Sermon Links

Kierkegaard: "Faith is the leap into the dark... Into the unknown..."

Paul Tillich wrote that faith is a matter of the heart – the “ultimate concern”.

For many people  "faith" and "belief" are just two words for the same thing.  But they are not the same...

Read the entire reflection: "Risking Faith"

"‘God’ – the concept of the Holy, has been of central importance in human thought, philosophy, and in the way humans have lived together.  Our understanding of ‘God’ has shifted, developed, matured, within our lives. We respond differently now than we might have when we were children, or even young adults. "

Read the entire reflection: What is God Like? How do we respond?

Don Sawatzky reflected this Sunday on the Mystical in God Moments: "What has been significant for me in focusing on God moments is that we go directly to the experience and bypass any attempt to explain the experience."

“Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the word speak the same language” ~ Meister Eckart

I wonder what this means to you. 

Other quotes by Meister Eckart:

• “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me”
• “Truly, it is in darkness that one finds the light, so that when we are in sorrow, then the light is nearest to all of us”
• “What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action”
• “God is at home, it is we who have gone for a walk” 

Read the entire reflection: Experiencing the Mystical in God Moments

When during this week, did you give yourself time to sit, reflect, read, listen?

How does the flow of action/reflection/action move through your life? 

Read the entire reflection: "Action/Reflection/Action Model"

Go, and be like the Samaritan – respond to the needs of those you encounter; speak out for justice where you can; see the face of God in every human being!  Do love!   Get started! Keep doing what it is love is calling you into!  Go with the Spirit ever present, guiding, energizing, and empowering you.  Go and do likewise!  ~ Rev. Alice Hanson

Read the entire  reflection: Compassionate Neighbours based on the parable of the Good Samaritan

Pentecost – invites us to wonder and explore questions like:  Where and  how has the spirit been working in your life?

It has also been called ‘ordinary’ time referring to the long green growing time that reminds us that real growth takes patience and may not be as fast as we hope.  Today we are reminded that our growing times may start out ordinary and end up being extraordinary, sometimes triggered simply by the person you meet at a coffee shop or the grocery store and through brief conversations become an ‘aha’ moment for you. 

Read the entire Reflection: The Unexpected Voice of Love 

"Wisdom is calling out in all the crossroads, intersections and street corners of our lives and in our world. These crossroads [...] are right out in our schools and courts and public spaces, in the midst of our families' interactions. Here we meet all sorts of competing voices of truth and wonder - diverse expressions of life styles, values, philosophies, and faith understandings. It is in [...] the everyday moments of our lives that wisdom calls us - inviting us to choose her ways!"

Read the whole reflection: Wisdom

Interesting, that those early storytellers used the imagery of fire and wind, both basic elements in the universe.  Fire is indispensable to daily living – its warmth, a comforting presence, its light a guide in the dark.  Literary images of fire refer to its creative, cleansing and purifying power that opens to new birth and growth. We know how unpredictable, how strong and powerful wind can blow; wind blows to the left, the right, above and beneath us, pushing us forward and sometimes sending us to and fro, and yet... how gentle/still. …

Read the whole reflection: Pentecost Experience by Alice Hanson  

“…it is pretty common for a group to choose as the top priority, the thing that is giving them most trouble at the time.  That makes sense to me, and certainly divisions in the community were the biggest problem Winfield United Church was facing at the time [referring to last year’s workshop led by Alison Rennie].  Still, the creation of a deep and lasting community here in Winfield might have been at least one of the top priorities, even if it hadn’t been troubling at the time. … I want to share some of my ideas about community in a United Church context, because I feel that what we are striving for is so important, not just for us as a church community, but also for the world.”

Read the whole reflection: "Community" by Bob Thompson