Willingdon Church Podcast

Today, Pastor Brett, Silas and Nat answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show. Topics include headship roles in the family, discerning scripture and performative spirituality.   00:00 Intro 1:09 Sermon Summary 07:28 Performative Spiritual...

Do you ever feel like skipping something (a tense meeting, an exam, a chore)? If I could skip doing the dishes, I would do it every time. Whoever came up with the name “Skip the Dishes” for online food delivery was brilliant! In our Life Group, when we have a meal together, we have a Life Group member who loves to serve the group by doing the dishes. Near the end of the meal, he quietly slips away...

Today, Pastor Ray, Pastor Brett and Silas answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1. Topics include buying and eating meat that is labelled halal, having gospel conversations with family members and Ray's trip to Ottawa! If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show. 00:00 Intro 0...

What is your general life posture? Are you suspicious of people’s true intentions – your family, neighbours, political leaders, and church leaders?  Are you dominated by fear of those who oppose you? Is your life marked by anxiety in relation to what might happen – climate catastrophe, financial ruin, illness? And, is there another way to posture yourself? What overriding purpose guides your every...

Today, we have a special episode featuring Pastor John Best and Ahmad. Ahmad serves with an organization called House of Ohmeed and is a partner in ministry. This is a discussion on the persecuted Church that you won't want to miss. We'll be back on our regularly scheduled Q&A Pod next week. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.or...

Today is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The aim of the sermon today is twofold: 1) to help each of us be more prepared to stand strong in our relationship with Jesus even in the midst of suffering, 2) to stand with our brothers and sisters around the world who are experiencing significant suffering directly because of their faith. Know Jesus! (Who is He and what has He done...

Today, Pastor Ray, Pastor Brett and Silas answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show.   00:00 Intro 00:40 Answering a Willingdon family question 04:35 Sermon Summary 09:29 Was there a particular verse that stood out to you while preparin...

Have you ever sat at the wrong table?    When you go to a wedding reception in Canada, it is not unusual to have a seating chart or table plan near the entrance to help guests find their assigned table. The seating chart determines who you will fellowship with during the reception dinner. Separate from the guest tables is the head table.  At the head table, you have the bride and groom with their...

Today, Pastor Ray, Pastor Brett and Silas answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show. 00:00 Intro 00:07 Start 00:48 Sermon Summary 07:30 Jewish History 10:00 Grumbling vs Questioning 16:59 Temptations vs Trials vs Testing 25:37 Why pray '...

Temptation is the act of enticing, alluring, seducing, or attracting a person to do what is wrong or evil.  It is an enticement that appeals to our cravings (desires). Is it possible for a person to not be tempted to do the wrong thing?  Can anyone say that they have never given into temptation and fallen into sin?   What was it about status-seeking, grumbling, sexual immorality, and idolatry that...

Today, Pastor Ray, Pastor Brett and Silas answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show.   00:00 Intro 01:46 Recap 04:42 How did you first hear about the gospel? 11:46 What is the unchangeable message of the gospel 18:40 How do we contextual...

Have you ever thought about why you follow Jesus, and how you got here? Paul knew exactly how he did. His life was radically changed by a saving encounter with Christ. That encounter gave him a new kind of freedom; not freedom to live for himself, but freedom to serve others. In this passage, Paul says, “Though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them....

We're doing this a little differently this week. Silas, Pastor Ray and our Life Groups Pastor, Pastor Jonathan, sit down and discuss some of the Life Group questions related to 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Pastor Ray and Pastor Brett are heading to the other campus this weekend, which is why we had two different passages being preached last weekend. Since Pastor Brett is away, we thought this would be a...

When was the last time you asked yourself, “Why do I do this? And what were you thinking about when you asked yourself that question?” This past week, I went running in the rain. And it was really quiet! I ran for about three km before I saw another jogger. Yes, there were some grumpy dog-owners out there, with their dogs on leash, “Come on dog!”  As you go through the fall season, running in the...

Today, Pastor Ray, Pastor Brody and Nat answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 9:1-18. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show. 00:00 Intro 01:01 Context of Paul's Letter  04:24 Resources 06:00 Why did Paul bring up his "lack of support" 11:52 Examples in Society Today  23:33 Curiou...

Have you ever thought about your rights? Have you fought for your rights? We may read 1 Corinthians 9 and think, “Why is Paul giving up all his rights? What’s wrong with him?” We are so accustomed to remembering our rights and defending them. On university campuses, we’re encouraged to be activists, for our own rights and the rights of others. We’re informed by human rights slogans like: "Dignity,...

Today, Pastor Brett and Silas answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 8:7-13. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show. 00:00 Intro 01:32 Sermon Summary 04:23 Why didn't I get raptured this week? 09:18 Who is the weaker brother? 17:02 When should the stronger brother encourage?  21:10...

Recognize - Consciences Differ Realize - Freedom Can Hurt Remember - Love Bends

We're back with our Sunday sermon companion podcast! Today, Pastor Ray, Pastor Brett, and Silas answer your questions on 1 Corinthians 8:1-6. If you have any questions for us related to next week's sermon, you can email them to ask@willingdon.org, and we'll try our best to include them on the show. 00:00 Intro 01:55 Sermon Summary 10:46 Gospel responses to current events 26:41 Non-Christian events...

Imagine someone coming to our intercultural church for the first time, from a place in the world where there is one ethnic group speaking one language. That person would probably ask the question, “How did this happen?” To help the person understand, we would provide the context, the history and circumstances that created a multi-cultural city with an intercultural church family: the history of ex...

What do we consider to be the core spiritual practices that will enable us to thrive?    Every one of us was born into a family culture that gifted us with a way of believing, a way of thinking, a set of values, and ways of behaving. I was born into a family culture, established by my parents, who drew on the wisdom of their parents, Scripture, and their church family.   What is the family culture...

God-thirst drives all of us. Eugene Peterson writes: “We’re never more alive than when we’re dealing with God.” (Eugene Peterson, Leap Over a Wall, p. 5). In fact, we aren’t alive at all until we are dealing with God.   Oh, we may try to complete ourselves by getting more education or more money, travelling to another place or buying different clothes, playing with new ideas and having new experie...

Belonging to the Lord brings blessings beyond anything we can imagine – but we don’t always see it. We navigate the highs and lows of life. Regardless of our circumstances, God ushers us into his presence and urges us to share with him the deep longings of our heart. Today, we’re going to consider the relationship King David has with his son Absalom, and spend time learning about and expressing la...

A few weeks ago, a friend invited me to enjoy a beautifully seared, slow-cooked lamb roast. It was so tender and flavourful - a moment of intense pleasure. I confess that I ate too much.  Our story today includes friendship, a lamb roast, and pleasure. In 2 Samuel 11, King David breaks at least seven of the ten commandments. He believes his sins are hidden. He lives within a web of lies, not for a...

Today, as we continue on the ‘Life of David’, we get to the part of his life, where Christians and non-Christians have associated him with when you mention the name Bathsheba. But long before 2025, the Bible shares openly with painful detail the most famous affair recorded in all of history, and it does not hold back but shows every heartbreaking ripple effect.   I have three points from today’s m...