Toronto Alliance Church

Paul talks about a beautiful vision the Lord gave him of heaven. He talks about how the revelations from this vision were so great that, in order to prevent him from becoming proud, a thorn was given to him in the flesh. The meaning of the Greek word for "thorn" is "stake." Paul felt like this was something being driven through him. It caused him great suffering, and not for a...

Have you ever been tricked? I have, because I believe people. And I'm very compassionate. People come to our door, and I believe them. If you have any kind of electronic device, you know about scammers. Some, you think, "Well, that's just ridiculous," but with others, you really have to look and study. It's getting more and more tricky to figure out what's true and what&#...

Every person, even identical twins, has different fingerprints. When the police come upon a crime scene, they are looking for these little invisible impressions. If they find them, they can say, "That is who was here." Wherever God works, he leaves impressions behind, so we can know that it is God who is at work and not someone else, because other impressions are very different. The Bibl...

In the downtown, there has been a huge increase in wealth over 20 years, and a growing separation between those who have wealth and the poor. You would think people would be doing better, but that is not what the studies show. What has also increased is credit card debt and household debt. So even though people have more money coming in, their indebtedness has increased more. What has almost disap...

We are a very style-conscious generation, and especially a style-conscious city. I grew up in the rural areas of Ontario. That was not the case. When I moved to the city, I became quite aware that wearing clothes becomes the fine art of making a statement. As I look at the passage I want to speak from, there is a style that accompanies the follower of Jesus. I do not mean clothing. I mean there is...

If you were to look up the word "comfort" on your phone and see what kinds of images come up, all kinds of things appear: chocolate cake, cups of coffee, some beautiful getaway, maybe a really soft bed. Some pets show up too. Difficult times come to all of us, so we look for comfort, and the question is always where to find it and how to access it. Much as we would like chocolate cake or...

The Alliance began in Toronto 140 years ago and then thrived there from about 1885 to 1915. Towards 1920, though, the Alliance downtown was imploding, all along University Avenue and Parkdale, where there had been powerful ministries. The Alliance moved north and east and west and to the rest of the world, and left the downtown vacant, until our church came as a church plant under First Alliance,...

You are made for more. That is a big theme in the Bible. Everybody is made for more. There are a lot of reminders in life that show we are made for more than anything that we experience. There is no desire that we have here on Earth that, if we were to pursue it, in the end would not still leave us longing for more. Those who have the most in life are not the most satisfied. Sometimes it is those...

How can I be changed? We each have behaviours that are very difficult for us shed, and other qualities we'd like to gain. We might begin the year with resolve, saying, this is the year I am finally going to become a gentle person. Or something else. But one year goes on after another, and we wonder, are we truly changeable? Or even worse, what if we are trying to change a loved one? We know fr...

In the most recent space mission, four astronauts went and circled the Earth and the moon and came home. These men had spent their lives preparing for this in a lot of different ways. But all of their studying, all of their pictures, everything they had seen did not adequately prepare them for the moment when they saw the moon eclipse the sun. One of them, who claimed afterwards to not be a partic...

At a complicated crime scene, investigators look for fingerprints. They want to find who did this. Fingerprints are unique to each individual, and they do not change through our life. They are highly reliable evidence. They place people in specific locations, sometimes linking multiple crimes. What are God's fingerprints? You cannot see him, but we understand he is working in the details of ou...

Imagine you hired somewhere. There is nothing glamorous about it, but it is solid. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, you get another offer from a place that is more prestigious. It comes with better pay, career prospects, and commute. Everything and everyone around you is saying that you should jump ship and make the switch. What you do not realize is that if you do make that switch, it is going to...

There are times in our lives where we ride on the top of the wave and all is going just as it should. Those are nice, sweet times. But there are other times where we suffer disappointments and things are not as we wish they were. And it's hard sometimes reconciling those times with where we would really like to be, or even our faith, what we know we should be. So there's so many questions...

Today's sermon includes a component of listening to God using the SMORP steps. If you would like to skip this, jump to the following locations; 7:35 - Reading of the sermon passage 19:39 - Start of sermon Today's sermon is based on a Latin phrase, carpe diem. "Seize the day". Meaning, there are opportunities in every day, and to not let the important ones pass by. For example, wh...

If you like growing plants, you will be familiar with clay pots. To have or to work with clay pots is a practice that is thousands of years old. Clay pots are common, cheap and fragile. However, they can carry things of great value. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered around 1950. All of them were sealed inside clay pots, and they are among the oldest pieces of scripture on planet Earth. It's...

One thing that drew me to my wife when I first met her was her zeal. She didn’t do anything half-heartedly. She was all in, whether playing a game, if she was talking, or when it came to her faith. It was her enthusiasm, her energy, her conviction, her dedication. There was nothing half-hearted. Today is the last Sunday we'll be looking at what I called "Working from the Right Scorecard&q...

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, had a constant critic in Congress, Edwin Stanton, who humiliated him, called him names, and mocked his policies. Lincoln overlooked this and gave him his greatest trust, naming him minister of war through the Civil War. When Lincoln was assassinated and his life was passing away, Stanton was beside him and said, "Never has there been a...

We are continuing our sermon series, Working from the Right Scorecard. Appearances can be deceiving. Have you ever bought something off of Facebook Marketplace that looked good? The seller said that it was fine, that everything was in working order, maybe it even passes your visual inspection. But you get it home and you try to plug it in and you realize that it's broken and you've been du...

It’s thought that holiness belongs to the Pope or others in that category. The rest of us feel intimidated by the concept. It feels out of our league. Some people looking from the outside think holiness is dull or boring. Others say those associated with it come across as judgmental, snobbish, or morally superior. To some, it just seems rigid and hopeless. But how could that be? Jesus, when he wal...

There are different types of purists. I drink whatever coffee is closest—right now that’s Tim Hortons. A coffee purist would cross town for an amazing cup, or grind their own from specific sources. That’s what a purist does. I have a growing appreciation for purists, because when it comes to Jesus, are we purists? It’s easy to take what is pure in Jesus and add to it, shaped by our experience and...

There is a robin on our street that has been singing all through the winter. A robin usually only comes in springtime, but this is a very optimistic robin. This robin has courage in suffering! We're walking through the letters to the seven churches in Revelation in a series I called "Working from the right scorecard". We have our own scorecards, what we value, what we put effort and...

I had to work hard for my grades in university. I studied very diligently. A few times, though, what I had chosen to study was not on the exam. At the time, I felt I had blown it. It was much more helpful when an instructor told us where to focus our studies. When there's a review done of our lives, when we appear before God, it would be very bad having lived our many years to find out that we...

I urge, invite and call you into Solemn Assembly. We love the idea of being joyful. Coming with a certain sobriety before God is itself a pathway to joy and peace. But certain things demand seriousness. Solemn assembly is a call to spiritual renewal. Jesus said that the thief, meaning his and our enemy, comes to kill, steal, destroy. He's really good at it, all over the world, in our lives. Bu...

..The two of them would create goodie bags in large numbers, like 150, to hand out to people. I noticed the incredible compassion he has for the needy, sometimes the ones who give him the most difficulty. One day I asked him, "Why is it that you have such an enduring love and commitment to this ministry?" He said, "My grandfather was one of these folks. He stumbled around the street...

Some time ago, I was having a conversation with a friend. We were talking about God, Jesus Christ and the Bible. He was sharing with me what he believes about God and Jesus Christ. As I was listening to him, I could see that he did not know who God is. He did not know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. I believe there are many people today who do not know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. They know about h...