Southside Community Church - Milton

Sunday, February 14 2021 Speaker: Ian Campbell Deuteronomy 6.4-5 Luke 10.26-27 Have you ever been said to be "over the top?" Did you take that as a criticism or a compliment? This weekend's final session on the Shema invites us to be "over the top" Ready?

Sunday, February 7, 2021 Speaker: Ian Campbell Deuteronomy 6 .4-5 Romans 12.1-2 A curious expression talks about having "skin in the game" Which means to be "all in." Loving God with all our Soul has that in mind. As we realize that God is "all in" for us and the Incarnation is a theological word for "skin in the game" we follow the Shema's call to us for reciprocate.

Sunday January 31, 2021 Speaker: Ian Campbell Deuteronomy 6.4-5 Proverbs 4.23 Over the past several years I have often heard someone say "I know your heart" and it sometimes baffled me as to what was meant. When we are told to Love God with all our heart we are really being challenged with the question "what do you really want? what is in your heart?" It is in the heart that longings reside. let's have a look at that idea.

January 24, 2021 Speaker: Ian Campbell Deuteronomy 6.5 We might understand the Shema to say Because the LORD our God is one we must love Him in "oneness." His love for us is single as is His being and so we must have a singleness in our response to Him - how has He loved us and how do we respond with our love for Him?

January 17, 2021 Speaker: Ian Campbell Deuteronomy 6.3-4, Luke 10.27-28 As we continue to understand the Shema Israel we come to the phrase "The Lord is our God, the Lord is One" which is the heart of the creedal statement and also of Christian creeds though the years. What exactly does it mean? What is our relationship now with Israel as she is addressed in the Shema? Did the lawyer asking Jesus the question have any idea that the One he was asking was the One? The video referred to can be viewed at https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/yhwh-lord/

January 10, 2021 Speaker: Ian Campbell Deut 6.4-5; Luke 10.27 Shema Israel Does Christianity have a short version? That's essentially what a young lawyer asked Jesus. Jesus turned the question back to him and he gave the answer correctly. He quoted the Shema Israel, referring to Deuteronomy 6.4-5. He had apparently heard Jesus, the new rabbi in town, who had added a second half. Still within the scope of Jewish faith Jesus added the love of neighbour to the love of God. That's it. Love God, Love your neighbour. Thus Jesus summed up the whole story of faith. The video referred to can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KQLOuIKaRA&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=BibleProject

January 3, 2021 Speaker - Ian Campbell Num 6.22-27 An invocation for 2021. God gave instructions to the priestly family to pray a certain prayer over the Children of Israel. As we enter the New Year may I presume to pray the same prayer over you, the Southside Family? Let's receive the promises of the Blessing as we anticipate a good and different year to come.

December 20, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Luke 2.29-32 "Nunc Dimittis" On this Christmas Sunday we come to our fourth Advent Candle - the candle of Peace. Perhaps the most elusive pursuit it still beckons to us. The old man Simeon is at peace. Am I? Will I be, when this mortal life is over? The answer lies in my actual, true understanding of Christmas.

December 13, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Luke 2.8-14 In the angels' song: "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" the shepherds are told not to be afraid because they are brought good news of great joy. Joy and Peace, the final two candles of the Advent Wreath are indeed part of the great song for the weary heart.

December 6, 2020 Speaker : Ian Campbell The Magnificat (Luke 1.46-55) The second "canticle" of the New Testament is Mary's song. One of its beautiful lines is "He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant." She predicts that all generations would call her Blessed. What does she mean that her "soul" exalts the Lord? How does her song help the weary soul?

November 29, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Luke 1.67-80 In this time of heaviness of spirit we'll rekindle the message of Advent. The Gospel narrative of Luke describes the waiting and fulfillment of Messiah's first coming in Zechariah's "Benediction" along with Mary's "Magnificat," the Angels' "Gloria" and Simeon's "Nunc Dimittis."

November 22, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 1.1-5 Have you ever heard someone remark "well, that says it all?" As we consider the third New Testament hymn we come across something that does "say it all." The most important question a person could ever ponder is to ask "Who is Jesus?" Here is the answer. The final answer.

Sunday, November 15, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Colossians 1.15-20 The second New Testament hymn we'll study is the beautiful Colossian ode to Christ about the meaning of everything. We're told that folks today are searching for meaning. This hymn explains all!

November 8, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs Phil 2.1-11 The New Testament contains sections of text that were probably hymn quotes as the Christians used the familiar approach of writing and singing psalms to deities. We'll have a look at three of these excerpts in the next few Sundays. Have you ever asked someone "what were you thinking?" or had someone asked you the same question? The hymn segment Paul quotes in Philippians gives us a song for our minds and hearts as it celebrates what Christ was thinking.

November 1, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Ephesians 5.25 What does it mean to "fall in love?" As we think about the third kind of love in Greek we'll perhaps rush in as fools where angels fear to tread! Why is Christ's love for the church an example of this love?

Sunday October 25, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 16.26-27 The second word used in the New Testament for love is philei - which means brotherly love, and gives us the city name Philadelphia. In a remarkable statement Jesus tells his disciples that God loves them with this kind of love and mentions that they have loved Him with this kind of love. How is this different from the agape love we should show?

October 11, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell 1 Corinthians 3.3-13 "How do I love thee? let me count the ways" says Elizabeth Barrett Browning. As we consider the 3 kinds of love in the Bible we'll start with the famous agape term (which is the New Testament rendering of the Hebrew chesed from last Sunday,) and the classic Corinthian list of the ways that love is shown by our behaviour.

October 11, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Psalm 92.1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord! What a poignant statement this is in the midst of an unsettling time. How can we practice this incredibly pertinent encouragement from the psalms? How is it good? How can it echo our longings?

October 4, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Acts 17.16-34 If we were looking for a situation in the Bible that most closely resembles our days and times we might be impressed by the striking parallels in Paul's lecture at a place called Mars Hill. We'll see how we can be guided in our understanding of our times by this classic talk.

September 27, 2020 Speaker: Ian Campbell Ephesians 5.19; 1 Corinthians 14.15 One of the great challenges in CoVid times for worship is the prohibition of singing! We understand the reason but we find it hard not to sing, don't we? And there are those people we know who sing their way through life. The Apostle Paul encourages us to speak to one another, to communicate with one another and he cites psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. As we explore the broken signpost of spirituality let's try to figure out what makes a "spiritual" song distinct, and while we're at it what the Bible means by "sing with the spirit and sing with the mind."