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2d ago

October 4

by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/09130107/October-4-Sermon.mp3 1 Samuel 21 David at Nob 21 [a]David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” 2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.” 4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.” 5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever[b] I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away. 7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd. 8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.” 9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” Matthew 12:1-5 12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” 3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) So number three in the series on giant busters is about desperate days the stories of runaways now now Here’s the thing last sunday You sang that second song That we did this morning and I sat up there with gerald and he said boy What a beautiful song and I came down and I said to carrie. Can we sing that next week? She said it’s a little difficult. I said it’s fine But if you listen to the words and you see that word runaways I haven’t seen that sermon yet before that day That’s the first part of today’s story So already god planned a little song that was going to connect see what we’re doing It’s another piece that comes a little later And you’re thinking why do we call crazy south africans and then you do it again? Something wrong with you Lord Lord Oh lord It’s so exciting to be in your presence. It’s so exciting to be in your words And to know lord that you speak into the lives of your people And when you speak lord, it’s not just empty words the words that you give As your servant sits in an office and waits For the spirit to speak of your words May that be true today That these are your words may we see Maybe hear Jesus And only jesus The desperate man sits In the last few in the back row of the church His mouth is dry Palms are sweaty He wonders if he even fits In a place filled with disciples believing But where else could he go He violated every belief that he valued He hurt the people that he loved the most There he sits guilty alone struggling Who is this person? well Is any of a number of people He or she could be any of a number of people that come to god’s people Struggling with the same thing Hopeless helpless hapless Question is what is the church’s reaction? What will these people find? Rejection Or acceptance Criticism Or compassion Same thing david wondered Because david was a man on the run He was not welcome in soul’s court anymore. He was a wanted man In soul’s court after the sixth attempt On his life david at last got the message Soul really doesn’t like you So he kissed his wife mijo Goodbye And got out of dodge a desperate running man Where could he go Where did he go He did a sinead o’connor thing Take me to church He went to church 1st samuel chapter 21 verse 1 David went to the town of nob to see a himalek the priest interesting name for a man running away from the king A himalek in hebrew is actually achi melech Achi means my brother And melech means king My brother is the king I’m scaring you run from the king and this priest has the name of my brother as the king David went to the town of nob to see a himalek the priest himalek trembled when he saw him Why are you alone? He asked Why is no one with you? You stop there for one second you’re thinking why is the priest scared remember who david was David didn’t take many prisoners and david usually travelled with his private armies Of mercenaries in in the bible. They’re called the crete and the plebeian his private army For david to show up at the sanctuary alone It’s kind of strange So no wonder himalek is kind of a little hesitant. What are you doing here, dude david Gives him a little assurance by telling him a lie Let’s see The king has sent me on a private matter david said He told me not to tell anyone why why i’m here he’s lying through his teeth The king didn’t send him on a private matter. He’s running for his life So i’ve told my men where to meet me later Now see how he changes the subject. What is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have david David’s a desperate man And what desperate people sometimes do is exactly what david does He lies to stone mission, but he needs help Now Now the the assurance Kind of seems to be okay with the priest And he kind of accepts it so he says We don’t have any regular bread At least in quiet You see david is fine, but he’s in a little conundrum when david asks for the bread Because here’s the thing. The only bread he has in that place is the shoe bread not s-h-o-e s-h-e-w Shoe bread or the holy bread or the bread of the presence or the bread that is in the presence of the lord Uh in in the hebrew, it’s lehem le panayim lehem is bread like in bet lehem house of bread Lehem is bread and panayim is face the bread that is in the face of the lord It stood in the holy place the room just before the holy of holies in the tabernacle It was put there for a whole week There were 12 pieces of bread for each of the tribes of israel Stood in the presence of the lord to remind the lord of his Provision for them and to take care of them six on the one six on the other side They stood for a week Only after a week when the new bread has been baked and ready and placed on the table were they allowed to take the old bread Off and then the priests were allowed to eat that bread only the priests in a holy ceremony They would eat that priests in a little bit of a conundrum All he has is the holy bread David’s not a priest. So what does he do? Does he follow the letter of the law and send david away hungry Does he break the law? And give david to go So he does a little bit of a theological two-step We don’t have any regular bread the priest replied and there’s your but But there is the holy bread which you can have if If your young men have not slept with any women recently David responds with another lie Don’t worry david replied. I never allow my men to be with women when we’re on a campaign. He’s not on a campaign He’s on a runaway trail Oh boy And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips how much more on this one? Which one david? The lie works the lie works Priest says well since there was no other food available. The priest gave him the holy bread The bread of the presence that was placed before the lord in the tabernacle It had just been replaced that day with fresh bread What a what a moment instead of dotting the i’s And crossing the t’s of god’s code The priest decides that there is a higher calling And decides to take care of the need of god’s child I hope the church remembers me Now higher calling is not dotting i’s and crossing t’s Her calling Is to take care of the desperate And the broken even if they lie Even if they’re messy David’s response Again a little bit of a lie david asked him like do you have a spear or a sword the king’s business was so urgent That That I didn’t even have time to grab a weapon David david david I only have the sword of goliath the philistine whom you killed in the valley of elah the priest replied It’s wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod ephod was the the ceremonial gown that the priests would wear on ceremonial days It’s wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod take that if you want it, but there’s nothing else here Oh, there’s nothing like it david replied Do you see what’s happening David’s faith is wavering Just a while ago There was this young man who stood before his giant with only a sling in his hand And he said the battle belongs to the lord And now all of a sudden when this new giant saul stands before david david needs a sword or a spear or something That david could do the david thing Because you see what happened to david is what I taught you last week What happens when the giants come and overwhelm us and we allow them we get tunnel vision And david loses his god Okay And all of a sudden david’s giant takes up the big screen in david’s imagination And all that lea
Oct 2

September 27

by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/02113222/September-27-Sermon.mp3 1 Samuel 17:1-11 David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. 4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels[b]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.[c] His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. 1 Samuel 17:16-19 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. 17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[a] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance[b] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 17:25-27 25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” 26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” 1 Samuel 17:32-37 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” 1 Samuel 17:40-50 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” 45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 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.” 48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) You thought I was leaving the building? Not that lucky. You still have to deal with me for a little while before Elvis leaves the building. Thank you for the flowers. I don’t know who put them in. They’re just beautiful. I will pull my car up to the door and take them home after the service. They really are beautiful. Thank you for whoever put them in. They just look fun, especially this time of the year when everything starts falling. You see little beautiful flowers. It’s just beautiful. Lord, what a beautiful word you have given us this morning. We know it so well. Help us in this moment to focus on you so that all we will see and all that we will know is you. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen. So number two in our series on ghost, no, no, no, giant busters, the forgiveness to ghost busters, busting the giant, slaying them and taking them down in our lives. Steve and Marie, darling, my goodness, what a wonderful sight to see you visiting all the way from where you live now. Good to see you. You know, Steve’s last name is darling, so I would always walk up to him and say, good morning, Steve. So as we bust these giants, we really are going to look at one of the giants today. We call him Goliath and you know the story really well, but can I ask you, keep an open mind when we walk through the story. Don’t say, well, I know the story. I know exactly what he’s going to say. Just keep an open mind for a moment. So we’re going to first Samuel chapter 17. You’re going to read verse one to 11 and then verse 16. You’ll have to try and keep up today because I’m going to jump all over the place. So forgive me for that. Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Soko in Judah. They pitched a camp at Ephes Damim between Soko and Azekah. I’m saying them the Hebrew way. I can’t do the English way. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the valley of Elah and draw up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another with a valley between them. A champion or a giant named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits in a span. He was really big. That’s all I’d say. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armour of bronze weighing 5,000 shekels. On his legs he wore bronze greaves and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod and its iron point weighed 600 shekels. The shield bearer went ahead of him. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel. Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he’s able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects. But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. Then the Philistine said, This day I defy the armies of Israel. Give me a man and let us fight each other. On hearing the Philistines’ words, Saul and the Israelites were dismayed. Terrified. Then verse 16. For 40 days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening until he stayed. Let’s stop there for a second. For 40 days he did this twice a day. When they woke up in the morning, he was in their face taunting them. When they went to bed in the evening, he was in their face taunting them over and over and over. So it’s not hard to imagine that at some stage all these poor Israelites could see and think about was Goliath. Though I don’t know if anyone like me has ever struggled with a problem or a challenge. And it became so big that it kind of just took over everything and that’s all that you could see. I’m kind of good for that. Problem with that is usually it causes anxiety and it causes fear. And when this anxiety and fear comes into your life, it becomes all-consuming. Not necessarily because the problem is so big, but because this thing gives you tunnel vision. Let me give you an example. If I look at my hand, I can see my hand, but I can also see all of you. I can see the whole world. If I make a little tunnel like this and I put my hand there, I see half of my finger and I have to move it to see the others and all of a sudden this hand looks like a giant hand. Because I do not have the whole picture. I only see this little picture and it overwhelms and it becomes this huge thing and I don’t know what to do with it. Anyone else in here? Just me. No wonder we read in verse 11, it says, Sa
Sep 24

September 20

by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/24120120/September-20-Sermon.mp3 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Samuel Anoints David 16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” 5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. Acts 13:36 36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Thank you Kevin for all the work and the team for all the work you’ve done for today. Really appreciate that. Thank you again Catherine and Dave for taking worship this morning. I’ve never sang this song, but what a beautiful… the 90s, I wasn’t born yet. It’s a beautiful, beautiful song. My goodness, thank you for introducing it for those of us who didn’t know it. I really, really loved singing. I could just sit there and sing that the whole morning. It’s just such a beautiful song. Gerda, we have to say goodbye to you today. She’s moving to Godrej, a little closer to her family. It’s been wonderful to get to know you and Harry when you came over to Central, and we have loved you and you have loved us and blessed us with so many of your gifts and your love. May the Lord continue to bless you in your journey with him as you go to Godrej. We really are going to miss you. We don’t like losing these Duchess. They’re wonderful people. May God bless you and may you be loved. I’m so glad that you can be a little closer to the family as well and that all things worked out, the place sold like nobody’s business and just like that. So we’re so grateful for that. Bless you. I’m a little nasal and I’m a little deaf, so if I yell at you, I’m sorry. It’s not because I want to, it’s because I can’t hear myself properly. I don’t know where this bug came from. I went home after church last week and I said to Kelsey, man, I must have yelled a lot because my throat is hurting. And then the nose started running and then the coughing started. Boy, these days. One day, and I’m looking forward to that day when we all get to heaven, there’s a song that says what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus and his majesty. But in that day, I’m going to get a new body. Man, I can’t wait for that one. I can’t wait. That’s the first thing I’m going to say. Jesus, we’ll do the introductions later. Just do the body right now. Then we’ll do the introduction so I can enjoy that. We will get those. Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for this amazing word again this morning, an uplifting word that reminds us of who we are. Thank you that we may see Jesus. And only Jesus. Amen. Starting a six-part series with you today where we’re going to walk through a few chapters in the books of Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel. Walk through a few of those chapters, especially talking about a young man called David. But in walking through those chapters, we’re going to explore God’s purpose for our lives, especially in this messy and giant-filled world in which we live. And I’ll explain the giants come next week. But just for a moment, just let the word go in. So the series title is Giant Busters. Forgive me, those busters. I’m going to do a little bit of slaying a few giants that come at us in life and sometimes can put a veil over what God’s purpose is for my life. And I get so focused on the giants that I don’t see God and what God is doing in my life. So we’ll talk about those in the weeks to come. But today, what I’d like us to do is to focus on working on that purpose needs faith and trust. That faith that says, Hebrew says, is to see the things that I don’t see, to trust the things that I hope in, and to know that all of these things are true in my life. Sometimes I think we lose a little bit of sight of that, of how God is working, and how amazing God is in our lives. So today we’re going to go to 1 Samuel 16, but I’m not going to read yet. Let me give you a little background before we get there. So God brings these people out of Egypt, puts them into the promised land, and they settle in the land. Initially it goes well because Joshua’s still hanging around, but after that we go read the last chapter of Joshua, and then the beginning of Judges. It said they served God during the time of Joshua, and then some of the elders. And then after that, they kind of just didn’t serve the Lord anymore. It kind of got a little messy. So every now and then, God would send a leader, tribal leader. We call them the Judges. The book of Judges is a book, and I always joke about that. I said it’s like a motorcycle. We know the motorcycles around here. We call them Harley-Davidson’s. The book of Judges is a motorcycle called seven cycles. So that’s seven cycles that are all the same. People mess up. God sends a nation to go put them in their place. They repent of their sins. God sends a judge, and they live in peace again. Cycle. Then they mess up again. God sends a people. They say they’re sorry. God sends a judge, and they live well again. Seven cycles. So it’s the Judges help them, but it kind of doesn’t work that well. They start looking around, and they think, but the other people have kings. So they go to Samuel, who is their judge and their prophet as well. When we use the word judge, it’s not the one with the gavel. It’s the one who guides them. He’s their judge and their prophet, and they say, Samuel, we want a king, and Samuel goes to God. He says, they don’t like me anymore. They now want the king. God says, no, no, no, you got that wrong. It’s me that they’re not trusting anymore, because I’ve always been their king. But to tell them they can have a king, but he’s going to put taxes on them. He’s going to make them work for him. He’s going to take their land. Their children have to go to work for him. Samuel goes back. He says, you don’t want a king. This is what he’s going to do. They say, we want a king. God says, fine. Go and anoint this man called Saul. Saul, this amazing, strong, attractive young man, and initially starts off well, and he does well. But slowly but surely, Saul starts falling into all kinds of things. He starts wars that he shouldn’t. Then he starts the taxes. Then he starts using their kids. Then he takes their land. But the worst is, slowly but surely, he drifts away from the Lord, and he does not follow the ways of the Lord. And God decides to reject Saul’s kinship. And he says to Samuel, you’re going to go and anoint another king. That’s where we pick up the story. First Samuel 16, and we start verse 1. The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I’ve chosen one of his sons to be king. But Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me. The Lord said, take a heifer with you and say, I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate. Can we just pause there for a second? I want you to note something really important in what we just read. When Samuel goes and he anoints this new king, remember Saul is still on the throne. Saul is still the king. So this man, and by now it’s not a secret anymore, it’s David. This David that is going to be anointed to be the new king is going to have to wait a long time before that anointing is going to be realised in his life. Why is that important? Because here’s the thing, in our faith walk every day, God’s calling in our life, God’s purpose in our life, God has placed it there. But often God will ask of us, why are we not good at t
Sep 10

September 7

by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/10190443/September-7-Sermon-1.mp3 Luke 5:1-11 Jesus Calls His First Disciples 5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Good morning, No no. Thank you, I appreciate that, but you make me blush. I don’t like that. It’s good to see you. It’s good to be back. Thank you, Alexander. One day you’ll get it right. I think we reached the goal. I think we got a few donations during the week, so I think we hit the thousandth, and I am so, so grateful for that. Thank you for your grace, the way in which you can care for other people as well. What a wonderful, wonderful place this is. It’s always caring and giving and looking out for others. Let me, let me pray with you. Father, you are so good, and we live from the goodness of God. David got it right when he said, your goodness and your mercy follow me all the days of my life. We can’t get away from it long, even if we try. It keeps on following us. Thank you that we may live in that goodness. And then this morning again, as we break your word together, our prayer is that we will see Jesus, and only Jesus. Amen. I’m going to talk a little bit about following Jesus today. Now, now here’s the thing. Sometimes I think many of us, and many folks, and even many churches get this wrong, because when we speak about following, all of a sudden it becomes this obligation. I kind of have this chart on the fridge, and it’s got these little blocks, and I have to tick these little blocks. I did this, I did this, I did this, I did this, I’m okay. But if we look at the disciples, the first followers of Jesus, the picture is completely the opposite of that. For them, following Jesus was no obligation, despite the fact that they had to make many sacrifices to do that. They wanted to follow Jesus, but not out of obligation, but because they wanted an intimate relationship with him, being in his presence, learning from him, not doing something for God, but doing life with God, growing closer, and closer, and closer, and closer to Jesus, and looking more and more like Jesus. How do we do that? How do we get so close in this when we follow Jesus? Well, I’m going to look at a passage, and Alexander just showed me this morning. He has a new programme that every sermon I preach, he’s got the text there, and when he hits the button, it shows him exactly how many times I’ve preached on that same passage. It’s the truth. You can go look there, and I said, well, Alexander, today if you go look for this chapter, you might find it about six, seven, or eight times, only twice. I’ve preached it way more than that. This is one of my favourite passages. Have you written this one up as the one for my funeral as well? Luke chapter five. It’s one of my favourite, favourite passages. I just love it. It’s such a beautiful moment. One day, as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. Now, I think I told you this before, too. Lake of Gennesaret is the Sea of Galilee. It’s called Lake of Gennesaret in Hebrew, Yam Kineret. In Hebrew, Kineret means a harp, and when you look at the Sea of Galilee from above, it looks like a harp, so they call it the Lake of the Harp. That’s what Lake Gennesaret means, but it’s the Sea of Galilee. One day, as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the Word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore, and then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When it finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything, but, and there’s your biblical but, but because you say so, I will let down the nets. And when they’d done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, go away from me, Lord. I’m a cynical man. For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they’d taken, and so were James and John, or actually Jacob, remember I told you, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. And then Jesus said to Simon, don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people. And so they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed them. Talking about following Jesus, I want us to notice a few things from this passage about following, getting closer to Jesus. First thing, growing closer to Jesus requires us to listen carefully. When I say that, it’s not something new, but we also know that from our own relationship. If we do not listen to each other in our relationship, it will break down. There’s no question about that. Maybe one of the best examples of that is what’s going on right now between us and our neighbour down south. When you don’t listen, relationships just fall apart, and they can’t work, and we grow further and further apart from each other. Same thing with our relationship with Jesus. If we want to follow Jesus and grow closer to him, it starts by listening to him. But here’s the cool thing about listening to Jesus. In that situation of sitting with him, listening to him, it creates this safe space in which I can also ask my questions. Those difficult ones like, Lord, I’m trying so hard to walk with you. Why I struggle and I stumble? Can I make it? Questions like, I just don’t know if I can be with you. I just don’t feel safe. Or maybe saying, will you give me time? I just need to listen. You know what? Going close needs that moment to listen, because here’s the cool thing and the amazing thing. That’s what prayer is all about. We think often that prayer is me doing a lot of this. Actually, it’s doing a lot of this. And listen. Because we’ll talk, and we’ll say, and we’ll ask, but how many times do we stop, and we’re just quiet, and we just sit, and we just listen so that God can answer, so that God can speak back? Because only when I listen and I allow him to speak back into my life can I hear what he’s trying to say to me, where he’s trying to guide me, where he’s trying to take me, so that I can grow in that relationship with him. Please, take time to listen. Sometimes you don’t want to listen, because the things he says are really difficult. Right now, I’m going through a really difficult time thinking of my mother in South Africa alone, because she’s really struggling, and she has no one anymore. I struggle because I had to listen. Lord said, pack it up and go. It’s a place called Central, but I need you. We had to pack up and go. Sometimes we don’t want to listen, but in listening, this is how we grow in him, and in your faith, walk with him, and in following. There’s a second thing. So, Jesus preaching, looks around, sees the boats, gets into one of the boats, and he says to Peter, push it out from shore. I’m going to preach. He sits down, and he preaches. Now, usually, when we look at this, we look at this moment from Jesus’ perspective. He’s standing there on the shore. The crowd’s getting bigger, bigger. They’re pushing him further and further, right up into the water, and then he needs a place to kind of get into. He gets in the boat, so he gets a little bit away, and of course, the water will amplify the voice as it goes out to the people. I don’t want to go to that perspective this morning. I want to go to the different perspective of one of these disciple guys, which by then was not disciples. It was just a bunch of fishermen. Just think for a moment from their perspective. They were out on those boats the whole night trying to catch fish because that’s how they feed their family. That’s how they make a living. That’s how they feed other people. They come back disappointed. They didn’t catch a single fish, so they get the nets ready because they have to go out again tonight, and hopefully, there will be a catch. I’m sure in their minds, it’s like, let’s clean these nets. Let’s get them in the boats. Let’s just get home, have something to eat, go to bed, and get ready for tonight. That’s when Jesus says, get me in the boat, please. What a talk.
Sep 3

August 30

by Jim Hetherington https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/03104103/August-30-Sermon.mp3 Luke 9:18-26 Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah 18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” 19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” 20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” Jesus Predicts His Death 21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Ephesians 2:8 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Just while we’re getting ready to worship this morning, again, we’re going to be joined by Jim Hetherington, a kale and quinoa salad loving speaker, who is also a Guinness World Record holder. So, we are truly blessed this morning. Jim. Oh my goodness, the things that people say and talk about. So, I do have to highlight the Guinness World Records attempt. That was so much fun. I haven’t had a chance to share with many of you, so I had this great idea about a year and a half ago to attempt a Guinness World Records attempt. So, what it was, was the most authors in the same book gathered in the same room and signed that book at the same time. So, the current record, or the previous record, was 126, and it was set in Toronto about six years ago, and for some reason, I couldn’t be there. I wasn’t able to be a part of it. I always thought it would be a great thing to do, so I started to reach out to Guinness, and there’s a lot you got to go through. There’s a lot of gatekeepers that you got to go in before you finally get an interview and get to talk with someone, and I think in the email threads, I think in the one email thread, I think I have about almost 80, about 78 emails back and forth. That’s how much dialogue went back and forth, and that’s not to mention the adjudicator and the follow-up people and everything, so it was just a lot of work. So, we had 183 people became part of this book. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to round up 183 people before. It was a challenge in itself, just to get the content from everybody to put into the book, and so on the day of the event, 142 of them actually showed up and were part of it, and so we had the adjudicator come in, we sat around tables, and we put a copy of the book that everybody was in on the table, and then he went around, verified who they were to make sure they were in the book, so we couldn’t just have, you know, Betty come in off the street. She had to be in the book. She had to be part of the book. We had to make the book available to the public, so 30 days before the event, we had to have it on Amazon, available to the public, so that we could sell copies of it. We had to sell a minimum of 100 copies of the book before the event. I mean, there was just a lot of fun stuff that we had to do, so when he went through and verified everybody, he said, okay, sign, and so everybody signed the book and passed it to the next person around the table, so we ended up with all these books, and so he came out a little bit later after he calculated everything, went with the witnesses that verified it all, and came out and said yes, that we had indeed set a new Guinness World Record of 142 authors signing the same book simultaneously, which was a lot of fun. It was just a lot of fun, so that’s something else I get to add to my resume, which is just so much fun, so anyways, that’s not why I’m here. I was looking for the stool of repentance. I know it’s hiding here someplace. I’m going to steal it from, I don’t know who was sitting on it, but they’re not sitting on it any longer, so I thought I’d start with, this isn’t the normal stool, but this will work. This one’s padded. This is even better, so I thought I’d start with the stool of repentance because I got a confession to make. There’s three things that I dislike. Wasting energy, wasting time, and wasting money. Anybody in any of those categories with me? I see some hands. Yes, I see hands going. I bet you it’s the money thing, right? Most people are like, oh, I wish I didn’t spend it on that. I could have got it five cents cheaper if I wouldn’t gone down the street, right? How many here drive, you know, 10 miles to go save two cents on a litre of gas? Anybody want to? Oh, we got a couple. We got a couple to do this. I think that’s hilarious, but you know, just one of those things that I’ve just noticed over time as I’ve matured, that’s code for old, getting older, as I’ve matured that, you know, those three things are really valuable and important to me, and I don’t know if it’s because, you know, we all know we have an expiration date, right? We don’t know what that expiration date is, but we know we got one, and I think as we get more mature and a little wiser with our years, we start to look at those things and we say, wow, I gotta stop wasting time. I gotta stop wasting so much money. I gotta stop wasting so much energy. I mean, how many people here have walked into the kitchen and forgotten what you went in there for, right? Then you have to walk back out again, go back into the room, come back in again, and try it all over again. That’s just a waste of energy, isn’t it? And say, you know, and with time, you know, with time, I audit my time every once in a while. Anybody else audit their time occasionally? Oh, I got no, I got no hands. Good, then you’re going to enjoy this lesson today. So, I audit my time every once in a while. I look down, and I started to teach this with my community because I calculated, you know, we got seven days a week, right? Everybody’s got seven days. We agree on that. We got 24 hours in a day, right? That equals 168. So, we got 168 hours every week. So, every once in a while, I’ll sit down with my timer. Okay, Jimmy, you got 160 hours. What did you do with it? And then I’ll start to backtrack what I’ve done, you know, with sleeping and spending time, and, you know, devotions, and reading, and studying, spending time with Mary, doing all those different things, and I begin to calculate it. Well, the first time I did it a number of years ago, I was missing seven hours. Anybody ever lose seven hours of time? I mean, I hunted all over the place trying to figure out where that seven hours went, and I could not figure out where it went. And I calculated, or recalculated, and went back. I started at the beginning, and came backwards. I started the backwards, and started going forwards, and I could not find it. Finally, I realised that I was watching a little bit of Netflix, right? How many here love Netflix, or, you know, any of those? I mean, there’s some great series on there. There’s some great movies. There’s some great entertainment, and I love getting into, you know, another story. I just love stories. I love getting into other stories, and when they come to life in movies, or in dramas, in sitcoms, whatever it is, I just love getting into those things. Well, I discovered I was watching a few extra than I thought I was, right? I was writing down one. Well, apparently, I was two or three that I was watching, so then I thought, okay, I need to adjust that, so I took that, and I found what that seven hours was, and I adjusted it, and I got going. Earlier this year, I did the same thing. I did another audit, and this isn’t, you know, commissioned by CRA or anything. It was just an audit that I just do on my own, and so I started going through it, and I discovered again. Good old Netflix had snuck back in there, and now, instead of one or two, I was watching two or three, and they go, oh, well, what would happen if I took one of those hours and invested it someplace else? So, I began to do that. I took one hour away from Netflix. Bad Netflix. I took it away from Netflix, and I started to invest it in doing something different with it, and I began to do this daily. I would just invest this hour into something different, and so in two weeks, I’m going to launch another book. I was able to write a book going through just stealing an hour back from Netflix and investing it into researching and reading and rewriting and doing all that fun stuff. I’ve now got my book in. It’s getting formatted and ready to come out in a couple weeks, so then I thought, well, I should share this with others, and so in my community, I’m starting a 100 hour sprint, and it’s taking one hour and focussing it on something that we want to change, a goal or something we want to achieve, something we want to change, and doing it for 100 days, and so I’m saying that because if you ever thought about something that you want to do or something you want to accomplish, a goal that you’re not really achieving, you’re welcome to The only cost is the commitment to the time, committing to that one hour and doing that, so if you want to, come up and se
Aug 19

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
Aug 14

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
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
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
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

10 Episodes

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