St. Peter's Fireside

Prayer can be one of the greatest joys of the Christian life, and yet one of its greatest struggles. Many of us long to pray more consistently and more deeply, but find ourselves unsure of what to say, feeling like we lack the words to express ourselves to God. This Sunday, we begin our summer series in the Psalms, the prayer book of Scripture. We will explore how these beautiful poems of worship,...

This Sunday we continue on in Matthew 10, as Jesus prepares his disciples for what they can expect as his representatives in the world. Jesus’ words this week are challenging, difficult, and jarring. How should we read them? Read Matthew 10:34-42 to prepare. Watch the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/Dreof1cvYlg

In Matthew 10, Jesus calls his apostles to himself and then sends them out with the authority to carry out his work in Israel. But they don’t know what they’re signing up for! In our Gospel reading this week, the Lord begins to prepare them for what discipleship to Jesus will look like. Working through Matthew 10:16-33, this Sunday we’ll reflect on the Commission of Discipleship, the Cost of Disci...

As we witness baby Olivia being baptized into the covenant family of God, the text for the sermon is Exodus 19:1--8. God brings a motley clan of persons recently freed from slavery in Egypt to himself at Mount Sinai and makes them his people, in fulfillment of his covenant promise to Abraham. God calls them to listen to his voice and be his special possession, blessed to be a blessing, reflecting...

We will mark the beginning of the long stretch of “Time after Pentecost,” wherein the Church calls us to the slow and steady growth in Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit. This spiritual growth is symbolized by the colour green. We will look at the calling of Matthew from the 9th chapter of his Gospel. For a rabbi to call a tax collector to be his disciple is like a street hockey captain choosi...

Trinity Sunday can sound like a theology exam, but at its heart it's the most personal truth in the universe: that before anything was made, God was already love. He still is and that love flows out to us. Join us this Sunday as we find out what difference that makes. Watch the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/UP5BNnGV4mI

After Easter and Christmas, the Day of Pentecost is the most important Holy Day of the Christian Year. Without the Holy Spirit, nothing that Christ has accomplished would be available to us. The Spirit takes what is of Jesus, and delivers it to us. In our sermon this week, we will look at how each reading shows how the Holy Spirit brings order to all things. He brings order to creation, to the nat...

Along with celebrating the baptisms of Oscar and Lucy, we will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord. In the creed, we confess that Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. What does it mean that Jesus “ascended into heaven”? Where and what is heaven? Where did he go? And what does it mean that he “sat down at the right hand of the Father?” Was he tired?...

In Acts 17, Paul enters Athens, a city filled with idols, competing beliefs, and rival philosophies, and from within that culture points people toward the God they do not yet know. Rather than condemning from a distance, he listens, engages, and speaks with both courage and gentleness. This Sunday, Phil will explore Paul’s model for evangelism and invite us to consider how we might faithfully witn...

This Sunday, our apprentice Jude will be preaching (for his first time at St. Pete's!) we are looking at the first fourteen verses of John 14, which includes one of Jesus’ most famous declarations: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6). We’ll explore what this meant for the disciples and what it means for us today! You can view the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/dh2BlgX3N...

Easter is the inauguration of a new creation and a new people, with new ways of relating to one another as the People of God. But we still live in a fallen world, and the Kingdom of God isn’t fully realized. How are Christians to relate to the world, including the governing authorities? Our reading from 1 Peter 2:13-25 speaks to this very question. Join us as we explore themes of authority and fre...

Our senior apprentice, Xue Ting, will be leading us through Acts 2:14, 36-37! Join us for “Marks of an Easter People,” where we’ll look at how to live out transformed lives in community as people who have experienced, identified with, and belong to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can view the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/cvE2p0DuJfM

What does the resurrection really mean? This Sunday, we explore two teachings from Peter: one is the first recorded post-resurrection sermon, and the other was written decades later to Christian exiles scattered across the world. Together, these teachings reveal a God who acts in history, a risen King who reigns, and a living hope that changes everything. We will see that the resurrection isn’t me...

Join us this Sunday as we journey from the season of Lent towards Easter together. As Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey into what will prove to be a crucial week, the people are shaken, asking, "Who is this?" We will look at how we answer that question, the danger of merely following the crowd, and what Jesus himself reveals about who He is. You can view the full service here: https://youtube.com...

This Sunday we will look at the wonderful story of Jesus healing the man born blind from John 9. Why does Jesus spit on the ground? Why don’t the blind man’s neighbours recognize him after he is healed? Why do the Pharisees throw him out of the synagogue, and what does it all have to do with us? Come and “see”! You can view the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/8o4uqXxyRhc

This week's sermon will include a discussion of one of the hot-button topics in the church and wider society today. In Romans 1, Paul lays out how we collectively exchanged the worship of God for the worship of idols. Because of this, God “gave us over” to all manner of impurities. The list Paul gives of our impurities is long, but we must admit that he includes homosexual acts as a chief example....

Join us this Sunday as we journey through the season of Lent together. You can view the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/ebqoe5HyHGU

You can view the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/_c0ehjpYeTU Lent is the perfect time to review and renew our rule of life (also known as Rhythm for Life at St. Pete’s). A rule of life is simply a means of intentionally organizing our life around practices or disciplines that invite the Holy Spirit to help us grow into Christlikeness. In other words, it's a personal plan for disciplesh...

As we stand on the threshold between Epiphany and Lent, we will focus on Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. In this letter, Paul makes a bold claim: everything he once counted as spiritual success — his pedigree, performance, and religious passion — he now calls loss compared to one thing: knowing Christ. What if the greatest obstacle to knowing Jesus isn’t failure, but quiet confidence in o...

Each year, every church in our Diocese is encouraged to keep the second-to-last Sunday in Epiphany as “World Mission Sunday.” The whole Season of Epiphany is dedicated to Christ as the Light to the nations, but on this Sunday especially, we are encouraged to reflect on Jesus’ great commission to his Church to make disciples of all nations. Our sermon this week will reflect on Matthew 9:35-38, wher...

Long ago, before the co-option of Advent by commercialism, the celebration of the Incarnation - God the Son come to us in flesh and blood - began on Christmas Eve and lasted 40 days until the feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, also called Candlemas. As Grady introduced to us last year, we will again consider the story of the divine appointment at the temple in Jerusalem of the infa...

We will be reading about how Jesus begins his public ministry by preaching. His first sermon is this: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” What does it mean to repent? What is the Kingdom of Heaven? What does it mean that the Kingdom of Heaven is “at hand?” Come and see! You can veiw the full service: https://youtube.com/live/2nEyq781aGA

Our Gospel reading for this Sunday unfolds as a drama of names. Jesus is called by several different names by those around him, lamb of God, the one who was before, Rabbi and Messiah. People can’t seem to decide what to call him. Then, Jesus turns the tables. He looks at a man named Simon and gives him a new name—one that reshapes his future and gives him a new sense of purpose. As we explore this...

We’ll be looking at St Matthew’s account (we’re out of Luke!) of the Baptism of Jesus. Matthew is the only gospel that gives us the little discussion between John the Baptist and Jesus before the baptism happens. John wants to stop it, and we can understand why. Why should the sinless Jesus undergo a baptism of repentance? It doesn’t seem appropriate. Jesus’ answer is that “it is fitting for us to...

Join us back at Robson Square this Sunday for the Second Sunday of Christmas, and our celebration of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ. You can view the full service here: https://youtube.com/live/8Asr3b61p3g -- We gather on Sundays at 10am Pacific Time online and in-person at UBC Robson Square (800 Robson) in Vancouver, BC. If you're able, we invite you to come visit us in-person! Learn more...