Mountainview Church

Pastor Jolene Veenstra will present a message entitled “Learning from Two Church Fathers”, focused on the book of Job 6:21; 12:12; 21:18Late in the Gospel of John, Jesus addresses a strong, energetic, and even reckless apostle, Peter, and tells him of a day in his old age when he will stretch out his hands, and others will lead him where he does not want to go. In Job, we read of a father who is far from old, but the tragedy of circumstances suddenly ages him as he finds himself sitting on the ground in pain and misery. Friends who bring comfort suddenly turn to Job with instructions, lectures, and even harsh accusations. What can we learn from these two church fathers in scripture about ourselves, God, and life together?

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present a message entitled “A Gift with a Goal”, focused on the book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 1-14.Pentecost includes the sound of violent wind and tongues of fire. Clearly, it was a surprising and powerful event. Then the apostles speak in all kinds of languages. Again amazing. But, as with all of God's miraculous interventions, there was a purpose to what was going on that goes beyond the event itself. That purpose carries on for us today.

Erick Schuringa presents a message entitled “Jesus Will Be Back”, focused on the book of Acts chapter 1, verses 1-11.Jesus' disciples stared at the sky when he had ascended and disappeared. They are told that "he will be back". This anticipation shapes the way we live. For Ascension Sunday we will consider what it looks like to live looking forward.

Pastor Erick Schuringa presents a message entitled “The Wind Blows”, focused on the book of John, chapter 3 verses 1-8.This week we are considering children participating in communion. Communion feeds the new life we have in Christ; how that works is part of the beautiful mystery of faith that includes being born anew and blown about by the Spirit.

Pastor Erick Schuringa presents a message “Enter the Rest”, focused on Hebrews chapter 4, verses 1-11.Last week, we looked at the fifth commandment for Mother's Day. Now we will consider the fourth commandment, on Sabbath-rest, on this long weekend. Biblical rest is much deeper than not working. Hebrews 4 will help us see this.

Pastor Erick Schuringa presents a message “The Weight of Honour”, focused on Ephesians chapter 6 verses 1-3For this Mother's Day, we will consider what it means to honour parents. We may be surprised at some of the connections and implications this word "honour" has.

It's GEMS Sunday, and Pastor Erick Schuringa will present a message focused on their theme, “Transformed - From the Inside Out”. He will look at the book of Romans, chapter 12, verses 1&2.As we celebrate our GEMS girls' club ministry, we look at their theme of transformation. Even while we do a lot of teaching and guiding, we ultimately believe that the transformation happens when God's Spirit gets inside us and reshapes our thinking.

Easter Celebration Service with Pastor Erick Schuringa. He will be looking at the book of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 1-10.Easter is our celebration of newness, life, restoration and hope. We gather to sing praise, share testimony and pay attention to all the ways God is bringing new life among us. As part of our service of celebration we will witness the sacrament of Baptism with the Schmidt familiy and celebrate Holy Communion.

We will have a Tenebrae service “a service of shadows” focussed on Isaiah 53. During the service we will celebrate the Lord's Supper.On Good Friday, we gather to remember and feel the depth of suffering that Jesus experienced on the journey to and on the cross. This year we focus on how Jesus was rejected by us. We pay attention to our painful part in that and to his incredible love.

Pastor Erick Schuringa continues our Lenten Journey with the 6th message in our Lent Series “Come to the Living Rock” entitled “Living Stones” He will be looking at passages from Luke 19:28-44; 1 Peter 2:4-10.Palm Sunday connects with our Lent rock theme. Jesus talks about stones crying out and temple stones dissembled. In 1 Peter we hear of living stones assembling to praise God. We will also witness the sacrament of Baptism with the Dobson Family.

Pastor Erick Schuringa present the 5th message in our Lent Series “Come to the Living Rock” entitled “Soften Stone Hearts” He will be looking at passages from Jeremiah 31:31-34 and 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 The two passages for this week share the beautiful image of having God's truth written on our hearts. But how does this happen? What do we do to best become a community of people "competent as ministers" as Paul says?

Pastor Erick Schuringa present the 5th message in our Lent Series “Come to the Living Rock” entitled “Soften Stone Hearts” He will be looking at passages from Jeremiah 31:31-34 and 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 The two passages for this week share the beautiful image of having God's truth written on our hearts. But how does this happen? What do we do to best become a community of people "competent as ministers" as Paul says?

Pastor Erick Schuringa present the 3rd message in our Lent Series “Come to the Living Rock” entitled “Rebellion” He will be looking at passages in Genesis 11:1-9; Exodus 32:1-7.For the third Sunday of Lent we will consider these two old stories from another time that are strikingly relevant to our journey today, We may not have an urge to build a tall tower or to form a gold calf, but the heart impulse behind those moves challenge us still today.

Pastor Erick Schuringa present the 2nd message in our Lent Series “Come to the Living Rock” entitled “Build on the Foundation” He will be looking at passages in Luke 6:46-49; 1 Corinthians 3:11.For the second Sunday of Lent we will consider the passages that each of us have been reflecting on for our Guided Prayer Journey. They cause us to wonder about what it looks like to build on the foundation of Jesus the Word.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will begin our Lent Series “Come to the Living Rock with a message entitled “Watch & Pray” He will be looking at the book of Matthew chapter 26 verses 36-46.Lent (the 40 days before Easter) this year will be a time for Guided Prayer. For the first Sunday of this season we will both practice the main activity of Guided Prayer and reflect on what this journey is all about. Jesus retreat for prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane will be our guide.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will lead us in a special service celebrating our Friendship Ministry with a message entitled “God Loves and Cares for His People .” He will be looking at Genesis chapter 50, verses 15-21.The story of Joseph is full of ups and downs, great acts and horrible deeds. Through it all the message is clear: God is with us and is working things out for his purposes in the end.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present a message on “Witnessing.” He will be looking at Acts 1:8; 2:32,33; 5:32. (this is the part where we listen to what God wants us to hear today) When we hear the word "witnessing" many of us think about telling people about our faith. However, prior to telling there is a step that is more in keeping with the term witness. That step is to see, observe and experience. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the experience of God that shapes our words and ways of being going forward.

Pastor Erick will share a message concluding “The Fullness of Time” series. He'll be focusing on Matthew chapter 1 verses 19-25.This year we celebrate the birth of Jesus in the fullness of time. Matthew's version of the story picks up themes from the Old Testament and gives hints of themes that will carry through the Gospel. As we remember the moment of Jesus' birth, we also see how he is the fullness for all times.

Pastor Brady DeBoer continues our Advent Series “In The Fullness of Time” with the third message entitled “Exile: Ezra-Nehemiah”. He will be looking at the book of various passage from books of Ezra-Nehemiah (passages will be shown on screen they come up through the message).We will walk through a retelling of the (conjoined) story of Ezra-Nehemiah as the Exile comes to an end. Will this new era of Israelites learn from their ancestors' mistakes?

Pastor Erick Schuringa continues our Advent Series “In The Fullness of Time” with the second message entitled “David: The Anointed One”. He will be looking at the book of 1 Samuel, chapter16, verses 1-13.We started with Father Abraham and now we move to King David. He was anointed to be the next king and filled with the Holy Spirit. These are some of the ways that his life points ahead to Jesus.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present a message titled “Boast in Hope”. He will be looking at the book of Romans chapter 5 verses1-5.There are many loaded terms in these five verses: justified, faith, peace, grace, hope, glory. But what is it all about? Read the verses and summarize them for yourself. A hint of what Pastor Erick sees as the heart of the matter is in the title "boast in hope."

Pastoral Care Pastor Jolene Veenstra will present a message titled “Return to Me”. She will be looking at the book of Zechariah, Chapter One, Verse Three.When I was younger I first thought repentance was feeling badly for what you've done and saying you're sorry. Then I learned in church that it is a 180* march away from what you are doing in the opposite direction. It's only in seminary that I learned what I now see as the most important part of repentance. Repentance is an embrace.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present at Thanksgiving message titled “A Thank Offering”. He will be looking at Leviticus 7:11-15; John 6:1-14; Mark 14:17-26.As we participate in Thanksgiving we are standing in a long biblical tradition of giving an offering of our thankfulness that leads to all out feasting.We will also be celebrating the Lord's Supper.

Pastor Erick Schuringa presents the 4th message in the “Just Love” series. “Patient and Kind”. He will be looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4a.With many of our children present with us in the service, we will learn how well we know the ideas of patience and kindness - child's play really. Then we will spend time reflecting on how to make these difficult-to-do characteristics grow within us.

Pastoral Care Pastor Jolene Veenstra will present the 3rd message in the “Just Love” series. “What's In It For Me”. She will be looking at 1 Corthinians, Chapter 3, verse 13.Love is not self-seeking, right? So why does this passage encourage us to think of what we might "gain" when feeding the poor and giving of ourselves? Just what is Paul trying to say here?

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present the 1st message in the “Just Love” series. “Love with Gifts”. He will be looking at a number of passages in the book of 1 Corthinians Chapters 12:1-6, 27-31; 13: 1-2; 14:1-5.When someone has great ability we often give them much trust and power. This has failed miserably on more than a few occasions. The Bible instructs us to assess gifts not on the basis of power, but on the basis of the love that shapes them.This morning we will also have the privilege of witnessing the baptism of Elliot.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present the 1st message in a new series entitled “Just Love”. “Magnum Opus”. He will be looking at a number of passages 1 Corinthians 12:31b; John 13:34,35; Romans 13:8-10; 1 John 4:7-12.The Bible's basic message is "Jesus loves me" just like the children's song says. But what is love exactly? And how does it grow? And how does it relate to boundaries, rules and power? We begin our fall season conversation around these questions.

Pastoral Intern Brady DeBoer will present a message titled “Kingdom Investment”. He will be looking at the book of Matthew Chapter 25, verses 14-30.Jesus tells another parable about life in the Kingdom of Heaven. How do we faithfully steward what God has given us?

Pastor Erick will present a message titled “Provoked for Goodness”. He will be looking at the book of Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19-25.The Bible is full of encouragement to do things together, including a challenge to challenge each other to move in a positive direction. We will reflect on how this works.

Pastor Erick will present a message titled “Timothy, My Dear Son”. He will be looking at the book of Acts chapter 16 verses 1-5; 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 1-5Timothy from Lystra: the Bible gives us a few hints about Timothy's story. We will flesh that story out to see how this fringe kid from a small town became the pastor in a major centre.

Pastor Erick Shuringa will present a message titled “Gospel & Culture”. He will be looking at the book of Acts, chapter 14.When we watch Paul and Barnabas in the story of Acts we can learn many things about what happens when the gospel bumps into culture - any culture, including ours.

Pastor Erick Shuringa will present a message titled “People & Places”. He will be looking at the book of Acts, chapter 13.We begin a three week journey in Acts by looking at the who and where of Paul's first missionary journey. Knowing more of the backstory of the characters and the details of the cities helps us understand what was going on.

Pastoral intern Brady DeBoer will present Sunday's message titled “Holy Self-talk”. He will be looking at the book of Psalms Chapter 42 & 43.Psalms 42 & 43 are a package deal. The psalmist writes about how distant they feel from God. Their internal dialogue tells them to give up, but they fight to put their hope in God and praise him, despite their current struggles.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present Sunday's message titled “Come In Jesus”. He will be looking at the book of Revelation chapter 3 verses 14-22.We will look at the letter to the church in Laodicea and see how the words written connect with the features and customs of the town. Jesus transforms the specific things of their world and experience and challenges them to lean on him to receive something they can't build for themselves.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present Sunday's message titled “The Faithfulness of Christ”. He will be looking at the book of Philippians chapter 3 verses 7-14.Paul tells his repentance story on a few occasions. Here he tells it in a way that emphasizes how he let Jesus Christ replace all kinds of things that he used to hold onto as his strength. We can consider our own story in the same way.

Pastor Jolene Veenstra will present Sunday's message titled “Family Matters”. She will be looking at the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1-12.Paul's letters were spiritual food for the churches he ministered to and are spiritual food for us as well. In 1 Thessalonians, the solid food he gives us has to do with our relationship to one another in the family of Christ. Paul described himself, Silas, and Timothy as children, mothers, fathers, and siblings to this diverse and new church--and then asks the Thessalonians to imitate them. Being a spiritual family bound the new community together as they resisted pressure from without and division from within.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present Sunday's message titled “Not a Coconut”. He will be looking at passages in Galatians 5:22; Matthew 14:22-33.Jesus is our example of a healthy human. In his ministry we can assume he worked out of the fruit of the Spirit. We will pay attention to how that plays out in the events around Jesus (and Peter) walking on the water.

Pastor Erick Schuringa will present Sunday's message titled “Fellow Citizens”. He will be focusing on the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11-22 Right after the beloved passage about "it is by grace you have been saved" Paul deals with the real scandal of the early church - the inclusion of the outsiders (Gentiles). This is a very different issue from our connection with the indigenous people of Canada. However, there is an overlap on such themes as citizenship, reconciliation and peace. We will focus on those.

Our Pastoral Intern Brady DeBoer will present the third message in the Daniel series. He will be focusing on the book of Daniel Chapter 6.Daniel's integrity causes jealousy among his political rivals and they use his faithfulness to God against him. They trick the king into condemning Daniel to a horrible death of being eaten by lions! Will Daniel allow them to get away with this? Will God?