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  1. 12h ago

    August 16

    by Beth Anne Fisher https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/19123811/August-16-Sermon.mp3 Matthew 15:10-28 10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[a] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” The Faith of a Canaanite Woman 21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.   Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) I always get nervous when people clap before they’ve ever heard me speak. I feel like it means you’re ready, but also the expectations. I’m just kidding. It’s an honour to be here this morning. Yeah, it’s an honour to be here this morning. I’ve been in Central before for a couple of special events, but I haven’t been here on a Sunday morning, and so it’s a real honour and a privilege to worship with you. When I’m invited to preach somewhere new, and especially at short notice or when there’s sort of an emergency situation, I turn to the lectionary for two reasons. The first is that as a guest and a stranger to the community, I don’t think it’s fully my own, it’s not fully my right, I would say, to choose what it is that you as a community need to hear. And if I just pull a text or decide, well, I like talking about this topic because I wrote my fancy thesis on it, so maybe I’ll tell them about my thesis, that feels to me like I’m making a decision that I think is in part the Spirit’s decision to make and needs to be connected to the community. And so part of my role as a preacher, when I have the privilege of preaching, is to grapple with Scripture. When we think about, at least for me, people being set aside in ministry roles, part of that is that I am expected, and I think it’s my responsibility, to spend the time really grappling with Scripture and to build on the years I’ve spent studying Scripture in a way that I recognise not everyone has the ability to do because we are living in a culture where we have to spend 40 hours working and then another 20 hours doing things that we can’t do during those 40 hours, and then the only thing that’s left is sleep, right? So part of my job is to be faced by the Scriptures, if that makes sense, that I don’t get to also pick and choose and just decide, well, I only want to preach about these three things, or I like these verses, so I’m going to preach on these all the time. The lectionary, one of the things I appreciate about it is it says, here are some texts for today, go and preach on them. And sometimes there’s texts that I’m like, well, I’d really rather not preach on those. And thankfully for me, most churches don’t use all of the lectionary texts, so I still have a bit of picking and choosing in that sense. Anyways, that’s the first reason that I turn to the lectionary. The second reason is, as I’ve said often when I’m a visiting preacher, it’s because there’s either a transition happening or there’s been some sort of disruption to the regular routine. And when we have that kind of disruption, when you have an unfamiliar face and you have no idea if I’m preaching for 15 minutes or 35, I’m here now and there’s nothing you can do. Just kidding. It’s helpful to have that familiarity. It’s helpful to have an anchor and a thing that reminds us that you are connected to a greater body of faith. You as central Presbyterian may be experiencing something unexpected, some changes, some shifts, and yet you are still a part of a community that is beyond just who is here today. And I am a part of that same community. We’re a part of a community. We’re a part of the Presbyterian church. We’re a part of the Protestant church. We’re a part of the Christian church. And many of those churches use the lectionary. There are many other churches in Canada and around the world today that will be hearing the scripture that I’m going to read from the Gospel of Matthew. And the Gospel of Matthew in this passage has been preached many times over the years and centuries of the practise of using the lectionary. And so even when things are unfamiliar, I want to, in using the lectionary, remind us all that we are rooted together through the scripture, through the Spirit of God, to other communities, to each other here, and to the history of the Christian faith. So that’s my intro to why I’m using the lectionary and how we ended up with the passage that I’m going to speak on today. With that in mind, let’s pray and then I’m going to read the text from Matthew. God, we thank you that your word is true and it is powerful and it is a gift to us. We thank you that the word we are hearing this morning is a word that other communities will also be hearing. That there will be different sermons preached about what this means for us. That through the years and centuries and around the globe, communities have heard this story and sought to live it out in their lives. And so I ask that my words this morning would draw us closer to your word, the words of scripture, and your living word, Jesus Christ. Amen. So our reading this morning is from Matthew 15, and I think it’s going to be on the screen, hopefully, verses 10 to 28. So Jesus called the crowd to him and said, listen and understand, what goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them. Then the disciples came to him and said, do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? And he replied, every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them, they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. Peter said, explain the parable to us. Are you still so dull? Jesus asked them. Don’t you see that whoever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Those are what defile a person, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them. Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him crying out, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is demon possessed and suffering terribly. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, send her away, for she keeps crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me, she said. He replied, it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs. Yes, it is, Lord, she said. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus said to her, woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed at that moment. So this story, this reading, takes place in the context of a conversation with the Pharisees. Just before these verses, a group of Pharisees had come to Jesus and asked him, why don’t your disciples observe the traditions of our fathers and wash their hands before eating? Now, this is not a question of physical cleanliness the way that we understand it today. It was another, I think about another 1,500 years before the science of hand washing and germ prevention was understood by us. This is a question of ceremonial cleanliness and of avoiding spiritual contamination. The Pharisees wanted to make sure that any spiritual contaminants were removed from their bodies before they ate so that those spiritual contaminants would not enter their body. There are many rules about not touching certain things, not touching certain people, and the Pharisees were so concerned about observing these rules that they had made rules about the rules. This is something that perhaps you’ve heard before. This was one of the things the Pharisees did. They said, well, we don’t want to break the law, so we’ll make these like buffer laws, and then if we don’t break those, then we know we won’t be breaking these, right? And so they’d made this rule about washing their hands to ceremonially c

  2. 5d ago

    August 9

    by Jim Hetherington https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/14105937/August-9-Sermon.mp3 Romans 8:31-39(MSG) 31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12(NIV) 9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) All right, that means it’s official. Kevin’s lit the candle. It’s on now. It’s on. So I had to, you know, Aubrey jokes about the stool of repentance. I had to do that this morning. I had to go up and confess that I didn’t send all the scripture verses in through the week. I was so proud of myself, getting everything ahead. Like three weeks ago, I got everything into the office. And yesterday, when I was reviewing my notes, I realised that I put in Romans 8.31. I’m looking around going, where are the rest of those verses? There was supposed to be a dash to 39. And I realised that I didn’t do that. So I had to go up and confess that, you know, that we need to take that slide out. So in looking back at it, it’s going to work out much better. Because I want to read, you know, I should have just said, that was the plan all along was just not to have it up on screen. But no, we’re going to have one up on screen that we’re going to read together. But the other one I want to read is a story because I’m going to read it out of the message. How many have ever read the message version of the Bible? Yeah, it’s not one that you would want to read and do studies from and stuff like that. But it just expands and it just kind of creates the Bible and reads like a story, almost like a novel, if you will. And so it’s really good. And I think this particular verse that we’re going to look at will be encouraging. Is that outside? Is that inside? Is that outside? Okay. All of a sudden, I thought I was going to get run over by something. I thought, what are they doing to me? So let’s start with First Thessalonians chapter four, verses nine to 12. We’ll read this one together. Now about your love for one another, you do not need to write to you. For you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you brothers and sisters to do so more and more and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as you were told, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders. And so that you will not be dependent on anyone. And if you were with us last week, we talked a little bit about that, about just how we’re to live such lives that those outside of us would look and say, wow, they really walk the talk, right? We know that old expression, walking the talk. Some people talk a good game, but they don’t show up with fruit. There’s no evidence that they’re really doing it. Others talk the talk and they’re walking it, they’re doing it. And I challenged us to look at two questions that I’ve been reading through a book by Jeff Henderson, Know What You’re For, F-O-R. And in that there was two questions. One was, what do you want to be known for? And what do others know you for? Right? So it’s both sides of the coin, because I, you know, it’s kind of like branding, right? An industry, a product can say all kinds of amazing things about themselves, right? You and I may say all kinds of amazing things about ourselves, but it’s what other people are saying that really counts. That’s brand, right? Like McDonald’s can say wonderful things about their burgers and how great they are and how fantastic they are and so on. But if nobody is saying the same thing, that’s not a brand. That’s just them bragging, thinking they’re the best at something, right? So I challenged us to look at that, and especially as the church, we need to look at it and say, what do we want to be known for? You know, we’re in a strategic time right now with new leadership. We’re looking at new options, but we really need to look at what we want to be known for. And it’s a question that we need to look at personally. I had a conversation with a friend just yesterday. I’ve known him for many, many years, and we were talking about this, and he said, well, what do you want to be known for? And so I shared with him what, you know, what I want to be known for. At my final days, at my eulogy, people getting up to say these are the things that I want them to say, and we started talking about it. He said, can I tell you what I see? And so he took those two questions, right? And he threw it back at me, and he said, let me tell you what I think you’re for. And he started to share some of the most deepest complimentary things that anybody’s ever said to me. And I didn’t have to pay him for it. I didn’t have to buy lunch. I didn’t have to do nothing for it. He just gave it to me. But that, you know, it spoke volumes to me. But that’s what you want is what people are seeing from the outside looking in. We can think we’re self-righteous. We can think we got it all together. We can think, you know, highly of ourselves, which is wonderful, but we need to walk it out in such a way that others are looking back and saying, I see that in you. And we can look through the history of the church, and it hasn’t always been the way, has it? Right? The church has stumbled and has, you know, kind of tripped up on some of the stuff and hasn’t got the best reputation on the outside. And this is what Paul is encouraging Thessalonians with, is to live such good lives that those looking out, those non-believers, unbelievers, those unchurched, those on the outside are looking in going, there’s something different about them. Because when we look at the whole of scripture, what does the whole of scripture say? We should be known for our fruit, yes, love. We should be known for our love, the demonstration of love. Right? Because that’s one of those things in culture that kind of weaves and goes up and down. Right? Somebody might love someone today and not love them tomorrow, and then love them the next day and not love them tomorrow. The problem is we can’t differentiate like and love. We’re called to love, doesn’t mean we have to like everything that everybody does all the time. Right? That’s discipleship. That’s building relationship and speaking into that stuff. But if we don’t have a relationship with them, if we don’t love them, we can’t speak into their lives. That’s called nagging. Nobody wants a nag. Right? Nobody wants to hear unwanted criticism. Nobody wants to hear that stuff. It’s only in relationship that we can really speak into people’s lives. So that’s loving consistently, which Paul is saying that you’re doing that well, continue to do it even more. Right? There’s no law, there’s no limit to the love that God will give us. There’s no law limit that we can walk out in love. Is it a challenge? Absolutely. Right? I get cut off in traffic. I get butted in front of just the same, you know, and I want to lose my sanctity some days. But, you know, we have to step back and say, do I need to be, you know, do I want to be known for that or do I want to be known for one that just expresses and shares love? So that’s what Paul is encouraging the church with. The Romans 8, I want to read and I want to hear it like a story. So I’m actually glad that it wasn’t up on the screen. So in Romans 8, in the message, we read this. Well, let me give you a little backstory first. Paul is talking in Romans 8, 28, God can use all things together for good. Right? We know all that stuff. So he’s talking to the believers and saying, look, we know that things are struggling. We know that there’s a challenge. We know that stuff is going on. You’ve come a long way in your faith. You’ve come a long way in your journey. And you may not have had all the words. You may not have had all the stuff together all the time, but the Holy Spirit has empowered you. The Holy Spirit has come along to speak and give you the words and give you the answers. You know, it’s those moments when you have those conversations with somebody, you don’t know what to say. And then all of a s

  3. Aug 5

    August 2

    by Jim Hetherington https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/05154947/August-2-Sermon.mp3 Genesis 32:22-32 Jacob Wrestles With God 22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” 29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[c] and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) I was going to mess up for Alexander and put a name tag on it and say Mark this morning, but I thought that wouldn’t be fair to him, so I left that off. But I was thinking during the, as we were kind of going through worship and the sound was cutting out and different things, I was reminded of a time I was down in Nicaragua on a worship, on a mission trip, and we were at this place in the evening and it was storming and the power went out. So when you’re down in the middle of nowhere and the lights go out, the lights go out, like everything was out. It was complete darkness, there was no light coming anywhere, no microphone, no nothing. And so I did what any good preacher would do. I just started to breathe from the diaphragm and just projected even more and I continued to preach even in the darkness. And it was to my amazement when the lights came back on, everybody was in tears. So obviously it was in that moment that God just wanted me out of the way for a little while so he could do what he wanted to do and it was just a tremendous experience. So regardless of technology, regardless of everything that’s going on, we will get the message out. We will continue on. And so this morning I want to travel around a little bit. We’re going to check in on somebody on a road to Damascus. We’re going to check on someone at the edge of a river, forcing all his family to flee and get away. But I wanted to start with sharing a story that just happened to me recently. Just a couple weeks ago, I secured a contract with a company and got a deposit from them and took it and put it in as I usually do. Just put in the ATM and put the money in there and didn’t think anything of it, right? There’s no restrictions on my account for the amounts I put in and move around and all that stuff. So I didn’t think anything of it until the next day when I went to take those funds and get some materials and project stuff to get going on it. I didn’t have access to the money. And I thought, well, that’s odd. So this was Friday, of course, so I couldn’t get a hold of the bank. So I let it go for the weekend, figured I’ll touch base with them Monday or Tuesday and see what’s going on. I figured, you know, a human just needs to get the piece of paper out of the machine and process it. So I checked a couple days later and still no. I was told by the manager, as I was explaining my situation, that Jim with the bank, not just our bank, but the banks in general are moving away from paper checks. They want to go to e-transfers. They want everything electronically now. So it’s not like they’re punishing you, but they’re taking and holding any cash or checks. They’re holding it for five days and clearing. Even it could be cleared tomorrow, but they’re going to hold it for five days. I said, well, if I come down and take the check and get it certified, would that help speed up the process? Doesn’t matter. It could be a certified check or check written on a paper towel. It has the same weight with the banks now. And I thought, well, isn’t that interesting? You know, I’ve got all of this in my account, but I can’t access it. I can’t get to it. And I got thinking about how it is with our prayer lives, with our spiritual lives, right? We’ve got access to so much, but we don’t know how to get to it. Some of the stuff is on hold. Some of the stuff is being held back on, it seems, right? How many have ever had this dialogue in your brain? You think, well, that’s good for someone else, but it’s not good enough for me. Other people are successful in the Christian church, but not me. Other people get healings and get blessings, but you know, that’s not for me, right? So we hear those different things, and we don’t think we have access. But indeed, we do have access through Jesus. We have access to everything. But sometimes it just seems like everything is held back. And oftentimes we’ll see that through stories, through scripture, where blessings were held back for a time and a season until the person got through a situation, came to repentance, did something. There was something in their life that God was teaching them and taking them through. So I wanted to look at a couple of stories. One is Jacob. We’re going to read about him in Genesis 32. I don’t know, do we have screen now, or am I just reading it? Oh, we do have screen, right? That’s great. So it said this. It said, that night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his 11 sons and crossed the ford at Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, let me go for his daybreak. But Jacob replied, I will not let you go until you bless me. The man asked him, what is your name? Jacob, he answered. Then the man said, your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with humans and have overcome. Jacob said, please tell me your name. But he replied, why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called that place Peniel, saying, it was because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared. Then the sun rose above him, and he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched with it. So we’re not going there with the hip sockets and with the displacement and stuff like that. But I wanted to go into the story of what brought Jacob there. You know, I think Jacob came to the end of his rope. Literally, I mean, it was the end of the land. There was only a river behind him. He was running from his brother Esau, whom he had cheated and manipulated and done all kinds of crazy things. And Jacob had done that through his entire life. He had manipulated and controlled and done all kinds of different things to accumulate his wealth, to accumulate the things that he had. And here he was at the edge with his brother in pursuit, with a few hundred men in pursuit of him, and he’s passing everything over the river to get them to safety. But he stayed there. Then it says that he wrestled with a man all night long. Now, tradition says that it could have been Esau’s guardian angel that was holding him back and wrestling with him throughout the night. Regardless of what it was, he was wrestling all night long. Now, I don’t know about you, but I did a little bit of wrestling in high school. And doing a five-minute match, that was enough. Like, I mean, you’ve got two opponents locked in, 100% energy, trying to hold them from going anywhere. So you’re trying to hold them and not allow them to get any position on you. They’re holding you and not trying to let you get any position, but you’re still trying to get a position and go on for a few minutes. That’s exhausting. After I’m done for five minutes, I’m quite happy to sit and watch someone else go through a match because it just takes so much energy. So here’s these guys that have wrestled through the entire evening. Now, it’s interesting that as daybreak was coming, the angel just touched his hip and it was over. He could have done that five minutes into it, but he let it wrestle through the entire situation. And how many times have we gone through things in life where we’re wrestling with things? We’re struggling with things. We got challenged. You know, there’s challenges coming left and right, and we don’t und

  4. Jul 29

    July 26

    by Mark Gaskin https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/29112723/July-26-Sermon-1.mp3 1 Kings 3:5-12(NIV) 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Matthew 15: 21–28 The Faith of a Canaanite Woman 21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Alexander: Our speaker this morning is the Reverend Mark Richardson. Mark is a long-term friend of Central. We’re so glad that you’re here, Mark. Mark is retired from Westside Galt and from Central Church in Brantford, and we are so glad that he’s here. No, no, we don’t have to correct Alexander. I’ve messed up his name several times. Mark Gaskin: And, you know, if I had to be confused with somebody, Richardson is the one I’d want to be confused with. He’s a great guy, the other Mark. I don’t blame him. There’s something about this presbytery, and Lynn Pennington knows, for a while, there were four, there were at least four ordained ministers in the presbytery of Waterloo West. Mark Lewis, Kitchener, Mark Gedke, also in Kitchener, Mark Richardson, and Mark Gaskin. And the clerk of the presbytery started to give us nicknames. I have no desire to share with you what my nickname was. So Richardson is fine, Alexander, fine. I did also want to mention that I’m wearing my Camp Kintail shirt. They’re coming to get Alexander. When you confuse me, that’s when I, 911. I’m wearing my Camp Kintail shirt because I know this congregation has a deep relationship with Camp Kintail on Lake Huron. I know Jonathan and Teresa, the co-executive directors of the camp, have worshipped with you, have led worship. Every time I’m up at camp, and I go up several times a year, there is their Sunday suppers. There are also, it’s also Kirk and the Cedars. In fact, there’s one today, four o’clock, they worship in the chapel. And then there is a gathering in McDonald Lodge, afterwards a meal in McDonald Lodge. We often go up, myself and our adult children and their children, will have for several years gone up for family camp held in August. And when I mention to Jonathan and Teresa that I have preached at Central Cambridge or will be preaching at Central Church in Cambridge, they always say to me, please say thank you. They are deeply grateful for the support they receive, monetary and otherwise, especially the men’s ministry, that goes up in, is it twice a year or else, spring and fall, and just does the work that needs to be done on that acreage. There’s always something, and especially, it used to be that they would close down for the winter. So there was this spring cleanup and the fall shutdown. It’s a year-round camp now. So there’s always, there’s more to be done. And I know Jonathan and Teresa and the board at Camp Kintail very much are grateful for the support they receive from Central Church Cambridge. Our first reading is from 1 Kings 3, beginning at verse 5. King David has passed and his son, King Solomon, has come to the throne. It’s been a few months. And this is the dream that King Solomon has. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ask for whatever you want me to give to you. Solomon answered, you have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord, my God, you have made your servant King in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. And our good news reading for this morning from the gospel according to Matthew, and this is what I’ll be basing the message on today. Matthew tells us that Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman came from that vicinity, came to him crying out, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. Your daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession. Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, send him away for she keeps crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me, she said. He replied, it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, she said. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered, woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Amen. In the name of the creator, the redeemer, and the sustainer. Amen. Once upon a time, a woman came to a Presbyterian church. Let’s call it Knox St. Andrews on the Speedy Grand River. And she asked him, would you do a funeral for my dog? I’ve had this dog many, many years. A wonderful companion to me. I would like to have a funeral for my faithful dog. Well, the minister was more than a little taken aback. And he replied with a certain tone to his voice, well, I couldn’t possibly conduct a funeral for a dog. Perhaps you should try one of the other churches in town. The woman was polite, thanked him, and started to leave. And then turned back and she said, oh, just so you can help me when I visit these other churches. Is $500 enough of an honorarium for this type of funeral? And would I make that out to the minister or to the church? There was a pause. And the minister says, you didn’t say that the dog was Presbyterian. I’d be happy to help. I’m glad you laughed. And I am quite sure that many of you have heard that joke before. But it’s easier to tell that joke than it is to deal with this passage. We’re hearing Jesus speak in a way that we have not heard before. And we don’t hear very often. Because there’s nothing funny about these words. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. Those words land with a thud. They sound harsh. They sound insulting. And if we’re honest, they don’t sound very much like the Jesus that you and I like to talk about. And it really comes down to that one word. Dog. Now, today, in our culture, in our time, dogs are beloved companions. They sleep on our couches. They have birthday parties. We sentimentalise our dogs in ways that would have seemed very strange to the ancient world. And let’s not just think about the companionship that dogs offer. Let’s think about service dogs. And how that area has expanded over the years. To include that they once helped disabled or impaired individuals. And now they do a host of activities with that population. And let’s think about the working dogs. That search for explosives or drugs. Canine dogs that protect you and I. That was not the role of dogs in Jesus’ time. They weren’t pets. They didn’t do anything. They were scavengers, mostly. Wild, dirty animals that wandered the streets. Feeding on refuse and garbage. To call someone a dog, even in our time, it’s not really a compliment. But we have a different understanding. But to call someone a dog in Jesus’ time was an absolute insult. No compliment whatsoever. Scripture reflects this attitude over and over again. The prophet Isaiah says, Israel’s

  5. Jul 23

    July 19

    by Rev. Mark Gaskin https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/22220536/July-19-Sermon.mp3 Isaiah 44:6-8 The Lord, Not Idols 6 “This is what the Lord says—     Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last;     apart from me there is no God. 7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.     Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people,     and what is yet to come—     yes, let them foretell what will come. 8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid.     Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?     No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”   Romans 12:17 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Matthew 13:24-30 The Parable of the Weeds 24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Three passages of scripture to share with you this morning. An Old Testament reading from Isaiah, and then a short verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans, and then a passage from the New Testament on which the sermon will focus. From the 44th chapter of Isaiah, this is what the Lord says, Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty. I am the first and the last, apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come. Yes, let them foretell what will come. Do not tremble. Do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other rock. I know not one. Two short verses from the 12th chapter of Romans. Do not repay anyone for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. And from the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while everyone was sleeping, the enemy came and sowed seeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, Sir, didn’t you sow good seeds in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this, he replied. The servants asked, do you want us to go and pull them out? No, he answered, because while you are pulling out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time, I will tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. Then he left the crowd and went into the house. Amen. Let us pray. God of wisdom, your thoughts are not our thoughts and your ways are not our ways. As we listen to the scriptures, send your Holy Spirit to grant us understanding of what you desire and fresh resolve to do your will. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. I may have mentioned this in past years. Much of the mid to end part of June, so last month, you will find me in a strawberry field. From mid-June to the end of June, I make four to five trips to Brantwood Farms. It used to be their old location on Linden Road, now their new setup on German School Road. I go out there four or five times, pick the strawberries. Sometimes I have a grandchild with me to help, so it takes longer. I take those berries home, clean them, and then make freezer jam, strawberry freezer jam. It’s really good. Now I’m pausing here to look out there and say, how many of you are thinking, oh no, he’s going to bring out a trophy and talk about it. No, no, I have never won a trophy for my strawberry jam. Now you’re thinking, well, is it placed in the top 10? No, no, I’m, is it the people’s choice? Yes, people who are related to me really think it is wonderful strawberry jam. And in July, this month, from about the beginning of July to now and maybe another week, I’ll go out to Jerry’s Berries. I love that out in Cope Town, Jerry’s Berries. It’s part of lots of hostas. And I pick my raspberries there and I take that home and I make raspberry freezer jam. And I know some of you are thinking, oh, now he’s going to bring out the trophy for No, no, no, no trophies, no top 10. But again, it’s definitely the people’s choice amongst people who are related to me. The strawberry field on Old German School Road and the raspberry patch in Cope Town are beautifully well-maintained fields. Tom and his family at Brantwood Farms and Glenda and her family in Jerry’s Berries, clearly it’s work that begins the previous fall, obviously not so much during the winter, but in the spring, the fields are, well, you do whatever you do to those patches. Because when I go out to pick that fruit, it’s beautiful. The berries are beautiful. It’s just wonderful to be out there. But there are still weeds. Even though all that has been done to prevent it, you still see some weeds in amongst the bushes or off to the side. It’s part of growing things. Any vegetable gardener, any flower gardener will tell you that. Where you’re growing things, weeds show up. And that’s one reason I like this parable. Because even in a perfect strawberry field, even in a perfect raspberry, even in a perfect flower garden, even in a perfect vegetable garden, weeds are still there. You don’t want them there. You did everything to prevent them from being there. They’re still there. That’s why I like this parable. Because it seems to me to answer a question that Christians, especially when we get old enough to ask this question, why in a perfect, why in the world that God designed, why in a world where God loves us, why is there evil in this world? You and I aren’t evil people. God wants no one to be an evil person. God has given us everything we need in this world. What are good, God-fearing people supposed to do about all the evil in the world? That may not be the question that was asked directly to Jesus. And it may not be the question Jesus is answering directly. But it is the question behind the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Jesus tells this story. A farmer sowed good feed in a field. But while everyone was asleep, an enemy, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and slipped away. When the wheat sprouted and produced grain, the weeds appeared as well. The servants came and asked the owner of the field, sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did all these weeds come from? That is a good question. Later in the chapter, Jesus explains the parable. I didn’t read that part. I knew you saw where this was going. He explains the parable. He says the field represents the world. And the world is weedy. It’s corrupt. It’s not the way God intended it to be. No one has to convince us of that. We watch cable news. We listen to the radio. We scroll through social media. And we hear more stories than we want to hear about violence and war, abuse and greed, injustice, poverty, hatred, discrimination. We shake our heads at the enormous gap between the way the world ought to be and the way the world is. Where does all this evil come from? That’s a question answered in other stories in other parts. But what we are to do about that, that’s what this parable answers. Now we might think, as the servants did, well, let’s get out into the field and pull up all those weeds by its roots. That’ll get rid of it. It seems like a practical suggestion. And it is one, I’m pretty sure speaking to the gardeners in the group, it is one you actively employ in your vegetable garden and in your flower garden. But not in this parable and not in this field. Because the owner of the field says, no, no, we’re not going to pull them out. Let both grow together until the harvest. In this story about evil in the world and God’s response to it, Jesus is telling us something that might be difficult to hear. For now, God does not intend to uproot every evil thing immediately. God is not asking us to uproot every evil thing that we see immediately. God’s plan, at least for the present, is to let the wheat and the weeds grow together. That’s the parable. That’s the parable Jesus tells. That is not easy to accept. But that’s the lesson of the parable. Even though the world is full of weeds, even though there is corruption and wickedness, it is not our calling to pull out every evil weed ourselves. Why? Well, we remember what the owner told the servants. Do not pull up the weeds, because while you are pulling up weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Oh, okay. We are reminded that there is always a chance that we will do more harm than good. However unintended, there are situations where we might do more harm than good. The part of the reason, and the

  6. Jul 17

    July 12

    by Mark Gaskin https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/14130359/July-12-Sermon.mp3 Genesis 25:21-34 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb,     and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other,     and the older will serve the younger.” 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.[a] 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.[b] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. 27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.[c]) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.   Matthew 13:1-9 The Parable of the Sower 13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Well, thank you, Alexander, and thank you for all those who make me feel welcome on a Sunday morning in your own special way. I mentioned this last week. There’s a lot of good natured teasing that goes on, and that’s simply because, as Alexander shared, I’ve known the congregation a long time. I guess it was 2009, I came to what was then St. Andrew’s Church, just up the hill, and a few years later, St. Andrew’s and St. Giles amalgamated and became Westside Presbyterian Church, and stayed for several, well, more than some years after that, and retired, I think it would be about four years ago, but still active in ministry. I enjoy attending churches, church services on those Sundays. I’m not preaching elsewhere, but one of the things I look forward to is being here for a few weeks in the summer. So, again, thank you to Aubrey and the session for the invitation. Two readings this morning, from the book of Genesis and then from Matthew. Let us hear God’s word. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebecca became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, why is this happening to me? So she went to enquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, and two peoples within you will be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, quick, let me have some of that red stew. I am famished. That is why he is also called Edom. Jacob replied, first sell me your birthright. Look, I’m about to die, Esau said. What good is a birthright to me? But Jacob answered, swear to me first. So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. From Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 13, that same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying a farmer went out to sow his seed, and as he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, but because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among the thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. And still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear. Amen. In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer. Amen. We are told earlier in Genesis that for twenty years Isaac and Rebekah had prayed for a child. Finally their prayers are answered, and the miracle of conception came. But it wasn’t smooth sailing. Even in the womb, the twins were struggling with one another. It’s a foreshadowing of what would continue on throughout their whole lives. It leads Rebekah to ask, while the twins are still in the room, it leads Rebekah to ask, why is this happening to me? And God answers, two nations are in your womb. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger. We’re not told within the text how Rebekah would have received this news. It helps us understand what is about to unfold in foreshadows what’s taking place. But it wouldn’t have been immediate help at that time, and especially that latter phrase, the elder shall serve the younger. As I say, it’s not said in the text, but Rebekah must have said to herself, oh this does not bode well, because that’s not the culture. That’s not the custom. Firstborn, the elder, that’s the head, and the younger siblings serve the elder, but that’s not what Rebekah is told. Esau is born first. Jacob falls close behind, grasping at his brother’s heel. Even that small detail foreshadows the life that Jacob will lead, always grabbing and holding on. In fewer than 15 verses, the twins grow from newborns to young men, yet very little has changed in their lives or in their personalities. They were different in the womb, and they are different outside. Esau is impulsive. He’s driven by the moment, never thinking things all the way through. Jacob is patient, calculating, and as we see, he’s very opportunistic. With that understanding of who these twins were and their personalities, we come to the latter part of the story that I read to you. Esau comes in from the field, exhausted and starving. Let me have some of that red stew, I am famished. Jacob replies, sure. First, sell me your birthright. Sell. You’re firstborn. I’m to serve you. Sell it. Not even give it. Sell it to me. Esau, again, in the moment, not thinking it through. I’m about to die. What good is a birthright to me? And just like that, Esau gives away the birthright over a bowl of lentil stew. Now, I know something about the persuasive power of a good bowl of food. I know I’ve mentioned, I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before. After all, I’ve been coming here for some years. I’m sure I’ve mentioned the trophy I received for cooking chilli. Just happen to have it here. I have it at home, but if there’s a display case, I’m happy to leave it later. Yes, the People’s Choice Award from 2003. Okay, a few years ago. The Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise, the ninth annual chilli cook-off, June 21st, 2003. The People’s Choice. Not just awarded by, the people spoke and gave me and my team this, I know the power of a good bowl of food. Now, some of you are saying, wait a minute, 2003, anything more recent? Funny you should ask. I thought I heard somebody ask. 2020, just before the world changed, we had in February of 2020, we had our annual Super Bowl contest up at Westside. Super, S-O-U-P-E-R. And yes, if you are asking, I placed in the top 10 of that competition. There were nine of us in entry, but that still places me in the top 10. A good bowl of chilli, soup, stew, that can certainly be tempting. But it’s probably not worth however good it is. It’s not worth your inheritance, your birthright. Neither brother comes out of this encounter looking particularly good. Esau acts impulsively with little thought for the future. Jacob sees his brother’s weakness. He sees it and he exploits it. Neither brother comes out looking good. And let us not completely overlook the parents. It says within the text, the father favoured one child and the mother favoured the other. It’s not just the brothers are not looking good. The family is not looking particularly good. Later in the book of Genesis, Jacob will deceive his own ageing father as well. So where does

  7. Jul 8

    July 5

    by Rev. Mark Gaskin https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/08152605/July-5-Sermon.mp3 Psalm 16 A miktam of David. 1 Keep me safe, my God,     for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;     apart from you I have no good thing.” 3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,     “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” 4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.     I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods     or take up their names on my lips. 5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;     you make my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;     surely I have a delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;     even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.     With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;     my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,     nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 11 You make known to me the path of life;     you will fill me with joy in your presence,     with eternal pleasures at your right hand.   Luke 9:51-56 Samaritan Opposition 51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Guest Speaker – Rev. Mark Gaskin No, Alexander, it was all, it was all done in in good humour, and I appreciate this time of rebuttal. When I was here previously, actually what I’ll do is follow up on an announcement that that Alexander made. You’re watching online, that’s wonderful. I hope you feel part of the worshipping community today. If you are watching us because you’re looking for a church to attend, this is a great church to come to. The worship service begins at 10 o’clock on a Sunday morning. You can show up a few minutes after that, but as a courtesy to the production team and to the praise band, you may want to show up, especially if you’re the preacher. You may want to show up a little bit before that, but you will be, no matter what time you show up, you will be warmly greeted and made to feel welcome by this wonderful community of believers. Our first reading is Psalm 16, some selected verses. Protect me, O God. I trust in you for safety. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. All the good things I have come from you. You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need. My future is in your hands. How wonderful are your gifts to me, how good they are. I praise the Lord because he guides me, and in the night my conscience warns me. I am always aware of the Lord’s presence. He is near, and nothing can shake me. And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure because you protect me from the power of death. I have served you faithfully, and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead. You will show me the path that leads to life. Your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever. And from the New Testament, from the Gospel according to Luke, Chapter 9, a story that is unique to Luke. Matthew and Mark and John do not record this event. And I think I partly understand why. It is very low-key. There’s no healing. There’s no miracle. There’s no parable. There’s no teaching. But I believe, clearly, I believe it delivers a very strong message, which I will develop in the sermon from Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 9. As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. But the people there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples, James and John, saw this, they asked, Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village. Amen. In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer. Amen. I will let the production team know I’m just walking over here. I’ll be back to where I’m supposed to be in a minute. I think they’re just happy to see that I’m here. But it’s within the nature of human beings that we have conflicts with each other, disagreements. There’s lots of adjectives for it. Fights, conflicts, disagreements, friction with each other. Some say it’s innate, part of our psyche. We are animals and animals fight. Some say it’s learned behaviour, that if we see violence around us and it becomes normalised, then, and this can happen even when we see that it’s harmful to others and even harmful to ourselves, we still see it as a part of life. So this is the old debate, right? Nature versus nurture when it comes to conflict. We’re not settling that debate this morning, but we’re going to look at it because we see it in the ninth chapter of Luke near the end of that chapter. What do we fight about? Well, we can fight about everything and anything, right? We can have disagreements over politics, religion. I’m trying to think about, for a moment there, I was trying to think, what don’t we fight about? That list is shorter. We have disagreements about lots of things. Our differences can be racial, religious, nationality. We know that there are long standing disagreements between the ancient religions of our world. Jews versus Muslims, Muslims versus Christians, Christians versus, it goes on. Even within a Christian community, there can be disagreements. There are long historical disagreements between nations of the world. You can’t look really at any part of the world that hasn’t, isn’t currently facing some kind of conflict or does not have conflict in its past, a non-ancient past. As a country, we’ve had conflicts even within North America. So, conflict, fight. We do it everywhere. It can be about anything. It can happen at any time. But all these conflicts have one thing in common, as different as the cause where they take place, as different as they are, they still have one thing in common. Somebody is the bad guy. Some group of people are the bad people. They are wrong. I am right. That’s always at the source of the conflict, regardless of what it’s about, where it takes place, when it takes place. Somebody’s wrong, somebody’s the bad guy, and somebody’s right, the good guy. It’s interesting how I’m doing it that way, isn’t it? Somebody there is the bad guy, and somebody is the good guy. So it is with this awareness that we approach today’s gospel. It’s not a well-known story in the New Testament, as I said earlier, that it’s unique to Luke. It’s the kind of story that can be forgotten, as I said, no miracles, no parable, no teaching. The story goes like this. Jesus is up north in Galilee. He’s getting ready to go south to Jerusalem, and he had to pass through the land of Samaria. The Jews and Samaritans did not like each other, and that dispute, conflict, fight went back hundreds of years, long before Jesus was even born. They did not talk to one another. They didn’t intermingle. They did not intermarry. So who’s the bad guy in this conflict between Jews and Samaritans? Well, it’s James and John, to make it very clear. It’s the other guys. It is the Samaritans. Jesus is going south, going through Samaria. He had sent people ahead of him to make arrangements. They were not welcomed, and then Jesus, as he came into the village, was not made to feel welcomed. The two brothers, James and John, who are part of the Twelve, when they came to realise this, they got upset, to say the least. We’re not surprised that James and John are the two disciples that act this way. They are called Sons of Thunder. We hear that designation about them earlier in the Gospels. They have thunderous personalities. They have thunderous prejudices, and they clearly have thunderous tempers. They go to Jesus, who is in the village now, and say, Master, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them? That seems like an overreaction. They were just not made to feel welcome. They weren’t threatened. They weren’t mocked, ridiculed, but clearly hundreds of years of prejudice and hatred are coming to the forefront, and this slight, this disrespect, this unwelcome attitude has just sent James and John right over the edge. Lord, let’s call down fire from heaven so it’s coming from the right place. Let’s call down fire from heaven and not warn them, not teach them a lesson, destroy them. What happens next is remarkable. It’s subtle. It’s one of the reasons I think this passage is not amongst the best known. Jesus rebukes them. That’s all that’s in the Gospel. Jesus rebuked them, and then what happens next is even more remarkable. Jesus and his disciples went to another village. That’s how the story ends. Jesus rebukes, and then he and the disciples went on to another village. I have some sympathy for the disciples. I’ve been angry in my past. I got upset and angry as a kid, as a child, as a teenager, as a young adult, as my middle age, as a senior. I think there is a little more calmness in my senior years, but I can still get upset and angry. But when I look back at all those years and look at the present time, I know there is not one time when I made a

  8. Jul 2

    June 28

    by Jim Hetherington https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/01220654/June-28-Sermon.mp3 Genesis 50:20 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 1 Samuel 17:47 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” Luke 24:16 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. Romans 8:18-28 Present Suffering and Future Glory 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[b] have been called according to his purpose. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Our speaker this morning is Jim Hetherington. He needs no introduction and we are so glad to have him as part of our congregation, um, and wherever Jim is. Regrets will come to each and every one of us at some point or time, and they seem to speak the loudest when it’s silent. When things are quiet, that’s when the voices of regret seem to speak the loudest. And regrets can come in small things and come in big things. It can be something small and simple like, I meant to bring some cereal and contribute to the food bank, I just kept forgetting. I meant to take a casserole to my neighbour to support and encourage them, but I just ran out of time. I got busy. Because we get busy, don’t we? And we can use busyness as an excuse for not doing things. Regrets can come in big things. Could be a decision that we made, a financial decision, an investment that we didn’t take advantage of. You come in a career choice, a relationship choice. Regrets can come in all kinds of shapes and forms. The thing they say about regret is that discipline, you know, doing something to encourage, to support, to grow, costs very little. The invoice that we get from regrets is huge, and oftentimes regret hits us when we can’t do anything else about it. I know that many people on their deathbed may be faced with regrets. I guarantee you that they’re not regretting that they can’t get up and go into the office and work on another deal. It’s likely a relationship. It’s likely someone close to them that they regret not investing the time. We just finished a series with Aubrey where he talked about Joseph. Now Joseph, he probably had a few regrets during that course of time. He probably regretted the way he shared that dream, that vision with his brothers. He probably regretted getting himself in a position where he was caught with Potiphar’s wife. There may have been a few regrets because the truth is it took a couple of decades for that entire process from the time he got that dream and shared it to the time that it actually came fulfilled. It was a couple decades. Would you agree that that’s a long time? That’s a long time to hold on to something. That’s a long time to be going through the process, to be going through the stuff. In Genesis 50 verses 20, we read this. Joseph said, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. He recognised that through that process, it wasn’t just the circumstances that he found himself in. He could see that God had a bigger picture. God had a bigger plan. So oftentimes we get caught up in circumstances, don’t we? Like I said, you know, we have good intentions of going and supporting and encouraging a friend or a neighbour, but we get busy. Life gets busy. But sometimes those excuses can get in the way and cause even more regret. I know for me, about 15, 16 years ago, I was going through a very busy part and a very busy time in my life and I wasn’t looking after myself. I had the excuse of I’m just too tired at the end of the day to look after myself, to go exercise. I’m too tired. I’m too busy to really eat well and to prepare extra meals. And we can use those excuses. I’m too tired. I’ve been chasing the kids or the grandkids all day long. I’m too tired to spend time reading. I’m too tired to spend time with my husband or with my wife. And we can use excuse after excuse, but all it does is pile up even more regret. Joseph found himself betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten in prison. Yet he recognised that God was using those circumstances. In 1 Samuel 17 47, we read another familiar story of David and Goliath. David heard about the battle that was about to ensue with the Israelites and the Philistines gathered on the front lines. And as was a custom in that day, they would send out their best warriors and they would duke it out to see who would win. And if it needed, they would go into a full-blown battle. But if it could be resolved just with the two very best from each side, that’s how they handled it. So Goliath came out. This big beast of a man came out, said, send out your best. And everybody quivered and shook and shaked. And I’m sure there was some regrets with some of those men in the army, thinking, I didn’t train hard enough. I wish I was stronger. I wish I was better equipped. I wish I would have bought that better Nike equipment last week when it was on sale. Here I am on the front lines with this poor equipment. But David heard of this and he wasn’t going to live with regret. He was going to stand and face the giant. And he went to Saul. He went to his brothers. He went to everyone and they’re like, you’re crazy. You can’t do that. You’re not equipped. You’re not trained. You’re not anything. They tried to put Saul’s armour on him. It didn’t fit. It’d be kind of like wearing, you know, clothes that are 10 sizes too big for you and trying to function in them. So he stripped it off. He said, no, he said, I know a sling. I know stones and that’s what I’m going to use. And when we read 1 Samuel 17, it said, all those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands. That’s a pretty bold declaration to be making in front of a big beast of a man, a huge army. Here’s this guy with just his basic clothes on and a sling and a few stones. But the thing that David recognised is that it wasn’t the stone. We could gather scientists. We could gather all kinds of mathematicians. We could gather all kinds of smart people. And they could probably give us 20 reasons why that stone could not have done what it did. And we would all probably agree with it, right? The math is wrong. The angle was wrong. The trajectory was. The fact that it was just a small stone, it’s impossible. I mean, that stone would have to get past the shield bearer, right? Goliath, he was well equipped, but he had his own guy holding a shield in front of him. So it would have to get past that. It would have to get through that helmet. You’ve seen those helmets with the little pointy thing that comes down between the eyes, right? That stone would have to project through that. But David knew something. He knew that it wasn’t a stone that he was throwing. It was a name that he was throwing. It was the name that he knew that was behind that stone that was going to accomplish what he declared it would accomplish. And it did. He wasn’t focused on the circumstances. He didn’t care how big Goliath was. He didn’t care how much armour he had on. He didn’t care about any of those things because he knew behind him was a name that was greater than any other name. And sometimes we can forget that, can’t we? We can forget that. We’re on this side of glory. We know historically we see all of these stories we read. And we’re going to look at a few more, but we know all of these stories. It’d be kind of like, you know, I was thinking about that movie Back to the Future. You’ve seen that movie Back to the Future? It was about a young guy that was transported back into time and he got to see all the stuff that happened and then came back into the future, into time, and was able to live out things differently. But one of the guys got this almanack and the almanack had every sports team that ever won a championship. Everything that was ever anything it happened. And so he knew what was going to happen. And so being transported back, he knew what was going to happen in that time. And so this guy used the book incorrectly and bet on things and was very successful because he knew what the outcome was going to be. We already know what the outcome is going to be, yet sometimes we forget. Sometim

  9. Jun 25

    June 21

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/24232925/June-21-Sermon.mp3 Genesis 41:57 (NLT) 57 And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.   Genesis 42:1-20 (NLT) Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt 42 When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? 2 I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.” 3 So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. 4 But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him. 5 So Jacob’s[a] sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well. 6 Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.” 8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. 9 And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.” 10 “No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food. 11 We are all brothers—members of the same family. We are honest men, sir! We are not spies!” 12 “Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.” 13 “Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.” 14 But Joseph insisted, “As I said, you are spies! 15 This is how I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! 16 One of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, if it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know you are spies.” 17 So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. 18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. 19 If you really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die.” To this they agreed. Romans 12:17a (TLB) 17 Never pay back evil for evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest clear through. Romans 12:19 (TLB) 19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it. Don’t take the law into your own hands.[a] Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe)

  10. Jun 16

    June 14

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/16100747/June-14-Sermon.mp3 Genesis 39:19-21 Joseph Put in Prison 19 Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. 20 So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Genesis 40:14-15 14 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.” Genesis 40:23 23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.   Genesis 41:1 Pharaoh’s Dreams 41 Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River. Genesis 41:9-16 9 Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. 10 “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. 11 One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. 12 There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. 13 And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.” 14 Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. 15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” Psalm 37:7 7 Be still before the Lord     and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways,     when they carry out their wicked schemes. Isaiah 40:31 31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.     They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary.     They will walk and not faint. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) This is one of my favourite worship songs. I just sang it last night. Again, I often do that. Just before I go to bed, I’ll listen to a few of these, and this was the one last night I just put on, and I was just taking some time with the Lord. I trust in God. Do we do that? Sometimes we forget that, right? When life gets a little tough, we kind of grab to all kinds of straws, and they don’t last that long, but the Lord is always there. He starts the song with blessed assurance. Remember how the words went in the old song? For Jesus is mine. Lord, thank you for the series on Joseph. Thank you for the lessons we learned. Help us, Lord, to take those and make them part of our lives, especially this morning. It’s a big one. Thank you for that. May we ask, as we always do, that we can see Jesus and only Jesus. So I’m sitting in the doctor’s office in the waiting room. Jay nearly choked on his coffee now. Let me go back. I’m sitting in the doctor’s office in the waiting room. The receptionist checked me in, and she said, take a seat and wait. The nurse will call you when the doctor is ready to see you. I’m not alone in this room. There’s other people with me, and we all know our task. It’s in the name of the room. Wait. We don’t tweet each other. We don’t take blood pressure. We don’t write prescriptions. Our job is to wait. Now, we don’t like that because we’re this kind of giddy-up generation, right? We weave through the traffic to get to the fastest lane just to stop at the traffic light at the same time as everyone else. We get really upset when someone brings 11 items into the 10-item express checkout, and we drum our fingers when we watch Netflix, and it takes a little while for that video to download. We don’t like waiting, not for the traffic, not for the doctor, not for God. Can we take a moment and just think about this for a moment? Where are we sitting? Not today in the church. Every day as we live in this world, where are we sitting? We’re sitting in God’s waiting room. See the young couple sitting there? They’ve been waiting for a long time, trying to get pregnant. See the gentleman there with a briefcase on his lap? He’s been sending out resume after resume, waiting, waiting to find a job. See the elderly lady, just widowed? She’s been waiting for one day without waking up crying. Here’s the thing. We live in a land between prayer offered and prayer answered, in the land of waiting, in God’s waiting room. Now, if there’s someone that knows every piece of furniture, who’s read every notice on that bulletin board in God’s waiting room, it was Joseph. He spent hours down in a cistern, waiting that someone might just take him out. Months walking about 750 kilometres to get to Egypt. Days, if not weeks, on that auction block. A decade in the household of Potiphar, the captain of the guard. Time moves slowly in a foreign land, and time stops in prison. And that’s where we pick up his story today. Can I just give you a little backstory before we read, and we’re going to start reading chapter 39 verse 19. So Joseph works for Potiphar, and things are wonderful. People love him, everyone loves him, and Potiphar’s wife wants to love him even more. She invites him into her bedroom, and he says, no thank you. She did not take that kindly. So she decided that she was going to get him back for that. So she goes to her husband, and she lies, and she tells him that Joseph tried to sexually assault her. And that’s where we pick up our story. Potiphar was so furious when he heard his wife’s story about Joseph, how Joseph had treated her. So he took Joseph, and he threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. Do I need to say this? But the Lord, this is about God even better. But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison, and he showed him his faithful love. But the Lord was with Joseph even there where time stood still. And then, and I’m going to use strange words which I will explain in a second. I’m using them specifically. It just so happened that the baker and the butler, not the candlestick maker, only the baker and the butler, they messed up, and Pharaoh got really angry at them, and he dumped them in jail with Joseph. They became friends. And it just so happened that they both had a dream. And it just so happened that God allowed Joseph to understand the dreams and tell them what the dreams meant. If I was the baker, I wish I never had that dream for him. It didn’t end that well. He lost his head. The butler or the cupbearer, as the translation calls him, the butler, he got really good news. You’re not going to stay in here for long, buddy. You go right back, and they’re going to put you back in your job, and you’re going to live happily ever after working for the king. But as Joseph tells him that, he asks him a favour. Chapter 40, verse 14. He said to him, please remember me. Do me a favour when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh so he might let me out of this place, for I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison. But I did nothing to deserve it. And then verse 23. Pharaoh’s cupbearer, butler, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought. For two years, not a single word. Enough time for Joseph to forget about God, to kind of push his beliefs to one side and say, it’s all done. There’s nothing more. I’m just stuck in this prison. But he never did, because Joseph knows all about last week’s sermon. About the one who weaves. Sometimes the world weaves, but God is the amazing re-weaver. And he knew all about that. Never gave up. And then it happened. Pharaoh had this dream. Actually, two dreams. One about cows and one about grain. It upset him really, because he didn’t understand what this was all about. So he got all of his wise people and all of his counsellors together. And he said, explain this to me, because I’m really concerned about what this might mean. They had no clue. And then that moment, chapter 41, verse 9. Finally, the king’s cupbearer spoke up, the butler. Today, I have been reminded of my failure, he told Pharaoh. Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. That is Potiphar. One night, the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. And there was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. And we told him our dreams. And he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cupbearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole. Sandy Barry, I just told you about that this week. Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. And after he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. This would be the first time that Pharaoh and Joseph would come face to face, and they would look at each other. Wouldn’t be the last. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I’ve heard that when you hear about a dream, you can interpre

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