View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon Lectionary Texts: John 14:1-14; Acts 7:55-60; 1 Peter 2:2-10 When I was in high school, a classmate of mine had a lot of trouble paying attention. At the end of most classes, after the teacher had explained a concept at length, he would invariably ask a question that had already been thoroughly answered, often just before he asked it. Sometimes the exact same question had…
View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon On the Road to Emmaus Luke 24:13-35 On the road to…. This past week has seen two momentous “end of the road” events, end of the road meaning both reaching one’s goal and “the end” of your road. Prime Minister Harper had been on the road toward his coveted majority for five years, and he reached his goal Monday night. Many Canadians responded in disbelief while…
View Archived Sermons NEW!!! Listen to this Sermon Global Positioning Systems Psalm 16:11 John 20:30,31 Today is a Good day. It’s the second Sunday of Easter and so we continue the celebration that began last Sunday. Also this is a Sunday where we welcome new members into our congregation. For this reason I have prepared a brief sermon so that we will have time to hear and savour the stories that Billy and Alicia Good will…
View Archived Sermons New!! Listen to this Sermon TUMC Easter Sermon 2011 The surprising importance of Negative Space John 20:1-18 I begin with the line of a hymn – Christ the Lord is Risen Today – Alleluia Our Easter hymns record the witness of the first apostles as well as the witness of many others who have encountered the Risen Christ in one way or another throughout the ages. In keeping with our recent practice of sharing…
View Archived Sermons (Sorry, this sermon is not available in audio) Becoming Human: Shaped by Jesus Lent V: Shaped by new life John 11 and Ezekiel 37:1-14 Issues of Life and Death You know, every time I read Ezekiel 37: 1-14, the passage that Clay and Andrew shared with us this morning, its graphic depiction of bones lying in a valley reminds me of the kind of movie or program or news segment which needs to be preceded by…
View Archived Sermons NEW! Listen to this Sermon Cleansing Mud: Jesus’ teachings on purity and defilement Scripture Readings: John 9:1-41; Mark 7:1-8; 14-23 There was a bizarre 12th century Belgian saint named St. Christina the Astonishing. Already at 15 she was said to lose herself to contemplation of God, to the detriment of her body. Some accounts of her life say that she eventually starved to death. Her body was brought to the church for a…
View Archived Sermons New! Listen to this Sermon #Hosanna Palm Sunday – Matthew 21:1-11, Philippians 2:6-11 As I prepared for this sermon, I realized that I’ve preached on Palm Sunday at TUMC before. I thought it was “just the other day” but when I looked it up it turns out it was in 1997! Anyway, I was tempted to just repeat what I said, but I’m sure many of you still remember that sermon, so I…
View Archived Sermons New: Listem to this Sermon Jesus, Lonely Wells & 127 Hours – John 4:1-30 Introduction: Thank you so much for the privilege to share today’s sermon with you. My wife Claudia and I and our children want to say thanks to Marilyn and this community for being so hospitable, inclusive and encouraging. We’ve had a great experience worshipping with you and developing new friendships here at TUMC. Preaching this sermon today is a very unique experience…
View Archived Sermons Shaped by Testing Our theme for Lent this year is Becoming Human: Called and Shaped by Jesus. And then the title for our first Sunday as given to us by our Leader materials, the resources we are using to guide our worship planning, is “Shaped by Testing,” Please note the top of your bulletin.Shaped by Jesus? Shaped by Testing? This lack of alignment between Shaped by Jesus and shaped by testing caused me to wonder, “is…
View Archived Sermons Lent II. During Lent this year, we have chosen to preach from this Lectern, instead of the pulpit and I must admit, it makes me feel a bit more exposed. And for a time, maybe that’s a good thing.This sermon is going to feel a bit like that as well, as I choose to share that lately I’ve felt a bit more in the dark than I have in a while. I share that…