How God Guides Us - #2: His Compelling Spirit - August 24, 2025
How does God guide you? #5 was Confirming Signs. #4 was Common Sense. #3 is the Counsel of Saints. That brings us to #2 in our countdown: God’s Compelling Spirit. We read John 15: 26, 27 and John 16: 12-15. Let’s discover God’s purpose for our lives!
Discussion Questions:
1. Where has the Holy Spirit been at work in your life?
2. How might you join in where you have seen the Spirit at work?
3. Have you ever felt a nudge to reach out to someone? How did you respond?
How God Guides Us - #3 Counsel of Saints - August 17, 2025
How does God guide you? God will use godly people to help you figure out his purposes for you. Let’s call it, the “Counsel of the Saints.” We read Proverbs 1: 1-7. During he month of August we are sitting around tables so that we can spend a bit of time discussing today’s message. During this service we will be sharing the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
Discussion Questions:
1. Have you ever received bad advice?
2. Have you ever received good advice that helped you figure out God’s will?
3. Have you ever offered advice to someone? How did that go?
How god Guides Us - #4 Common Sense - August 10, 2025
How does God guide you? As image bearers of God, God has “put his law in our minds.” We can use our Common Sense to discern God’s purposes for us. We read Jeremiah 31: 31-37. During the month of August we will be sitting around tables so that we canspend a bit of time discussing today’s message.
Discussion Questions:
1. What do you love to do? Where do you find your deep gladness?
2. How has your passion (what you love to do) blessed others? Or, how could it bless others?
3. When might our common sense not be enough?
4. Has God ever called you to do something you are NOT good at, or that you don’t love to do? How did you respond?
5. What do you think will be the #1 and 2 ways that God guides us?
How God Guides Us - #5 Confirming Signs - August 3, 2025
How does God guide YOU?? During the month of August, our sermons series will look at the various ways God guides our decisions. These services will include a time of discussion, led by some of our youth. The sanctuary has been set up so that we can sit around tables for the month. This Sunday we will read about someone who asked for a sign: Gideon. We will read Judges 6: 1-16, 34-36: Confirming Signs.
Lavish Love - July 27, 2025
Lavish love. That’s what God gives us – over-the-top, overflowing, too good to imagine. We read from I John 3: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us…”
The Jesus Experiment - July 20, 2025
Jesus offers his followers a “rich and satisfying life.” In his book, The Jesus Experiment, Bill Perkins sets out to test the validity of that promise. What brings a smile to your face? We read I John 2: 12-17. We will share the communion meal during this service.
Dark and Stormy Night - July 13, 2025
This is the message we have heard: God is light. That's what it says in 1 John 1:5. We can move out of that "Dark and Stormy Night" into God's light. We read 1 John 1:5-7 and 2:7-11. During the service we vote to acclaim Beth as our new deacon.
A Good Lawyer - July 6, 2025
A word to the wise: get a good lawyer. And you really need a good lawyer if you are guilty. We read I John 1:5 – 2: 6 and discover that we have the best advocate ever.
"Ifs and Buts" - June 29, 2025
"Ifs and Buts" - there's a whole list of them in the opening verses of 1 John. We turn to this short book of the Bible for our next sermon series A Word to the Wise. We read 1 John 1:1-2:2
The Lord is Good, Believe It! - June 22, 2025
We welcome Rev John Buschert to our pulpit. He has retired from serving in the Pentecostal Church and now lives in Cobourg with his wife Wilma. Pastor Rita is preaching in Port Perry on a classical appointment.
Think Big! - June 15, 2025
Today we celebrate Grace and Theo's graduation from Sunday School and hear from our youth who attended the All Ontario Youth Convention a few weeks ago. The message will encourage our students, and us, to "Think Big!", we read John 14:1-14. The communion meal will be shared during this service.
A Friendly Ghost - June 8, 2025
On this Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost. This Ghost is not scary at all! We read Acts 2: 1-13.
From Dust to Dust - June 1, 2025
Pastor Ryan is Director of the Clarington Youth program, which includes youth from several area churches, including our own.
So Tired - May 25, 2025
We will listen to one more of Jesus' "why" questions: "Why are you sleeping?" Luke 22:39-46. We also recognize that Ascension Day is on Thursday.
Good, Better, Best - May 18, 2025
Another of Jesus’ “Why” questions: “Why do you call me good?” What are we saying when we call Jesus “good?” During this service we will share the communion meal.
The Right Way - May 11, 2025
“Why” questions are the worst. Jesus asks a lot of “Why” questions, and each one hits close to home. Like this one: “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?” Jesus puts that question to the crowd around him. This Sunday we’ll read Luke 12: 54-59: Doing the Right
Those Annoying "Why" Questions, - May 4, 2025
“Why” questions are the worst. Jesus asks a lot of “Why” questions, and each one hits close to home. We’ll be looking at some of those “why” questions in the gospel of Luke, beginning with Luke 6: 46: “Why do you call me Lord?”
Swoop or Stoop - April 27, 2025
Why does a good God permit evil? It’s the question of Theodicy. While we just celebrated Christ’s victory, why do we still experience suffering and evil and death? We read Habakkuk 1:1-4, 12-2:3 as we consider this big question.
Recognized - Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025
He is Risen! This morning we celebrate the resurrection! We will read Luke 24: 13-35 – “Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.” We will be flowering the cross and sharing the communion meal.
A Very Public Appearance - April 13, 2025
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. He is present that day and he is present whenever we share the communion meal – “I in them.” We read John 6: 53-59 and John 12: 13-15. As the crowds came forward to welcome Jesus on that first Palm Sunday, we will come out of our seats to share the communion meal.
You Gotta Eat - April 6, 2025
You have to eat! That’s a pretty basic message. We eat to survive, to be strong, and healthy. The Lord’s Supper too, is a meal that makes us stronger and healthier. We read John 6: 35-53 where Jesus tells us that he is the Bread of Life. We will share the communion meal during the service.
The March 30 service was recorded on a computer due to the Ice Storm that kept many people at home. The recording was edited from the original to only include usable footage. May you all be blessed by the service.
Sharpening our Memory Skills - March 30, 2025
How is your memory? The Lord’s Supper helps us to remember. We continue our Lenten Sermon series that focuses on the Communion meal. We will read I Corinthians 11: 23-27 and we will again share the communion meal.
The Family that Eats Together... - March 23, 2025
The family that eats together…. In this second message of our “Happy Meal” series, we see how we are one with Jesus, and, when we eat together, we are one body. We share the communion meal, sharing one loaf. We read I Corinthians 10: 14-17; 23-11: 1.
We are Family - March 16, 2025
In our first message of Lent, we begin our “Happy Meal” sermon series: You are Family! We’ll consider “who” gets to participate in the family’s communion meal as we explore the meaning of covenant. We read Jeremiah 31: 31-34 and Mark 14: 22-25. During the service we will hear the public profession of faith of Clayton Magnus and celebrate the baptism of his and Jennie’s daughters, Everlee and Lorelei. The communion meal will be shared during the service.
Praying Alone - March 9, 2025
We welcome Pastor Mike Vanderlaan to Grace Church. Pastor Mike lives in Kingston and attends Westside Church, where his wife, Pastor Jana, serves as pastor. Pastor Rita is on a classical appointment assignment in Port Perry.
A Whole Lot of People - March 2, 2025
This is the final message of our series on Ancestry.com. In this 10th Toledoth, we discover again, that God has a plan. We read Genesis 37:2-11 and 50:18-20. God's plan is for a "Whole Lot of People!" (Apologies for the sound issues - they resolve during the Children's Message, around 20 minutes in.)
Lead the Way! - February 23, 2025
This morning we celebrate our Cadets boys’ club. We will focus on their theme verse, I Timothy 4:12 – Lead the Way!
An Amazing Transformation! - Feb 9, 2025
This morning our service highlights our GEMS girls’ club. The message is based on their theme verse, Romans 12: 2-- Transformed: Changed by God’s Word from the Inside Out.
Sweet Little Lies - February 2, 2025
The family tree of Isaac is a mess. We find the 8th Toledoth in Genesis 25:19 – This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. We turn to Genesis 27 and a story of deception. We are reminded again, that the message of grace through Jesus is “deceptively simple.”
Seeing and Hearing - January 26, 2025
Ancestry.com brings our history to life. We are so much more than names and dates. We turn to the 6 th Toledoth, Genesis 11: 27- “This is the account of Terah” and Abram and Hagar… We look at the stories of Hagar in Genesis 16 and 21. Our God sees and hears.
This is the account of....a God who Hurts - January 19, 2025
“This is the account of Noah and his family.” We find our third toledoth (we are skipping #2) in Genesis 6:9. It is also the account of a God who remembers. We will read excerpts from Genesis 6, 7, 8 and 9. We also share the communion meal this morning.
This is the Account of… - January 12, 2025
The Bible has its own version of Ancestry.com. Over the next few weeks we will be reading through the “Toledoths” that recount God’s dealings with his people. We begin at Genesis 2: 4-25. “This is the account of…”
Where Is He? And, How do I Get There? - January 5, 2025
Heaven: a bright, vibrant, and physical New Earth, free from sin, suffering, and death, and brimming with Christ's presence, wondrous natural beauty, and the richness of human culture as God intended it. The new heaven and the new earth are described in Revelation 21: 1-6.