A Little Hope

I write this post with a heavy heart because this is the last post I write as the pastor of the Bronte Seventh-day Adventist church. My family and I have been so blessed to be a part of your church family! It has been a real privilege to build friendships and to work with such an amazing leadership team. We will miss you all terribly and we know that God will continue to bless you in the future. No doubt you’ve seen the news of basketball legend Kobe and his daughter who died tragically along with seven other people in the helicopter crash this past week. Some of you can identify with the pain of losing someone close to you… I think one of the things people need most when hit with a loss like that is just a little hope. A reason to believe that one day there will be something better to look forward to. Hope can go a long way when faced with deep sadness, a concept known all too well by Jesus’ disciples as they watched their Savior died one Friday afternoon. For today’s message I wanted to explore how even in those darkest moments, Jesus left behind a message of hope, a message of hope that wasn’t only for His disciples but for all His followers who face sadness and grief, a message of hope for you and me when we’re caught between tragedy and triumph.”

Opportunity to de-clutter

This week was a busy one for my family. We are almost done packing and getting ready for the truck to come and pick up our things on Tuesday. Moving isn’t the funniest thing in the world but I’ve learned to appreciate at least one aspect of it, the opportunity to de-clutter. It always amazes me how many things I carry with me from place to place that I have absolutely no use for. I was thinking that there’s a similarity there for our spiritual and emotional lives as well. God calls us to give Him our burdens and sometimes it’s a good thing to catalogue the things you carry and see if maybe it’s time to let go of a few things. Take this opportunity at the beginning of 2020 to de-clutter your life and give God the things you can’t handle. Today we are blessed to have Andrew Conroy sharing a message with us. He’s the head elder at the Willowdale church and a good friend to our family. We also have a baby dedication today for baby Eric! I’m glad you decided to spend the day with us, wishing God’s blessings as we worship Him together today.”

How is your 2020 going so far?

If you’ve been participating in the 10 Days of Prayer that started this past week, you’ve probably been as blessed as I have. Hearing the testimonies of how God is working in people’s lives, reading and discussing the word of God, and spending time in prayer together have been such a positive experience. Today we’re joining one man’s journey to discovering truth about 2,000 years ago. I chose this topic today for two reasons. 1. A few weeks ago I said I would share Nicodemus’ story with you because it’s one of my favorites in the Bible… so I’m keeping my promise. 2. It seems that there’s a lot of interest in the word “truth”, especially since Trump became the US President… Things are happening in the world, including last week’s plane that went down in Iran, and people just want to know the truth about what happened to those – and, closer to home, the many Canadians – who lost their lives. In our scripture reading today, Jesus claims that He is the Truth! How interesting that we can come to know the truth by getting to know a person, not just facts. This is the invitation Jesus made to a man named Nicodemus a long time ago… one He continues to extend to you and me today!

Welcome to 2020

Welcome to 2020! I’m excited to see what God has in store for each one of us over this next year. For some it will bring some big changes, while for others, maybe the same challenges as before… Whatever it is, just remember that God is with you and He will never leave you. Trust in His promises and believe that one day soon He’s coming again to take us home. Here at Bronte we’ve been working hard to provide an excellent way for you to start the year off focusing on deepening your relationship with God. That’s why we will be joining the world church from Jan 8th to 18th for the 10 days of prayer. This will be a time of spiritual renewal, connecting with church friends, and a chance to learn more about the work of the Holy Spirit. Please make sure you’re a part of this 10-day journey, you won’t regret it, in fact it will recharge your spiritual life in a big way. Today we will be looking at a spiritual discipline that isn’t talked about very often, but we need to talk about it today because our 10 days of prayer begins with a day of fasting. We’re glad you’re here!