Pilgrim Church

Releasing Power and Control, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 "In emotionally healthy churches, people live and lead out of brokenness and vulnerability. They understand that leadership in the kingdom of God is from the bottom up, not a grasping, controlling, or lording over others. It is leading out of failure and pain, questions and struggles—a serving that lets go. It is a noticeably different way of life...

Emotionally healthy spirituality is about reality, not denial or illusion. It is about embracing the reality that we were birthed into a particular family, in a particular place, at a particular moment in history. This week we explore this second principle of emotional health. True spirituality frees us to live joyfully in the present. However, it requires going back in order to go forward. To do...

PEACE WITH SELF SERIES Know Yourself, Looking Below the Surface You are an iceberg; there is far more to you than meets the eye. Psalm 139:23 declares, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts”.  What happens when we forget this principle and the underlying things in our lives go unobserved? We already believe we’re aware of what is going on inside of us. The...

We're developing a discipleship course about Peace with God, Others, Self, and Stuff. In 2021, our major teaching focus is on core discipleship, of course with Covid, etc., this is not always easy. We encourage you to make church gathering a priority in your schedule, and when you can't, at least go back and listen to the teachings.  On Sunday, we're introducing Emotionally Healthy Spirituali...

Two-week series: How to Kill a Church and How to Be a Vibrant Church Eight Keys to an Open-Door Church ​Last week we named church-killers, this week we look at what makes church alive. "With every person we encounter, the only question that should be on our mind is, How can I, right here and right now, affirm the unsurpassable worth of this person for whom Christ died” (G.A.Boyd)? Jesus tells the...

How to Kill a Church​​ Two-week series: How to Kill a Church and How to be a Vibrant Church Revelation 3:16, Matthew 23, Matthew 6:19-21, Hebrews 11:13The book of Revelation begins with John being caught up in the Spirit on the Lord's day. He goes on to speak about seven churches saying to one, "you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth." What a word! As Pilgrim ha...

We are in community with other churches in our province and this Sunday, we will hear from our Executive Conference Minister for the BC North American Baptist association of churches, Bob Krahn. In 2005, Bob came to BC to be the Executive Minister after serving in a similar capacity in Saskatchewan and Manitoba for the previous five and a half years. Join us in welcoming Bob as we worship, relate,...

"I thought I tried everything and it didn't work. Now what?" We believe in the outrageous love and justice of God in conflict, but peacemaking doesn't always result in immediate breakthroughs. We want to learn from Jesus how to react differently and break the vicious cycle—even in the heat of conflict. As we wrap up our Peace with Others Series, we look at boundary enforcement and responding to co...

Matthew 5:23-24 tells us to initiate reconciliation with others. We have already unpacked what comes before forgiveness in giving a proper apology, repentance, making right personal and material wrongs as much as possible. But forgiveness has two parts and reconciliation is the goal—not always the end result. This Sunday, what forgiveness is and is not is entirely counter-cultural, just like Jesus...

"Deconstruction" is a trendy term these days, probably used, misused, and overused to describe a great variety of spiritual transitions, ranging all the way from losing one's faith to a radical rediscovery of God's all-expansive love. In his talk, Brad Jersak will share some biblical and contemporary metaphors that can serve as guideposts through what can seem like a perilous journey.  ​ ONLI...

Have you ever thought, “Let me get this off my chest and then I'll go to church and sing.” or  “I need to cry, so maybe this Sunday I'll stay home.” Let us, instead, worship together in our lament. “Lament is not despair.  It is not whining.  It is not a cry into a void. Lament is a cry directed to God.  It is the cry of those who see the truth of the world’s deep wounds and th...

Galatians 6:1,  Matthew 18:15-20 Conflict is an opportunity to serve others but the challenge is making sure we approach someone in a way they can hear. Jesus' teachings on conflict are designed to make space for a reset and renewal of relationship.  Join our Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96359472809 ONLINE NOTES: https://www.pilgrimchurch.ca/2021-05-16-peace-with-others-gently-engage-others.h...

Accepting responsibility and true apologies We continue personal peacemaking in our Peace with Others Series by revealing the rarest speech in North America—true apology. People know how to judge and cancel but to apologize and move into conciliation? That is rare. This is the speech of a beloved community Dr. Martin Luther King believed was necessary for all to have freedom. We need Jesus’ teachi...

As we continue in our Peace with Others Series, we explore perhaps the most missed and crucial teaching of Jesus and how to apply it. So much of real-life peace-making hinges on getting this right in our cultural-war, cancel-culture, scorched earth, politics-is-religion, North American context. Matthew 7:3-5  Join our Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96359472809 ONLINE NOTES: https://www.pilgrimchurch...

GLORIFYING GOD IN CONFLICT, 1 Corinthians 10:31Conflict allows us an opportunity to glorify God, that is, to bring him praise and honor by imitating Him, laying down our "rights," forgiving, and loving sacrificially. This is necessary for Biblical peace-making and learning to seek and honour God when we're in conflict, lest we glorify someone or something else. This Sunday we're jumping back into...

Peter and Judas went through faith deconstruction. Many people in the Bible and today go through it and only some end up with new faith on the other side of "the wall". Pentecost moves the church forward—the direct empowerment/experience of the Holy Spirit making Jesus real. We don’t often grow from these deconstruction moments because of forces at work to keep us deconstructing—both within the ch...

Peter and Judas went through faith deconstruction. Many people in the Bible and today go through it and only some end up with new faith on the other side of "the wall". Pentecost moves the church forward—the direct empowerment/experience of the Holy Spirit making Jesus real. We don’t often grow from these deconstruction moments because of forces at work to keep us deconstructing—both within the ch...

"If someone predicts their death ahead of time, and their coming back to life, and manages to pull it off, follow them." Jesus is not a religion. While much of "Christianity" throughout history has gone off the rails when aligning too much with the cultural norms of the day, there has always been a faithful minority who are curious about (and captivated by) Jesus. This group has been sustained by...

Join us for our returning guest speaker for the first few months of 2021, April Yamasaki. She has lead us in the discovery of Real Relationships through Friendship, Singleness and Marriage, and this week, Family. April Yamasaki writes on spiritual growth and Christian living both online and in print publications, including Christian Century, Christianity Today, The Redbud Post, Godspace, Vision: A...

James 3:18 We are our own worst enemy in a conflict. Our brains, created and yet fallen, push us into patterns that can fail us long-term. Brain science confirms what Jesus taught 2000 years ago, that when we are in a conflict our brain operates differently. This does not mean that we cannot learn to pre-emptively shape those responses. We look at those responses this Sunday and begin training our...

James 4  Have you had tense conversations or difficulties with an upset neighbour, a family member, an overbearing boss, or even something more serious with someone you haven’t spoken to for years? Relationships are the only eternal thing you can influence and take with you into eternity. The bible has great wisdom about conflict and relationships. It says we are to be rooted and grounded in...

We have a great opportunity to engage with front-line caregiver, Rev. Lawrence Cheung, for a special livestream Q&A and interview. Lawrence serves as a certified spiritual health practitioner (clinical chaplain) at St. Paul’s Hospital, as well as adjunct teaching staff with UBC’s School of Medicine. He enjoys hockey and marathon training and lives with his wife and two kids in North Burnaby. L...

Our returning guest speaker for the first few months of 2021 is April Yamasaki. She will be leading us in the discovery of Real Relationships through Friendship, Singleness and Marriage, and Family. April Yamasaki writes on spiritual growth and Christian living both online and in print publications, including Christian Century, Christianity Today, The Redbud Post, Godspace, Vision: A Journal for C...

Like the memories and reminders people leave behind after they are gone, Jesus leaves us with three symbols of our inheritance in Him. We will explore these rituals that can be dead religion or life-giving acts depending on how we approach them.  ONLINE NOTES: https://www.pilgrimchurch.ca/2021-02-21-peace-with-god-inheritance.html PDF NOTES: https://www.pilgrimchurch.ca/uploads/1/1/1/2/111299...

We build online and physical temples searching for purpose and meaning out of our lives; social media, gyms, music, celebrities, art galleries, food, shopping, porn sites, or sports among other things can become religious to us. But what if we build on land not found on a map, with a leader in no need of governmental buildings? How can this way of living bring us the life we try so hard to secure?...