Guelph Vineyard Church

It's Easter Weekend!! This is the very centre of the Christian year. It's the weekend we mark the incomprehensible, beautiful, death-defeating work of Christ. All of a sudden, Jesus' invitation to His disciples, spoken before they even had an inkling of what lay ahead, comes into sharp focus as He is arrested, condemned and crucified before their very eyes. And then His promise of eternal life becomes tangible, literally alive in His resurrected person.We will mark the weekend two ways. Today we'll share a Good Friday morning reflection. This  will be a journey through the scriptures of Good Friday, meditating on the Passion of Jesus and His way of the cross.

The scripture readings that will anchor our worship today invite us into stories that both reveal the great wealth we find in Christ and honour the gift of worship we give Him in response. We will give space for a more extended time for worship and communion, with a short reflection from Kris.

In the last episode, we talked about the idea that the word "Lent" refers to the lengthening of days. Spring brings about the renewal of dormant things. We asked the question: "What's been dormant that is being reawakened in you?" In this episode, Brady Wilson will be sewing up the series we've been in over the past couple of months. Jesus put a lot of emphasis on fruitfulness. In fact, the whole biblical account puts a lot of emphasis on bearing fruit. This week: From Roots to Fruits (because flourishing always results in fruitfulness).

Sigh. The world has gotten pretty complicated again, with the events in Ukraine, hasn't it? This Sunday is going to be a time of re-centering around Christ, praying for our world, stepping into the promise of a gospel that is resilience itself in the face of every kind of fear and uncertainty. Amazingly, David wrote these words in the aftermath of an extremely violent and unjust action on the part of King Saul: But I am like an olive tree    flourishing in the house of God;I trust in God’s unfailing love    for ever and ever. For what you have done I will always praise you    in the presence of your faithful people.And I will hope in your name,    for your name is good. (Psalm 52, 8-9)Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us. 

Hey everyone. Last week we starting asking really great questions about the root system that sustains us in life and in faith. As Brady shared, there was a lot of really great feedback happening, both on the chat wall in zoom as well as some folks unmuted and sharing different word pictures, unique insights, thoughts and questions. It was such an encouraging time. We're going to keep pressing into that this Sunday by creating a space for a few more of us to share what percolated throughout the week as you reflected on the amazing insight that the Lord intends for us to be completely rooted in His Love.To prime the pump, here's a question to consider, if you haven't already:What is the condition of the soil like that you are rooted in? What's the ratio of "Jesus-y" soil like love, peace, hope, joy to the "other stuff" (fear, anxiety, lack etc)? Do we believe that the Jesus can purify the soil, or even completely transplant us? As you consider your roots, what do you hear

The last time we were together we introduced the powerful biblical metaphor of the Tree of Life. We're going to be lingering with this image for a while, unpacking the promise and the invitation of being rooted, healthy, flourishing, maturing, fruit-bearing people.The scriptures put a lot of emphasis on where flourishing trees are planted. It turns out, location matters. Sunshine and water supply matter. And what matters most? Dark, nutrient-rich, life-infused soil of course.Brady Wilson will be sharing. 

As you know, these days we're on a journey together as a church community. It's a journey into a deep dialogue about flourishing... about what we need to mature into the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give us. It doesn't take long before words like "flourishing", "abundance" and "maturity" lead us to the doorway to the book of Psalms. Psalm 1 says this of the one who delights in God:  "He is like a tree planted by flowing streams;it yields its fruit at the proper time,and its leaves never fall off.He succeeds in everything he attempts."If you're like me, you read that and think "Where do I sign up?" And of course, this question is quickly followed by, "Is this really possible?"So, here's the question: What if this is really a 'thing'? What if it's actually an inheritance to be expected? What if this is what maturity in Christ actually promises? This week we're going to start looking closer at thi

Last  week we began a journey that we're going to be on for a while. It's a journey to answer what seems like a simple question, but is actually many-layered and multi-textured: What do you need, like, really need, to live into the abundant life Jesus said He was all about? What do you need in your day-to-day life as a Jesus follower, and what do you need in a church family? The answers to those questions are going to matter a lot as we seek to understand where the Lord is leading us a church family.Throughout the recent "maturity" series, we framed maturity in Christ as a kind of target, a sort of bullseye for your life and mine. Understanding our needs and getting them met in healthy ways is so closely aligned with the maturity process that it's indecipherable from it. We're going to explore why.

Matthew 15 is one of the high-action chapters in the gospels. Jesus is healing everyone. Jesus is feeding everyone. We can only imagine the electricity among His disciples as they watch Jesus doing business with every sickness, ailment and evil spirit and forgiving sins. I've been considering the work of Jesus through a bit of a different lens lately. Yes, the work of Christ, as demonstrated in the Matthew passage, is an abundant work. He is performing miracles, after all. And he is also meeting needs. Profoundly felt, urgently required needs. And I believe Jesus still does that very thing. It's part of what it means to be the Church (Acts:4:34). So we're going to be taking a journey together to answer the question I believe the Holy Spirit is asking of us, and it's a crucial question: What do you need?

This is a significant gathering in our story as the Guelph Vineyard. Two announcements are made, one being the move to a 9am service (come for 8:45!) beginning on Dec 12, 2021, at Royal City Mission. The other is the shift to bi-vocationality for our pastor, Kris MacQueen. In the midst of many changes, unforeseeable curve balls and an unknown future, the Peace of the Lord is absolutely in our midst, centring us powerfully to navigate these times led by curiosity, courage and wonder rather than driven by fear and anxiety. The Lord is at work in our midst, and leading us. Listen to hear more. 

Who doesn't love a great God story, am I right? I know I do. As a friend of mine often says: "I'm just medieval enough to believe that God actually does stuff like this!" Another friend describes the manifest movement of God among us as the "whammo!" of God. Yes to all those things. I've experienced them, I hunger after them. I love it when God moves "in power". And yet…. (you had to know there was an "and yet" coming)What's it all about, really? I know some of us remember the 90s. I remember being ring-side for the Toronto blessing. That whole season felt like there was almost a kind of fountainhead of God's power, bursting up through the floorboards of what was then the Toronto Airport Vineyard. Boom! Whammo!I remember thinking something like "wow, this is favour, God must really like us right now". But you know what? The longer I've walked with Jesus, the less and less I'm convinced that those encounters were quite what I

Identity. Who we understand ourselves to be. Who others understand us to be. It matters very much, doesn't it? But where does it come from? What generates identity? We so often claim our sense of belonging and identity from our past and from others don't we?  On one hand, identity can be both inherited and inherent nature. Identity can be bestowed from a group to a person “you’re one of us”. Then there's the identity we forge for ourselves. We can create identity through our actions, our work. Even our public image and reputation can create a self made identity. Finally, there's the identity we desire. Who we wish we were, or perhaps more hopefully, who we aspire to be.We’re going to continue to look at the life of Moses through the prayer of Jesus in John 17.  This time, we’ll consider how identity and belonging shaped Moses’ life story from beginning to end.

We'll be digging in deeper to the passage in John where Jesus effectively pulls us up by the roots from our place in "the world", all the while instilling in us the hope of a home that we haven't properly set foot in yet. John 17:13-18I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.A migrant-kind-of-faith reminds that home is no longer where we're from, nor is it where we find ourselves now. The home we belong to we haven't yet fully encountered. We are mid-journey. Travellers.Consider this quote from author James K.A. Smi

Maturity in Christ always looks like humility, and not just any sort of humility. It looks like an absurdly grateful humility. It looks like a person with a profound sense of personal worth, yes. But that sense of worth is expressed in an attitude towards life, God and others that says "this world owes me nothing." Such a person has been freed from all entitlement. In Matthew 18, Jesus talks about this by telling a cautionary story that is, simply put, ridiculous. If we read it casually, we can easily miss the punchline but make no mistake, there is a punchline. It's a truth that heals even as it hurts.

There is one expression that has invaded and taken over my vocabulary over the past couple of years: "it's complicated". I don't know how many times I've said it, but a lot. There are so many things that are complicated. Politics are complicated. Our work/life balances are complicated. Even connecting with our dearest friends these days can be complicated. And…. following Jesus feels complicated some days too, doesn't it?As we continue down the road in our study and reflection on maturity in Christ, there's a word that begins to emerge as a counterpoint to the complexities of modern day life. Simplicity. The kind of simplicity that actually seems really hard. The kind of simplicity that requires the power of the Holy Spirit. The kind of simplicity that Jesus confronts the disciples with when they start complicating things.Matthew 18:1-5 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”He called a little child to him, a

We’re going to pick up where we left off last week in exploring joy as the fuel that sustains and empowers and is the fruit of our journey into maturity in Christ. What might it mean to be a community of joy?

Nehemiah, an often overlooked book in the Bible, contains this beautiful phrase: "The joy of the Lord is my strength." Encouraging, right? It should be! The context of this passage is super intriguing. The people of Israel have just rediscovered the scriptures, realize how far they have strayed from the intentions of God, and they are heartbroken. They're mourning. They're feeling beat down and like failures.Into the middle of their tears, interrupting their disappointment in themselves, come the words "This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” They are renewed, their capacity is renewed and a seven day party gets started.(Inner)"strength" and "maturity" are words that go together pretty naturally in my experience. Have we often considered that "joy" and "strength" are woven closely together as well? Taking this a step further, what about "joy" and "maturity"?

Revelation 21:19-21 "The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass."What does the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation 21 have to do with Christ authoring and maturing (perfecting) our faith? Clue: Remember, when we think "building projects", we think "buildings" - Duh. But whenever the Lord thinks "building projects", Jesus seems to see it quite differently. Read that Revelation passage above again, remembering that Jesus looked Peter straight in the eye and said "…on this rock I will build my church." Woah.

Is there a common thread that unites all obstacles to a flourishing, mature life? I've been asking this question, and you know what? I think it's fear. Fear is sticky... wherever it takes root, we get stuck in our journey towards maturity. Of course, not all fear is bad. Sometimes, as we mature, we learn that some things should be avoided. A healthy fear of fire is a good thing. But, that's not the kind of fear we're talking about. The fear I'm thinking of is what the Bible is referring to when it records angels saying "fear not". We're going to look at some of the obstacles that face us in maturing, and how we might overcome them. Hint: Perfect love casts out fear.

The path towards maturity in Christ happens not in isolation, but alongside one another. Of all the things that we are called to as a church, this might be the highest: A place to mature in Christ together.We're going to continue the conversation we started last time and consider what needs to be in place in order for maturity to happen, along with acknowledging some of the challenges facing us that must be overcome in order to get where we are going.