St. Paul's Leaskdale Weekly Sermons

Colossians 1:21-23 - Last week, Paul went into great detail about Jesus, how sovereign and supreme he is and all that he did in pursuit of us. This week, we, Christians, enter the story. Paul only uses 2 words to describe our side of the story: alienated and reconciled. Again, Jesus did all the heavy lifting on the reconciliation side! And that, Paul explains, is the Good News, the Gospel.

Colossians 1:15-20 - In his letter to the Colossians, Paul quickly gets down to 'majoring on the majors'. Not surprisingly, the Major of all majors is Jesus. Instead of talking about Jesus' powerful miracles or profound teachings, Paul backs the story all the way to the beginning, Creation. Jesus is the One through whom and for whom creation came into being. He holds it together, and he pulls out...

Colossians 1:9-14 - Paul continues his message of hope by telling the Colossians what he's praying for them. He doesn't pray that they'll be healthy or wealthy or have an easier go of it. What he wants most for them, and so what he asks God for them, is that they would know God's will, that they would live a life worthy of Jesus and that they would have God's strength for staying in the game for t...

Colossians 1:1-8 - The church in Colossae faced cultural pressures that challenged their hope in Jesus. When Paul heard about this from prison, he wrote this hope-filled letter to encourage these new believers that Jesus is all they need. Gospel hope is true, certain, life-changing, and unstoppable.

Acts 28:30-31-At various points in the Church's history, Christians realized they were at a crossroads. Decisions had to be made, new opportunities considered and familiar surroundings left to meet fresh challenges. St. Paul's Leaskdale has its own stories of crossroads, none bigger than leaving the site it had enjoyed for 144 years, buying 100 acres and building a new structure in which to worshi...

Revelation 22:12-21 - The Bible ends with an exchange between lovers: the Groom, Jesus, saying that he's coming soon, and the Spirit and the Bride - believers worldwide- saying "We can hardly wait!". The whole Story of the Bible has been a romance! The longing of God's heart brought to fulfillment. The longing of our hearts finally satisfied. The 'special sauce' that makes all this come together i...

1 Corinthians 13 - In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes a lot about the Holy Spirit and his gifts to the church. The main thing he wants to talk about is love. Love, not gifting, is the benchmark for spiritual maturity. Love is a way of life, not an emotional experience. And love is our future. It's permanent!

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 - Paul wrote to the church in Corinth so they could understand some basic stuff like leadership, sex, married life and self-discipline. As part of 'basic training', he also taught about spiritual things. How does the Holy Spirit help us sort out the spiritual realities of life? Not surprisingly, Jesus is at the very centre of the conversation. There's more!

Galatians 5:16-26 - The Holy Spirit caught everyone off guard, both the convinced and the curious. The early Church was thrilled by stories of healings and rescues. Over time, as they paid attention to what was going on in each other's lives, they realized that they were each becoming more like Jesus! They attributed that to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was on them for powerful deeds and words, and...

Acts 2:1-21 - The long-awaited gift of God's Spirit given to ordinary women and men finally touched down! A few unlikely believers huddled together in an upstairs room were the first recipients. This story unlocks the plan that the Spirit of Jesus has for us all.

Luke 4:14-21 - Jesus announced that the Spirit of the Lord was on him to proclaim the good news. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus for his mission. And Jesus gives us the same Spirit for the same mission.

Joel 2:28-32 - This week, we begin a seven-week study on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shows up in the first verses of the Bible, "hovering over the waters," in the last verses of the Bible: "The Spirit and the Bride say 'Come'". The Spirit shows up in many of the verses in between as well. And yet the Holy Spirit feels elusive, unpredictable and mysterious. Today, we ent...

Mark 16:1-8 - The story of Jesus' Resurrection means the rest of the Bible makes sense. That morning, Jesus redeemed every story from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden forward. You might be surprised how understated the event is, particularly in Mark's biography. But even in Mark, the hope, the grace and our future face-to-face with Jesus is strong and secure.

Mark 11:1-11 - We're just touching down as Mark's biography of Jesus moves towards the Cross. The Triumphal entry seems anticlimactic and insignificant to us, but for those in the know, those who had waited for hundreds of years, there was electricity in the air. A perpetual bone of contention in Israel has always been about finding and following the rightful king. Turns out, that's still the main...

Mark 9:1-13 - We've hit fast-forward in the Jesus Story! In one week, we've shuttled from the mountain where the 10 commandments were given, over to the mountain where Jesus shows his true colours. This story is a shout-out to everything that has happened to this point in the Bible, and at the same time, a shout-forward, to the most important stuff that was and still is happening for planet Earth.

Exodus 40:34-38 - The Book of Exodus ends with God's tent, the Tabernacle, furnished and fully operational. The job of exiting, leaving Egypt, is done. Now it's time to change focus from getting out of slavery to getting into the Promised Land. This is the ultimate road trip because God is on it, and that brings complications too.

Exodus 33:12-23 - The book of Exodus unfolds the growing friendship between God and Moses, one conversation at a time. Moses' honest exchange with God is a picture of how we can talk with God, too. 

Exodus 19:3-8 - God is seeking a community to join Him in His mission to bless and save the world. Israel was out of Egypt, where their purpose had been clear: make bricks! What was their purpose now? At the foot of Mount Sinai, before they take another step, God has a proposal.

Exodus 16:2-16 | The story of our roots continues. As in all relationships, things have shifted from near daily drama of the epic and spectacular to settling into daily routines. What will God do about their need for food every day? How much can we trust God? How much control do we have? So many questions to answer as we learn to walk with God.

Exodus 14:5-31 - The story of God's rescue is not without drama! God's people left Egypt only to come against a new opponent, the Red Sea! They were trapped between an angry Pharaoh and, at least as bad, an angry Sea. They cried out, expressed their terror, and God made a way. Of course, it did involve them moving their feet! Participation is always required when God rescues.

Exodus 12:1-14 - The story of Exodus is the story of Jesus. The God we get to know in Exodus is the God who comes to us in the person of Jesus: a God who judges, who saves, and who renews.

Exodus 3:1-14 - The Rescue begins! And as God always does, he goes looking for a person to lead the charge, a fallible, often unwilling person. God chose Moses and picked up on a relationship that God started years ago, when Moses may not have been paying attention. He started paying attention the day that he came across a burning bush that talked!

Exodus 1:6-14 - This Sunday we begin a new teaching series called "Roots" based on the book of Exodus. You can't fully understand the life, death and resurrection of Jesus without studying Exodus. Chapter 1 lays the foundation of a people in desperate need of rescue.

Exodus 36: 1-7 -God gave Moses a huge project. Moses already had a huge assignment in guiding the Israelites through the wilderness, but now God wanted an ornate Tabernacle built. It would require great skill and a pile of gold, silver and precious gems. Providentially, these very recently freed slaves had been showered with gold, silver and precious gems as they left Egypt. The question was wheth...

Luke 12:13-21 - Jesus tells us to watch out for all kinds of greed. The challenge is, greed is sneaky—it hides in our hearts. So Jesus tells a story illustrating three attitudes towards money that are symptoms of greed: I deserve it. It's all for me. I'm better off with more.