“If you don’t have to do anything [to be saved}, then what are you going to do?” Gerhard Forde, Lutheran Theologian Dear Friends, Lutherans bring a very critical contribution to the Christian theological conversation. After spending most of his life trying to be good enough to be assured that he was going to heaven, Martin Luther ran across passages such as Ephesians 2:8-9: We are saved by grace through faith and this is not of our own doing—lest anyone should boast— but it i

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” [Jesus] said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:28-29 Dear Friends, Several years ago, Philip Yancey created a video study series called, How can you walk on water if you never step out of the boat? The title is a very insightful way of zooming in on one of the primary aspects of faith… actually stepping out in faith! Now, I m

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-7 Dear Friends, As I am writing to you, it is shortly before one of First Lutheran’s monthly council meetings. I will be meeting with Brent, Kevin, Marty, Leane, Kerri and Eileen

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 Dear Friends, This week, I am on a road trip to Vancouver with my brother and nephew. As we were driving through the Okanagan, our route took us near the Bald Range fire. This is just one of the hundreds of fires across BC and Canada. The forest fires bring up all kinds of issues, concerns and things to be aware of: air quality, threat to property, d

Dear Friends, Some words that are associated with the word, work, are: job, occupation, chore, hard, obligation, daily grind, boss, earning, wages, sweat, suffering, and boring. I have intentionally chosen words that have a negative connotation because I think the word, work, usually has a negative connotation. One day, I heard my son saying to someone else, “Dad loves mowing the lawn.” I found it curious that that was how he thought I felt about mowing the lawn.

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen [The Holden Prayer] Dear Friends, On the radio yesterday, I had heard some interviews with Emergency Room doctors who were going to or already had moved out of their ER roles

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.” John 9:39 Dear Friends, On Sunday, I portrayed a blind man to whom Jesus restored his sight. The blind man knew that we had lost his ability to see because he knew what it was like to see. On the other hand, consider an animal like the golden mole. It does not have ability to see and so it does not know that it doesn’t know that it can’t see. It is n

“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth”. Matthew 6:24 Dear Friends, Last Sunday, my gospel monologue was as Matthew telling about how he accepted the call to follow Jesus. One of the main undercurrents was his desire to prosper. In my telling, that is what drove him to pursue being a tax collector. Some of the consequences of this decision was that

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” Matthew 7:1-2 Dear Friends, On Sunday, my “soliloquy” was as the brother of the woman who had a blood flow for twelve years. Part of what I wanted to convey was the impact on the woman of being labelled “unclean” because of her ailment. Though we do not look to adhering to all the Holiness and Purity Laws of the Old Tes

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 1 John 4:18 Dear Friends, If you were in worship on Sunday, you heard me recount my first experience of doing a High Ropes course. High Ropes courses have various rope, log, and cable elements about 4.5 metres off the ground. They are designed to help people—in a safe situation—to overcome or deal with their fear of heights. In m

it starts when you say Weand know who you mean,and each day you mean one more. The Low Road by Marge Piercy Dear Friends, On Tuesday mornings at 10am, we gather in the church office to have conversations about faith. During the Summer, I’m calling it Coffee, Conversation & Koinonia. In the session we had this week, we watched the video, A Larger Welcome, which featured an interview with Parker Palmer. In the video, he referenced the poem above by Marge Piercy. In our lives, w

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 1 John 4:16 Dear Friends, Last Friday, I attended the funeral of a not-so-old man named Chinyere. Though I never met Chinyere, I did know his brother. His brother had come to Canada and was forced to seek asylum here because if he went back to Nigeria, he would have been killed for being gay. Unbelievably, those who sought to do him harm located his brother instead (who had also moved here) and

“You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 22:21 Dear Friends, On October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas killed 1,195 people. Two thirds of these people were civilians. They also took about 250 people hostage. It was a ruthless, horrible attack by members of Hamas. Israel’s response was to begin a war on Gaza. Since then, over 71,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 171,000 injured in Gaza. In spite of

What does the Lord require of you but to Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 Dear Friends, There was a sermon I heard when I was quite young… The pastor had an empty jar and a bunch of rocks: most were rather small, some were a little bigger, and one was larger than the rest. He began to fill the jar. First with the largest rock. Then the ones that were slightly smaller. Then finally all the rest. They all fit into the jar. Then he dumped them a

"Those who control digital platforms and means of communication have a considerable ability to affect the collective imagination and to present a particular vision of reality as desirable. Such power should be constantly guided by the pursuit of truth and respect for human dignity." - From Pope Leo XIV's encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas" Dear Friends, When I was growing up, one of the activities that my brother and I had to do before Christmas was to make a Christmas present f

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7 Dear Friends, This coming Sunday, we are having a volunteer appreciation luncheon for volunteers here at First. There are folks who make coffee, fix things, greet, clean up, serve on Council, sing, prepare communion, pray, visit, fold bulletins, provide rides, run sound and ppt, assist in worship, teach our children & youth, set up, and other things that aren’t coming to mind right now. I

[Jesus said,] “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20 Dear Friends, Over the last year or so, many of you probably noticed that there was someone who was parked in the corner of our property and living out of his car. We first noticed him in Spring of 2025. As the property manager at the time, Kelly went out to meet and talk with him to see what was going on. Apparently, “David” was living across the street in a rental property that got cond

I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? Psalm 121:1 … like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house… 1 Peter 2:5 Dear Friends, As you are probably aware, we were on vacation for a couple of weeks in Peru. Laura and I had a really good trip and spent a lot of time in the highlands of Peru. One of our guides shared with us some of the spirituality of the indigenous people. Though 95% of the current population identify as “Catholic,” th