Pilgrim Church

Pilgrim Church

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Religion & Spirituality
Updated Weekly

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

3d ago

The Slow Harvest With Josh Liem

The Slow Harvest With Josh Liem Galatians 6:1-18 We are wrapping up our Galatians series this Sunday! After five chapters of fighting for the gospel, Paul gets practical: carry each other, give generously, and don't grow weary in doing good, even when the harvest is slow, even delayed to the resurrection. Come tired, come weary, come hungry. Let Christ give you peace and rest. For reflection & discussion: Think of something you planted, started, or invested in where you had to wait a long time before anything came of it. A garden, a skill, a friendship. What kept you going, or what made you quit? Who has carried a burden for you that was too heavy to carry alone? Have you ever told them what it meant? Verse 9 says "let us not grow weary in doing good." Where are you most weary right now? What is that weariness tempting you to give up on? Is there a discipline you practice to give yourself “rest for your soul” in Jesus? Share with the group. Paul boasts only in the cross (v14), a path that costs him real suffering. What do you gravitate towards boasting in, other than the cross and suffering? Where is following Jesus actually costing you something right now? Picture someone in your own lineage of faith who didn't grow weary of you. What did their love look like? Is there someone you're being asked to do that for now? What is one specific ‘seed to sow’ this week for you? Think of the 3 layers: friendship/interdependence for another, giving resources or money to the marginalized, and crucifixion / suffering in love.

21 min
Jun 22

Christ or Cannibalism? With Josh Liem

Christ or Cannibalism? With Josh Liem Galatians 5:1-26 Something was tearing the church apart, and Paul had to intervene. This Sunday, we’re in Galatians 5, and Paul has some of the most shocking lines in the New Testament here. But he also paints a beautiful picture of true flourishing. Come and wrestle with what it means to be free, rooted, enslaved to love, and who to trust with the formation of our souls. For reflection & discussion: When you think about the people who have most shaped your faith, what qualities made them influential? Was it what they taught, how they lived, or both? Paul says the only thing that counts is "faith working through love" (5:6), and that the fruit of the Spirit grows from being rooted in God's love — "we are loved to love." What are your current practices of abiding / receiving God’s love? What comes harder for you: receiving God’s love, or obedience to God’s way of love? Paul’s ‘works of the flesh’ are primarily relational: strife, jealousy, factions, dissensions— and they’re on the same list as idolatry and sorcery. Which of these are you most likely to notice in others, and which ones do you excuse yourself from? (Speck and the plank) Jesus said that “they will know you are my disciples by your love for one another.” Is that true of us? What practices or changes could we make to make that more true of our community? For further reflection: If you gravitate towards a ‘faction,’ why? Is the very act of justifying it doing the very thing Paul is arguing against? The sermon ended with a charge: “go and eat with the person you're least patient with, or sharply disagree with — politically, theologically, ethically.” Who came to mind? What's stopping you, and when could you actually do it this week?

28 min
Jun 15

Christ Formed in You with Josh Liem

Christ Formed in You with Josh Liem Galatians 4:8–5:1 Who is forming you into the person you're becoming? Paul pleads with the Galatians not merely to believe the right things, but to resist voices that would shape them into something less than Christ. At the center of his anguish is one great desire: that Christ would be formed in them. For reflection & discussion: Who is someone (real or fictional) that you wanted to be like when you were young? What was it about them? Paul's opponents had real theological reasons and were trying to protect people from political persecution. What makes someone a false/dangerous teacher that needs to be called out? Who are the loudest voices in your life or social networks that promise “if you do A, you’ll get B,” whether in Christianity or outside of it? What specifically do they do that is convincing? Who in your life or in this room knows you well enough to tell you a difficult truth? What would it look like to be a safe place to tell or receive difficult truths? If someone became exactly like you, what would you hope they'd catch? What would you hope they wouldn't? The Galatian church welcomed a sick stranger and treated him like an angel of God. What does that kind of hospitality actually cost? What stops us from offering it? Bonus reflection for your time of prayer: “Knowing God” as a spiritual practice is somewhat easy to conceive: study, read scripture, contemplate on Christ. “Being known by God,” Paul’s corrective in Galatians 4:9, is quite a different angle. What if intercessory prayer was less about making our requests known to God and changing his mind and seeing miracles happen, and more about being known by God? How would that change your posture and small group time of prayer for one another

30 min
Jun 8

What Are You Wearing? with Guest Darren Lof

What Are You Wearing? with guest Darren Lof Galatians 3:23-4:7 People often use clothing to communicate identity, status, occupation, or belonging. What you wear can often say who you are or what you are aligned with. In Galatians 3:23-4:7, Paul uses a clothing metaphor to challenge believers to consider what they are wearing "spiritually". Are we dressed in the old clothing of control, of fear, of immaturity? Or have we been clothed in Christ and welcomed into God's family? What are you wearing? Darren and his wife Crista run a small church in Steveston called Church at the Hub. It has been described as a fresh expression of church that aims to help people to live a flourishing life with and through Jesus. In addition, they also run the Steveston Hub, which is an alternative community space in the heart of Steveston. Darren and Crista have a daughter, son-in-law, and grandsons living in South Africa, as well as another son who is known to play the drums at Pilgrim. For reflection & discussion: In what ways do people try to earn God's approval instead of receiving it by faith in Christ? What does it practically mean to "clothe yourselves with Christ" in your daily life? How does knowing that you are God's adopted child and heir change the way you face struggles, failures, and uncertainties?

36 min
May 31

Clothed With Christ with Josh Liem

Clothed With Christ with Josh Liem Galatians 3 This Sunday in Galatians 3, Paul pulls us through the whole biblical story— from a garden, to Abraham, to Moses and the Law, to the cross and an empty tomb, and Pentecost— to answer one question: how does a fractured world become one family? For reflection & discussion: What's one thing growing up that made you feel like you "belonged" — a team, a family ritual, a friend group, a place? What signalled that you were in? Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong at a church gathering? Describe the experience. Have you ever looked at someone else like they didn’t belong in a church gathering? Why? If we use Paul’s letters as a framework, was it a legitimate reason? Rephrase Galatians 3:28 for our context. What would be the most challenging or controversial pairing for you, and why? God told Abraham he was blessed to be a blessing — that through him "all the families of the earth" would be blessed. Who are the "families" — neighbours, coworkers, classmates, the regulars at your coffee shop — that you cross paths with every week and could see yourself praying for by name? Pick one and tell the group.

29 min
May 25

Hot and Cold with Guest Rev. Dr. Ross Lockhart

Galatians: Life in the Spirit, Hot and Cold with Guest Rev. Dr. Ross Lockhart Galatians 2:11-21 We all know the swing between great days and not‑so‑great ones, whether at work, on the golf course, or in our relationships. This Sunday is Pentecost—the birth of the church and one of Peter’s greatest ministry moments—yet our series in Galatians 2:11–21 shows him on a far less shining day. As followers of Jesus, we’re invited to make sense of these highs and lows and what it means to be spiritually hot or cold as we grow in faith. Rev. Dr. Ross Lockhart is Professor of Mission Studies at Vancouver School of Theology and Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall. Ross loves teaching, researching and writing in the area of practical theology, with a special emphasis upon missiology. Ross holds a PhD from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and is author of Lessons from Laodicea: Missional Leadership in a Culture of Affluence; Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership Lessons for Today; co-author of Better Than Brunch: Missional Churches in Cascadia as well as Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver and editor of Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil. 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?

41 min
May 18

Destructive Zeal and Redemption with Josh Liem

Destructive Zeal and Redemption with Josh Liem Galatians 1:11-2:10 This Sunday, we continue our Life in the Spirit series in Galatians 1:11–2:10, where the Apostle Paul tells us his own story — the embarrassing parts and all. We'll see how Paul's shameful chapter became the very credential of his ministry, and how your own story is where Jesus is being made visible. For reflection & discussion: When you were 18, what did you think your life was going to look like? How close did it get? The sermon walked through Paul's autobiography in five movements: his former life, the great reversal, Arabia, his visit with Peter, and his ministry. Share your story. Does it bear any resemblances to Paul’s? Were there any too-vulnerable details you left out? (you don’t need to share, just notice.) Galatians 2:10 says the one thing the Jerusalem apostles asked of Paul was "remember the poor." Why was this the litmus test for the gospel? The sermon described Arabia as "a place of assimilation and reflection" — where Paul went to unpack his life before God. Eugene Peterson wrote, "Arabia can be a couple of hours in a quiet room, or in worship each Sunday, or seizing times of solitude." Where is your Arabia? When did you last go there? What kept you away? The sermon asked the question: "What is the trap you can see, because you used to live in it?" Paul's persecution-past gave him eyes to recognize religious coercion when it crept into the Galatian church. What trap can you recognize because of your own story? Who in your life — or in our city — is currently caught in that trap, and what could you do this month to be present to them? The Jerusalem apostles asked Paul to "remember the poor." The sermon said: "A freedom that ignores or forgets or despises the poor is a bogus freedom." In our specific neighbourhood — South Vancouver — who are the poor and forgotten that this group could begin to remember together? Brainstorm specifically. What's one small step?

27 min
May 11

Galatians: Life in the Spirit with Joshua Liem

Galatians: Life in the Spirit with Joshua Liem The Gospel Galatians 1:1-10 This Sunday we start Life in the Spirit, an eight-week journey through Paul's letter to the Galatians. Paul writes with shocking urgency to a young church drifting toward a counterfeit gospel — and his words still cut through the noise of our own day. Whether you're new, exploring, or have been around forever, come and rediscover the rescue at the heart of the Christian story. For reflection & discussion: What's something you bought, tried, or believed in this past year because it promised to make your life better? How did it actually go? How would you proclaim “the Gospel”? Paul writes from a community: "all the brothers and sisters with me" (1:2). He doesn't fight this fight alone. Who in this room (or in your wider life) has helped you stay anchored in the real gospel? What did they do? Tell the group about them. The sermon described sin not just as personal moral failure but as a power that enslaves, and Christ's death as breaking that power. Where in your life are you most aware of sin's grip? What would it look like to be free? The opponents in Galatia preached a Jesus who fit comfortably inside the existing world — a Jesus who didn't disturb their political safety, their social standing, their religious identity. Where in our city, our workplaces, or our neighbourhoods do we preach a Jesus too small to disturb anything? What might the real Jesus be asking of us there? Further Resources : N.T. Wright, Galatians (2021) Eugene H. Peterson, Traveling Light: Galatians and the Free Life in Christ (1982)

25 min

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

434
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Pilgrim Church
Show Website

Pilgrim Church