St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast

Exodus 19:3-8 - God is seeking a community to join Him in His mission to bless and save the world. Israel was out of Egypt, where their purpose had been clear: make bricks! What was their purpose now? At the foot of Mount Sinai, before they take another step, God has a proposal.

Exodus 16:2-16 | The story of our roots continues. As in all relationships, things have shifted from near daily drama of the epic and spectacular to settling into daily routines. What will God do about their need for food every day? How much can we trust God? How much control do we have? So many questions to answer as we learn to walk with God.

Exodus 14:5-31 - The story of God's rescue is not without drama! God's people left Egypt only to come against a new opponent, the Red Sea! They were trapped between an angry Pharaoh and, at least as bad, an angry Sea. They cried out, expressed their terror, and God made a way. Of course, it did involve them moving their feet! Participation is always required when God rescues.

Exodus 12:1-14 - The story of Exodus is the story of Jesus. The God we get to know in Exodus is the God who comes to us in the person of Jesus: a God who judges, who saves, and who renews.

Exodus 3:1-14 - The Rescue begins! And as God always does, he goes looking for a person to lead the charge, a fallible, often unwilling person. God chose Moses and picked up on a relationship that God started years ago, when Moses may not have been paying attention. He started paying attention the day that he came across a burning bush that talked!

Exodus 1:6-14 - This Sunday we begin a new teaching series called "Roots" based on the book of Exodus. You can't fully understand the life, death and resurrection of Jesus without studying Exodus. Chapter 1 lays the foundation of a people in desperate need of rescue.

Exodus 36:1-7 -God gave Moses a huge project. Moses already had a huge assignment in guiding the Israelites through the wilderness, but now God wanted an ornate Tabernacle built. It would require great skill and a pile of gold, silver and precious gems. Providentially, these very recently freed slaves had been showered with gold, silver and precious gems as they left Egypt. The question was whether they would cling to their wealth or give it away to what God was doing.

Luke 12:13-21 - Jesus tells us to watch out for all kinds of greed. The challenge is, greed is sneaky—it hides in our hearts. So Jesus tells a story illustrating three attitudes towards money that are symptoms of greed: I deserve it. It's all for me. I'm better off with more.

Luke 2:22-40 - This week, we continue our Advent series, Go, by reflecting on the quiet faithfulness of Joseph and Mary as they bring Jesus to the temple. In this moment of ordinary obedience, God meets them with extraordinary hope through Simeon and Anna.

Matthew 1:18-25 - This week's story is God's call to Joseph. Joseph would have hoped to lead an ordinary life, work a job, have a family, and contribute in some small way to the community. God had bigger plans.

Luke 1:39-45: Unexpectedly pregnant before she was married, Mary's life was in upheaval. God sent her to Elizabeth, who would encourage her with a blessing.

Luke 1:26-38 - It's Christmas, and everyone is GOING! For starters, it's Gabriel who goes first to Zechariah (last week) and now to Mary in Nazareth. Christmas has God on the move, and God chose to include humans as key players in the best story ever. Mary's involvement in this story will prove very costly. Such is the Christian life.

Luke 1:5-17 - The first Christmas was hopping! God was fulfilling promises made centuries earlier and now he needed the right people to be in place and ready to go. His first stop was Jerusalem to talk to an old priest about he and his wife having a baby. There was excitement in the air! And so it begins.

Mark 3:32-35 - The most important practice of all is Community, because, in part, we can learn every other practice as we walk with other Jesus people. In this week's passage, Jesus clarifies the kind of community we need to be surrounded by: those who do the will of God.

John 15:5-17 - Jesus describes himself as the vine whose source and power produce fruit in the branches. When we remain in Jesus the way a branch does in a vine, he grows the fruit of true life in us. A Rule of Life is a set of practices that help us remain in Jesus. These practices include prayer, solitude, Scripture, sabbath, community, fasting, service, witness, and generosity.

Mark 2:17 - Jesus came to call sinners. Sinners, those who miss the mark, are on God's invite list! Jesus also adds that he didn't come to call the righteous, so everyone who believes, or at least wants others to believe, that they've got it all together, need not apply. There's a fundamental self-awareness required to follow Jesus.

Matthew 26:36-39 - A number of the Christian practices that Jesus gave us (like solitude, Sabbath, prayer and Scripture reading) turn down the noise of the world so we can turn up the volume of His voice. Other voices surface as well! Buried emotions and wounding memories can also rise to the surface. This is one of God's ways of telling us it's time to enter those harder bits of our lives with him and learn how to name them, express them and regulate them as followers of Jesus.

Mark 1:35 - One of the many remarkable things about Jesus' life is his restraint and rhythm. Knowing he had only three years in ministry might have made him frantic and sleepless, but it wasn't the case. Thankfully, he gave us practices so that our own lives can also be marked by restraint and rhythm.

Luke 6:39-49 - Jesus has much to say about how life is intended to be lived. We're always learning; that means, consciously or otherwise, we have teachers. Jesus warns that some teachers are dangerous! They are like the blind leading the blind. In the end, you will become like your teacher. Choose wisely.

Romans 12:1-2 - Jesus' invitation is to follow him: to be with him, become like him, and do what he did. We surrender control to Jesus, resist the pattern of the world that shapes us, and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit for transformation.

Mark 1:16-18 - This Sunday, we begin a message series on Practicing the Way. When Jesus lived bodily among us, he taught and modelled many things, including practices like praying, fasting, solitude and Sabbath. These weren't harsh measures to separate the strong from the weak; they were gifts to grow intimacy with God and develop a deep well of character and grace. In this week's passage, Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, two ordinary run-of-the-mill fishermen, to be his apprentices. It turns out Jesus can work with anyone.

Acts 17:16-34 - Acts 17 tells the story of a Christian who spoke in a public setting about the hope Jesus brings. It was a moment to put aside churchy language and use ‘street speak'. Paul encouraged his audience in their search for God and carefully took the time to show where that search had lost it's way. And then he gave them Jesus, who is the Truth.

Acts 13:1-5 - The first Christians had small groups! They knew, because Jesus modelled it, that we're much better in groups than we are as individuals. The group that gathered in Antioch was diverse, zoned in on Jesus and figuring out how to be outward-facing. Your own group will want all that and more!

Acts 8:9-25 - Simon put on a good show (literally!), but his heart was full of bitterness. He wasn't healthy and wasn't taking the steps to be healthy. What about us today?

Acts 2:40-47 - As a church, we're taking some time to talk about our vision and strategy. We're hoping to add clarity to why and how we do what we do in this season. We've found ourselves pondering the story of the earliest church in the book of Acts. In one day, uncertainty turned to full-out joy, and church membership blew up 2500%! Jesus was alive, they experienced God's promised Spirit alive in them, so they locked into being together, learning, sharing and praying. It's hard to improve on that!  

Psalm 129 is a bit of a nasty Psalm! The writer has been oppressed and doesn't hold back in expressing what that feels like. You might think being a believer means your troubles disappear, but that has never been the case. The good news is that God is neither blind nor indifferent to our struggles. In time (often not as fast as we want), God always intervenes. There's even hope for the oppressor in this Psalm! Good news travels.

Psalm 131 - The Psalms of Ascent have it all: anguish, anger, encouragement, and wild joy.  Psalm 131 is all about contentment. Where does contentment come from? What ruins it? What does it feel like? How can I be content in an age where marketing, social media and mirrors breed discontent?

Psalm 133 - The Psalms of Ascent were songs for the journey—worshippers sang them as they traveled together toward Jerusalem and the Temple. These Psalms give voice to the sorts of things that go through worshippers' hearts as they prepare to worship. Today's Psalm (133) is about relationships, people getting along and how God blesses us as we choose to live in harmony.

Psalm 104 is a song of praise that marvels at the beauty and order of God's creation. From mountains to seas, seasons to creatures great and small, it reveals a world sustained by His power and care. This psalm invites us to stand in awe, give thanks, and consider our role as stewards of His handiwork. As we reflect, we'll explore how creation points us to God's character, draws us closer to Him, and shapes the way we live in His world.

We humans need help! The question is, where will we turn for it? Psalm 121 invites us to look to God for true help.

Psalm 127 reminds us that unless the Lord builds the house, our efforts are in vain. It's a call to trust—learning to rest in God's provision while recognizing that every good gift, including our work, our homes, and our children, ultimately rests in His hands.

A life of faith is a life of prayer. It's also a life lived with others. When we follow Jesus, we belong to Him and to one another as brothers and sisters. As a family, we care for one another in weakness, confess our sins to each other, and gently confront one another.

James 4:6-10 - James knows that the heart of the Christian message is grace. God gives us good that we couldn't ever deserve. The truth is that we earn and deserve justice and punishment. Thankfully, Jesus took both of those for us and gave us the good he deserved. As powerful as grace is, there is one thing that can resist it. Listen in to find the one thing that repels grace.

James 3:1-18 - James is at it again! He has a real concern for the words that Christians use on themselves, with each other and with the world. Our tongues (James' favourite image for our words) can cause such destruction, and they are nearly impossible to control. What's the solution? Fortunately, Jesus gets to the root of the problem and to the fix that works.

James 2:14-26 - James continues to press deep into the muscles and tissues of our faith. Is your faith doing what it was designed to do? Just like you might go to the doctor for a physical check-up, James offers a self-administered faith check-up in this passage. Where do you see signs of life in your faith?

James 1:19-27 - James is direct: angry words, thoughtless words, and religious words don't have a place in a life of faith. Our words don't work … but God's word does! Our job is simply to cooperate with his word.

James 1:1-18 - James gets right down to business! For everyone not currently soaking in a hot tub, suffering is a first order of business. In just a few verses, James explains how trials can grow maturity, how wisdom helps the journey, and how to avoid wasting a suffering experience.

Acts 1:1-11 - Baptism is recognized throughout the Church as the beginning of a ‘God thing.' John's baptism was a visible demonstration of the start of a new life — clearing out the junk to prepare for what God was about to do. Jesus' baptism reveals the true heart of baptism: God's desire to bless and express His delight. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the start of the Kingdom. Ordinary women and men were now filled with the Spirit of Jesus to continue on the ministry Jesus started.

Luke 3:21-22 - At Jesus' baptism, the Father said, “You're my son. I love you. I'm proud of you.” As Christians, our baptism is a sign that we are in Christ, that what is true about him is true about us, and that the Father's blessing now defines us.

Luke 3:1-20 - The first mention of baptism in the Bible begins with John. John was the cousin of Jesus and also His opening act. John called the people of his day to "Get Ready." The public sign of a life getting ready for God was, and still is, baptism. Get washed so God can do what God wants to do.

Revelation 21:1-8 - Jesus wins; Jesus has already won; stay faithful to Jesus! This is the message of John's sometimes confusing book of Revelation. It is full of encouragement and hope for disciples. Jesus, the Lamb, is on the throne. And he is preparing a future for us that includes heaven and so much more!

Acts 21:37-22:22- Acts 21 finds Paul in Jerusalem, at the Temple, getting beaten for his faith in Jesus. In a wild turn of events, Paul had the opportunity to talk to those who wanted to kill him. What do you say to people who want you dead? Paul told his story—a story of his own self-righteous zeal, of Jesus meeting him in an unmistakable way, and of a kind believer who stood with him. What a great testimony!

Acts 13:16-44 - Paul and Barnabas made their way through the known world, telling everyone they met about Jesus and the Resurrection. In one synagogue, Paul told the Jews their history, but he told it differently than they'd heard it before. He showed how God had often given Israel a second chance. He went on to explain that Jesus was their second, and final, chance. Some of their listeners believed; others hated the message. Nobody likes being told they're wrong.

Now what? The story of Acts is what happens after the death and resurrection of Jesus. God takes ordinary people, fills them with His Spirit, and sends them out into the world. It's a crazy idea! Peter and John transform an everyday visit to the Temple into a medical miracle and preach a compelling message to boot. Hundreds of people come to trust Jesus. Just another day of walking in the Spirit.

John 20:20-29 - All through his ministry Jesus took time to speak with individuals. Even after the resurrection, he never changed course. John records an interaction with Thomas that speaks to doubt and the struggle it is for each of us to believe.

John 12:9-19 - When Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts and cheers of the crowd, there was no mistaking what was happening: the King was back in his rightful place. There were several responses to this long-awaited event: some celebrated, some grumbled, and then… everyone went home. It may have looked anticlimactic, but Jesus wasn't going anywhere. He had come to do what only the true King of Israel could do.

John's biography of Jesus slows as he chronicles the week leading up to Jesus' death. Jesus has a long, careful conversation with the disciples, and today, we listen to the beginning of that conversation. He begins with a strong command: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He then reinforces it with three unshakable assurances: He is going ahead of them, He has cleared the way to the Father, and He will send supernatural power so they can continue His work.

Jesus' friend John was very careful to record the things that Jesus said about Himself. As an observant Jew, John knew that there is only one God. From time to time, God sent prophets, ordained priests, and crowned kings so that the people of God had someone to lead them to Him. Everyone knew that these leaders only ever pointed to God; they never claimed any status beyond being messengers. But when Jesus came, He was different. He claimed to be “the Light of the World,” “the Truth that sets you free,” and “the Resurrection and the Life”—all of them ridiculous claims for anyone but God to make. That was exactly His point.

Jesus tells a story about a father with two lost sons. The rule-breaking younger son was lost in self-indulgence, and the rule-keeping older son was lost in self-righteousness. The father loved both generously and even recklessly. Both needed to be found. Were they?

esus announced that the Kingdom of God had arrived and everyone wondered what that would look like. Would it mean swords and fighting or a political takeover? John records a couple of one-on-one conversations that Jesus had. What an interesting Kingdom! It turns out that each person matters in the Kingdom of God, each woman and each man matter eternally.