Toronto Alliance Church

Before my wife and I got married, we got to know each other. She was quick to say what she did not like, my beard, my music. And I knew that at the center of her life was a passion to follow Jesus, and to bring the gospel to at-risk people. I knew her then. But after 43 years, I know her a lot better. All those things are true. But now I see the depths of them.I called today's message "What's at the Top of God's List?" At the top of His list is knowing Him. Maybe you do know him already. But He says to us: "Not like this. I want you to know Me deeper. I want you to know Me more."A marriage can get into coasting mode, making sure the kids are fed and bills are paid. You barrel on through. But often, kids grow up and two people look across the table at each other and say, "I don't know you."We can do the same with God. God's deep passion is that we would know Him and would grow in that.We come to a chapter in Exodus that is all about this. God wants His messengers, His people, and the lost to know Him more.Extra reading: Philippians 3:7-11Preacher: Bill Dyck

Our family used to vacation in Algonquin. We would grab three canoes to carry all of us, and go back, usually a lake or two, and get away from things for two weeks.There's one big lake that we really like to camp on, and it was notorious for wind. Sometimes we would have to navigate from top to bottom of that lake, and the going is brutal. The waves are almost entering into the canoe.And you can't even really miss a stroke, because that would be all it would take for the wind to turn your canoe around. An hour and a half of intense canoing just to get where you're going.I'm calling today's message "The Unlikely Path of the Messenger of Hope." You'd think that a messenger of hope must be a delightful calling and ministry. And it is, unquestionably. But it comes with the challenges, the wind that kicks up in your face as you're just trying to get to the very place that God is calling you to go.We're walking through the first half of the book of Exodus, on the theme of the God who rescues.Extra reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9Preacher: Bill Dyck

Our youngest grandchild is a toddler, just barely able to walk, and that child is like an accident waiting to happen. Every moment that child needs rescuing. You're at a campground. There's fire, there's water, there are sharp drop-offs, and that child is happily and eagerly walking into danger constantly. So you are rescuing that child.It's the nature of humanity to find ourselves in places where there are chains, suffering, despair, hopelessness. No way out, unless there's an encounter with the living God. But the amazing thing is that God is One who rescues.We're walking through these first 20 chapters or so of Exodus. I've called the sermon series "The God Who Rescues."The thing I want to draw out today is that when God rescues, He never does it alone. God could do anything. But He chooses to draw us into that work. That poses a problem, because sometimes we're reluctant, or too comfortable, or we don't believe that He could really do that.We encounter a lot of those objections here today, in a conversation between God and a man at a bush that is burning but does not burn up.Extra reading: John 6:35-40Preacher: Bill Dyck

We are going through a sermon series on the power and strength of God's blessing for us, as we work through the first chapters of Exodus.In today's sermon, we will look at Exodus 2, where God's name only shows up at the very end. We will look at the incredible power of God's blessing in a situation where it seems he has none and where he seems almost absent.Extra reading: Romans 8:26-30Preacher: Luke Dobrzanski

There are many things in this world that are considered strong.Steel is strong.The double earthquakes that came to Venezuela just recently - very strong.Train locomotives have such strength to pull things.Yesterday at a memorial, I saw the strength of love between a husband and wife over decades that only grows.I want to talk today about the strength of the blessing of God. The circumstances of our lives trouble us. Current events trouble us. Maybe some of the struggles we feel in our own lives, just to walk with God as we wish. We feel like the blessing of God is fragile. But God's ability to hold us and save us and keep us and fulfill His purposes for us is unmatched.I want to walk through the first 19 chapters of Exodus over the remaining months of summer, leading right into our fall retreat. In Exodus 19, there is this amazing verse where God takes the people out of Egypt, brings them to Mount Sinai, and says to them, "You yourselves know how I brought you out of Egypt and how I carried you on eagles' wings." And then this is it: "And I brought you to myself."That's where He's going. The blessing of God, that He brings us to Himself. That's the focus of the retreat: an encounter with God. Meet with God. Make sure you sign up.For today, though, I want to look at Exodus chapter 1, the power and the strength of God's blessing.Extra reading: Ephesians 3:3-14Preacher: Bill Dyck

People come to our doors in the hundreds each week, and we help them in different ways. But less than 100 metres away there are many in back lanes or propped over in some difficult corner, and they don't come. They're too out of it, or completely lack hope. The addiction is not the worst part. It's that they have no hope.So I've been going out. I ask God to lead me, and I have the most remarkable encounters with people. Almost everyone says, "I'd really like for you to pray for me." And they don't want you to take a short time.Today is the last in our series walking through the book of 2 Corinthians. I've called the message "Finding the Reality of God Through the Church." Most would probably look for that reality anywhere but the church, because the church has failed in many ways.But when you read through Scripture, you see Jesus is bound to His church, even with all of its struggles. He renews the church. He restores the church.Extra reading: Exodus 33:12-17Preacher: Bill Dyck

Paul talks about a beautiful vision the Lord gave him of heaven. He talks about how the revelations from this vision were so great that, in order to prevent him from becoming proud, a thorn was given to him in the flesh. The meaning of the Greek word for "thorn" is "stake." Paul felt like this was something being driven through him. It caused him great suffering, and not for a short period of time. For 14 years, he dealt with the pain and suffering this thorn caused.Now, we do not know what the thorn was. What we do know from the Word of God is that this thorn caused great suffering in Paul's life. I believe there is a lot we can learn as we look at how Paul handled this thorn, which caused suffering in his life.I have titled the message this morning, "Lessons from a Thorn."Extra reading: Isaiah 40:27-31Preacher: Graeme Ramgobin

Have you ever been tricked? I have, because I believe people. And I'm very compassionate. People come to our door, and I believe them.If you have any kind of electronic device, you know about scammers. Some, you think, "Well, that's just ridiculous," but with others, you really have to look and study. It's getting more and more tricky to figure out what's true and what's false.On an even greater level, this happens among God's people, and it has all through our history. The impact there is way greater than any scammer who might nab a few thousand dollars from you.We're walking through 2 Corinthians, looking for God's fingerprints. The context of this book is that people came into the church and were drawing people away from Christ.Near the close of the letter, Paul goes on for a chapter and a half unmasking deceivers. As much as we like to be forward-looking in our lives, it's good to think about unmasking deception and making sure that we don't get tricked.Extra reading: Ezekiel 13:1-9Preacher: Bill Dyck

Every person, even identical twins, has different fingerprints. When the police come upon a crime scene, they are looking for these little invisible impressions. If they find them, they can say, "That is who was here."Wherever God works, he leaves impressions behind, so we can know that it is God who is at work and not someone else, because other impressions are very different.The Bible says, in latter days many will 'come in my name, and they will claim, "I am the Christ," and they will lead many astray.' It says they will come with signs and wonders, and will lead astray, if possible, even those who know him.Jesus warns, "See that you are not led astray." Part of that is recognizing the fingerprints of God. Signs and wonders alone are not enough, because the others have those too.The question is, how do you recognize the fingerprints of God? You cannot study his hand or go up to him. I am in 2 Corinthians 10 today, and I want to talk about recognizing the fingerprints of God.Extra reading: Jeremiah 8:4-12Preacher: Bill Dyck

In the downtown, there has been a huge increase in wealth over 20 years, and a growing separation between those who have wealth and the poor.You would think people would be doing better, but that is not what the studies show. What has also increased is credit card debt and household debt. So even though people have more money coming in, their indebtedness has increased more.What has almost disappeared is the idea of charitable giving or generosity, which is odd because usually we think that people who have more give more. That is not at all the case. Many of those who have a lot give nothing and are swimming under great debt, to the point that they are very fearful.Today I want to make a pitch for another use of money. It is what we see in Scripture, and it is fair game to talk openly about it because Scripture talks about it. I want to talk about what your money can really do.Extra reading: Genesis 14:17-24Preacher: Bill Dyck

We are a very style-conscious generation, and especially a style-conscious city. I grew up in the rural areas of Ontario. That was not the case. When I moved to the city, I became quite aware that wearing clothes becomes the fine art of making a statement.As I look at the passage I want to speak from, there is a style that accompanies the follower of Jesus. I do not mean clothing. I mean there is a style of life that accompanies the Christ follower, and that is called generosity.I want to talk about that from 2 Corinthians 8, in our sermon series, as we go through the book of 2 Corinthians, called "The Fingerprints of God".Extra reading: Ruth 2:1-16Preacher: Bill Dyck

If you were to look up the word "comfort" on your phone and see what kinds of images come up, all kinds of things appear: chocolate cake, cups of coffee, some beautiful getaway, maybe a really soft bed. Some pets show up too.Difficult times come to all of us, so we look for comfort, and the question is always where to find it and how to access it. Much as we would like chocolate cake or a trip to the mall to comfort us, not all of these things are as effective as we would like.But God does comfort us, and that is what I want to talk about here today. God's comfort goes deeper. It touches the soul. It goes deep inside, so fear loses its grip and doubt blows off to the side. Loss becomes less painful. Loss becomes manageable.The comfort of God is a remarkable thing, and the Scriptures talk a lot about it. But the question here is how to access God's comfort. Today's sermon is called "A Precious Gift You Can't Buy in the Store," and I am really talking about the comfort of God.Extra reading: Psalm 133Preacher: Bill Dyck

The Alliance began in Toronto 140 years ago and then thrived there from about 1885 to 1915. Towards 1920, though, the Alliance downtown was imploding, all along University Avenue and Parkdale, where there had been powerful ministries. The Alliance moved north and east and west and to the rest of the world, and left the downtown vacant, until our church came as a church plant under First Alliance, clawing our way back into the downtown.It is not entirely clear why the Alliance imploded. But I do know what made them effective in those early years. They pursued it. It is the word consecration. I want to speak about that today from 2 Corinthians 6.Consecration is a word we don't use, but I want to hang on to it because of the way it anchors us in history. They had consecration meetings. Meetings just to give themselves to God. They had consecration weekends. Which is why our family of churches changed the city. The president of the Alliance was the mayor and Toronto came to be known as "Toronto the Good."But I want to come back to consecration, being totally given to God.Extra reading: Isaiah 52:1-12Preacher: Bill Dyck

You are made for more. That is a big theme in the Bible. Everybody is made for more.There are a lot of reminders in life that show we are made for more than anything that we experience. There is no desire that we have here on Earth that, if we were to pursue it, in the end would not still leave us longing for more.Those who have the most in life are not the most satisfied. Sometimes it is those people who have nothing that are truly satisfied. Those who climb the highest heights, those who go after the biggest experiences, those who see the greatest sights on planet Earth one after the other, and have the resources to chase them all down, in the end come back still longing for more.We are made for more.I am in 2 Corinthians 4 today. We are walking through 2 Corinthians, and the theme is the fingerprints of God. One of these fingerprints that God stamps upon people, is that he helps us see we are made for more. He wants us to understand that and to pursue him.Extra reading: Psalm 139:13-18Preacher: Bill Dyck

How can I be changed?We each have behaviours that are very difficult for us shed, and other qualities we'd like to gain. We might begin the year with resolve, saying, this is the year I am finally going to become a gentle person. Or something else. But one year goes on after another, and we wonder, are we truly changeable?Or even worse, what if we are trying to change a loved one? We know from experience how completely ineffective we at that, because it is not given to us to change another person. Yet we do try.So I want to talk about how a person gets changed. There are two methods. One is, do better and try harder, a worldwide method chosen everywhere, undercutting many religious systems.I want to talk about another way that is much more fruitful and effective, out of 2 Corinthians 3, in our series about the fingerprints of God.Preacher: Bill DyckExtra reading: Exodus 34:27-35

In the most recent space mission, four astronauts went and circled the Earth and the moon and came home. These men had spent their lives preparing for this in a lot of different ways. But all of their studying, all of their pictures, everything they had seen did not adequately prepare them for the moment when they saw the moon eclipse the sun. One of them, who claimed afterwards to not be a particularly religious man, said he felt he was in the presence of divinity.I remember well the day, as a child, when I first put my faith in Jesus. Though I trusted him in that moment, nothing would have prepared me fully for the things that God has shown me of himself and brought me into. Being just a naive farm kid, number five of seven, I knew nothing. But I knew that God put his finger on me, drew me to himself, and then has surprised me over and over.I want to talk here today about the surprising benefits package when Jesus is Lord, looking at 2 Corinthians 2 in this sermon series called "The Fingerprints of God."Extra reading: Exodus 19:1-9 Preacher: Bill Dyck

At a complicated crime scene, investigators look for fingerprints. They want to find who did this. Fingerprints are unique to each individual, and they do not change through our life. They are highly reliable evidence. They place people in specific locations, sometimes linking multiple crimes.What are God's fingerprints? You cannot see him, but we understand he is working in the details of our lives. Maybe because of the intensity, we overlook him working, but he wants us to know. Sometimes it is only after the fact that we look and realize he was there. He was working.For the next few weeks, I want to walk through a series called "God's Fingerprints", looking at passages in 2 Corinthians. In this book, Paul talks more personally than in any other book. He is wearing his heart on his sleeve, and he gives us insight into how God works. The backdrop is difficult relationships, affliction. In such situations, we look for God's fingerprints. What is he doing? I called the sermon "God is always doing more than you think".Extra reading: Isaiah 43:1-7Preacher: Bill Dyck

Imagine you hired somewhere. There is nothing glamorous about it, but it is solid. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, you get another offer from a place that is more prestigious. It comes with better pay, career prospects, and commute. Everything and everyone around you is saying that you should jump ship and make the switch.What you do not realize is that if you do make that switch, it is going to lead you into real pain and trauma that will last for years. Would it not be a great gift hear the voice of God speaking in that situation?This very situation happened to me, and God warned me not to switch jobs. I did not listen because I was proud, and I suffered greatly because of it. That experience left me so wounded that I was afraid to work for years after that.When we talk about hearing God's voice, we are not talking about a religious sidebar, but something that is deeply loving, core to our faith, and deeply practical. There may be things that God wants to protect us from that we cannot yet see.Reading: John 10:1-16Preacher: Luke Dobrzanski

There are times in our lives where we ride on the top of the wave and all is going just as it should. Those are nice, sweet times.But there are other times where we suffer disappointments and things are not as we wish they were. And it's hard sometimes reconciling those times with where we would really like to be, or even our faith, what we know we should be. So there's so many questions and struggles that come to us in those times.But this story that we're going to unpack today, it's part of the resurrection narratives. This story speaks to all of humanity everywhere, with all of its struggles, all its sorrows, all of its losses, all of its pain. And it fills our barren places with hope.So I called the message "Jesus' Resurrection in the Middle of a Mess".Extra reading: Matthew 28:1-15Preacher: Bill Dyck

Today's sermon includes a component of listening to God using the SMORP steps. If you would like to skip this, jump to the following locations;7:35 - Reading of the sermon passage19:39 - Start of sermonToday's sermon is based on a Latin phrase, carpe diem. "Seize the day". Meaning, there are opportunities in every day, and to not let the important ones pass by.For example, when I first met my wife, I was in Bible college and I had made my mind up that it was not going to be a year about girls. I knew what I was there for. But then I met her after speaking at a youth event and I put my resolve aside in a moment. I got her phone number, and we were on a date within a week. I just knew it was an important moment right here and I have no regrets.Some moments you can let slide by. But others, you must seize the day.In this passage, there are people who claimed the moment but there are others who missed it. Jesus talks about it. They missed the opportunity, he says, and he says the way is shut. There are no more opportunities. He wept as he looked over the city, over lost opportunity. But there were those who claimed the opportunity. That is what I want to think about here today.Preacher: Bill DyckExtra reading: Psalm 24

If you like growing plants, you will be familiar with clay pots. To have or to work with clay pots is a practice that is thousands of years old. Clay pots are common, cheap and fragile. However, they can carry things of great value. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered around 1950. All of them were sealed inside clay pots, and they are among the oldest pieces of scripture on planet Earth. It's one of the most significant archaeological discoveries on Earth. Tons of fragments from books, or whole books, and they are the oldest that we have. They were contained for 2,000 years inside clay pots.The scriptures talk about our lives as clay pots, with all of the commonness, the fragility, the weakness, but containing in them something so precious.We're a couple of weeks from Easter. I want to think with you today about the death of Christ. But not how in it we find the forgiveness of sins. We relate much more to the death of Christ every day, whether or not we want to. I want to talk about this in this image: that we have this treasure in jars of clay, out of 2 Corinthians 4.Extra reading: Psalm 16Preacher: Bill Dyck

One thing that drew me to my wife when I first met her was her zeal. She didn’t do anything half-heartedly. She was all in, whether playing a game, if she was talking, or when it came to her faith. It was her enthusiasm, her energy, her conviction, her dedication. There was nothing half-hearted.Today is the last Sunday we'll be looking at what I called "Working from the Right Scorecard". We've been walking through Revalation 2 and 3, where Jesus speaks to seven different churches in a given time and place. In it he praises them, and in it he corrects them. From that we get a sense of what heaven’s scorecard is.Sometimes we find ourselves pursuing things that come from the world. But it is so much better to pursue the things that are on the heart of God.Today we come to the last of the seven, the church of Laodicea, where he speaks the strongest words of correction, but he also speaks the most tenderly to draw them. Both are there, and it’s really quite something.Preacher: Bill DyckExtra reading: Psalm 86:8-13

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, had a constant critic in Congress, Edwin Stanton, who humiliated him, called him names, and mocked his policies. Lincoln overlooked this and gave him his greatest trust, naming him minister of war through the Civil War. When Lincoln was assassinated and his life was passing away, Stanton was beside him and said, "Never has there been a greater leader among men than Abraham Lincoln." Through Lincoln's patient endurance, Stanton had been won by love and by respect.We’re walking through the seven churches of Revelation, talking about living our life by the right scorecard - by the things that matter to Heaven. Sometimes we give ourselves to things that matter on earth, but they’re not even recognized in heaven. Patient endurance is a quality that all of us will have the opportunity to practice. That is what the church in Philadelphia is commended for - a church living in the fire of incredible suffering. Peter says the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.Extra reading: Deuteronomy 11:18-25Preacher: Bill Dyck

We are continuing our sermon series, Working from the Right Scorecard. Appearances can be deceiving. Have you ever bought something off of Facebook Marketplace that looked good? The seller said that it was fine, that everything was in working order, maybe it even passes your visual inspection. But you get it home and you try to plug it in and you realize that it's broken and you've been duped, you have been cheated. Have you ever been fooled by appearances like that? Something looked good, it looked safe, it looked alive, it looked like it was functioning, but in reality, it was not. In the scriptures that we're going to be looking at this morning, Jesus tells us that a whole church can be like that and that we as individual believers can as well. Everything can look fine on the surface, but the truth is, the roots are drying up, the inner life is withering away. Thankfully, we will see in the scriptures for today that Jesus loves us far too much to leave us like that. We will look at the letter to the church in Sardis from Revelation 3.Extra reading: Joel 2:12-14Preacher: Luke Dobrzanski

It’s thought that holiness belongs to the Pope or others in that category. The rest of us feel intimidated by the concept. It feels out of our league.Some people looking from the outside think holiness is dull or boring. Others say those associated with it come across as judgmental, snobbish, or morally superior. To some, it just seems rigid and hopeless. But how could that be? Jesus, when he walked this earth, was holy. And yet people flocked to him. Sinful people wanted to be with him. How could that be?We want to make sure we’re working from the right scorecard. There are things in our lives that are important to us and we keep track of, but are they the right things? These seven churches from the book of Revelation were in a real time and place 2,000 years ago, but they are timeless. They speak to us today about what's important to God. So I want to talk about why holiness matters as we look at this fourth church, Revelation 2:18Extra reading: Jeremiah 17:5-10Preacher: Bill Dyck

There are different types of purists. I drink whatever coffee is closest—right now that’s Tim Hortons. A coffee purist would cross town for an amazing cup, or grind their own from specific sources. That’s what a purist does.I have a growing appreciation for purists, because when it comes to Jesus, are we purists? It’s easy to take what is pure in Jesus and add to it, shaped by our experience and upbringing. People get upset with Christians they feel have become too dogmatic or rigid, and sometimes Christians are. But there is a tolerance that’s common in society that maybe Jesus isn’t so good with. I want to think with you about that today.We’re walking through the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, in a series called Working from the Right Scorecard. Today we’re looking at the third letter, to the church of Pergamum, and the focus is caring about truth and running from indifference.Extra reading: Deuteronomy 12:29-32Preacher: Bill Dyck

There is a robin on our street that has been singing all through the winter. A robin usually only comes in springtime, but this is a very optimistic robin. This robin has courage in suffering! We're walking through the letters to the seven churches in Revelation in a series I called "Working from the right scorecard". We have our own scorecards, what we value, what we put effort and strength into. But are these the same things that are on God's scorecard? These letters were for these churches 2000 years ago, but they are messages for all churches all through the ages, and for us too. What is it that God values in the life of his church? What does he notice, reward, praise? Last week we talked about, to the church in Ephesus, how we love. Unquestionably this will be top of God's scorecard. When we stand before him, he'll ask, how did you love people? This week we'll see in the letter to Smyrna another thing on his scorecard: courage in suffering.Extra reading: Psalm 46:1-11Preacher: Bill Dyck

I had to work hard for my grades in university. I studied very diligently. A few times, though, what I had chosen to study was not on the exam. At the time, I felt I had blown it. It was much more helpful when an instructor told us where to focus our studies. When there's a review done of our lives, when we appear before God, it would be very bad having lived our many years to find out that we focussed on the wrong thing. For things we worked hard on, achievements that meant so much to us, to not even come up in the review, while other things we hardly paid attention to get lifted up. In the next 7 weeks we'll be looking at letters to the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3, where God reviews the things he praises and criticise and calls us to. My heart's desire is for us all to be working from the right scorecard, so that when we appear before him, we won't be surprised and we'll already be leaning into what is most valuable. Today, Revelation 2:1-7. I called the message "Living in love". The top of the scorecard, guaranteed, is how did you love people?Extra reading: Hosea 2:14-20Preacher: Bill Dyck

I urge, invite and call you into Solemn Assembly. We love the idea of being joyful. Coming with a certain sobriety before God is itself a pathway to joy and peace. But certain things demand seriousness. Solemn assembly is a call to spiritual renewal. Jesus said that the thief, meaning his and our enemy, comes to kill, steal, destroy. He's really good at it, all over the world, in our lives. But Jesus says, "I have come to give you life and that more abundantly." That is spiritual renewal. We need that. In the new year, we're done with the feasting and family and all that. Isn't there also a season to set aside food and say honestly to God, I want you more than I do food? It's of such value to set aside something that we love and need to say to God, I really want you more than anything. Every time you feel hunger, turn your heart to God in prayer. The Lord will help us. I want to lean into the theme of spiritual renewal and unpack Psalm 85.Extra reading: Ephesians 4:17-24Preacher: Bill Dyck

..The two of them would create goodie bags in large numbers, like 150, to hand out to people. I noticed the incredible compassion he has for the needy, sometimes the ones who give him the most difficulty. One day I asked him, "Why is it that you have such an enduring love and commitment to this ministry?" He said, "My grandfather was one of these folks. He stumbled around the streets in his drunkenness. He wandered into a place just like this once. Someone at the front said, 'Jesus saves sinners.' And he latched onto that thought. Where would I be if there was not a place like this, if there wasn't that preacher who stood in front of an unwelcoming crowd and said, 'Jesus saves sinners'? Every time I come, it gives me an opportunity to maybe be involved in somebody else hearing that same message." Sometimes we think it's a small thing, that Jesus saves sinners, that he forgives us of our sins. We do not grasp what it means. I want to reflect with that here today.Preacher: Bill Dyck

Some time ago, I was having a conversation with a friend. We were talking about God, Jesus Christ and the Bible. He was sharing with me what he believes about God and Jesus Christ. As I was listening to him, I could see that he did not know who God is. He did not know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. I believe there are many people today who do not know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. They know about him but they do not know him personally. The title of the message is "God With Us in the Flesh". The question "Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?" is the most important question in the life of a Christian. There are many wrong answers being circulated in the world. But there is only one correct answer. The Bible answers this question for us because the Lord Jesus Christ is the hero of the Bible. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he is God the Son. He came to this earth, God in human flesh.Advent reading: Isaiah 9:1-7Preacher: Graeme Ramgobin

On Boxing Day 2004, there was a huge tsunami that hit parts of Asia. And there was a picture that was all over the internet of the moment people on the beach, vacationing, realized that a gigantic wave was crossing the boundary between sea and land bringing great destruction. The people in the picture are running as fast as they can away from the wave, desperate to get to safety, except there's one woman who is not running away. She is headed straight for the wave. Why would you go against every instinct to be safe and run into a tsunami wave? Because her children were out there. There was no way she was going to run inland, she was going to run to get her children. In a small way, this illustrates for us this name given to Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Not running away, but running straight into the storm to be with us. It's a theme that goes all through scripture, but we're going to focus on Psalm 46 to think about what it means that God is with us in the storm.Advent reading: Luke 1:46-56Preacher: Leslie Shillinglaw

God with us. Everything about that statement is remarkable. Just three words, God with us. When you feel alone, that touches us. When you feel trapped and hopeless, it meets us, God with us. When you're fearful and vulnerable. When that's what you feel, it meets us, God with us. When you're in a storm, it meets us, God with us. When the way is not clear, those words are precious, God with us. When Christmas seems boring and repetitive, we need to draw down more into those words, God with us, because those words are remarkable. When we come to the end of our days, we will say, that's the greatest thing, God with us. And so over these four Sundays of Advent, we called the sermons series God with us. Tdoay I want to talk about God with us on the journey, from the book of Exodus. The whole of scripture is a story of God with us. It's not just what we see in the Christmas story, right? It's God clamoring to be with us.Advent reading: Luke 1:26-38Preacher: Bill Dyck

This summer our son became married in Germany. We flew there and were hosted in the home of a woman maybe 75 year old who had recently lost her husband to illness. She herself was dealing with cancer. The treatments had already claimed all of her hair, so she wore a head covering the whole time. And shortly after we left, she went for a double mastectomy. What struck us about this woman, though she had so many struggles and plenty of causes for complaint, you never heard about that. She was so full of hope, all the time. So hospitable though she doesn't speak a word of English. This 75-year-old woman just full of joy, patience, vision, optimism. She leads Bible study in her church every week. On and on. What a remarkable woman. I was thinking about that because today's our last sermon in this series that we call "Prisoners of Hope" out of the book of Zechariah. A phrase which means we are imprisoned to hope itself, we can't even escape from it. That's how it is when we know God, are claimed by God, have a future with God. But there are many other things that seem to take precedence. What was so gripping to that woman, which is what I want to talk about here today, is that God wins. He always does. I wanna read Zechariah 14 and unpack it. It has to do with things to come.Extra reading: Revelation 20:1-6Preacher: Bill Dyck

What would you say if somebody were to ask you, "What's the pathway to God?" It's a big question. Does he even exist? In such a scientific age, if you can't see him, how would I find him? I wanna look at that today out of Zechariah 12, a pathway to God, a pathway to renewed relationship with God. The passage takes us down the long pipe of time until the very last days of planet Earth. In it we find not just scenes about that day, the day just before the Lord returns. We also find in it a beautiful description, for anyone, of how to find God. That's very helpful for us because we are surrounded constantly by so many people who really are looking for him.Extra reading: John 15:1-11Preacher: Bill Dyck

How do you maintain hope when you have disappointment? Is it possible to have joy when you're surrounded by discouragement? How do you carry on when things don't go your way? One way to deal with it is not to get your hopes up. But that's not a great way to go through life. It's easy in those times to have doubts about God. I've met people who've been in leadership of churches for decades and suddenly have doubts about God because of disappointments. I really do pray for the spiritual renewal of every person in our church, that God would lead us to live out of the river of his life. May the word of God today strengthen you. Today's message is about how to keep hope in the fire. We're walking through Zechariah in a series called "Prisoners of Hope". This is a saying that comes from this passage that we're looking at today. Usually, you think of prison as being a dark thing but here you're imprisoned by hope itself. I have nowhere to go but hope. Where do you find foundation like that? Zechariah 9Extra reading: Romans 8:31-39Preacher: Bill Dyck

By our house, there's a tailor. An elderly woman who works long hours. I was walking the dog at 9:30 last night and there she was on a Saturday night, not even watching the Blue Jays game, repairing clothes. What makes this woman amazing is that she totally runs against the tide of fast fashion or throwaway culture. She'll fix anything. And she takes delight in it. What I want to talk about here today is why God is not into the throwaway culture. The clothing and phones and technology are not so important but something of that seeps into our hearts and affects how we think about God and ourselves and relationships. It affects how we think about life. We are in our Zechariah series called The Prisoners of Hope, a phrase that comes out of Zechariah. God calls us prisoners of hope because we're in a place that you cannot but hope, because of God. Today we will read from Zechariah 8 and think together about why God is not into the throwaway culture.Extra reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21Preacher: Bill Dyck

For a number of years, I have worked in the field of construction. And if there is a project that is falling behind schedule, there are ways in which you can get the work done quicker. For example, you can add more people, you can add more resources, or you can work longer hours. But when it comes to the work of the Lord, it can only be accomplished by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. God uses people as his vessels to do his work. But the Holy Spirit empowers us for the work of the Lord. And that is what we're going to be talking about today. The title of the message this morning is The Empowerment of the Holy Spirit.Extra reading: Acts 1:1-5Preacher: Graeme Ramgobin

When God does a new thing, which is definitely what the book of Zechariah is all about, it's not just a desirable future. What makes it amazing is that he releases us from the grip of a painful past. The grip of things like guilt and shame. Guilt is black and white, either we're guilty or not. But shame isn't so straightforward. Maybe it's something we did. Maybe it's what others did to us. Shame is very hard to uproot. It goes deep. You think you got, but it's like a weed. It just keeps showing up, it's tenacious, strong, and it follows us. It tells us there's something wrong with us. But God helps us with guilt, and he helps us with shame. When God does a new thing, it's a desirable future, and he releases us from a painful past. This is such a delightful thing. I want to look into Zechariah 3. In the end I called this sermon "Haunted by the Ghosts of Guilt and Shame", but we could also call it "When God Does a New Thing". Zechariah 3. What a remarkable chapter.Extra reading: Hebrews 7:26-28Preacher: Bill Dyck

I enjoy trains, train tracks, train stations, riding on trains. Things with trains are pretty straightforward and clear if there's just two tracks, one line. But the nearer to the city center, the more switches there are, so that you can have a dozen tracks side by side and move from one to the other. Some large trains can be 100 cars, but it just takes a little switch that moves 3 centimeters to redirect that train completely, so that instead of going to Ajax, it ends up in Kitchener or North Bay. And you want to get it right. We are in this series out of the book of Zechariah, "Prisoners of Hope". What will rob us of hope is when we find ourselves in a different destination than we wanted to be at the beginning. There are things that can throw us off track, and they're not even big things. In this chapter, there are three things that can easily throw us off track. And so I want to read through Zechariah 2 and talk about how to make sure that we stay on track.Extra reading: Philippians 4:4-7Preacher: Bill Dyck

The expression "Prisoners of hope" comes out of the book of Zechariah. It means you can't escape hope. Usually imprisonment is a negative thing, but Zechariah talks about being prisoners of hope--no matter how trying times might be, to come back to hope again and again. There may be things we've waited for for a long time. The outlook gets a little depressing. How do you keep looking ahead with hope? Sometimes it's easier to not expect good things because then you won't be disappointed. But in times like that, we lock ourselves in a prison of hope and just choose to hope, because we know that God has good things in store for us, and we know that God is good. Today we start a series called Prisoners of Hope, walking through the book of Zechariah. Over the years we have looked a number of times at purchasing a place of worship of our own, only to have it fall apart. Now that we are in this place again, it's easy to be negative and lose hope. It's taken us 30 years to raise just over a million dollars. And if we put an offer in, we have 45 days to raise 3.5 million. So either God's in it, or he's not, cause it's definitely beyond us. We can either be a prisoner of despair or a prisoner of hope. I vote for hope. What draws me to Zechariah is how much he talks about the centrality of God's house where his people gather to worship. And I want to draw us into that.Extra reading: Romans 12:9-13Preacher: Bill Dyck

The title of the message this morning is "Reflecting Jesus Christ wherever we are". We're going to be looking at a time in the life of Daniel. And I believe that there are some guidelines which we can take from this time in the life of Daniel which can help us in reflecting the Lord Jesus Christ, wherever we are. In our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, anywhere in the secular world.Extra reading: Colossians 3:22-4:1Preacher: Graeme Ramgobin

I think the church generally is remarkable. I love the church. But TAC is a remarkable church. People are involved in so many ways and are eager to do so. I asked five people to give testimonies, and all five said yes, no hesitation - though my list was much longer. I'm praying all the time, "Lord, bring workers for the harvest. Bring workers that are needed." But sometimes there are shortages, and in some areas, critical shortages. In those situations, I just become quiet in prayer and I bring out my own very humble congregational list, and pray through it. Then I start texting, or phoning or something. I don't know that I've ever come up empty. Because people love the church and have a vision for it and delight in this work. So this Volunteer Sunday, I want to first acknowledge the many who do serve, and to invite others also to get involved. I want to read a short piece out of Galatians 5.Extra reading: Exodus 35:20-29Preacher: Bill Dyck

When our lives become overly complicated, it's often a call to get back to the basics. We recently had a wedding in our family. Any wedding is complicated. You have guests and a meal, details in the ceremony itself, a website. When it's an international wedding, even to get a marriage license, and all the people flying in, the whole thing can become quite complicated. As a pastor, I've married so many people and I've walked with them through all of this, and when complexity overwhelms, I keep reminding couples that it comes down to this: there's two people at the front of the church with a preacher, vows are said, there's a prayer that is uttered, and the pastor says, "What God has joined together, let no one separate." God takes two people and mysteriously makes them one. Everything else is icing on the cake. Just get back to the basics. At the start of a school year, before life gets complicated, I want to get back to the basics with 3 John.Extra reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-9Preacher: Bill Dyck

What is your sign that summer is ending? For me, when I start hearing on the radio that little jingle, "let's go to the Ex", that is my signal that summer is coming to an end. Also, when I drive down the DVP and I start to see that orange and yellow coming out, I'm like, "ah, fall is coming." And before I know it, it's a sea of colour. So, what's my point? Fall is a season where we get back to our routines, we think about the things that are important to us. If we have family, we are thinking about what's important for our family, what we want to make sure is in our lives and that we are doing. So, this change in season is a really good time to check in with ourselves and make sure that we've got the basics right. It's a time to make sure that our foundation is firm. And if in our faith we've got the basics, that's a very good start. So for the next couple of weeks, we're gonna talk about getting back to the basics, checking in to make sure we've got a firm foundation.Extra reading: Psalm 1Preacher: Leslie Shillinglaw

Psalm 134

Our service comes from Psalm 133, a psalm about Christian community. When Bill gave me this psalm to speak from, I will be honest with you, I didn't get it. I haven't had the greatest experience in church. I've felt the clickiness, the cold shoulders. I have literally been pushed out of some circles. It felt like nobody wanted me around. It hurt, especially as a new believer. It left me wondering, what did I do wrong? Aren't we supposed to be united, to care for each other? So when I read this psalm, it didn't make sense. Yet I have a strange feeling that I'm not the only one that has felt this way. I think a lot of us are still trying to figure out what community looks like. So I thought I'd share with you what I have discovered in preparing of this message, because even though I started off confused, I found three truths that spoke to me. One, we were made for community. Two, we were made to be holy. Three, we were made for blessing.Extra reading: Ephesians 2:8-10Preacher: Christian Bom

Trivial Pursuit used to be a popular game that tested your ability to know trivia, useless facts about everything under the sun. Some people were very good at it, and I definitely was not. Have you ever seen the power of God change a life? Change your life? It is so far from trivial. That is what we desire. It's what people desire more than anything. Nobody likes to be dragged away down a path out of control. I meet that a lot. But I've also seen the power of God change lives. And I want to think with you about it today.Extra reading: Isaiah 53Preacher: Bill Dyck

There's a lot of things that we find joy in. Last week, there was a car race here in the city. The indie is free. So I went there for a couple hours. I really love that. We have different things that we enjoy. But there is something that unites us, that gives us way more joy than any of those things, indie races or anything. It's the worship of God. It just tops it all. The more we know God, the more we find joy in it. I want to talk from Psalm 132 about the heart of worship. There are 15 Psalms of ascent about God's people going up to a place of worship. A number of times a year, they left wherever they were in the nation and went up to one place. In today's psalm, the folks who are on the journey are almost standing in the temple, they're right there. And so I want to talk here today from this Psalm about what worship really is.Extra reading: Ephesians 4:7-16Preacher: Bill Dyck

While preparing this message, I thought back to individuals in my life who have experienced great hardship in the form of opposition from people, where people have come and stood in their way and made life very hard for them. And yet, the same people are joyful and thankful, and they're resilient. It's an amazing thing. Knocked down but not knocked out. That's what I want to talk about today from Psalm 129. These are Psalms of ascent, 15 different psalms, back to back, of God's people on a journey, going up to meet with God. All of us are on a journey. I call this series Journeying Through the Seasons of Life. We find ourselves at some point in our lives in every one of these psalms, experiencing it full on. Maybe this is you right now, facing people who have made the way hard for you. Let's read it together.Extra reading: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12Preacher: Bill Dyck