| This week’s sermon text from Paul 1st letter to the Corinthians raises the intriguing question of what Christians are free to do and how they might handle that freedom. There are many layers of meaning in the passage and I’m curious to learn what the Spirit is provoking within you. Don’t hesitate to join the dialogue by adding your comments. 1 Now,concerning what you wrote about food offered to idols. It is true,of course,that all of us have knowledge,as they say. Such knowledge,however,puffs a person up with pride;but love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something really don’t know as they ought to know. 3 But the person who loves God is known by him. 4 So then,about eating the food offered to idols:we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist;we know that there is only the one God. 5 Even if there are so-called gods,whether in heaven or on earth,and even though there are many of these gods and lords,6 yet there is for us only one God,the Father,who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live;and there is only one Lord,Jesus Christ,through whom all things were created and through whom we live. 7 But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol;their conscience is weak,and they feel they are defiled by the food. 8 Food,however,will not improve our relation with God;we shall not lose anything if we do not eat,nor shall we gain anything if we do eat. 9 Be careful,however,not to let your freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin. 10 Suppose a person whose conscience is weak in this matter sees you,who have so-called knowledge,eating in the temple of an idol;will not this encourage him to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so this weak person,your brother for whom Christ died,will perish because of your knowledge! 12 And in this way you will be sinning against Christ by sinning against other Christians and wounding their weak conscience. 13 So then,if food makes a believer sin,I will never eat meat again,so as not to make a believer fall into sin. This is the best illustration of how I (and I hope most of my clerical colleagues) write my sermons. It involves being confronted by the Living Word in the written words through the challenging work of the Holy Spirit to find meaning and significance for the lives being lived by the community participating in the sermon. This is the kind of learning I pray you will find week after week at Brentwood. 
Thanks to former Brentwood member Leah Yoo,who is now Chaplain to UBC at St. Andrew’s Hall,for sending this along.  Brian tests out the rebuilt pulpit at Brentwood With the renovations being done to the platform at the front of the church,our pulpit needed to be rebuilt. Ross McClelland,an elder at St. Columba Presbyterian Church and a member of the Camp Douglas Committee of the Presbytery of Westminster,agreed to do the work. As he was picking up the old pulpit,he noticed the burning bush woodwork that now graces the front of the pulpit. We discovered that it was done by prisoners at Oakalla and brought to Vancouver Heights Presbyterian Church by the Rev. Donald Gilles,who served as chaplain at the prison. There may well have been a connection with Alex MacGillivray as well. He was a guard at Oakalla for most of his career and served as an elder at Brentwood. When Vancouver Heights closed,the art came over to Brentwood. We are delighted to have it restored and to be able to find a place of honour for it in the sanctuary. As we continue to explore what it means to be the church at Brentwood,we come to Mark’s account of Jesus’calling of his first disciples. 14 After John had been put in prison,Jesus went to Galilee and preached the Good News from God.15 The right time has come,he said,and the Kingdom of God is near! Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News! 16 As Jesus walked along the shore of Lake Galilee,he saw two fishermen,Simon and his brother Andrew,catching fish with a net.17 Jesus said to them,Come with me,and I will teach you to catch people.18 At once they left their nets and went with him. 19 He went a little farther on and saw two other brothers,James and John,the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat getting their nets ready.20 As soon as Jesus saw them,he called them;they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went with Jesus. Read and reflect on this passage with us this week. You can post your insights below. We’re meeting for Bible study this week on Friday evening,Feb 20,at 5:30PM at the church and would love to have you join us. And,as usual,we gather for worship on Sunday morning at 9:45AM. May the Holy Spirit speak wisdom to you through this text. As we continue to explore what it means to be the church at Brentwood Presbyterian Church by seeing our lives through the lens of our sermon texts each week,we find Paul’s advice to the church in Corinth focusing on serving Jesus Christ with our whole beings in every dimension of our lives. 12 Someone will say,I am allowed to do anything. Yes;but not everything is good for you. I could say that I am allowed to do anything,but I am not going to let anything make me its slave.13 Someone else will say,Food is for the stomach,and the stomach is for food. Yes;but God will put an end to both. The body is not to be used for sexual immorality,but to serve the Lord;and the Lord provides for the body.14 God raised the Lord from death,and he will also raise us by his power. 15 You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible!16 Or perhaps you don’t know that the man who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? The scripture says quite plainly,The two will become one body.17 But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him. 18 Avoid immorality. Any other sin a man commits does not affect his body;but the man who is guilty of sexual immorality sins against his own body.19 Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God;20 he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God’s glory. Read and reflect on this text this week. Join in our discussion of this text online by posting a comment and ather with us in worship this Sunday,Jan ,at 9:45AM for our regular service and at 4:00PM in the afternoon for Jazz . As we continue to explore what it means to be the church at Brentwood Presbyterian Church by seeing our lives through the lens of our sermon texts each week,we find a ringing affirmation of the dignity and worth of humanity as the adopted children of God –adult children who are growing into the maturity of Christ through God’s gracious work through the Holy Spirit. 1 For this reason I,Paul,the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles,pray to God.2 Surely you have heard that God in his grace has given me this work to do for your good.3 God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me. (I have written briefly about this,4 and if you will read what I have written,you can learn about my understanding of the secret of Christ.)5 In past times human beings were not told this secret,but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.6 The secret is that by means of the gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessings;they are members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Christ Jesus. 7 I was made a servant of the gospel by God’s special gift,which he gave me through the working of his power.8 I am less than the least of all God’s people;yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ,9 and of making all people see how God’s secret plan is to be put into effect. God,who is the Creator of all things,kept his secret hidden through all the past ages,10 in order that at the present time,by means of the church,the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.11 God did this according to his eternal purpose,which he achieved through Christ Jesus our Lord.12 In union with Christ and through our faith in him we have the boldness to go into God’s presence with all confidence. Read and reflect on this text this week. Join us for a discussion of this text on Friday,Jan 6,at 5:30PM at the church. Gather with us in worship this Sunday,Jan 8,at 9:45AM. Brentwood Presbyterian Church extends warm congratulations and richest blessings to its partner congregation,Burnaby Taiwanese Presbyterian Church,on the ocassion of their 5th anniversary on January 1,2012. God has richly blessed this new congregation and we rejoice with them in the faithfulness God has enabled them to exhibit in their mission and ministries. We are grateful for their support and partnership. The Rev. Dr. Ted Siverns,who has been a strong advocate for the congregation from its inception,will be preaching the anniversary service.  
Brentwood Presbyterian Church and Burnaby Taiwanese Presbyterian Church celebrated Christmas Sunday together this year. We were inspired by worshiping together on the day our common Lord was born so long ago. Following the service,both congregations posed together for a portrait. The other photo in this post captures BTPC elder George Yen and BPC minister Brian Fraser doing the announcements during the service. We look forward in faith to a year in which both congregations will flourish in the grace of Jesus Christ. We invite you to read and reflect on the text for next Sunday’s sermon –Galatians 4:4-7. It’s about the responsible use of the freedom granted to humans in Jesus Christ as the beloved children of God. 4 But when the right time finally came,God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law,5 to redeem those who were under the Law,so that we might become God’s children. 6 To show that you are his children,God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,the Spirit who cries out, Father,my Father.7 So then,you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child,God will give you all that he has for his children. We’d be delighted if you’d join us for worship this coming Sunday morning at 9:45AM and participate in our communal consideration of what this text helps us learn about being the church of Jesus Christ at Brentwood Presbyterian. | |
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