Pilgrim Church

Pilgrim Church

If you are new here, we're so glad you found us! We exist to love our city and to invite our neighbours to flourish by rooting our lives in the outrageous love and life of Jesus. Pilgrim Church is located at 6075 Inverness St, Vancouver, BC! We gather for worship on Sundays at 10:30am. Come join us! You are always invited :) Follow us on Instagram @pilgrimyvr, Youtube @pilgrimchurchyvr, and www.pilgrimchurch.ca

Oct 25

Can Chatbots Pray? with Josh Liem

Being Human (in an AI age), Can Chatbots Pray? with Josh LiemMatthew 6:5-13; Romans 8:22-27What makes a prayer a prayer? This Sunday, in our Being Human (in an AI Age) series, we turn to Jesus’ teaching on prayer in Matthew 6 and Paul’s words about the Spirit’s “inexpressible groanings” in Romans 8. We’ll look at why prayer isn’t a way of controlling God, what Jesus shows us in Gethsemane, and why being prayed for by a friend is irreplaceable. For reflection & discussion: What’s the difference between a chatbot saying they’ll pray, or writing a prayer, or speaking a prayer through text-to-voice, and a human praying? What are your questions about prayer? (consider sending them to the Q&R) Discuss unaddressed gaps or questions or previous assumptions about prayer that may have been brought up in the sermon. What have been or are some of the hardest (un)answered prayers in your life? What is your current rhythm of prayer? Or, what keeps you from a rhythm of prayer? Who is someone you feel called to pray for? Consider reaching out to them if they’re not in this room. Further resources: Darrell Johnson, Fifty-Seven Words that Change the World: A Journey Through the Lord’s Prayer Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible John Mark Comer, Into the Quiet: Following Jesus in a World of Noise
Oct 19

Desperate Faith: Lessons from Jesus on Miracles and Healing with guest Darryn Botha

Desperate Faith: Lessons from Jesus on Miracles and Healing with guest Darryn Botha Mark 5:21-43 In Mark 5, we encounter two desperate people: a father whose daughter is dying, and a woman who has suffered for twelve years. Both come to Jesus with seemingly impossible situations—and both encounter the power and compassion of God. But what can their stories teach us about faith, healing, and the character of Jesus? Drawing on my own journey through cancer, unanswered prayers, and the discovery of God’s faithfulness in the midst of uncertainty, we’ll explore what it means to trust Jesus when life doesn’t turn out the way we expected. For reflection & discussion: What stood out to you most from the sermon, and why? How does this message challenge or affirm your current understanding of God or faith? Was there a specific story, scripture, or phrase that you found especially meaningful or difficult? How can we live this out together in our daily lives or as a group? What is one step you feel invited to take this week in response to the sermon? Darryn Botha is the Lead Pastor at Midtown Church, where he is passionate about preaching, teaching, and helping people connect biblical truth with everyday life. His ministry is marked by a love for people and a desire to communicate God’s Word in ways that are both understandable and transformative. Originally from South Africa, Darryn is married to Kim, dad to Kait and Dani, and father-in-law to Noah. He enjoys reading, exercising, coffee, and relaxing in his hot tub. Fun fact: he’s been bitten by a shark!
Oct 12

Made for Rest with Josh Liem

Made for Rest with Josh Liem Genesis 1:31-2:3; Deuteronomy 5:12-15 In 1930, the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that by now technology would have us working fifteen hours a week. So why are we busier than ever? This Thanksgiving Sunday, as we continue our series Being Human (in an AI Age), we turn to one of the oldest and strangest gifts in Scripture: a day when nothing gets done. From Pharaoh’s storehouses to manna in the wilderness, we’ll ask what Sabbath rest has to say to a world that never logs off.
Oct 5

The Vocation of Reconciliation with Josh Liem

The Vocation of Reconciliation with Josh Liem 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2 If a machine can do what you were trained to do, faster and cheaper, what are you here for? This Sunday we turn to 2 Corinthians 5, where Paul answers critics who ranked him as unimpressive, and discover that our first calling is not a career but the ministry of reconciliation. Come wrestle with what makes work meaningful and human. For reflection & discussion: What was the first job you ever had, and what's one thing it taught you that you still carry? Paul says believers have been reconciled to God, yet pleads with them to "be reconciled to God." How do you make sense of both being true? Where are you most tempted to measure yourself, or others, by an "outward human point of view": productivity, appearance, income, followers, or comparison against AI? Who in this group has a clear sense of their calling, and how did they come to it? Share stories of nudges, catastrophes, or slow realizations that clarified what life was asking of you. Where do you feel energy in your soul to work? Is it a specific problem, relationship, tension, injustice, creative endeavour, or something else? Would anyone here affirm these hints of a calling or shape of ministry of reconciliation? Paul's tentmaking was a deliberate choice that served his ministry. How might your day job, or your daily responsibilities if you aren't employed, become a place where reconciliation actually happens between people, or between people and God? Many people in our city are anxious about AI and the future of work. Is there someone in your workplace or neighbourhood carrying that anxiety whom you could listen to this week? How might this group help people facing job loss or career change?
Sep 28

Growing Through Giving with Guest Dr Ed Ng

Growing Through Giving with Guest Dr Ed Ng Genesis 1:25-27; 2:7, 20-23 In an age of AI companions and increasingly virtual relationships, what constitutes a "real" relationship? Drawing from Genesis and the Christian understanding of the Trinity, this sermon explores what it means to be made in the image of God-is-relationship. Being made in God's image calls us into relationships where we give ourselves, seek the flourishing of others, and discover that, paradoxically, we grow most fully through love. For reflection & discussion: What stood out to you most from the sermon, and why? How does this message challenge or affirm your current understanding of God or faith? Was there a specific story, scripture, or phrase that you found especially meaningful or difficult? How can we live this out together in our daily lives or as a group? What is one step you feel invited to take this week in response to the sermon? Dr. Edward Ng is a Registered Psychologist in private practice in Vancouver and is the founder and director of Eastgate Psychological Services. He provides counselling services to individuals and some couples, and provides consultations for leaders looking for relational and cultural insight.
Sep 22

Can AI Cure Loneliness with Josh Liem

Can AI Cure Loneliness with Josh Liem Genesis 2; John 17 Before sin, death, and the devil, God declared one thing “not good.” This Sunday, we’re in Genesis 2, where neither God, nor solitude, nor every other living creature was suitable for the first human. The earthling needed another like him, yet different. Come explore the implications of artificial companions in our created need to be known and in community. For reflection & discussion: If you could have any animal companion for life, what would you choose? What is the difference between loneliness and solitude? Where do you use AI in your own life? How would you suggest that we / the church address loneliness practically? Who do you know is someone who wouldn’t reach out first when they feel lonely? What could you do for them this week? For further reflection: are there places you use AI that you would hide or be ashamed of? Why? Is there someone you could trust to be open about your usage of AI?
Sep 13

Being Human (In the AI Age): Behold the Human with Josh Liem

Behold the Human with Josh Liem Genesis 1:26-28; John 19:5 As artificial intelligence reshapes how we work, connect, and seek answers, what does it mean to be human? We begin our series, Being Human in the AI Age, by exploring humanity’s creation in God’s image and looking to Jesus—the image of the invisible God, standing wounded before Pilate. Together, we’ll consider how his life invites us to use our power, respond to suffering, and grow in love for our neighbours. For reflection & discussion: How do you feel about AI? Hopeful, fearful, skeptical, or a mix? What experiences have shaped your response? What would you place your worth and dignity if your work or knowledge were easily done by a robot? Jesus seems to invite us to enter into the suffering of others as he does. What suffering do you see? What would entering into that suffering look like?
Sep 7

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector with Josh Liem

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector with Josh Liem Luke 18:9-14 We close our series on the provocative parables of Jesus with the one about the Pharisee and the Tax collector. And Jesus brilliantly baits the trap with two people to compare while teaching disciples to stop comparing themselves to others. Will you take the bait? For reflection & discussion: Who are you most tempted to compare yourself to, and why? Who is the “tax collector,” the person or group or demographic of people that you’d find scandalous imagining God welcoming? What is your relationship to the spiritual disciplines mentioned here: prayer, fasting, tithing? Consider finding or reviewing your rhythm / rule of life with a spiritual friend or mentor. Further Resources: Timothy A. Friedrichsen, “The Temple, a Pharisee, a Tax Collector, and the Kingdom of God: Rereading a Jesus Parable (Luke 18:10-14A),” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 124, No. 1 (Spring, 2005), pp. 89-119.

If you are new here, we're so glad you found us! We exist to love our city and to invite our neighbours to flourish by rooting our lives in the outrageous love and life of Jesus. Pilgrim Church is located at 6075 Inverness St, Vancouver, BC! We gather for worship on Sundays at 10:30am. Come join us! You are always invited :) Follow us on Instagram @pilgrimyvr, Youtube @pilgrimchurchyvr, and www.pilgrimchurch.ca

Creator

Pilgrim Church
Years Active

2018 - 2026
Episodes

451
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Pilgrim Church
Show Website

Pilgrim Church