Tag: roland de vries
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celebrating water…
This past Sunday we marked earth day with a creation focus – specifically, on water. The service included this photographic presentatino, wtih cameos from a number of our friends and members. The music is ‘Wavy Glass’, in the creative commons from Podington Bear:
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Palm Sunday Reflections
I am among you as one who serves. In abstract – in general, we can get our heads around this idea. Sure, Jesus is one who serves. Jesus washes feet. Jesus touches the leper. Jesus heals a sick child. Jesus provides food for the hungry crowd. In the abstract – in general we can get…
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who are you, really?
My sermon from this past Sunday – the first Sunday in Lent. __________________________ Do you know who you are? Perhaps this strikes you as an odd question. Of course I know who I am. I can answer the question by telling my story. I can tell you about my parents, about my history, my education,…
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the weight of glory
A sermon preached this past Sunday, on the transfiguration of Jesus. In this sermon I have relied on the insights of various people, including N.T. Wright, Timothy Keller, and Barbara Brown Taylor. ______________________ Have you ever had a mountaintop experience? You have worked hard for something; you’ve put in time and energy – perhaps days…
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for real
At our Jazz Vespers this weekend, the theme will be (in advance of February 14th) Love. Yes, in a playful way at first, and then reaching toward more substance, too. We will read a few poems by Micheal O’Siadhail’s Love Life during the vespers. One that we won’t read, but which is wonderfully simple, is…
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Considering Forgiveness…
In January I will be teaching a course in the McGill Faculty of Religious Studies. It is entitled Contemporary Theological Issues, which is to say that the actual content of the course was actually somewhat open-ended. After considering several possible topics, I landed on the topic of forgiveness and reconciliation. In the process of considering and…
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Dare we sing the Magnificat?
My sermon from this past Sunday – the fourth Sunday in Advent. ________________________ Exuberant. It’s a wonderful word, isn’t it? Exuberant. It’s one of those words that carry their meaning so well. Even to say the word ‘exuberant’ is almost to be lifted into exuberance. The Mirriam Webster dictionary offers the following definition of the…
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Soundboards and Spinach
I offered the following reflection at our Jazz Vespers this past weekend. I have borrowed heavily for this from Jeremy Begbie’s book Resounding Truth. ____________________________ In his wonderful book Resounding Truth, Christian theologian and musician Jeremy Begbie reminds us that within the Christian tradition the world is not…
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Questioning our church
An article of mine, published in this month’s Presbyterian Record. The Record’s online version is here. ___________________ During my years within the Presbyterian Church in Canada, I have noticed we have a bad habit when it comes to our use of the possessive pronoun in the first person plural—that’s right, with the word “our.” Whether…
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He Suffered
A sermon preached today in a continuing series on the Apostles’ Creed. _____________________ I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the virgin Mary, and who suffered under Pontius Pilate. Suffered under Pontius Pilate. Suffered. The narrative of Mark’s gospel…
encrusted words 