Preaching Demons

Mark 1, 3, and 5 - 30.05.2010

Preaching Demons

From the series: "Who is This?" - Irony in the Gospel of Mark

Jesus said to the storm "Peace. Be still."

And the chaos calms, the wind dies down, and the waves subside.

And the disciples look at each other and say "Who is this?" "Who is this man, that even the wind and the waves obey him?"

"Who is this?"

This is the question that runs through the book of Mark, and the answer lies in the most unexpected places.

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"What is that to you?"

Proverbs 11:13, 29:19; Leviticus 19:16; John 21 - 09.05.10

"What is that to you?"

I was invited to Hope Fellowship Church in the Oshawa area, and asked to speak about gossip from Proverbs. It seemed to connect well with an older teaching I did called "What is that to you?" that never got recorded, so I decided to tie it all together.

Sometimes when we gossip we think we are talking about them, but really we are talking about ourselves.

Download "What is that to you?" from Hopefellowship.ca

Walls

Heb 4.12; Eph 6.17; Rev 1.16 - 02.05.10
Walls

Everyone has a story. Every story has it's own "good-news," it's own Gospel. What happens when the story of Jesus collides with all these other gospels?

Download "Walls" from Freechurch.ca

Influences:

Wall and Piece - Banksy

How can the Bible be Authoritative? - N.T. Wright

What you can't hear:

In this sermon you can't hear the stain of the empire! A little back story? In the live sermon I mentioned a few brands by name, intending to tear them down and reveal some of their agendas. It was all well and good until a wise friend of mine pointed out (after the service) that I had actually just given them advertising that money can't buy! This made me really frustrated (they played me like a fool!), and so I vowed to not let it exist online forever, but to censor out all the branding.

So this is the clean version... you can let your children listen to it without fear of them becoming corrupted by evil companies!

Lay Down Your Branches

Luke 19 - 28.03.10
Lay Down Your Branches

Jesus is riding a donkey, entering into Jerusalem, knowing it will lead to his death. The people see him coming and run out, dropping their clothes on the road, ripping palm branches off the trees and laying them down before him.

But they've done this before.

This is how they treat a Messiah, a warrior, a deliverer, a king.

But Jesus is making it very clear: "I'm not that type of King"

A look into the counter-cultural, subversive Kingship of Jesus.

Download "Lay Down Your Branches" from Freechurch.ca

Fruit of the Spirit: Self-control

Galatians 5 - 21.03.10
Fruit of the Spirit: Self-control

Our journey through one of the most life-filled sections of Scripture concludes! When someone asks you: "What is Christianity all about?" I imagine that you (like me) take them to the Fruit of the Spirit! You say to them: "Being a follower of Jesus is all about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and ... self-control?" ... Really? That's where it ends?

Because to many of us, self-control just sounds so dead. When contrasted with all of these beautiful things that hum with life, self-control sounds like a let down. But maybe this is because we don't understand it properly? Maybe if we really understood self-control, and understood why we need it, it would change everything!

Download "Self-control" from Freechurch.ca

Watch the music video that accompanied "Self-control"

Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Galatians 5 - 28.02.10
Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Throughout scripture we see different sides to the sea. The sea first appears in Genesis as this raging chaos, until the Spirit calms it. It violently destroys in the story of Noah, but in the Exodus, the sea becomes a protector and guardian for the Israelites. To the Israelites, the sea is a place of uncertainty, a place that could be good to them, or could be evil.

Throughout scripture, we learn that the human heart is like the sea.

Download "Goodness" from Freechurch.ca

Watch the music video that accompanied "Goodness"

Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

Galatians 5 - 31.01.10
Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

Joy is a strange thing to dissect. What is joy? It it happiness, or something deeper? Is it temporal? Where does it come from?

Download "Joy" from Freechurch.ca

Watch the music video that accompanied "Joy"

Influences:

Nothing influenced me more than this. Take the time to meditate on it.

Reconstructing Christmas: Celebrating

Revelation 5 - 20.12.09
Reconstructing Christmas: Celebrating

In the book of Revelation we are given the image of a scroll. Inside of this scroll are written all of the promises of God: peace, love, reconciliation, redemption, comfort, glory, joy... but no one could be found who was worthy to open the scroll.

Download "Reconstructing Christmas: Celebrating" from Freechurch.ca

Reconstructing Christmas: Feasting

Genesis to Revelation - 06.12.09
Reconstructing Christmas: Feasting

In the book of Genesis, the story starts with people, God, and food. At the end of the Bible, in Revelation, there are people from every nation, God, and a feast.

When Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to be betrayed, he is sharing a meal with them, and when he resurrects they eat again.

Why is there such a focus on food in the Bible? What does the meal say about the new creation? Why should we feast?


Download "Reconstructing Christmas: Feasting" from Freechurch.ca

What you can't hear:

On the Tuesday after this sermon we gathered together for our Winter 09 Love Feast. It was a real feast, complete with a five course vegan meals, beautiful aesthetics, live music, and great people from our Church and the neighborhood. In the center of it all was a seat of glory for God, to remind us where He belongs in our feasting. It was one of the most serene experiences of my life.

Influences:

Love Feasts!

I think you're in my seat...

2 Corinthians 5: 17-20 - 22.11.09
I think you're in my seat...

A lot of people talk about how we can tell people about Jesus, but there is another question that is just as valuable: why? Why should we should bother telling people about Jesus and the gospel of reconciliation?


Download "I think you're in my seat..." from Freechurch.ca

What you can't hear:

The throne above was there for the whole sermon... just so you know.

Influences:

Surprised by Hope - N.T. Wright
II Corinthians - Frank J. Matera

Deepest Magic

1 John 4: 7-8 - 01.11.09
Deepest Magic

Every story has a force that propels it, a fuel, an engine. The Christian story claims to be the true story of the universe, the story that holds together all the other stories: what is its engine?

A sermon about a God who is eternally committed to the seemingly absurd and illogical notion that this place and these people are worth saving, and who refuses to be motivated by anything but pure, true, good, break-you-open-pour-you-out love.

Download "Deepest Magic" from Freechurch.ca

Influences:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
The Drama of Scripture - Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen

"Going" and "Being"

Acts 2: 42-47 - 11.10.09
"Going" and "Being"

It's simple. So simple. But we forget it every day: church is a family.

Not a building, not a time in the week; a group of people coming together as family. We say its obvious, but we ask people: "What church do you go to?"

"What family do you go to? How was family last night? I am family shopping."

If we think of church as something that we go to, then we show up, smile, consume our spiritual goods, and go on our way. If we think of church as something that we are, then everything will change. There is a world of difference between "going" to something, and "being" something.


Sermon not recorded properly.

Influences:

Derek Webb - She must and shall go free (album)
No Perfect People Allowed - John Burke
George Hunsberger's essay in Evangelical Ecclessiology - John Stackhouse Jr.