Ascension Difficulties

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Bulletin: May 20, 2012
Ascension Sunday – 6th Sunday of Easter

Scriptures: Isaiah 25:6-9, Psalm 47, Acts 1:1-11

Songs:

Rev. Mark McKim

Ascension Sunday is the day when we remember Christ’s return, or ascension, to heaven. For several weeks after his resurrection, Jesus had been with the disciples. But now he was going to leave them. He led the disciples out near the little village of Bethany, a mile and a half from Jerusalem. After giving final instructions, he lifted his hands, blessing them, and as he was doing so, he was taken up into heaven.

This short account brings as face to face with certain difficulties. Is heaven a localized, geographically defined place somewhere up in space? Is that what the Bible says? (Actually, no it doesn’t, but lots of people seem to think so anyway.) Perhaps even more troubling is that this account brings us face to face with our responsibility as Christians to tell others about Jesus. It’s not optional, and that’s rather uncomfortable. And then, there is the promise that he will return. What are we to make of that – 2000 years later?

Image: Jesus Ascending to Heaven, 1775, by John Singleton Copley [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

A Place to Belong

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Bulletin: May 6, 2012
Fifth Sunday of Easter

Scripture: Acts 10:44-48,  Psalm 98, John 15:9-17

Songs:

Joel Russell-MacLean

Potluck Supper – Everyone Invited!

If you are from a small town or grew up in a church, you probably know about potlucks! Potato salad, jellied salad… that salad with carrots and marshmallows…

Potlucks are quietly becoming popular in many city neighbourhoods. People are recognizing that our too-busy-to-eat-together lifestyle is killing us, our families and our communities. The question is, it killing our churches?

Neighbours may or may not have much in common but Christians have everything in common – maybe not language, or age, or interests, or other things of lesser importance, but they have the love of God in common. They have hope in Jesus in common. They have the joy of the Holy Spirit in common.

We will be celebrating communion this Sunday around what is called “The Lord’s Table”,  with the bread and wine. It is a meal hosted by Jesus, and God alone gets to send out the invitations. Those who choose to come have no say in who else they eat with! The best response is to welcome others just as we are welcomed by God.

Beyond Sunday morning, sharing meals together – even if we are different from one another – should be one of the things that sets Christians apart from other groups. This is a way that First Baptist can continue to aim to be ‘a place to belong’.

Go Further

  • To read more about belonging at FBC, read this welcome from our Senior minister
  • A reflection on Eugene and Jan Peterson’s view that meals together are crucial in the Christian life
  • a blog on hospitality by CBM’s Dr Lois Mitchell

 

 

Jesus Said There Would be Days Like This

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Bulletin: Sunday, April 22, 2012
The Third Sunday of Easter

Scriptures: Acts 4:5-12, Psalm 114, John 10:11-18

Songs:

Rev. Mark McKim

During the 50 days of Easter we read accounts from the Book of Acts of how the followers of Jesus, inspired by hope and through his resurrection, live and grow and struggle to express who he is to others. As many became passionate witnesses for Jesus and his resurrection the church began to grow and spread. But nobody – especially not Jesus – ever said it was going to be easy.

Actually Jesus warned people that following him would often make life harder, not easier.

And that’s exactly what happened to two of the followers of Jesus, Peter and John, according to today’s reading from Acts. (Read the story for yourself in Acts 4.5-12). The two of them are arrested and hauled into court and asked to explain themselves. Who do they think they are? By what authority are they saying and doing what they are saying and doing?! You see being a follower of Jesus required real courage. It still does.

Peter’s Stresses

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Bulletin: April 15, 2012
The Second Sunday of Easter

Scriptures: Acts 3:1-21, Psalm 133, Luke 24:36b-46

Songs:

Rev. Mark McKim

The Great Fifty Days

Many people think that Easter is just one day. But how could only one day be sufficient to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead! It couldn’t! So for the church, Easter is an entire season of fifty days, called “The Great Fifty Days” which runs from Easter until Pentecost. During this time readings from the Old Testament are set aside and instead we hear readings from the Book of Acts, which is the story of the early church, as the first Christians worked out what it meant to live as followers of the risen Jesus. During this time we continue to sing lots of our favourite Easter hymns, celebrating the resurrection.

In Acts we see the first Christians working out what it meant to live as followers of the risen Jesus.

This week’s reading from the Book of Acts tells the story of a remarkable healing. Peter and John are going to the temple to pray. As they pass through one of the gates they encounter a lame man. In those days there were no such things as social assistance of disability pensions, so he was a beggar, hoping for some spare change. Instead, Peter says to him: “Silver and gold I have none, but what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” And the man walks. Needless to say this causes quite a commotion and a crowd gathers around Peter and John. Peter doesn’t miss the opportunity. He begins to explain who this Jesus is. And the points which Peter stresses that day are a pretty good summary of what Christianity is all about.

The Taken Away Jesus

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Audio of Yuting’s baptism , text of her presentation

Bulletin: April 8, 2012
Palm Sunday

Scriptures: Isaiah 25:6-9, Psalm 118:1-2, 15-17, 21-24, John 20:1-28

Songs:

Rev. Mark McKim

On the notice board outside a city church was this announcement: “They have taken away my Lord”. The words of the grief stricken Mary Magdalene, so upset she mistook Jesus himself for the cemetery grounds keeper. Undoubtedly the words were intended as the sermon title. But the words express very well the situation for most people in Canadian society.

For many people, Jesus has disappeared pretty much entirely from their lives, and they have no idea where to find him.

Christianity claims that Jesus was much more than a figure from a dry, dusty book of history. It claims that Jesus is the central figure of all human history, that he was none other than God, personally entering into the messiness of human life and actually becoming one of us, a fellow human being. We are convinced that God didn’t stand outside the problems, difficulties, confusion and suffering of human life. In Jesus, God actually became a human being, experiencing the same things we do – even death. But – and it’s a big but – he didn’t stay dead. Instead, we believe that 72 hours after his execution, he returned to life – resurrection!

If this is true, it is the most important thing in all history, it changes everything, and it demands the attention of every single one of us. If false, then Christianity is nothing but an enormous zero, a nothing. There is no nice “middle ground” which allows one to speak vaguely of the moral teachings of Jesus or to regard him as some kind of teacher of ethics or philosophy. There is a choice to be made – and an important one.

Easter Sunday is the day when hundreds of millions of people around the world celebrate the ressurection of Jesus. They are convinced that he did, in fact, rise from death. Perhaps there is something to this after all? And perhaps then, you should have a serious look at the evidence? Because if Jesus really did rise from death, it changes absolutely everything. Which is precisely what we have discovered here at First Baptist Church. Come, think, explore, experience, ask questions and journey with us.

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