First Things First

Download: Audio

Click here to read the sermon.

 

Sermon notes:

At the 6:56 mark, we stood in silence for 215 seconds, in honour of those who died and who survived the Residential Schools in Canada. As you listen to this sermon, it may be worthwhile to do the same. We have not left a 215 second gap in the sermon recording.

Scripture

John 15:15

I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

Psalm 63:1 – 8

O God, you are my God; I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Read more… 

Looking to Sunday

by Elaine Poproski

Do you remember January of this year? It seems so very long ago, doesn’t it? We were still meeting only over Zoom. A new Covid variant – the Omicron variant – had once again shut things down. And as a church we were beginning to think about what it means to be God’s friends and to look at various Spiritual Disciplines as tried-and-true practices for growing our friendship with God. As we began, I invited you to meditate on the opening words of Psalm 42, which read,

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Take a moment to read those words out loud a few times. Read them slowly, so you can really hear them. These are personal words. Are they your words? Do you long for God? Do you thirst for God?

This week, near the beginning of our service, we’re going to read some of Psalm 63. It opens this way:

O God, you are my God; I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

As you read these words, are they yours? Do you long for God the way the psalmist does? As you prepare for Sunday, perhaps spend some time reflecting on these words, asking God to make the psalmist’s longing yours.

Also, as you prepare for Sunday, it would be great if you could read chapter 1 of How to Revive Evangelism. In this chapter we’re reminded that anything we might do for God must begin with us being with God. We’re reminded that throughout history, all the great revivals began with personal renewal. The author writes this: “In some counterintuitive sense, we have to release the hope for many to know him or show up in our churches and instead take the required time to ensure the richness of hunger in our own hearts… Nothing of lasting impact will come apart from us seeking deeper intimacy with Jesus.”[1]

[1] Craig Springer. How to Revive Evangelism. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Reflective, 2021), 26.