Newmarket Alliance Sermon Podcast

What if the single most important change you could make in your relationships isn’t a new rule or a list of dos and don’ts, but an intentional mindset you choose each day?How would your marriage, friendships, workplace, or family look if you stepped back from scorekeeping and practiced one simple, countercultural move, especially when it felt difficult?Can a small shift in how we respond actually heal long-standing wounds and model a different way of living together?Join us as we explore just ONE practical step for relational repair and invite you to try one quiet experiment this week.

We wrap up this series on the last words of Jesus with a question on what it means to finish well.We appreciate good STARTERS in our culture… entrepreneurs, innovators… people with fresh ideas and new ventures, but how much more meaningful is it to FINISH well. In fact, ending poorly forever tarnishes an otherwise noble legacy.But what did Jesus mean? Specifically, WHAT was finished? His life? His day on the cross? Surely it was more profound than that?Oh it was indeed. And it’s a truth that has forever changed the world ever since.

I am still amazed that in the midst of the most excruciating torture ever devised, Jesus’ thoughts and concerns are for the welfare of others.What a man. What a Saviour. What a good God.Most of us don’t have that kind of selflessness. In fact, I would also say that most of us don’t have the kind of parent that would easily be compared to the “Humble” and “Highly favoured” servant of God found in Mary.So what can we apply to our own lives from these last words of Christ? How can we aspire to the kind of goodness and care exhibited here?

What do the last moments… the last breaths reveal about a life lived?Most of us probably won’t get an opportunity to state a profound epitaph as our dying words. Very few have.In ”Famous Last Words" we’ll eavesdrop on our Saviour’s final breaths: the seven last statements of Christ.These are words which may force us to ask blunt questions: Do our endings expose failure or faith? Can forgiveness arrive in time? Will grace be loud enough to drown out our wickedness and doubts?Come curious — leave unsettled, perhaps changed.

We continue our series TETHERED - what it means to be rooted or grounded or anchored to the 2000-year-old essentials of Christianity as found in the Nicene Creed, as opposed to the whims, trends and fads that muddy the waters of faith.This week we come to the “stanza” in the Creed that highlights the Holy Spirit - what Pastor and author Francis Chan has called “The Forgotten God”.Perhaps not forgotten by you, but maybe hard to conceive in your mind… difficult to picture or even understand what (if anything) distinguishes the Holy Spirit from God the Father and God the Son, Jesus.There are certain faith traditions that would be much more comfortable proclaiming, “I believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy SCRIPTURE”For them, the Holy Spirit is just too… impetuous.Ultimately, we’ll discover the Holy Spirit is not a doctrine to be studied; He is a person to be experienced in power.

We continue our series TETHERED - what it means to be rooted or grounded or anchored to the 2000-year-old essentials of Christianity as found in the Nicene Creed, as opposed to the whims, trends and fads that muddy the waters of faith.The largest section of the Creed is (rightfully) dedicated to Jesus. While Jesus is the focus of our worship and our Church, many of us still under appreciate aspects of His character, divinity and mission.Could it be you’ll actually encounter a whole new aspect of our Saviour Jesus this Sunday?

It seems most Christian have a hot take on everything from yoga pants, politics, gender roles to online betting. There may be good Biblical wisdom on each of those, but is EVERY topic of equal importance? Is every issue a Gospel issue? If everything is essential, than nothing is.Farmers in the prairie days would tie a rope from the house to the barn when a blizzard was coming so they wouldn’t get lost.These days we need a rope to lead us home. Something firm to be tethered to that is rooted in historical, orthodox, essential Christianity. Thankfully the early Christian pioneers left us with exactly that.

How many of you could use a dose of HOPE these days?Advent, as you know, is a season of waiting... waiting with great expectation, waiting with hope. Remember, a Biblical understanding of "hope" is not wishful thinking (i.e. "I sure hope I win the lottery"). Hope for the Christ follower is based on our unwavering trust in the unchanging character of God. Has God come through for us in the past? Yes and so, our hope is strong and confident.Our forebearers waited for a Messiah, and God delivered. Today we wait for His glorious return. We know Jesus has already saved us from the penalty of our sins, but is He truly coming back to save us from the presence of sin?Church, do not lose HOPE. This Advent, we wait. And one day, a weary world will truly and finally rejoice.