Douglas Mennonite Church

Ascend ( Mother's Day) - Paul Walker With the wonder of resurrection still fresh, the disciples stand watching as Jesus is “taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (1:9). This is no random departure. In Scripture, clouds are a sign of God’s glory—the very presence that filled the tabernacle, the temple, and overshadowed the mountain of transfiguration. What looks like absence is actually enthronement. Jesus is not disappearing; he is being received into the fullness of the Father’s glory. And as they stand staring into the sky, the angels redirect them: this same Jesus will return. The story is not ending—it is advancing. The risen Christ now reigns, seated at the right hand of the Father, extending his presence through the Spirit and continuing his work as Lord of heaven and earth. The ascension reveals that resurrection was never just about life after death—it was always about the risen King taking his throne. And if Jesus reigns—present, powerful, and interceding—then everything has changed.Desired Outcome: To awaken confidence that the risen Jesus is now reigning and present with us—calling us to live under his Lordship and participate in his ongoing work in the world.

Ascend (Mother's Day) - Paul Walker With the wonder of resurrection still fresh, the disciples stand watching as Jesus is “taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (1:9). This is no random departure. In Scripture, clouds are a sign of God’s glory—the very presence that filled the tabernacle, the temple, and overshadowed the mountain of transfiguration. What looks like absence is actually enthronement. Jesus is not disappearing; he is being received into the fullness of the Father’s glory. And as they stand staring into the sky, the angels redirect them: this same Jesus will return. The story is not ending—it is advancing. The risen Christ now reigns, seated at the right hand of the Father, extending his presence through the Spirit and continuing his work as Lord of heaven and earth. The ascension reveals that resurrection was never just about life after death—it was always about the risen King taking his throne. And if Jesus reigns—present, powerful, and interceding—then everything has changed.Desired Outcome: To awaken confidence that the risen Jesus is now reigning and present with us—calling us to live under his Lordship and participate in his ongoing work in the world.

Farewell Service For George & Tobia

April 26- Sent Out Speaker: Pastor Vic Neufeld Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20With the announcement of resurrection ringing in their ears, the disciples make theirway to Galilee and “to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.”(28.16) This isno accidental location. In the Gospel of Matthew, mountains are associated withrevelation as a symbolic place where heaven meets earth. Jesus is tested on amountain (4:8), teaches a sermon on a mountain (5:1), is transfigured on a mountain(17:1), and now meets his bewildered disciples on a mountain. The final mountain is inGalilee, symbolically on the border of the wild “sea” of the nations. It is on thismountain that the disciples will discover that resurrection means nothing will ever bethe same again. New creation has burst out of the tomb. Jesus has received allauthority and will commission his disciples to “go make disciples of all nations” (28:19).In this great commission, we learn that we are united with Jesus in his death andresurrection—- that we are risen. And if we are risen— people of new creation— thenwe have work to do. We are set out!

April 19- A Fire of Burning Coals Speaker: Rev. Paul WalkerScripture: John 21The disciples found themselves going back to their old occupations even after theyhad interacted with the Risen One. In fact, right after a kind of ghostly upper roomencounter, Simon, who had been given a new identity as Peter, declared “I’m goingfishing…” to which a good number of them said, “We’ll go with you.” This was theirold job. They were Fishermen before they became disciples. This is what they knewhow to do, which must have felt so comforting in light of the falling apart of their entireunderstanding of what they were following. And yet they found themselves fishing allnight and catching nothing, which must have been so disheartening. Perhaps evenmore disheartening is the mixed emotions that Peter carried after the resurrection. Ofcourse Peter was glad that Jesus was alive, but don’t forget that on the night of Jesus’betrayal, Peter had failed miserably. Peter denied Christ, not once, not twice, but threetimes. Now in the morning there’s a man on the shore asking if they have any fish. No.He gives some advise and they catch 153 big ones! John says, “It’s the Lord!” AndPeter swims to Jesus. When they had hauled the catch ashore, Jesus called them tobreakfast and when they came they found a fire of coals. (ἀνθρακιά) In that bed ofcoals Jesus had recreated the scene of the crime of Peter’s denial. After breakfast,Jesus has a heart to heart conversation with Peter. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “doyou love me?”. And this was enough. Peter’s threefold denial of Christ is now matchedby his threefold announcement of love. Jesus restored Peter and than repeated Hisoriginal call: “Follow Me.” The call remains the same…even when we fail.

April 12- We’re All Thomas Now Speaker: Rev. Paul WalkerScripture: John 20:24-31Thomas was absent when Jesus first appeared to the disciples in the upper room.Whereas the other disciples exclaimed that Jesus was risen from the dead, Thomas isnot so sure. Instead Thomas says, ““Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put myfinger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”(v25) Aweek passes by where Thomas remains skeptical about the resurrection. And whocould blame Thomas? Nobody thought the Messiah would die, let alone be risen fromthe dead. In a secular age we’ve all encountered the same roadblock to belief asThomas. As sons of the Enlightenment and daughters of Modernity, we’re all Thomasnow. But Jesus is not discouraged or upset by Thomas. Jesus appears to Thomas andallows him to touch the wounds of crucifixion. “Place your finger here”(Jn 20:27)Thomas then exclaims, “My Lord, and My God.” Jesus does not scold Thomas fordoubting. If Thomas goes from belief, doubt, and re-belief—- perhaps we are allowedto as well? What if doubt is not the enemy of faith but the evidence that we have a faiththat is seeking understanding? (Fides quaerens intellectum) What if doubt is acompanion on the journey of understanding as we pursue Endless Mystery? What ifdoubt is the doorway to each new way of knowing, each new perspective?

RESURRECTION SUNDAY: Stations of the ResurrectionScripture: Isaiah 25:6-9 + Luke 24:1-12  + Luke 24:13-35 + Luke 24:36-49Speaker: Pastor Paul WalkerThe opening verses of Luke’s account of Resurrection Sunday are full of surprise, astonishment, fear, and confusion. There is the shock of the empty tomb. There is  astonishment of the announcement from the angels who proclaim to the women, “He is not here. He is risen.” There is the woman running to tell the others of this good news that Christ is risen. All of this reaches a climax when the Risen King stands among the disciples and proclaims over them, "‘Peace be with you.’(Lk 24:36) That the first word the disciples hear from the Risen King is “peace”is no accident. Yes, the first word of “peace” calms the disciples fear and confusion but it also says so much more. It says to us that peace and deep shalom of the new creation is now in-breaking within this present broken age because our Risen King has triumphed over sin, death, and the grave. His wounds on his hands, feet, and side bear witness to his victory. The prophet Isaiah glimpsed the in-breaking of shalom in the resurrection. Isaiah tells us that our Risen King has “swallowed up death for ever”(Is 25:8) Our Risen King will “create a new heavens and a new earth”(Is 65:17) where “no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.”(Is 65:19). This is the announcement of peace & shalom by our Risen King Jesus. And this is the announcement that we bear witness to this day. Desired Outcome: To share the good news that resurrection announces the victory of King Jesus — who calls us to participate in his new creation of shalom. 

Stations of the Cross. The Journey to the Cross is the retracing of the Passion of the Christ— or Jesus’ last 12 hours before his death. To facilitate the journey of the Cross we are using the 12 images from Scott Erickson to move our people through the 12 Stations of the Cross. Each station will have a scripture reading with a reflection, poem, or song to support the scripture and images. 

March 31: The King Who Cancels DebtScripture: Matthew 18:21–35Speaker: Pastor Tobia Veith Forgiveness is a deeply challenging and weighty subject—often harder than we expect.Peter’s question to Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sisterwho sins against me? Up to seven times?” (v.21), reveals a common human desire: toset limits on mercy and to take pride in our own generosity. But Jesus refuses to letforgiveness be a finite, transactional thing. Instead, through the parable of theunmerciful servant, Jesus reveals something much bigger: forgiveness is rooted in adebt so enormous it can never be repaid. This parable points us toward the Cross,where God cancels the un-payable debt of our sin—not by demanding repayment butby absorbing it fully. The servant’s forgiven debt is so vast that it should transform hisheart, yet he fails to extend mercy to others. Jesus shows us that refusing to forgive islike denying our own desperate need for grace—a scandalous refusal to live in themercy we have received. On the Cross, God cancels the debt that enslaves us all andinvites us into a new economy of mercy. Our response, then, is not to hold grudges orcalculate limits, but to forgive because we have been forgiven.Desired Outcome: To embrace the call to forgive others freely and fully, grounded inthe unmerited forgiveness we have received through Christ’s forgiveness on the Cross.A Note to Listeners from Tobia Veith:Although reputable medical institutions and pyschological associations have found that forgiveness has many health benefits, PLEASE:- Understand that forgiveness does NOT mean to stay with one's abuser or to reconcile with someone who will continue to harm you. - Forgiveness can happen even if reconciliation doesn't and the process of justice can proceed even as one forgives. - Be advised to seek safety and professional help with the process of healing and forgiveness if you are dealing with a situation of abuse and harm.

March 15: The Father Who RunsScripture: Luke 15:11–32Speaker: Paul WalkerJesus tells a striking parable about two sons and a father whose love refuses to bebound by human expectations. The younger son demands his inheritance early—ashocking and disrespectful act, as it’s akin to saying, “I wish you were dead.” He cashesout, ignoring his responsibilities, and squanders everything in a far country. Whenfamine hits, he finds himself destitute and desperate, the consequences of his rebellionclear. Meanwhile, the elder son stays home, dutifully working and following the rules—but his heart is hardened. When the younger son returns, broken and repentant, thefather runs eagerly to welcome him back, bearing the shame and loss that the son’sfailure brought upon the family. Yet the elder brother refuses to join the celebration,unable to forgive or understand that his worth is not earned by success but given freelyby the father’s love. This parable reveals the heart of the Cross: God’s relentless, costlylove that pursues us even when we turn away. The Father’s running toward the prodigalson is not a casual gesture but a radical act of grace, absorbing shame and loss ratherthan demanding payment or condemnation. God revealed in Jesus is a God whoselove runs to us on the Cross, bearing the full cost of our sin and brokenness.Desired Outcome: To recognize the Cross as the ultimate expression of God’s lovingpursuit, inspiring us to embrace grace with open hearts rather than fear judgment or tryto earn our place.

So often people think the important thing is to have the right ideas about Jesus. Jesusflips the script on this sort of thinking when he closes his Sermon on the Mount with theparable of the wise and foolish builders. Jesus says, “Anyone who hears these words ofmine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.(v24)” The central question of this parable is this; what kind of foundation are webuilding our lives on? Is it shifting sand? Is it the rock of Jesus’ teaching? The answer tothis question determines if our house stands when the storm comes. One thing is sure,Jesus’ own brother challenges those who thought they could have the right beliefswithout the right actions when he writes, “faith without works is dead”.Desired Outcome: To evaluate the foundation on which we’ve built our ‘houses’, andtake next steps to make necessary changes.

March 1 — It’s More Than WordsScripture: Matthew 7:15-23, Galatians 5Speaker: Pastor Joe WeltyIn our day, we sometimes conflate appearance and reality. If someone tweets the rightthings, or has the right appearance on Instagram— we might assume a reality that istrue of that person. But curiously Jesus says, ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord,Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of myFather who is in heaven.”(v20) Jesus is saying that faithfulness is about more thanwords or mere appearances. Instead we will recognized falseness by the fruit itproduces. True followers must not be like those who give lip service to God (saying“Lord, Lord” v. 21). Even doing great deeds of power guarantees nothing (vv. 22–23).What matters is hearing and acting upon the message Jesus proclaims (“these words ofmine”); anything less is foolish—building a house on shifting sand. In an age ofdisinformation, we need to understand that Jesus warned of false prophets, but alsogave us some tools to discern the truth.Desired Outcome: To understand the difference between appearance and reality—and to challenge folks to be discerning about false messages and messengers.

February 22— The Two PathsScripture: Matthew 7:13-14 (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)Jesus is nearing the end of his Sermon on the Mount. And as all good preachers do— Jesusbegins to describe what is at stake if we choose to not to put into practice his teaching. Thereare two paths, one that is wide and easy and the other difficult. The narrow way is the way ofwalking with the person of Jesus. Jesus is the only way, truth and life. However, if all otherroads lead to destruction, then this sounds profoundly unfair and unloving. What is importantto note is that Jesus is primarily talking about how we live in the here and now to emphasizethe gravity of our consequences. Jesus is saying the way to find eternal life, here and now, isnarrow and hard because it involves following Jesus and striving to develop a Christ-likecharacter. The golden rule is the narrow way.5 But most people, would rather live life with thegoal of having their best and most convenient life, rather than arduously striving to develop aloving character. This road leads to destruction because whatever about us that is inconsistentwith God’s love and truth has got to be destroyed so that we can live for Christ and reflect hislove in the eternal Kingdom.

February 15— The Golden RuleScripture: Matthew 7:12—- James 2:8; Romans 13:10; Gal 5:14The Golden Rule sums up the whole ethic of Jesus: our calling as followers of Jesus, frommorning to night, is to do to others what you would have them do to you. Jesus tells us thatthis sums up— it fulfills— the purpose and intention of the Law & Prophets. Jesus does notabolish the law (5:17–20) but establishes it: loving God and loving others. But how do we wedo this well? Though it may seem odd, we actually need to listen to ourselves in order do untoothers well. All of us need things like food, water, shelter, and security. (Eg. Maslow’s Hierarchy)But it goes deeper than that. We need love, friendship, care, hope, justice, and vision tosustain us in life. As we begin to name what we personally need, Jesus then invites us to dothat to others. Which begs the question, are we actually doing that?

February 8—Ask, Seek, KnockScripture: Matthew 7:7-11, James 4:3In the Gentile world, the gods were seen as distant and indifferent to the needs of humanity.Pagan practices of prayer largely centred around a quid pro quo approach to deitymanagement. The thought was if you said enough words or did the right ritual the gods wouldbe appeased and compelled to move on your behalf. Jesus has previously said, “do not keepon babbling like pagans”(6:7-8). But now Jesus is talking again about asking in prayer througha positive framework. Jesus wants us to imagine our asking in the context of a good HeavenlyFather who desires to give us good things. Our vision of what God is like is really important!Unlike the pagan gods, our Heavenly Father is near, cares about our needs, and desires to giveus good things. The point of our asking is not to inform or persuade God to do what we thinkGod should do. Nor is this a formula to get what we want. Prayer is more about cultivating ourrelationship with God as God’s own children. We need to learn to pray and ask from theperspective of children who understand the goodness of God, our Heavenly Father. And oncewe understand the goodness of God, we know better to ask for the right things, with the rightheart. (Jam 4:3)Desired Outcome: To inspire our people towards expanding their vision of God to infinitelove, goodness, and mercy — so that our asking in prayer is formed from a place of trust.

Pearls Before SwineSpeaker: Lorelle PerryScripture: Matthew 7:6, 1 Corinthians 5:12We tend to think that if we have life changing information, it should be shouted from therooftops or be trending on Twitter. This is especially the case when have formed a judgementabout an issue or topic. But curiously, Jesus says “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do notthrow your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tearyou to pieces.”(7:6) What does he mean by this? Firstly, Jesus assumes that there are thingsthat are “sacred” or holy. “Do not give dogs what is sacred” had an original connection tosacrificial meat or to leaven. Thus, Leviticus 22:10 reads: “No one outside a priest’s family mayeat the sacred offering.” The later rabbis said something quite like this statement by Jesus:“For they do not redeem Holy Things to feed them to the dogs” (m. Temurah 6:5). Jesus hasobviously adapted a typical expression and applied it to his own sense of the sacred. Secondly,the animals chosen by Jesus were among the most despised, and historically connected withthe Gentile world. Dogs and pigs have no sense of value, so dogs will rip apart a precious itemand pigs will trample on items of immense worth. So what is Jesus teaching us in this passage?Firstly, in connection the previous section on judgement (7:1-5), we understand Jesus teachingus to not engage in a plank eye process of moral discernment with those who are not ready tohear. We should refrain from forcing sacred Kingdom treasure onto the wider culture. (1 Cor5:12) Secondly, we need practice discernment about whether people are ready to hear to theGospel. We should not assume that everyone is listening with ears to hear. Finally, we need tohold sacred things with care. In the same way that we value a fine wine, or fine china, we needto hold a reverence about the things of God. We seek to hold the Kingdom message withhonour so that our witness brings glory to Jesus. Ultimately, we need to remember that howthe Kingdom comes is what the Kingdom is.Desired Outcome: To challenge our people to value the sacred treasure of the Gospel, bybeing discerning about the how, when, where, and to whom we share this Good News — sothat our witness is effective and honouring to Jesus.

January 25— Quitting the Judgement GameSpeaker: Pastor Paul WalkerScripture: Matthew 7:1-5; James 4:11-12If there is one thing we do as humans, it is judge others. Research tells us that it takes just one-tenth of a second for people to judge someone and make a first impression.3 We then use our judgements to form how we engage a person. We live in a system in which everyone judges themselves and each other and creates a hierarchy of those above and below them. To judge another person is to ascribe worth to yourself at the expense of others. This minimizes your sins and faults, while maximizing the sins and faults of others. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “At least, I’m not as bad as that person (or group)” then you were likely playing the judgement game. Jesus says to us, “ ‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.”(7:1) Jesus is not talking about moral discernment of behaviours, but about how we view other people.4 As John Wesley said of this text, “The judging that Jesus condemns here is thinking about another person in a way that is contrary to love.” Ultimately, Jesus is inviting us to see people the way God’s sees people: with infinite love. This doesn’t mean we don’t discern behaviours as good or bad. It means we learn to go through the “plank-eye process” in which we view our own sin and failings as worse than others, which creates a humility that treats other sinners with mercy (cf. Gal. 6:1; Jas 2:13). Jesus is inviting his followers to quit the judgement game and live into a Kingdom society shaped not by condemnation buthumility, love, and forgiveness.Desired Outcome: To explore our addiction to the judgment game — and challengefolks to view all people the way God sees them: with infinite love.

Sermon: O Worrier, Consider The Lillies Date: January 18, 2026  Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34 Speaker: George Veith We live in an age of worry. Studies from Statistics Canada tell us that 1 in 4 Canadians report to have moderate to severe anxiety. Gen Z and Millennial Canadians between 18 and 39 years old reported the highest levels of anxiety, loneliness, depression and stress of any age group (33.5 per cent for anxiety, 43.2 per cent for stress, 29.1 per cent for loneliness and 27.7 per cent for feelings of depression). We are in an epidemic of worry, anxiety, and stress.  We face so many issues in day-to-day life that worry and anxiety are par for the course. To not worry seems to be something that only those who do not live in reality can do. What does it mean then to follow Christ’s teaching in this passage regarding worry? Jesus seems to think that we need to change our mindset about the value of worry (v27), change our relationship to possessions (v28), and to trust in the abundance of our Heavenly Father who “knows that you need all these things”(v32). We can abandon our scarcity mindsets because of the one who announces the abundance of God. Abundance, not scarcity, is the mark of God’s Kingdom. But that abundance must be made real through the lives of a people who have discovered that they can trust God and one another. Such trust is not an irrational gesture against the chaos of life, but rather a witness to the very character of God’s care of creation. So it is no wonder that Jesus directs our attention to the lilies to help us see how it is possible to live in joyful recognition that God has given us more than we need.Desired Outcome: To name the reality of our age of worry — and receive the invitation of Jesus to an alternative way of living that trusts in the care of our Heavenly Father. 

Sermon: Two Masters Date: January 11  Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24 Speaker: Paul Walker We who live in consumeristic cultures must remain aware that we live in a context that is perpetually trying to get us to be discontent with what we have. We are conditioned to chase after more. We are trained to get our value from money, possessions, and material gains. Jesus tells us that “You cannot serve both God and money (Mammon).”(v24) Historically, “mammon” is the name of a powerful deity who uses wealth to destroy people. It has the power to create hunger and discontentment in us, to get us to perpetually want more. Ultimately mammon competes with God for our heart’s devotion. So what does it mean for us to serve only one master? What are we giving ultimate allegiance to in our lives? Can we trust that Jesus is a better Lord than Mammon? Desired Outcome: To explore the false messages of our consumeristic culture — and to challenge people to trust that Jesus offers us so much more. 

Sermon: Prepare the Way Date: January 4, 2026  Scripture: Matthew 3 Speaker: George Veith In Matthew 3 we meet Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. John the Baptist’s role was to prepare the way for Jesus. He was the embodiment of Isaiah’s vision of a “voice calling in the desert to prepare the way of the Lord”. (Is 40:3) John called the people of Israel to repentance and enacted this through baptism. The Church has a role that is similar to John’s. Just as he prepared the way for Christ 2000 years ago, we too are to prepare our lives to encounter Jesus, both now, and in expectation of his second coming. We are to live today as though Jesus is coming back at any time. We don’t live the way the world lives. We are a part of a revolution. We invest in the Kingdom. We revolt against the status quo. We work to bring about the Kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven. And as we do this, we hasten the Lord’s return. On this first Sunday of 2026, what might it mean to prepare the way of the Lord in our own lives? Desired Outcome: To encourage folks to examine their lives as we head into 2026—and ask how they might prepare the way to encounter Jesus this year. 

Sermon: Sing In Exaltation Date: December 28 Scripture: Luke 2:8-20 Speaker: Paul Walker Worship is not just something that happens at church. Worship is a state of your heart— which is expressed in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Look at the Christmas narrative and see how the central characters expressed their worship in a variety of ways: Mary was moved to sing a song of gratitude to God. Joseph obeyed and followed God’s plan. The shepherds stopped their work to go find and worship the Christ-child. Magi confronted anything that stood in the way of worshiping the one true God. Elizabeth opened her home in an act of hospitality. If we don’t begin the Advent season with a heart of worship, everything else will fall apart. The way we spend, give, and love will radically change when it comes from a place of true worship. This is not something you should do out of obligation. It is the opportunity to get back to the heart of the Christmas narrative. So what might it look like for us to fully enter into worship this advent season? Desired Outcome: To encourage our people to worship fully this advent season in our thoughts, words, and deeds. 

Christmas Eve Candle-light service Sermon: Joy Of Every Longing Heart Date: December 24 Scripture: Selected Scripture Passages from Luke 1-2 Speaker: Paul Walker At the heart of the Christmas story is longing. Elizabeth and Zechariah long for a child in their old age (Lk 1:5-25). Mary longs to be the servant of the Lord (Lk 1:38) as she sings about her God and Saviour whose mercy extends “from generation to generation”(Lk 1:50). This God is present to the longings of the world. God has “helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful”(Lk 1:54), “because he has come to his people and redeemed them”(Lk 1:68). The shepherds long to “see the thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Lk 2:15) We too have longings. In a world filled with conflict, anxiety, loneliness, and suffering, so many of us long for peace—to be complete and whole. Jesus offers us personal wholeness and peace with God and his people through his first coming, and we now long for the ultimate eternal wholeness he will bring when he returns. Christmas reminds us that all our longings, hopes, and dreams are encountered in the God who came as a baby to be with us. Desired Outcome: To preach the Good News that all our longings are met in Jesus — who invites us to receive his joy, peace, and love to replace our conflict, anxiety, loneliness, and suffering. 

Blue Christmas Evening Service Sermon: Far As The Curse Is Found Date: December 21 Scripture: Matthew 2:13-23Speaker: Paul Walker The Magi do not return to Herod. The response from Herod is to eliminate any possible challenge to his power-hold over Israel. Herod commands that all male baby boys under two years old be put to death. It is a tragedy. Perhaps no event in the gospels challenges our sentimental depiction of Christmas than the slaughter of these innocents. Most North American Christians don’t like to sully their sentimental version of Christmas with the account of King Herod’s collateral damage. But Matthew gives a prophetic witness to truth that becomes good news for all those on the underside of empire and evil. God is not distant to the suffering of our world. God is like Jesus — born into a dark world of trouble, trial, violence, and fear. Jesus comes to shine his light far as the curse is found. Jesus comes to heal us of the curse and darkness that sin has wrought upon us. Desired Outcome: To announce the good news that Jesus joins us in our world of pain and suffering. 

Sermon: The Unexpected Worshipers Date: December 14  Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12 Speaker: George Veith We often picture the Magi as three Kings or three wise men who arrive alongside the shepherds in an epic Nativity evening of worship on an O Holy Night. The story that Scripture tells us is far more complicated. For starters, the Magi arrive on the scene after the birth of Jesus— likely years after the shepherds. (Mt 2:1) Secondly, the Magi were not kings, they were Persian astronomers, astrologers, magicians who discerned an auspicious sign in the stars and made a thousand mile journey to worship the Christ child in Bethlehem. In other words, the Magi are the last people you’d expect to show up in a story about the Jewish Messiah. And yet, the appearance of the Magi tells us that those on the outside and the fringes can find themselves at the centre of what God is doing. We learn in the story of the Magi that Jesus is calling all people to himself to worship and be transformed. And when we dare do this— we discover the journey home is by “another way”(2:12). Desired Outcome: To discover the Good News that Jesus is calling all sorts of unexpected people to come follow Him and thus journey by “another way”(2:12)”.

Sermon: A Life Interrupted Date: December 7  Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 Speaker: Paul Walker Joseph was pledged to be married to Mary. As was the Jewish custom during the betrothal period, Joseph was probably away building a home and preparing for his marriage to Mary. Joseph surely had plans and dreams about what his future would look like. However, God had other plans for Joseph. Joseph’s life turned upside-down. Mary became pregnant. The child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but Joseph did not believe this story. His future wife was pregnant and the child was not his. This was considered very scandalous, and his reputation within the community was probably at stake. Joseph first thought about divorcing Mary quietly, but then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him what to do. He could have not believed this, ignored the dream and said “no”. However, he listened and obeyed God, and the birth of the saviour of the world, Jesus, took place. In the same way that God spoke to Joseph, God is speaking to us. Jesus is looking for those who will listen to His voice and follow Him, even if that means giving up our own plans and dreams. Desired Outcome: To encourage our people to listen to the voice of God— even when it is costly and inconvenient. 

Sermon: Bad Blood Date: November 30 Scripture: Matthew 1:1-17 Speaker: Paul Walker The Gospel of Matthew opens with a genealogy— or a family tree— of Jesus the Messiah. In our modern day, we tend not to care too much about genealogies and long family trees. We might even view genealogies as incidental information, but this list of Jesus’ family tree tells a story about Israel, a story about us, and even a story about God. In mentioning Jesus as “the son David, the son Abraham”(1:1) Matthew’s audience would be clued in about a story of royal lineage and covenant promises. They might expect that the Messiah and Saviour of the world would come from a long line of faultless heroes and notable dignitaries. The opposite is true of Jesus’ family record. You have the scandalous stories of Judah treating his daughter-in-law Tamar as a prostitute (1:3), Boaz being the son of the Jericho prostitute Rahab (1:5), David committing adultery with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite (1:6), and even the recounting of exile (1:11,17). Matthew does not try to hide away the faults or sins of the past—and that is the point! Jesus willingly chose to unite himself to a broken family story in order to heal all our family stories. Desired Outcome: To announce the good news that Jesus has joined us in our broken stories and family histories — to heal them from the inside out. 

Sermon: What do you see? Date: November 23  Scripture: Matthew 6:22-23, Matthew 9:27-31 Speaker: Paul Walker Jesus taught us that what we see is shaped by how our eyes are trained to see the world. If our eye is bad, our sight will be corrupted. We need good eyes to see the world rightly. When we see things, we project our own biases upon what we are seeing. What we see out there is interpreted through our own personal filter. Jesus here is challenging his listeners to think about the kind of eye that they are developing. Do they have an evil eye or a good eye? Is their eye able to see what is true and good or is it tainted by greed and malice? We rarely examine the lens in which we see the world around us. And if we do —we may be shocked at how much our sight needs to be healed. But the good news is that just like the two blind men who called out for mercy and healing (Mt 9:27-31)— we too can call out to Jesus our Great Physician to heal our distorted lenses. Desired Outcome: To challenge folks to examine if they have healthy or unhealthy eyesight— and to ask Jesus to continue to shape our vision. 

Sermon: The Heart of the Matter Date: November 16  Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24Speaker: George VeithOne of the ingrained messages we receive in our culture is to do all you can do to get rich and stay rich. We spend a majority of our lives in the workforce earning and storing up wealth in the hope of an eventual retirement. Into our modern day consumeristic context we hear an invitation from Jesus to store up treasures that last. “Treasure” moves from things we value that are temporary— to things we value that are moral and eternal. It’s not that Jesus has a problem with using our days to work and earn. We need to pay our bills and provide for ourselves and others. (2 Thess. 3) Jesus is asking us: what do we value? Where is our treasure? We will know what it is based on what we spend our energies on and what is the driving force of our life. If we are not careful, our possessions will possess us. Instead, Jesus invites his disciples to let God’s reign take center stage.Desired Outcome: To examine what we are giving ultimate value to in our lives —and to challenge people to store up treasures that last.

Sermon: “And When You Fast…” Date: November 9 Scripture: Matthew 6:16-18Speaker: Paul Walker Jesus comes out of teaching on prayer and begins to talk about another spiritual practice. “When you fast…”. Jesus doesn’t say, “IF you fast” but rather he assumes that people will be regularly fasting. This might strike us as odd in our modern North American context that tends to disparage the idea of self-denial. What is fasting? Fasting is abstaining—often from food and water. This abstaining creates a longing for more of God and can paradoxically be a feast of spiritual encounter. Fasting can even have medical benefits. But we don’t fast for what we can get out it. Fasting is firstly an expression of worship to God that reminds us we are sustained by God alone. In this practice of fasting Jesus wants us not to be like “the hypocrites” who do things for the sake of public display and fame. The only way to fast, or pray or engage in any other spiritual activity that brings about a heavenly reward is to do it “in secret.” Whatever discomfort or pain we are experiencing is to be kept hidden as much as possible. The “reward” that we are storing up when we pray and fast in secret is simply the beauty of the character that we develop when we learn how to be singularly motivated by God’s will and thus not motivated by social applause.Desired outcome: To challenge us to know that the spiritual life is not always about constant filling, but also includes seasons of fasting, abstaining, and disengagement —- so that we can be singularly motivated by our Heavenly Father.

Sermon: Deliver Us Date: November 2 Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13 Speaker: Paul Walker This last line of Jesus’ prayer reminds us of our own frailty and the reality that evil is a force from which we need deliverance. We live in a broken world and have an enemy —the satan— which tempts us to fall. God does not tempt (James 1:12-13), but God does allow us to betested and go through trials to refine our faith (James 1:1-3). When the satan or anyone else tempts us, they’re hoping we will fall and be more enslaved because of it. So we need to be lead in such a way that we do not fall into temptation. The heart of this petition is about God protecting and rescuing us from temptation and the work of the evil —and the evil one. To pray “deliver us from evil” is to acknowledge that we are on the front lines of a cosmic conflict (Eph6:10-12) which we need to resist in prayer. As N.T. Wright suggests, “it is a prayer that the forces of destruction, of dehumanization, of anti-creation, of anti-redemption, may be bound and gagged, and that God’s good world may escape from being sucked down into their morass.” This petition also acknowledges that we need a Saviour to deliver us. We can’t defeatevil on our own. And so, the prayer to “deliver us” is a prayer that trusts in the work of Jesus to deliver us out of all captivity.Desired Outcome: To remind our people that prayer orients our steps towards being led by God— not into temptation—- but into a new way of life that delivers us from evil and the evil one.

Sermon: Forgive Us Date: October 26, 2025 Scripture: Matthew 6:9-15 Speaker: Hans Boge Sr. The Lord’s Prayer contains, at this point, a most unusual thing: a clause which commits the prayer to actions which back up the petition just offered. ‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ Prayer and life are here locked indissolubly together. This isn’t saying that we do this in order to earn God’s forgiveness. It’s a further statement of our loyalty to Jesus and his Kingdom. Claiming this central blessing of the Kingdom only makes sense if we are living by that same central blessing ourselves. Failure to forgive one another wasn’t a matter of failing to live up to a new bit of moral teaching. It was cutting off the branch you were sitting on. The only reason for being Kingdom-people, for being Jesus’ people, was that the forgiveness of sins was happening; so if you didn’t live forgiveness, you were denying the very basis of your own new existence. On the cross, all is forgiven on God’s side. But this forgiveness only reaches us and benefits us when we acknowledge that we need to be forgiven and accept that we are forgiven, which is part of what it means to place your faith in Jesus Christ. Even as Christians, there are things we can do and attitudes we can cultivate that hinder our ability to receive God’s love and forgiveness. So this section of the Lord’s prayer reminds us of our own agency and need to willingly participate in the Kingdom arriving in our lives.Desired Outcome: To explore the ways in which we hinder the forgiveness and love of Godentering our lives by withholding from others.

Sermon: Give us this day, our daily bread Date: October 19 Scripture: Matthew 6:11, Mathew 7:9-11 Speaker: George Veith There many ways you can focus your prayer i.e., worship, thanksgiving, confession, consecration. Jesus teaches us that we should focus at least a part of our prayer time in petitioning or asking God to meet our needs, referring to the phrase ”daily bread.” In thehistorical context of this passage, the people to whom Jesus was speaking would have been poor, with no safety net. Less than 10% of the population had the economic standing to have the luxury of surplus. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’; reminds us that our natural longings, for bread and all that it symbolizes, are not to be shunned as though they were of themselves lessimportant. It also reminds us that our prayers of petition move beyond the individual and towards the communal needs as the prayer is rendered in the plural of “us” and “our”. Finally, this prayer for daily bread points us beyond only physical hunger to the spiritual hunger thatafflicts many in our modern day. Jesus said he is “the bread of life”(Jn 6:35)— and in his body broken we discover the place where we can come with our physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs, and lay them before the God to whom all desires are known.Desired Outcome: To learn to come to Jesus in prayer with our personal and communal needs— and to trust Him to provide for daily bread.

Sermon: Your Kingdom ComeDate: October 12Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13Speaker: George VeithJesus came announcing and enacting the Kingdom of God. Every parable, every teaching, and every personal encounter recorded in the Gospel’s ultimately tells us about King Jesus and his arriving Kingdom. It is perhaps surprising that Jesus asks his disciples to pray for the Kingdom to come, and the will of God to be done. This tells us that the Kingdom of God comes not through force, but through prayer, consent, and petition. We have a part to play! It also tells us that the Kingdom and the will of God have not yet fully arrived on earth as it is in heaven. This raises many questions of how God’s sovereignty is at work in the world. While we may not have the full answer to those questions, Jesus’ prayer teaches that us that we stand in the time between the now and the not yet full arrival of the Kingdom. When we pray these second and third petitions — we pray for God to act AND confess our alignment to that activity. To pray that God’s will be done is to pray that our wills be trained to desire that God’s will be done. This means our prayers matter, even when we cannot see the tangible results or what the will of God is for a specific situation. We must trust that prayer always accomplishes much, whether we can see it or not.Desired Outcome: To challenge us to align our wills in prayer to the will of God so that we can see the Kingdom more fully come on earth as it is in heaven.

Sermon: Hallowed Be Your Name   Date: October 5        Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13Speaker: Paul WalkerOf all the lines in the Lord’s prayer, the phrase “Hallowed be Your Name” is one of the more confusing statements. We rarely use the word “hallowed” in our common day vocabulary— which means to honour, sanctify, set apart, and treat with the highest of respect. And even if we do, we might misinterpret this section of the prayer as directed first at our actions. The first three petitions of the Lord’s prayer are directed toward’s God’s activity. Jesus here petitions God to hallow God’s Name. To be sure, if God acts to honour God’s Name, then surely the followers of Jesus will too, but this text actually speaks first of a Divine action. This means all worship, adoration, and hallow-ing of God’s name is less of a request— and more of a confession about what is already true because of who God is and what God has done. It is an orientation of our hearts and lives to that supreme reality that refuses to make the Lord’s name vanity. (Ex 20:7) When we say "hallowed be thy name," we are making the adoration of God the ultimate concern of our lives. We are confessing what matters most to us and what we will give our ultimate allegiance. Desired Outcome: To hallow the Name of God by orienting our thoughts, words, and deeds towards the ultimate reality of who God is and what God has done. 

Sermon: Becoming the Perfect ChurchDate: September 14Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48Speaker: Paul WalkerJesus tells his disciples to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”(5.48) This can sound like an impossible ideal from Jesus. Really, how can anyone be perfect? The key to understanding this passage is “therefore,” because it shows us that this verse is the conclusion of the previous verses. This verse is a calling to live in perfect unity, as the previous verses focus on how Jesus wants us to treat one another. The perfection that we are called to live is discovered in our relationships. Thus, Jesus is urging his followers to be “perfect in love” or to “love completely” in the sense that they are to love not only fellow Jewish neighbours but also enemy neighbours. This is why in the parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”(Lk 6:36) This challenges us to form different sorts of communities in which love is lavished indiscriminately. Yet, so much of how we form community is through a “bounded set” sense of belonging—- in which we love those who believe and behave as we do. Jesus invites us to flip the script and love without boundaries.Desired Outcome: To explore what it means for our church ‘be perfect’ by explaining the difference between bounded-set, fuzzy-set, and centre-set communities. 

Sermon: Jesus Shaped Speech Date: August 31 Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37Speaker: Nicole Marble Israelites took oaths that made their statements legally obligating because they implored the presence of God in the commitment—but this only happened because half-truths, deceptions, and lies were all too common. To take oaths was to assume that honest speech was not always present. Jesus speaks to a culture of legal oath-taking and calls his disciples to go further into truthful and honest speech. Jesus desires a Kingdom reality where people can let their ‘yes’ be a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be a ‘no’. We might view the practice of open honesty as naive and unwise in our culture of false advertising and legal loopholes. However, Jesus is imagining a future Kingdom reality where honest and truthful speech is a given — and is calling his disciples to live in this future now. We live Jesus-shaped speech into our world when we live with utter honesty and work against systems where dishonesty has become systemic. We live into Jesus-shaped speech when we refuse to use legal means as a basis to control a narrative. We live into Jesus-shaped speech when our words refuse to be co-opted by false narratives and half-truths to benefit ourselves. Jesus blesses those who long for righteousness and justice— and that justice extends to our speech. 

Sermon: Re-humanizing Objectified PeopleDate: August 24Scripture: Matthew 5:27-32 Speaker: Paul WalkerJesus continues his antitheses statements by addressing adultery and divorce. The Law prohibited adultery, which is having sex with anyone other than your spouse. Jesus goes further than the law by speaking against the root cause of adultery: lust. Lust is when we look to desire and intentionally foster sexual temptation and arousal through the imagination. Jesus is against lust because it causes us to dehumanize others and treat them like objects. Similarly, Jesus speaks against the dehumanizing practice of men writing certificates of divorce to their wives for "any reason”(19.3). The relaxed practices of divorce in Jesus’ day empowered patriarchal structures and disempowered mutuality in marriage. Jesus has in mind a view of sexuality that is grounded in covenant faithfulness, mutuality, love, and goodness. When our sexuality is grounded in merely gratifying personal desires, we run the risk of going down the path of destruction. Jesus is teaching that when you treat people as objects for your gratification you are moving in a direction that is absolutely contrary to the direction of the Kingdom of God. This is a road that moves away from life and love toward destruction and the fires of Gehenna. So as DMC seeks to follow Jesus— how might we ground our view of sexuality that is life-giving and not destructive? What does it look like to live into a sexuality that is grounded in covenant faithfulness, mutuality, goodness, and love? Desired Outcome: To encourage folks to live into an alternative view of sexuality and relationships based on covenant faithfulness which refuses to objectify and dehumanize others.Quotable Quote: “Perhaps, the most important thing to say here, though, is that Jesus certainly didn’t want his hearers, or the later church, to get embroiled in endless debates about what precisely was allowed. Far, far more important to think about how to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth! And in the area of sexual behaviour, the answer is clear, bracing and just as challenging today as in the wider pagan world of the first century. Sexual desire, though itself good and God-given, is like the fire of Gehenna, which needs firmly keeping in place. Saying ‘no’ to desire when it strikes inappropriately— in other words, outside the context of marriage— is part of the most basic Christian discipline.” - N.T. Wright, Matthew For Everyone, pg. 48-49

Sermon: Murdering Our Hostilities Date: August 17 Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26; Numbers 35:16-28 Speaker: Paul Walker Murder was a serious offence in the Torah. (Numb.35:16-28) To deliberately kill another human was punishable by death. Even if the killing was unintentional, the guilty person would need to flee to a city of refuge to escape retaliation. Simply put, the Law tried to limit murder from getting out of hand by addressing the act of murder. Jesus enters into this discussion about murder with the first of his antitheses statements. “You’ve heard it said.. but I say to you”. Jesus reveals a fuller expression of God’s will for God’s people. In Jesus, we discover that the prohibition of murder is the surface expression of a deeper divine intent: Anger is counterintuitive to being people of reconciliation. If one master's anger, murder will never occur. Jesus is telling his followers that right-relationships matter even more than a sacrifice offered on the altar (V23-24). To follow Jesus is to be quick to reconcile with those who “have something against us”(v23). As we at DMC seek to follow Jesus— what might it mean to put to death our hostilities? What might it look like to be active agents in reconciliation? Desired Outcome: To challenge folks to actively pursue reconciliation by putting to death their own anger, hostilities, and brokenness. Quotable Quote: “In the future Kingdom of God, when all is consummated and when heaven comes to earth, anger will vanish because loving fellowship will flourish. The prohibition of anger here is not so much hyperbolic as it is a foretaste of Kingdom realities.” - Scot McKnight, The Sermon on the Mount

Sermon: Laying Down The Law?Date: August 10, 2025Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20 Speaker: Paul Walker Jesus insists he’s come to fulfill the Old Testament, and fulfill it completely. He hyperbolically says “not one letter or stroke of the pen will pass away until I fulfill it.” He’s going to fulfill the law in a way that goes beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees, not by literally adhering to every letter or stroke of the pen—something Jesus obviously didn’t do. Jesus fulfilled the law by embodying the ultimate intention of the law. Jesus assumes God’s ultimate goal in giving the law wasn’t to simply get people to comply with behavioural rules. The ultimate goal behind the law was to establish people in “righteousness,” which means being people of justice and right-relatedness, or love. In his life, death and resurrection, Jesus illustrates a love for us so that we can live in it. (1 Jn 3:16-17) Our most central job is to receive this love, yield to this love, be transformed by this love, and then imitate this love. It is only through becoming people of Jesus-shaped love do we fulfill the intention of the law. Desired Outcome: To explore how following Jesus is the fulfillment of what the law and the prophets longed to see. Quotable Quote: “Some think of Jesus as just a great Jewish teacher without much of a revolution. Others see him as so revolutionary that he left Judaism behind altogether and established something quite new. Jesus holds the two together. He was indeed offering something utterly revolutionary, to which he would remain faithful; but it was, in fact, the reality toward which Israel's whole life and tradition had pointed." - N.T. Wright, Matthew For Everybody 

Sermon: Salty Jesus PeopleDate: August 3, 2025Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16 Guest speaker: Nicole Marble After giving us the Beatitudes, Jesus then immediately begins talking about being salt and light. Salt & light people inhabit the way of Jesus to be a radical alternative to a darkened world. Both salt and light are images for impact on something else: salt impacts, for instance, meats, while light impacts darkness. It is important to understand that for Jesus, to be salt & light is to inhabit the blessings and characteristics of the Beatitudes. Too often, in the history of God’s people, the church has redefined salt & light through things like nationalism, partisan politics, culture wars, individualism, consumerism, and militarism. As a result, the church just looks like the rest of the world instead of a people who have something distinctive to offer the world. Our call is to embrace the salty & light-filled way of the Kingdom as an alternative to a world bitter with hate, sickness, disease and strife. This is our call.Desired Outcome: To explore what it means for followers of Jesus to be a radical alternative in our darkened and decaying world. Quotable Quote: “To be salt, to be made light for the world requires the church to be visible. For the followers of Jesus, to flee into invisibility is to deny the call. Any community of Jesus which was to be invisible is no longer a community that follows him.” - Stanley Hauerwas 

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