Friends Church Calgary Weekly Message

Speaker: Vince Klassen Happy Easter! It's the biggest celebration in the Christian calendar — and this year, we're centering it on the teaching Jesus said mattered most: Love your neighbour. Simple idea. Surprisingly hard to live out. Especially when your neighbour grew up somewhere completely different. Lived a life you can't imagine. Works every day just to feel like they belong....

What happens inside of you when you fail someone you actually care about? Not the small stuff—the real moments, where you try… and it still isn’t enough. Something shifts. Stories form fast—defensive, protective, extreme—and in the moment they feel true. But those same stories quietly pull us away from the very people we’re trying to love well. In this week’s Undercurrents talk, we’re going to loo...

After last week’s talk, I had a bunch of fascinating emails - people starting to see where their unconscious Parts have been quietly trying to get everyone around them to see the world the way they do. And with that came the realization of just how much relational damage happens when others don’t line up… or we pressure them to. I’ve done it myself - trying to get others in my life to see the worl...

Speaker: Vince Klassen Have you ever noticed how two people can look at the exact same world and come to completely different conclusions about it? One sees everything falling apart. Another sees slow progress. And both are absolutely convinced they’re the ones seeing reality clearly. In this talk we’re going to explore how the stories we believe about the world quietly shape our emotions, our rel...

What if the most dangerous moments in your life aren’t the loud ones, but the quiet ones? The ones where a voice inside you starts making a very convincing case. A case to quit. To blow it up. To take the shortcut. To say the thing you swore you’d never say. To do the thing you promised you’d never do. In this talk, we’re going to explore why intelligent, thoughtful, good people still find themsel...

What if one of Jesus’ most famous stories isn’t about waiting for a miracle - but about becoming one? This week we’re stepping into the middle of the feeding of the 5,000 and listening carefully to the moment we usually rush past: when Jesus looks at his students and says, “You feed them.” Not someday. Not supernaturally. You. Together. This talk explores why we so often hope someone else - a conc...

Speaker: Vince Klassen What happens when the faith that once fit… doesn’t anymore? Many of us were taught that religion is one-size-fits-all. Believe the same things. Follow the same rules. Stay in line. But what happens when you start to notice things are a little off? When questions won’t go away and answers don't work anymore? When the experience that brings peace to others no longer works...

Speakers: Vince Klassen Many of us grew up in a Christian tradition that left a mark (even if we didn’t grow up in it, the influence of the Christian tradition has snuck into us from the people around us). Sometimes it was subtle. Sometimes it was loud. Shame around sex. Guilt about desire. Fear about who we are, how we love, or whether we even belong in a church at all.  Sadly, this list could go...

Speakers: Vince Klassen Taking Water its in this thing called (transcendent) We Recently I had an experience that’s stayed with me. I was running with a group near the Talisman Centre by the river. It was –10°C when we noticed a man standing under the bridge. At first, no big deal—until I saw he was wearing only a t-shirt. Then I noticed he had just one shoe. I felt the pull to keep running. To as...

Two Sundays - the end of an era, and the beginning of the next. This Sunday, Vince’s on the Hotseat. Ask him those questions you’ve always wanted to ask - but maybe never had the chance or nerve to. Bryce (aka Bad Boy with a Heart of Gold) is back in the host chair, putting your questions front and center.  He’ll be hitting him with real questions submitted by you—no topic off-limits, no question...

Speakers: Bryce Lokken & Jeff Jarvis Two Sundays - the end of an era, and the beginning of the next. This Sunday is Jeff's Last Sunday at Friends Church so you can ask him whatever you've always wanted to know about him. Bryce (aka Bad Boy with a Heart of Gold) is back in the host chair, putting your questions front and center.  He’ll be hitting him with real questions submitted by y...

Speaker:  Jeff Jarvis Deep down, most of us already know at least one change we long to make. Yet as Vince has been unpacking, it’s often not a lack of desire or effort that holds us back—but unseen forces within us that cause us to hesitate, resist, or quietly pull away. If you’ve ever felt caught between what’s stirring in your deepest self and the inner voices that question, warn, or overwhelm...

Changing is hard—really hard. But it isn’t impossible. Last week we explored why New Year’s resolutions (and most attempts at change) fail: our internal systems are designed to keep us exactly where we are. For many of us, that realization was eye-opening. So the next question is obvious: what should we actually change? Which goals lead to real health—and which are driven by the Parts of us that k...

Big holidays spark motivation. New Year’s especially. And yet… most resolutions fade fast. We joke about it because we’ve lived it. But why do they fail? And more importantly—how do we finally make them work? This week we’re talking about what really derails resolutions (hint: it’s not willpower) and how to harness this season’s momentum toward real, healthy change. Join us as we begin a roadmap t...

Over the years, Christian traditions have built different walls around their castles of faith—each convinced they’ve got it right, and everyone else has it wrong. It’s strange, really, that so many walls exist around the same story. But when we read the Bible closely, we discover things happening outside those walls —stories and actions many traditions would call unacceptable. There’s one sitting...

The shepherds were the last people anyone expected to be part of the story—they were living on the margins, working the night shift while everyone else slept, never invited to the events around them.  Outsiders And yet… they’re the first ones invited. In the middle of the darkness, they’re the ones who hear the news. The ones who run toward something they can’t fully explain. The ones who show up—...

Every year, we gather the remarkable stories emerging from our community—stories of people “Taking Water,” showing up with compassion, generosity, and a willingness to invest themselves in the lives of others without expectation. These stories highlight everyday individuals living out quiet courage, humble service, and extraordinary impact. Join us again this year for a morning of inspiration as w...

Walk into any cathedral in the world and chances are you’ll feel something. For me, it’s often a sense of Something More. After a conversation with an architect in our community, I’m realizing just how much our spaces shape us—how they influence our sense of spirituality, our connection to Something More, the Divine, "God.” But many of us move through our lives without using our spaces intent...

This Sunday, I’m having an honest conversation with someone who’s facing a reality most of us try not to think about: our time on this earth is limited. Every week, someone somewhere says goodbye to someone they love—and it’s never easy. Even thinking about our own mortality can feel scary. But throughout history, spiritual traditions have suggested that facing this truth can actually bring clarit...

Across cultures and centuries, people have turned to certain natural substances in search of something beyond themselves — healing, meaning, perhaps even an encounter with the divine. Now, modern science is circling back to explore what ancient wisdom seemed to already know and it's wild!! What might the latest research be revealing about potential roles psychedelics can play in one's sp...

Speaker: Jeff Jarvis How often do you let yourself truly enjoy life’s pleasures? Do you ever feel guilty for spending time or money simply to delight in something good? I’ll admit—sometimes I do. Throughout history, the topic of pleasure has been a bit awkward within traditional Christianity. Many of us were warned about “the desires of the flesh” and told that things which excite the senses could...

Speaker: Vince Klassen There’s one thing in life that ranks right up there with death and taxes - change. This past week we shared that Friends Church will be changing too, with Jeff stepping away to pursue a new career managing a golf resort (fun fact: his formal training is actually in Turf Management!). So what do we do with change—especially when it’s not the change we wanted? How do we make p...

This week we announced the resignation of one of our Lead Pastors - Jeff Jarvis. We spent some time learning what is next for Jeff and his family and where Friends Church 2.0 came from. Finally, we looked at the core of Friends Church found in each of us that calls it home. Please see below the letter from our Board Chairperson and Jeff's letter of Resignation. As always, if you have any ques...

Through this series, we’re taking an honest look at the Bible. So far, we’ve set aside our assumptions and begun seeing it as a Wisdom text rather than an owner’s manual—one that honors its Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse origins. This week, we’ll focus on the Bible’s Diversity and explore a key question: what does it really mean for the Bible to be “inspired by God”? Does the Bible claim that for...

Many of us grew up in faith traditions that took the Bible’s rules very seriously. For some, breaking one meant rejection or judgment — sometimes even exile from family or community. Some biblical laws still seem to make deep sense today. Others… not so much. So how do we tell the difference in 2025? Can we really choose which spiritual laws still apply? Join us this Sunday as we wrestle with thes...