Pilgrim Church

Memento Mori is a Latin phrase used to remind you that you will die. It has been used in various ways, even during medieval plagues, to come to terms with death. Paul, at the start of his letter, spoke of being faithful to Jesus' call in facing death. When we follow Jesus' teachings and share Christ, our awareness of death can be transformed into a source of power and life NOW! The power of death...

✨ The Shiny Show in our Second Corinthian Series Showman or Servant? Shiny or Simple? Staged or Sustainable? Acting or Accountable? We explore the call to authenticity and truth. Authenticity in life and ministry, assumes there is such a thing as inauthentic ministry. But to be a Jesusy human, our belief must be rooted in the pursuit of truth—continuously allowing the curtain to be lifted. Paul c...

Spirit-inspired “seeing” of Jesus changes our being. Seeing his glory changes us to be more like him, from “one degree of glory to another”. You can strive or you can see your way into change. When faith moves from a mind-game into an experience we start to be changed. What you see, envision, you become.  2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:6, 10:5; Romans 1:18-28,8:6-7; Ephesians 1:18; Philippians 3:19; C...

What threatens our flourishing? What does real freedom look like, and what gives us the power to be free? How does Jesus ground all freedom? What are practices that help us be empowered, confident people?  The Apostle Paul addresses some issues from those who want to mix-and-match various religious traditions with Jesus, and why this does not work for freedom. A buffet does not grant the free...

Matthew 2:1-12  Why do we worship? Does God need/demand our worship? Is there a “correct” way to worship? Why are the drums so loud? Where are the hymns?  We remember the story of the Magi following the star and making their way to meet Jesus so that they can bow down and worship him. We all worship someone/something. This Sunday, we explore why Christian communities all around the world...

2021 Advent Series: Good Gifts, Spirit and Fire, Luke 3:16; 11:5-13 When you’re ‘caught up’ in music, games, a movie, dance, or something awe-inspiring, you experience a taste of how God wants to empower you directly, personally, and in/through your body and mind together. These signposts of play and beauty point to the creator who desires that you experience delight. Are you drawn to choose to we...

2021 ADVENT SERIES: Good Gifts, Wholeness In Body, Luke 5:12-16; Genesis 2:4, 25, 3:7 Sexual wholeness is not simply about genital sexual relations (and all the debates), but a constellation of affirming actions in our relationships and bodies. We can cultivate healthy practices for our well-being that are part of the very design of being a body and name abusive touch and issues with the absence o...

2021 ADVENT SERIES: Good Gifts, Naked and Unashamed, Genesis 2:4, 25; 3:7 We are exploring more about the gift of the body, and in particular how the church often ignores our ongoing sexual formation, leaving it up to purity culture or swiping culture. Leaning into teaching from both the Deeply Formed Life, by Rich Villodas, and a bit more from Dr. McBride, we will hopefully learn new ways to...

This Sunday, we look at the goodness of your body (Your Blessed Body). So often we miss this important and foundational aspect of our God-blessed humanity—having a body! Stewardship of our body starts with recognizing it as a gift. The Spirit of God often speaks to us through our bodies! God gives good gifts. The very act of creating the universe is an act of giving. This Advent/Christmas season,...

This Sunday we gather to celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Christ is the most high King of the entire universe and yet also King of our hearts and calls us brothers and sisters. In doing this, Jesus models a new way of being human and invites us to become part of a new type of kingdom, one not of this world. This is an upside-down Kingdom of peace, in which the borders that separated humanki...

There is a “corpse flower” named “Uncle Fester” at Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver that reeks of rotting flesh when it blooms. Its smell is irresistible to the insects which pollinate it. The ancient church leader, Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians says, God uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are be...

Church discipline sounds like a scary thing. We’ve heard of stories where it was used to cover up abuse and shame victims. But the misuse of a thing does not mean it should be avoided, rather we pursue a proper use. Paul writes and then visits the Corinthians to practice healing through expressing love in its truth-telling, boundary-setting, forgiving, and enabling expressions. We can learn practi...

2 Kings 6:8-23 Prophetic Imagination. There is a theme in scripture that we live in a creation full of God's Spirit with other powers at work. By only believing what our physical senses can experience, aided by technology, we have dulled our spiritual senses to what is real. But the imagination of God calls us to an overlapping physical and spiritual world. Awakening to the Spirit change...

One of the most important practices of Jesus was finding rest and making time for Sabbath. In a digital age with seemingly constant demands on our time and energy, imitating His example is more important than ever. Let’s consider how we can practically live out the restfulness of Jesus. Join us to hear from Felix Chan. Felix and his wife, Jessica, serve university students with Power to Change at...

2 Corinthians 1:12-21 Buying a home is a process that requires a down payment—a significant amount of money indicating the seriousness of the purchase to come. Following Jesus is not “blind faith” but responding to the down payment he offers you/us. This text calls us to understand relationship as the revelation of the one-of-a-kind God we get in Jesus. Down Payment creates space for the relations...

This week, we begin a verse-by-verse series through 2 Corinthians with some introductory teaching and a look into chapter 1. Paul is writing for the fourth time (at least that we know of) to this church in Corinth. It has been under attack from within by those wishing to draw them away from a Jesus-centred faith. We learned in 1 Corinthians that they were drawn towards prideful performance, had a...

Matthew 22:37-40, 11:19,10:34-36 “Love, in practice, is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.” Loving well is the goal of the Christian life. Jesus preached great messages to the crowds, but he knew it was not enough for people to “get it”. He did life together with closer disciples for three years in a small group. Story-telling and listening to speeches are not enough to move be...

Four times a year we open our Sunday teaching time to live Questions and Response/Answer via text and email. This is a great time to ask questions you've had over the last three months.   10:30 AM (ONE GATHERING for September Sundays, In-person + livestream + KIDS!, IBC campus)  QUESTION? Text: 604-426-1230  QUESTION? EMAIL: question@pilgrimchurch.ca  GIVE PILGRIM: https://www....

When He Appears. As we learn of the core things surrounding the return of Christ, we’ll look at three views of "the Millennium"—what can we all agree on and what should clearly be labelled as secondary.   10:30 AM (ONE GATHERING for September Sundays, In-person + livestream + KIDS!, IBC campus)  QUESTION? Text: 604-426-1230  QUESTION? EMAIL: question@pilgrimchurch.ca  ONLINE NO...

Biblical Beliefs of the End Times Have you been taught to read the Book of Revelation like a horoscope? Christians with a high view of the Bible have not agreed on how to understand the events that come before the Return of the Lamb/King. This Sunday, we look at three views of "the Millennium"—what can we all agree on, and what should clearly be labelled as secondary. We continue the conversation...

As our province requires people to be vaccinated to access certain services and spaces an old track of end-times prophecy sermons starts to play in the back of my mind.  Revelation 13:17 says "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."  How do we respond to governments when they introduce increasing restrictions (al...

Simple Church, Boundaries, and Limits (Jesus) Saying "no" to something means saying "yes" to something else. Are you shamed by secular or religious activism into saying "yes" to too many people and things? One aspect of emotional maturity is learning the importance of "no". Jesus encourages us to filter our "yeses" and our "nos" in a way that helps us flourish, even if others get upset by our "nos...

Join us as we welcome Dr. Ng back for the third time at Pilgrim. Edward En-Heng Ng is a Registered Psychologist in private practice in Vancouver. Ed was a high school science teacher for five years in Vancouver and Hong Kong, and after attending Regent College (MDiv 2008), he pastored in a small congregation for another four years, he enrolled at Fuller Theological Seminary’s Graduate School of Ps...

SUNDAY POWER Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, 2 Timothy 2:14-15, James 3:.1, 2 Timothy 4:3, Revelation 1:10, John 4:21-24 We usually only learn to release the need to control circumstances or situations by an experience of “The Wall” or what is often called deconstruction. When we let go of this false power and control, we mature and receive the very life we were trying to achieve. This is an upside...

LET GO! Releasing Power and Control Matthew 5:3 We usually only learn to release the need to control circumstances or situations by an experience of “The Wall” or what is often called deconstruction. When we let go of this false power and control, we mature and receive the very life we were trying to achieve. This is an upside-down life principle. We don’t give up our personal say-so or power, but...