Services

Many many years ago, in the early 1980’s when I was still Roman Catholic, I used to lead a weekly bible study for long-term care patients who lived at the old Peterborough Civic Hospital. The hospital was their home, they weren’t going anywhere else.

One day a man was walking along the beach, when he noticed a boy hurriedly picking up and throwing things into the sea. Approaching the boy he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?” The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the sea. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

Storms can come up quickly on the Sea of Galilee. Actually it’s more of a lake than a sea — it’s other name is Lake Chinnereth. When Daniel and I were at the Sea of Galilee, it reminded us both of Rice Lake.
Storms can come up quickly on Rice Lake, and storms can come up quickly on the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus was a great storyteller. He told stories all the time–he called them parables. He told stories to help people understand, to teach them about God, and about the kingdom of God. And he told some fabulous stories.

Sermon by Larry Ricciardelli. We all have our favourite Bible verses. For me the one that gets to the heart of the Christian message is in John chapter 10: “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

There’s a term I first heard about 10 years ago. Many of you have probably heard it as well. ‘spiritual; not religious’. ‘Spiritual, not religious’ is likely something with which we’re all familiar. We all have friends, family, who have no use for, just aren’t interested in organized religions.

By The Rev. Mary Bell-Plouffe. I have 2 favorite stoles, and this morning I’m wearing one of them. As you can see, it’s red for Pentecost, and it has symbols for the Holy Spirit fire on one side and a dove on the other.It’s the stole I had made for my ordination.. ..so I’m sure you can appreciate why it’s one of my favorites.

Sermon for May 16 2021 by The Rev. Mary Bell-Plouffe. There’s a book on my book shelf. I’ve had it for nearly 40 years. It’s a paperback, the cover is faded, and falling apart;
tape holds it together. It’s written by Father Jim Wolff, a Benedictine priest who died 4 years ago. The book is a commentary on John’s gospel, the first biblical commentary I ever read.

The Rev. Mary Bell-Plouffe – In his book Love Wins, Rob Bell writes about a time when they had an art show in his church. He’d been doing a series of teachings on peacemaking and invited parishioners to display their paintings, poems and sculptures that reflected their understanding of what it means to be a peacemaker.