Newmarket Alliance Church

Back to our series on the Book of Acts: "How to BE the Church" In our last "episode" of our Acts series, we saw that following the miraculous early growth of the first Church, some opposition starts to appear. It appears from the INSIDE (see Ananias and Saphira) and the attack is really starting to amp up from the religious OUTSIDE. Shouldn't the religious types all be on "Team Messiah"? Turns out there are many other conflicting loyalties and agendas at work. But as one of the most "religious of the religious" wisely says this week "If this is from God, there's nothing we can do to stop it". Amen to that!

You might already be sick of any talk of "resolutions" or "New Year's goals". You find the January 1 date an arbitrary timeline to make life changes. Why not make life changes in November or December if they're that important? The problem is that most of us don't spend the time in intentional reflection to even assess what changes need to happen... particularly in terms of character and spiritual growth. This Sunday will be an opportunity to consider just ONE facet from a list of 9 that may just make your path in 2025 a blessed one.

The birth of Jesus prompted some extreme responses. On one hand, there was an outpouring of worship, adoration and celebration... all to a baby boy. On the other hand, there was a narcissistic, genocidal, resentful response. Some may ask "Surely there's a third way? Some sort of measured response?" Maybe that's been part of our issue around Christmas: thinking of it as a nice, safe, innocuous story that doesn't have much of an effect on our day to day lives. So how are WE going to respond to this "first noel"?

This was NOT an "Instagram moment" Our nativity scenes have such a lovely Hallmark Christmas Card feel to them, one might forget (or never have heard) how desperate, dark and dismal the whole situation was. Don't get me wrong. The birth of Jesus was truly "good news of great joy" but the circumstances surrounding his birth were not "fit for a King"... quite the opposite. But all of this "mess" tells us something very important about the character of God.

I realize it's nice to picture baby Jesus as He is in our pristine Nativity sets: Jesus smiling with a little halo behind him. Lambs cuddling up to the baby in a well-lit, rustic but sterile setting. Mary and Joseph looking like a typical young adult couple hosting guests of mystics and shepherds, oblivious that a genocidal monster is in the process of hunting them down. In truth, the entire Christmas narrative was stark, bleak and fraught with drama and even danger. Come to think of it, OUR Christmases are often not "the most wonderful time of the year". But maybe the REAL, unfiltered story of Christmas gives us a more authentic look at the real people and problems we face and the hope of a very real God.

Our Study in Acts continues... Last Sunday we ended our narrative with an earthquake at a prayer meeting. The Church was experiencing unprecedented growth with miracles, power, sharing life together, and an incredible outpouring of generosity among the multitude of believers and beyond. But a dark cloud soon emerged, threatening to derail the growth of the early Church. What God does about this is shocking, but sets the Church on a clear course until Jesus returns. We do well in the 21st century to remember and pay heed!

Our Study in Acts continues... Peter and John were just jailed and berated, all for the "misdeed" of healing a man and proclaiming the good news of Jesus. Clearly, these two never felt alone amid this bullying: Jesus was with them, giving them courage and even the words to say to the authorities. They're about to be reminded that they are not alone in another significant way. The Church of Jesus Christ has their back!!

Our Study in Acts continues... Peter and John have just healed a lame man through the name and power of Jesus. The man is obviously ecstatic and the gathering crowd is curious now and open to the gospel. You'd think EVERYONE would want to carry these two disciples on their shoulders in a heroes' parade, but wouldn't you know it, there are powerful people who want them silenced and punished. You may have heard the expression "no good deed goes unpunished" and it starts to really apply to the first-century Church. Of course, we should expect some form of pushback to the ways of Jesus, who himself told us it would happen, but it's especially discouraging when it comes from the so-called religious set. The folks who should know better. So whether it's from the "world" or the religious powers that be, we the Church are going to need to be increasingly COURAGEOUS!

Our Study in Acts continues... As we've seen in the first few months of the Church's origin story, the Holy Spirit comes with wind and fire. It comes with the supernatural gift of speaking in other known languages for the purpose of proclaiming Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes with a new boldness to recently fearful disciples and a clear articulation of the gospel. The Holy Spirit comes with a harvest of souls. It comes with unity, fellowship, devotion, generosity and worship. The stakes keep getting higher. Now in Chapter 3 the Holy Spirit comes with POWER, and the whole city is about to take notice.

Our Study in Acts continues with guest speaker Tony Wong. If you have ever read the brief verses describing this early Church in Acts 2:42-47, perhaps your heart has sped up as mine has. THIS sounds like the Church we all long to be a part of... Deep community. Breaking bread together. Praying together. Sharing possessions and money for those among them in need. There was JOY. There was generosity. There was goodwill towards them from the city AND people were getting saved daily. That kind of Church IS possible. You'll be richly ministered to by Tony, who is looking to build this kind of Church as well.

Our Study in Acts continues... Remember that blustery fisherman dude with a temper, who 50 days prior had fearfully denied the Lord three times? He is beautifully forgiven and restored by Jesus over breakfast following His resurrection, and then before Jesus ascended to heaven, told him and the other disciples to WAIT... something exciting is going to happen that will fill you with courage and empower you for ministry. That same blustery fisherman - Peter - then stands up in front of thousands and ... well... it's the beginning of an unstoppable force called the Church of Jesus.

This following proposition may be controversial but here goes... Without the events of Acts 2, there is no Christianity. There. I said it. The Incarnation of Jesus proved He was a missionary to the world He created. The Cross proved His great sacrificial love and plan for salvation. The Resurrection proves the hope we have of eternal life and our enemy of death being ultimately defeated. The Ascension proves Jesus is truly Lord and King BUT I would submit without PENTECOST all of these events would be lost as footnotes of history if the good news didn't get OUT. It DID and it changed EVERYTHING

There might be as many opinions as there are people as to what it means to BE the Church and BE a true disciple Sometimes in the business world, when the organization begins to drift or lose their core values, there is a strategic effort to return to the founder's vision and template. I can't help but think our "Founder's" vision and values for The Church and for true discipleship can best be found in the unique book of Acts There isn't a boring page to be found and some of the narratives are so radical, one might ask "could this even happen in 2024?" Yes. I think it can. We are planning to dig deep into all 28 chapters and hope that you will join in the journey... perhaps by reading ahead, bringing your Bible & notebook, or most of all asking yourself every week: "How can I translate this first-century expression of being the Church into my 21st-century context for the sake of being Jesus' witness everywhere I go?"

Context is everything... Think of a simple word like "ball" 1. A cylindrical toy or sporting apparatus that most often bounces (noun) 2. A dance party where you dress in formal attire (noun) 3. To have a good time, as in, "we had a ball" (idiom) That's just one example, and we are typically adept at parsing out words depending on their context; but in a theological context what does it mean that both THE WORLD is an enemy of our soul AND that God so loved THE WORLD He gave His only son? How can it be something we are to both avoid AND engage with? How can it be we are to hate it AND make it our Mission? Join us for the conclusion to this series - Fight the REAL Enemy.

Pastor Glenn is only partly right. I (Jonathan) only hate MOST country music. There's one cowboy I hold in hallowed esteem... The "man in black"... Johnny Cash. A committed Christian, who had previously done some "hard livin' ”, Johnny wrote nuanced songs of faith AND of struggle. This is one of my favourites: The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars Restless by day and by night rants and rages at the stars God help the beast in me Sometimes it tries to kid me that it's just a teddy bear And even somehow manage to vanish in the air And that is when I must beware Of the beast in me A folksy take on an enemy we all live with - what the New Testament calls THE FLESH

As much as our inclination is to make PEOPLE our enemy, we actually remember that our battle is not against "flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12). The first of our real enemies is Satan. I realize in our modern world there are many - even Christians - who put as much credence in the Devil as they would in mythological villains like Medusa, Loki or "the Boogey Man". Unfortunately, Satan is very much real and at work in our world. Sometimes we may overestimate his power, but he is quite effective in one particular way. Learn how Jesus Himself combated the one He called "the accuser of our souls"

Some are uncomfortable with equating the Christian walk with "war" or "battle" imagery (while others are perhaps a little too comfortable with it). I assure you our Church forefathers had no such reservations. Make no mistake, we are in a FIGHT... a fight for souls! Unfortunately many are directing their resistance at the wrong foe... namely PEOPLE! Join us in the 4-week series to learn who the real enemies of our souls are and how to fight them!

There are many of you in our Church family living with long-term illness. Many of you live with, or love someone, suffering in this way. One thing is true for ALL of us. Everyone will be afflicted at some point in their life with an area of brokenness that needs healing. Physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. The secular sciences are finally recognizing that these aspects of our whole selves do not operate in silos. Body, mind and spirit are deeply interconnected. In fact, Scripture has always alluded to this interdependency. NAC's own Rachel Van Halteren understands the link between these aspects of our WHOLE selves. Through her own story of long-term illness and her vocational expertise in homeopathic and holistic health, you will be challenged and encouraged to think about your own healing journey differently.

We have never seen this kind of widespread cultural affliction of Anxiety & Depression. It is no respecter of age, race, gender or even whether you are a Christian or not. You may not struggle with it personally but you definitely know and love someone who does. Brett Ullman is part of the "walking wounded" and his story is both raw and hopeful.

"Yes, YOU!" In this brief wrap-up of our summer series "Get in the Game" we will talk about the last spiritual gift (and it's a doozy) and then I suppose the onus is on you... How has God uniquely wired you? What is your role in "the body"? What will it take for you to get off the sidelines and into the game?

"Get the FAMILY in the game" This long weekend we will have a short and engaging service for the whole family (children will be remaining in the service) which will include some games, some laughs, some prizes and an opportunity to receive Communion together with all the generations represented... the whole Church FAMILY! We'll also address one spiritual gift that maybe the kids could teach us a thing or two about...

"Get in the game" Power Gifts (part 2) Are you up for some more (as we referred to it last week) "weird stuff"? Do you believe that the prophecy of Joel and of Pentecost is being fulfilled in our day and generation? Do you believe that miracles can happen in 2024... not just theoretically, but that miracles could happen at NAC... even at any given moment? Do you have the kind of faith that truly believes - in our day - God can do increasingly more than we can even ask or IMAGINE, according to His POWER at work within US! Come join us this Sunday as we unpack three more spiritual gifts that YOU might possibly have. Off the sidelines and into the game!

Power Gifts Lately, have you heard people speak colloquially of someone's "superpower"? As in, "that's Jenny's superpower... staying calm in a crisis". It can even be used as a bit of a back-handed compliment; "That's just like Tony. His superpower is to turn the centre of attention back to him" What if I told you the Holy Spirit may, at times, give you real supernatural giftings? Things that can only be explained as an act of God. We are now getting into areas of this series that might make some uncomfortable or suspicious, and granted not all of these "Power Gifts" are necessarily dazzling or sensational, but each of them are used by God to demonstrate the power, presence, and reality of God. Off the sidelines and into the game!

"Get in the game" Part 2 of the "WORD" Gifts Somebody asked me (Jonathan) at our Alliance General Assembly this week what my favourite thing about being a pastor is. I thought for a second - and I realize the spiritual gifts series is kind of “on the brain” - but what I said is spiritual gifts have got to be in the top three. I love seeing people discover the unique way God has wired and gifted them, and the joy that comes with putting that calling to kingdom work. At the General Assembly, there was even a session with a panel discussing the great need for equipping the next generation, and not putting them on the sidelines in terms of meaningful Christian service. I thought “Pastors Kris and Glenn should be on that panel. They do it as well as anybody”. Come join us this Sunday as we unpack three more spiritual gifts that YOU might possibly have. Off the sidelines and into the game!

"There are two great moments in a person's life: the moment you were born and the moment you realize why you were born." —Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwel For the purposes of this series, you'll remember we've divided up the Spiritual Gifts into 3 categories. If the LOVE gifts (which we talked about last week) are more about the DOING, then the WORD gifts are more about the SAYING. Not just in terms of public giftings (preaching etc). Often these WORD gifts are happening in one-on-one relationships. In short, the WORD gifts clarify the nature, action and purposes of God. May this be another small step in helping you discover your position on "Team Jesus"

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. - Frederick Buechner As we said, all-y'all have been blessed through the Holy Spirit with unique spiritual gifts. For the purposes of this series, we've divided them up into 3 categories. This Sunday we start with the LOVE GIFTS These are the wonderful and necessary gifts in the Church that allow believers to express their love for God and for others in practical and sometimes overlooked ways. They are supportive gifts in the sense that they often build up what God is doing through leadership or more public gifts. Is that brief description already making your heart beat fast? You might be ready to get in the game!

A New Summer Series! It is not the critic who counts; not the one who points out how the strong one stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena. - Theodore Rosevelt There will always be those who sit on the sidelines. Those who fancy themselves as armchair quarterbacks. They offer critiques or appreciation but they are ultimately spectators. They are missing this joy of actually "getting in the game" This summer we're excited to see YOU discover the unique ways God has gifted and wired you. Every Christ-follower has been given one or more spiritual gifts that enable them to be real difference-makers in the Church and even the world. The thing is though, you gotta USE the gift you've been given. Not everyone can be the quarterback but EVERYONE has a vital role to play on "Team Jesus" It's time to get in the game!

Hey Jude! Here we are with ANOTHER letter that seems to be addressing yet another messed-up Church. In fact it seems A LOT of the New Testament is responding to messed-up churches... It makes you wonder if the whole enterprise is worth the effort, or if it should be abandoned (as many people that you probably know have decided). But in fact, that's WHY so much ink in the Bible is given to maintaining a healthy church. It's just that important! It's Jesus' plans for changing the world and He doesn't need a backup plan. Jude tells us to CONTEND for the truth... to FIGHT for a healthy church... to even get TOUGH with those who sneak in and try to dismantle what God has built. It's a fight worth having.

Walking in the Truth John continues to lay out the three things that form the core of the identity of a true believer, obedience-truth-love, in his third letter to his friend Gaius. In the midst of a culture hostile to the early Christian churches, John stresses over and over how important it is for followers of Jesus to know and walk out the Truth. He compares and contrasts the behaviour of those who live out the truth and those who do not. He also speaks to some troubles in the church in his day that are still relevant today.

In his first letter, John emphasizes LOVE and in this second one he expounds on it. Love is a measurable action - not sentimental emotion or some theological theory. But there's something that goes hand in hand with love, and that's TRUTH. It's why - maybe more so than ever - we need to be vigilant in knowing Jesus and not being influenced by false teachers

"My Sharona"... "Funkytown"... "Achy Breaky Heart" We all know what a "one-hit wonder" song is but the Bible has some "one-hit wonders" as well. Five, to be exact. There are five books in the Bible that consist of only one chapter. But they are still so good, so important, so full of significance, that even that single chapter of writing was given a title and included among the Bible's 66 books. This is the kind of series where you can prepare for Sunday by reading an entire book of the Bible in about 3 minutes. We are starting with Obadiah

Up until now, in this series, we've studied the Biblical laughs we would likely aspire to.... the laugh of fearless confidence, the laugh of heaven etc. On this final message of the series, it's important that we look at the laugh you DON'T want to hear. It's a sobering gut-check on something we are ALL susceptible to.

April 28, 2024 THE LAUGH OF FEARLESS CONFIDENCE (** Podcast begins after the sermon had already started, simply setting up the Biblical context of David and Goliath **) When God Makes Us Laugh (part 3) Want to know what bullies absolutely cannot stand? Laughing at them. Bullies thrive off fear and intimidation. Do you realize how Satan wants to bully you with lies and fear? With the God of angel armies standing behind you, sometimes the best thing you can do is look directly at your enemy, throw your head back and laugh in defiance.

A sincere laugh, by its very nature, is from something that catches us off guard. A punchline should be surprising in that way. But sometimes the laugh comes not from having your funny bone tickled, but from sheer audacity. Those "you gotta be kidding me" moments. The laugh when someone predicts or even pulls off the seemingly impossible. Turns out God LOVES pulling off those "you gotta be kidding me" moments. Join us for the Laugh of Disbelief

We don't typically associate "laughter" with God, Jesus and the Bible. Maybe that's our first blindspot - ascribing maximum solemnity to the God who created joy, humour and ROFL moments. We'll look at the humour of Jesus (even when you might not have known He was telling jokes). It might radically change the way you view Jesus and His teaching. We'll dive into every instance and mention of the word "laughter" in the Bible. Even the laugh you definitely don't want to hear.

We may notice subtle shifts in the acceptance of Christianity in Canada, but it's not the same category of what the majority-world Christian faces. 317 million Christians worldwide currently face "very high" or "extreme" levels of persecution. Tomorrow we have a unique service planned for you as our friends from Open Doors Canada, the organization begun by Brother Lawrence, will be presenting the incredible stories of faithful believers in North Korea and around the world who are choosing to follow Jesus no matter the cost. You won't want to miss it! opendoorscanada.org

Welcome to the Family. As we come to the finale of this series, there's one more piece that might just be game-changer for you. Indeed "God sets the lonely in families" (Psalm 68:6) and He does this in various ways, but the most significant is the adoption of His Children into a new Spiritual Family. You are not an orphan. You are not alone. You are not un-parented. You. Are. Adopted!

THE POWER OF A BLESSING The subtitle of this series has been "Breaking generational patterns of dysfunction" but another way of putting it might be "Breaking the generational curse" I'm not necessarily talking about witchcraft or that sort of thing, but many of you have in essence had curses spoken over you in your upbringing. Lies about your identity and destiny. What is the antidote to a curse? It's the power of a BLESSING!

The Way Forward It's time in this series to get serious about breaking the patterns of generational dysfunction. I believe God is asking us to play a role in our own healing. There are steps forward - steps AWAY from our unhealthy past that we can take, but it will require some courage. Courage to LEAVE, to OWN, and to CREATE

"I can forgive my Mom for what she did, but I will NEVER forget the hurt she caused" That sentiment sounds about right to me. It sounds righteous and just. There are even times in our history when it has been noble to say "Never Forget" What IF there are times when it is MOST healing... MOST righteous to actually forget? Are there times when even the God of the universe - the one who promises that He will not forget us - actually CHOOSES to forget? Are there times we ought to as well?

The Bible speaks about the "sins of the fathers" being visited upon their children. What has our family of origin done to us? Are we doomed to repeat those same "sins"? How can we break generational patterns of dysfunction? This week begins the HOW part of the series.. You may not like the prescription the Bible offers, but it's one we all need to hear! #siblings #parenting #parents #forgiveness

A New Series Begins! You're talking to your son and realize you just said that triggering thing your mom always said to you as a child... When thinking about getting married, fear paralyzes you because you see how your parents ended up... The words spoken to you as a child continue to echo through your spirit, affecting your self-esteem and relationships with others... The dark, unspoken abuse, the pain of abandonment, the substance abuse... The Bible speaks about the "sins of the fathers" being visited upon their children. What has our family of origin done to us? Are we doomed to repeat those same "sins"? How can we break generational patterns of dysfunction?

We promised a Part 2 that included some practical, wise steps to begin getting our finances under control - and those will certainly be part of this Sunday's presentation - but practical steps without a realignment of mindset... without a restructuring of our PRIORITIES won't be enough for the kind of financial freedom we're talking about. So be prepared to be challenged, and God-willing, be prepared to be set free from a toxic relationship with money.

The most recent Canadian stats say that 47% of you who open this email are living paycheque to paycheque AND a great deal of your disposable income is going to consumer debt. That means for half of you, if for some reason you lose your job, you're facing real trouble. Whether we got this way from our bad decisions or circumstances beyond our control, we want you to know there is hope and there is help, and in this practical series you may just find both.

We all have ups and downs in life and this is also true of our love for Jesus. There are times we love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind, and other times we love Him as an afterthought. How can we cultivate a habit of the heart where we regularly and joyfully live in obedience and worship of Jesus? I believe we can learn from the saints and spiritual fathers in the contemplative tradition. We will look at two sisters in the Bible who are often pitted against each other as one being better than the other; but the saints and spiritual fathers teach that it is better to learn a little bit from Mary, and a little bit from Martha.

If you're a follower of Jesus and have kids or grandkids, or even nieces and nephews, I bet that one of your biggest hopes for these kids' lives is that they too would choose to give their life to Jesus. Unfortunately the stats are revealing the opposite – that more and more of the next generation are choosing to walk AWAY from their faith as they become adults. Is there anything we can do to reverse the trends? To help the next generation in their journey with Jesus? While there's no guarantees, I do believe that the Bible offers us hope and practical wisdom on how to disciple the next generation.

As we wrap up this series on the differences between the major religions it only makes sense that we would give the final say to the case for Christianity. There are so many ways we could present this; Showing how historically, scientifically and logically that (in my humble opinion) Christianity is the faith that just makes sense. We could present a Biblical overview and show God's redeeming work from the beginning of history or a book of Romans study on the path to salvation. Instead, let's give the last word(s) to Jesus Himself as he lays out the simple invitation to the Jesus way. How do we respond and what difference does it even make anyway?

Some of the nicest, kindest, most right-living people you've ever met might be Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower) or Mormons (LDS: Church of the latter day Saints). They may have the unique ability to show up at your door at the most inopportune time, but it's hard to slam the door on them when they're so darn nice. So why do they seem so intent on making converts? Isn't that a GOOD thing? Are they just like a different Christian denomination (like Baptists or Pentecostals or Presbyterians) wherein they do things a little different than us but ultimately worship the same God? So what's the difference anyways? It's my hope that knowing a little bit about what they believe will solidify and even encourage you in what a true Christ-follower believes.

For some of you reading this, your "love language" is giving and receiving gifts. This is a beautiful and legitimate expression of love that actually reflects a God who LOVES giving good gifts. Christmas itself is really the story of God giving the ULTIMATE gift - the gift of HIMSELF to the world. So this won't be some message on making anyone feel shame about the Christmas tradition of gift-giving. We're not about to "throw the baby out with the bathwater". But I'll bet many of you are feeling the same discomfort that I am. This growing sense that Christmas has been co-opted somehow by our culture's obsession with the gifts we give and receive. It's even contributing to a personal debt near crisis in our country. How can we maintain the heart of Christmas generosity without letting the culture dictate the terms?

This season you will most certainly have more gatherings than you're used to. Family gatherings, work parties, in-laws, socials... In other words, there's no shortage of opportunities for relational tension, conflict and outright annoyance. Would you be surprised to know there is Biblical wisdom on how to navigate these tricky relationship scenarios? This will be a particularly practical teaching that will hopefully make for more PEACEFUL and LOVING Christmas gatherings (and all the interactions that follow)

Does it feel like the beautiful, life-changing origin story of this Christmas season keeps getting increasingly watered down by our culture? Is Christmas really about gift-giving? Sneaky elves hiding on shelves? Even some nebulous, ill-defined "spirit of Christmas"? How about 3 ghosts helping us to become a better all-around person? Nothing inherently bad about any of those narratives EXCEPT when held in contrast to the greatest story ever told. Immanuel. God WITH us. This very practical series will share ideas on how to keep Christ in our Celebrating, our Gathering and our Giving