painful, vulnerable part of his life that everyone will relate with in one way or another. Be encouraged! Even in the midst of being "in the wilderness", God gave Don...

The Start of a NEW Summer Series Our brains are literally wired for STORY. It might be one of the reasons Jesus primarily spoke in parables, illustrations and stories. Each and every one of you has a STORY. Whether you know it or not, Jesus' fingerprints are all over your story. He is the AUTHOR and perfector of our faith story. Jesus asks us to partner in this narrative called "our life story". H...

As we wrap up our James study tomorrow, James himself wraps up his letter... a letter that primarily addresses how Christians ought to live and interact with each other... by encouraging us to put our FAITH in action via radically expectant prayer! In fact, we invite you to step out in faith and receive prayer in community through the means James lays out in this last section: The anointing of oil...

There were all kinds of ways as a kid I tried to communicate that THIS TIME, I really MEANT it. "cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye" "I swear on a stack of Bibles" "I swear on my Mother's grave" We have grown-up versions of these. Air-tight contracts, NDA's, threats of legal recourse. James says our Christian character compels us to be people of unvarnished truth. But it seem...

It's interesting to notice the subtle and not-so-subtle barriers that are constructed between the rich and the poor... the "haves" and the "have-nots". There's even a dating app that promises to weed out the financially meager (put that in the not-so-subtle category). The "Occupy Wallstreet" demonstrations were another stark illustration. But you can see it in things from gated communities to airl...

When I was a kid our car radio had basically nothing but the Christian radio station on, coming in on the airwaves from Detroit. One time I heard a song in the car that I sat enraptured by. The next day when they were counting down the top Christian songs of the week (think Petra, Amy Grant..) I spoke up and said, "I hope that dust song is #1". My sister was like; "What are you talking about?" I s...

James starts this section by giving an unconventional take on why humans always seem to be bickering, fighting and at odds with each other. Then he really gets all up in our business and links that issue to us being (my words, not James) fence-sitters. A little too enamoured with the world to be fully devoted to Christ. Ouch! If you're not up for getting a little personally challenged, tomorrow's...

James keeps circling back to this idea, that the God-life is more than "orthodoxy" (right thinking) but ultimately "orthopraxy" (right LIVING). In fact, I'll bet you know some near-geniuses... some genuinely book-smart people who seem to make such appallingly dumb life decisions. Wisdom... the very thing that Solomon asked for above ALL else... the thing that God says can be made available to all...