"Grace Under Pressure" - Sermon by Joe Ellis on Philippians 4:10-20 - November 28, 2021
In this section of the letter we finally get at one of the main purposes that Paul is writing to the church in Philippi— to say thank you. The Philippians have had a longstanding relationship with Paul, which includes supporting Paul as he began a mission into Europe and began planting churches in Greece. Paul is writing this letter because the church in Philippi has continued to support him, and he has just received a huge gift while in prison. Paul was very relieved to
"Defiant Rejoicing" - Sermon by Joe Ellis on Philippians 4:2-9 - November 21, 2021
This morning will look a bit different than some of our Sundays. The sermon will be woven throughout the service, with times for personal reflection, and times for sharing. So, I invite you to consider how you would like to engage — will you take a leap of faith and consider sharing your heart? Would you consider turning on your camera so people can see you on Zoom? Or do you need for the congregation to gather spiritually around you and we can hold you in Christ? For now
“Citizens of Heaven” - Sermon by Joe Ellis on Philippians 3:17-4:1 — November 14, 2021
We are in a time of deep uncertainty and great instability. Everything seems called into question. We don’t know what normal is anymore. Normal keeps changing, and changing, and changing. We long for our old normal, we thirst to go back to that old normal, we long and hope for that old normal to return. But we don’t know what normal is coming. We don’t know if we should welcome the new normal — we don’t know how to tell when the new normal is finally here, and when it i
"Seeking to Glorify God" - Sermon by Michelle Ellis on Philippians 3:10 - 3:16 - Nov. 7, 2021
I’d like to offer a part 2 to the sermon that Pastor Joe shared last week. He focused in on how God does all the work in making things right between him and us. Because the Reformation is so important to Reformed Christians, we often put a lot of emphasis on justification, on being made right with God, on how all we have to do is trust in Jesus, have faith in him to be in relationship with God. We don’t have to slave away all our lives to earn this. In fact, there is noth
“Status” - Sermon by Joe Ellis on Philippians 3:1-11 - October 31, 2021
This passage is about how you get to have the status of being a part of the people of God. When I say status, I mean something pretty specific. Think about when you drive through Witset — you’ll see a gas station that says status and non-status. If you have First Nations status, you show your status card which says “this is proof that I have First Nations Status”. I have a permanent resident card that says my status in Canada. When I go through customs I show the card an
