For Those With Ears - Entries written by Todd Dugard

In fact, there’s no hope for any relationship of any kind apart from a commitment to forgive when offenses happen.

They always happen.

On Sunday we’ll continue our series “It’s a Family Thing” looking at “Priority #3: Forgive Freely” in Proverbs 17:9.  I’ll prepare you ahead of time…this is a seven-point message from one verse in Proverbs. One powerful little verse.

This could be a life-changing message for many. Come ready for that.

Come ready to hear from God.  You can do that by getting your heart and your head in the right place…

This is the final Sunday preview blog.  Watch for a new, enhanced e-bulletin in your email inbox next Friday. We’ll post a link to the new e-bulletin on our Facebook page and Twitter account as well. 

See you Sunday,

Todd

It’s a Family Thing

Proverbs you need to know…Priorities you need to make 

God created the family. Therefore life, by default, is a family thing. He created family to be a place of blessing, a place of nurturing relationships, of love, security, and trust. But since the creation, humanity has undone much of what God created, twisting, distorting, and undermining the family so that what we have today is far from the ideal God intended. And we are left feeling the weight of that. The great news is that God has not abandoned us to our fate, but has provided us hope and all we need to turn it around.

The Book of Proverbs is filled with God’s wisdom that helps families establish the priorities they need to enjoy all that God intends. And that’s what we will be looking at together over the next seven messages as we seek to hear God’s Word. Here’s the line up…

April 21 - Priority #1 - Worship together                               

April 28 - Priority #2 - Pledge your loyalty                               

May 5 - Priority #3 - Forgive freely                                               

May 12 - Priority #4 - Live the truth                                               

May 19 - Priority #5 - Honour one another               

June 2 - Priority #6 - Speak well of each other               

June 9 - Priority #7 - Love always                                               

We’ll get a start this Sunday as we look at Proverbs 30 and Priority #1 – Worship Together.  Come ready to hear God’s Word by reading the passage ahead of time, listening to the songs we’ll be singing in worship, praying for yourself and for others as you work your way through the Weekend Warriors prayer release.

Come early and be ready for that first moment of worship on Sunday. Give your offering, as many do, online and look over the weekly bulletin before you come. 

God’s Holy Spirit is poised to do some serious work in families in our church as we open ourselves to a change in priorities that reflects our relationship with and “knowledge of the Holy One” (Proverbs 30:3). And invite someone you know to come and see what God is doing at Harvest these days.

See you Sunday,

Todd

Have you heard the Chaucer proverb, “All good things must come to an end”? Seems true a good portion of the time. As it relates to our current study in Genesis regarding faith, I am hoping that you see faith as a good thing. But I’m hoping also that you see its end as an even better thing.

Our seven-week journey into Joseph’s life comes to an end this Sunday as we conclude the series, Things Not Seen…when faith is enough.  This final message takes us to the end of both Jacob and Joseph’s lives. As these men get into their older years and death becomes imminent, the realization comes to all of us that faith will soon be set aside in favour of seeing. Promise will become reality. Hope will become certainty.

It is in the famous hymn, It is Well with My Soul that we sing this line, “Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight.” And that should be our deepest desire. That faith—the confidence in things not seen—would give way to the reality of what we do see in eternity with our God.

There’s a ton of challenge for us in these closing chapters of Genesis. Come ready for what God would do in your life.

You know the drill…

-       Worship God with your offering before you come by giving online;

-       Listen ahead of time to the great line up of worship songs that Jordan and the team will be leading us through;

-       Read Genesis 48-50 and look for the evidence of a life of faith;

-       Pray through the Weekend Warriors bulletin and seek God for change in your life and the lives of all who hear this message;

-       Take a look at the weekly bulletin and make sure you’re up to speed on what’s going on around here.

After the time we had last week, I’m so eager to be back together to worship the Risen Saviour. Aren’t you?!

See you Sunday!

Todd

It takes a lot to impress us now. Extreme everything has left us dull. We’re not as easily astonished by what we see and experience.

Take roller coasters, for example.  The ones we rode only a few years ago, which seemed thrilling enough at the time, are mocked today. They are kiddie-coasters by comparison to the new ones. Faster, higher, longer is the vision statement of designers today. I have had the thrill of riding both Behemoth and Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland so I get it. I like the rush of adrenalin. I like the wave of uncertainty that envelopes me. I like the thought that runs through my head at the top of that first drop, “What the heck am I doing up here at my age?” Truth is, I want that thrill. I want them to take me to the extreme. I’ve been on Wonderland’s two biggest coasters and I’d ride a new bigger, faster one if they built it. And they keep building them bigger and faster because last year’s rides are so last year, you know? We want these rides because we’re looking for something to astonish us. We’re trying to find some wonder at Wonderland.

And that feeling isn’t restricted to the amusement park. At work, in our leisure pursuits, in marriage and family, we’re all looking for something to thrill us…something to raise our pulse a few beats a minute. We’re looking for wonder.

What we have rightly figured out is that in order to get that wonder, we need to look outside of ourselves. None of us are really that impressed with ourselves. We can’t conjure up wonder from within. So we look elsewhere. But even then, ultimately, all human endeavours turn out to be not that impressive. Maybe the first time you see Cirque de Soleil you’re amazed, but the second time you’re thinking, “Yeah, I’ve seen that before. What else can you do?”

So if we really want wonder, we have to look beyond ourselves, beyond what others can do to bring the thrill, to something grander and more awesome than any human achievement.

Real wonder comes not when we look ahead to the latest accomplishments, innovations and achievements of humanity, but when we look back to what GOD has done in history. In fact, all of the mighty acts of GOD in history are trumped by the work he did over one weekend.

One glorious act of humility and sacrifice.

Another indescribable act of power over death.

Both are wonders beyond anything the world had ever seen and will ever see.

Both are wonders whose effects reverberate throughout the world to this day transforming lives and delivering the hope, peace, joy, and love of GOD to a world desperate for these things.

Good Friday and Easter Sunday represent the astonishing, amazing, outrageous, extreme, wonderful acts of GOD to give us the opportunity to be in relationship with him. There is no greater time of the year as we recall those thrilling events.

I hope you’ve already made plans to be here on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. Service times both days are 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. I hope that you’ve invited some friends, family members and even strangers to come and see what this is all about. You can use this link to remind them of the invitation.

Continue praying for the Holy Spirit to draw people to join us at these services and that they would hear the clear presentation of the good news of Jesus Christ and respond in faith.

See you Friday and Sunday!

Todd

• listening to these worship songs and get your heart in a place to worship the King;
• reading Genesis 41 and thinking through the gains of faith that are seen in Joseph’s life;
• praying for yourself and for all that will take place as the church gets together by praying through the Weekend Warriors bulletin; and
• looking over the weekly bulletin for events that are coming up and information you need to know.

I never liked tests in school.

You either, eh?

Pretty safe bet that most people are not fond of them (notwithstanding that micro-minority of educational brainiacs who actually enjoy that sort of thing).

While we may not be fond of them, they are a reality of life. Not just of our formal educational years, but of life in general. From the day of our birth to the day of our death, an unseen but no less real exam is taking place. The question that we all ask about any test we’ve taken is just as relevant: did I pass?

God, of course, is the one giving the test. The focus is not Math, English Lit or Canadian History; it is the authenticity of our faith. The tests are given to Christ-followers to prove we are truly his.

The tests themselves are not what earn us standing before God. They are not to be thought of as salvation-gained through study and examination, but they reveal something that should already be true. Much like a high school exam, the proof of proficiency in the subject matter is gained not at the time of the test or by gaining a big red “A” at the top of the page, but by the preparation and the learning that preceded the test. The test or exam reveals what has already diligently been internalized.

Approaching the test, the Christ-follower has an internalized faith. God’s intent is to authenticate the reality of that in each one and, in fact, to grow it. The essence of the test is this: will we trust in Things not seen? Is faith enough for us? 

After a one-week break to hear a great message on Psalm 1 by Pastor Rick Donald, we return to our series on the life and faith of the patriarch Joseph. In Genesis 39 we see him in his new life as a slave in the home of Potiphar in Egypt. Though he has been faith-full in every way, God sends some harsh tests to prove the authenticity of his faith and grow him into the man and the leader he needed him to be.

The chapter will reveal four tests that will prove our faith too. Come ready to have your faith challenged by the preaching of God’s Word.

You can get yourself ready for all this by…

-        Listening to the songs we’ll be singing together in worship;

-        Reading Genesis 39 or, if you haven’t already, Joseph’s whole story in Genesis 37-50;

-        Taking a look at the weekly bulletin; and

-        Praying for all of the ministries that will be happening when we’re together.

It is going to be a great time as we lean in to hear from the Lord and respond to his Word to us.

See you Sunday,

Todd

There are times when our leave-nothing-out approach to working through the Bible presents a challenging situation like the one we have in front of us this Sunday. We launched the Things Not Seen series on the life of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) last week, and chapter 38 comes next. Straight up: it is an awful story. It is principally about an incestuous relationship consummated under the guise of prostitution, but there is at least one other sexual reference of an uncomfortable nature that is also dealt with. Though it is not about Joseph but his brother Judah, we still must hear the message that it tells. It is important to the narrative because of the contrast it presents to Joseph’s life. While faith was enough for Joseph, faithlessness was the theme of Judah’s life.

That said, I get to preach this “awful” chapter about Judah on a Sunday when we have invited three families to dedicate their children to the Lord.  At Harvest, we plan things out quite deliberately most of the time, but this is evidence that we don’t plan out everything deliberately all of the time.

So, we believe, that this is what God has for us this Sunday, and it isn’t like there isn’t a nice tie in to child dedication. Judah had been raised in a home where there was significant dysfunction. He followed that up by making some very poor decisions about his own family that resulted in yet another Jerry-Springer-like episode in the Book of Genesis.

But there’s a nice turn at the end that might escape the casual reader. The message will end with light and hope and an assurance that though we often fail to live the life of faith, God’s plans will not be hindered and his grace overflows to undeserving people.  

We had a great start to this series last Sunday. If you haven’t listened to that message yet, find some time to do that and hear the set up to the whole seven-message series.

• Familiarizing yourself with the songs we’ll be singing together in worship;
• Reading Genesis 38 or all of the narrative of Joseph (Genesis 37-50);
• Checking out what’s going on in the church family by reading the weekly bulletin;
• Praying for your response to the Word of God and interceding for all of our Sunday ministries by praying through the Weekend Warriors post.

I’m looking forward it! We plan on having a warmer room to worship in this week!

See you Sunday,

Todd

It isn’t a secret around Harvest that we are committed to planning out the preaching a year in advance. Each spring, I begin the process with the elders to consider our situation, study the Bible and seek God in prayer for the teaching we should do for the coming year. The new preaching calendar begins each September. We have seen God do amazing things over the years following this pattern. There have been so many times when the Holy Spirit led us to have just the right series in place at just the right time to address things that we could not have anticipated.

One time, a few years ago, with a series we had put in place a year prior, the elders decided that the series that had been planned was not the right fit for the time. What was obvious to me at the time, was that God had intended the series for me and Cheryl. I had worked on these seven messages in advance more than I usually did and what we had learned was critical in navigating us through a certain season of our lives. And it was also obvious that the series was not intended for the church as a whole. At least, not then.

But now? Yes! The time has come. After almost four years of waiting, I’m excited to be opening God’s Word with you to Genesis 37-50 to examine the faith of the Patriarch Joseph.  The series is titled, “Things Not Seen…when faith is enough”.

The Bible tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction or evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The Bible also says we need to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). And it says these things because faith is such a hard concept to grasp for anyone who has eyes. We are a visually-driven people. We’re told to “watch our step”, “look before we leap”, and “open our eyes”. But God knows that while we rely so heavily on what we can see, our eyes can only take us so far. They can only help us see the visible, material world and there’s so much more to know and understand beyond the visible. The most important things, in fact, are the things not seen. The most important things are what we believe by faith. 

And so, in Genesis 37-50 we have the narrative of the life of Joseph, the favoured son of Jacob and patriarch of the people of Israel. As a seventeen year old, the brash and youthful Joseph found himself sold into slavery by his own brothers and living in a world where everything he could see with his eyes challenged what he believed in his heart and mind. Far from ruining him, what he saw with his eyes and experienced in life only increased his faith in his God and Saviour. Faith was enough for Joseph. And the question we will grapple with through the series will be this one: is faith enough for us? 

We will get going on this Sunday morning as we look at Genesis 37 and the natural starting point, “The Crisis of Faith”. Everyone has to have the crisis (and probably multiple crises over a lifetime) to have an assurance that what you have is genuine. The appalling treatment that Joseph received at the hands of his own brothers sets the stage for an examination of the crisis of faith we all must have.

In order to get the most from this series, I would suggest the following for you…

§  Get the dates for this series into your calendar (all that info is on the website) and plan to be here for each message. If you happen to miss one, you can always get the CD from the bookstore, listen online or grab the podcast from iTunes.

§  Read the entire narrative of Genesis 37-50 in one sitting this weekend or next week. That will give you the scope of his entire life. If you don’t have enough time for that, be sure to at least read chapter 37 in preparation for Sunday.

§  Listen to the worship songs that Jordan has planned for us to sing and prepare yourself to lift high the name of Jesus Christ in worship.

§  Take a look at the weekly bulletin and get up to date on the happenings in our family.

§  Pray. The Weekend Warriors prayer update is a good way to intercede for all that will happen around the facility on Sunday, but pray also for yourself…your response to the Word. Ask God to increase your faith through this series.

If I haven’t already let you know that I’m pretty excited about this series, well, I am.

See you Sunday!

Todd

Last Sunday we took some time to praise God for what he has done in 2012.  If you missed it, the report and the audio of what I said on Sunday are below.

A brief celebration report on GIVING in 2012…

It will take a few weeks into the New Year before we can close out the books on 2012, but all indications are that we had a good year financially. As soon as we have the numbers, a report will be posted to our website and we’ll let you know that it is there.

The elders have set the 2013 budget and we will need $23,200/week to meet our obligations; this does represent an increase from the previous year given that our ministry is expanding and we are seeing more people week by week. Here’s what I know, if we are all faithful to what God has entrusted to us as families and individuals, and we’re faithful in giving generously and according to the blessing God has given us, we will not lack his supply for this ministry.  We are committed to spending less than we bring in and believe that the vision we have for this ministry in 2013 will be fulfilled according to God’s provision.

Let me highlight for you some things we were able to do, by God’s grace, in the last six weeks of the year in addition to your regular faithful giving toward our weekly offerings…

• Our Harvest Young Adults group spearheaded the "If They Were Mine" campaign to purchase Christmas baskets for orphans. 84 baskets at $40 each were purchased in total ($3,374.00) for our global partners Children of Promise in Nigeria and Freedom House in Haiti.

• Our Awana kids raised money to buy firewood for Harvest Bible Chapel Metanoia Ghirioc, Romania ($300) and actually exceeded that amount by more than double and so purchased 7 of the $40 baskets for the orphans, as well as sending a gift to their sponsor child in Ghana ($360).

• Our Christmas HOPE fund disbursements in December included gifts to help over a financial hump as well as simple encouragement. Thirty-six (36) families in total were blessed; 16 small groups participated; $1,870 from Harvest budget; in addition I heard about families who received anonymous gifts of cash with the words “You are loved” written in the cards; Praise GOD for the love and care you have shown to one another!

• Our First Things Campaign: we did not reach the goal we had set as elders to completely eliminate the mortgage debt, but we did take a good chunk out of it with $84,370.00 (56% of our goal of $150,000), and we want to thank you and celebrate what God has provided.  The elders discussed this past week and want you to know that we will still be looking at land/building possibilities and will continue negotiations (which often takes a long time anyway) as opportunities arise. We also want you to hear that as a first priority, we still want to pay off the balance of the existing mortgage on our office facility. That said, you can still contribute to the debt retirement (sitting at approx. $63,000 now). Let me restate that our vision is to own our own facility. We, of course, do not know how God is going to answer that prayer and desire, but we know we need to keep moving forward in faith understanding that God could change our course at any time. But we strongly believe we need to be moving and not standing still on this. As always, if you have questions about any of this, we’d be happy to speak with you.

• Also—and this is so encouraging—the elders had identified starting a video ministry to what we do. Primarily this involves videoing of the 9 AM service which will be uploaded to the website and offered as a podcast. There are other applications as well including being able to produce our own Storylines videos and online video announcements. The budgeted cost for that was put into the 2013 budget at $20,000, which we would only have spent if we were financially able to. But before we could get to the New Year, a generous donor from outside our church family sent us a cheque for the entire amount.  Praise GOD!

And we also celebrate that by the end of 2012…

- 35 baptisms

- 36 new members

- 29 small groups with 385 people

- 90+ leaders and youth on Tuesday nights

- more than 100 kids each week in both Harvest Kids and Awana.  And in Awana our kids memorized more than 6000 Bible verses last year!

All in all, so much to be grateful for! Amen?!

Snappy title, eh? Everyone else in the blogosphere seems to be writing clever things about the start of a New Year, so I wanted to jump on that bandwagon. But I really have nothing clever or creative or particularly inspiring to say.

So here’s a list…because lists are cool when a New Year starts. And because lists are normal and day to day life is normal and so…

5 Things You Shouldn’t Go Without in 2013…

#1 – PRAYER

Our big thing is that without prayer nothing else matters. We’re going to put a priority on that during our Prayer Week  coming up January 13-20. Sign up for a one or two hour slot during our 24-Hours of Prayer from Saturday, January 19 at 1 p.m. until Sunday, January 20 at 1 p.m. And join us for the Tuesday evening Worship & Prayer. This is a great way to start 2013!

 #2 – LOVE

Get baptized as a testimony to your faith. Become a member and let everyone know what mission you’re on and what family you belong to. Make our Sunday gatherings as a church family a priority. Get in a small group, if you aren’t already, and learn what it means to be part of uncommon community. Find a place of service in the church and in the greater community of Barrie. All of this displays your love for God and for people.

#3 – BIBLE

Get into the Bible this year like you never have before. Have a plan and stick to it. There are loads of great reading plans available online. Make sure you read this blog each Friday and prepare yourself ahead of time for the preaching you’ll hear on Sunday.

#4 – WITNESS

If Jesus has changed your life, tell others about that. Every Christ-follower should have an insatiable desire to speak about the things God has done for them. Practice the “come and see” approach that Philip used with his buddy Nathanael (see John 1:43-51) and invite your friends and family to come to Harvest and let God use that to draw people to himself.

#5 – GLORY

Be more committed than ever to give more glory to God in more areas of your life. Make the worship of Jesus Christ the priority it should be if you are truly his. Worship him corporately with the church and individually every minute of every day. 

None of that is news. All pretty basic. But I hope it is also inspiring in its clarity and simplicity. The Christian life is not complicated. Not particularly hard to grasp. These are the First Things of God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:33).

As we come to this Sunday, we’ll be starting a new series titled Connect@Harvest that will take us through the basics of what it means to be part of Harvest Bible Chapel. Pastor Roger and Pastor Mike will each preach one of the messages in this five-message series. We’ll be covering…

                       
It is always good to recalibrate once in a while and make sure we all understand what we’re about. This will be a great review and reinforcing of key values for most of us, and an opportunity for some newer people in our congregation to lock down what makes Harvest distinct.

For this Sunday:

See you Sunday!

Todd

Foolish ways, frail existence, fearful insecurities, and failed relationships. That’s a summary of life on earth as a human being. None of us wants to be there. We just are. Some of us deny it all, or work hard to reverse these things, but in the end, that’s the story of us.  

Thankfully, the word from God on all this speaks precisely into these inherent weaknesses. He is a God whose wisdom and plan are perfect, whose strength always prevails, whose care and concern is unfailing, and whose rule reconciles us to God. And he has communicated this good news in the names he has taken for himself.

Among the prophecies spoken hundreds of years prior to the coming of Jesus Christ as a baby is this one from Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born; to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Four names for our Saviour. Four names that speak directly into our weaknesses. Four names that deliver the change we desperately need. When this child came, everything changed.

That’s what we’ve been looking at for these past Sundays leading up to Christmas. If you missed the first two messages in the series, you can always catch up with our podcast. And as we conclude the series this weekend, we’ll look at the same passage (Isaiah 9:2-7) in our regular Sunday morning services on the 23^rd where we’ll look at the name “Everlasting Father,” and in our special Christmas Eve Worship Event at 7 p.m. on the 23^rd and 24^th where we’ll look at the name “Prince of Peace.”

Take some time during these busy days before Christmas to prepare for our times of corporate worship. Read the passage again, memorize Isaiah 9:6 if you haven’t already, pray for your response to these truths and for others to respond, and listen to the great songs we have lined up to sing together to our Saviour and Lord.

We have a special time of prayer scheduled at Timothy for Saturday at 2 p.m. that coincides with our rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Worship Event. Join with us in interceding for this important celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  There will be many guests joining us those two nights.  Let’s pray together for a high-impact, God-glorifying gathering that will draw these guests into relationship with the Lord.

See you Sunday…and again Sunday night and Monday!

Todd

There is no mystery when the Christmas season is coming hard and fast and pastors start talking about a child, a baby,  that we’re actually talking about Jesus. Everyone seems to know that. The fear is that our familiarity with the story will cause us to miss out on some powerful, life transforming truths that accompany the coming of that child.

Last Christmas, I bought a bunch of new Christmas music.  Among the albums I purchased was Northpoint’s “Christmas”, and one of the songs in particular gripped me... ”Everything Changed” by Eddie Kirkland.  It gripped me because it centred on the very thing I am concerned we hear every Christmas, that the coming of Jesus Christ changed everything (for the world) and still changes everything (for me and you as we come to realize it).  

It wasn’t hard as Jordan and I, several months ago now, decided what our theme would be for this Christmas season and what we would seek to emphasize in our worship and preaching during these weeks. It would be: Everything Changed. And it changed because of what we read in Isaiah 9:2-7. In that prophetic passage written some 600 years prior to the birth of Jesus, it says simply, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…” and in the rest of the passage we discover that this child is known by four names which all speak to the changes he brings to our lives. He is, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He is The Child with Four Names.

On the basis of these names, everything changes.

Those six verses in Isaiah will be the text we’ll have in front of us for each of those four messages. We’ll get a start on it this Sunday, December 9 looking at “Wonderful Counselor” and seeing how he gives us wisdom in the face of the foolish plans we have for ourselves. On December 16 we’ll look at “Mighty God” and on the 23 it will be “Everlasting Father”.  Each will respond to a specific area in our lives that must be given over to his perfect ways.  The series will conclude at our special Christmas Worship Experience on the evenings of Sunday, December 23 and Monday, December 24 when I preach about the “Prince of Peace”.  

Take some time to read Isaiah 9:2-7 and maybe even commit yourself to memorize verse 6 before Christmas comes.  Pray about your response to the Word during these weeks.

Invite someone to come and see what God is doing at Harvest these days and take advantage of the invitations we have to get friends and family to the event on the 23^rd and 24^th. 

Check out this week’s eBulletin and the Weekend Warriors prayer list.

Take a look at this Sunday’s worship set to see if your favourite Christmas songs are included. (And if they aren't there this week, don't let that hinder your worship!) There will be a couple each week leading up to Christmas. Come ready to worship LOUD!

And a reminder to get here early, fill the front rows and turn your cellphones off…please!

Don’t forget about our First Things campaign to retire our mortgage. Bring your offering to the Lord!

See you Sunday!

There is little doubt that God is doing something in our church these days. Sunday after Sunday is a powerful display of God’s presence among us. And I believe he is changing us. As we continue to prioritize the First Things of God’s kingdom in our lives, he will meet with us and he will bless us.

Among the First Things (our theme for the year) that we are looking at is this matter of worship. It is the one thing we do as a church that will continue on for all eternity. In our current preaching series, After This, we are seeking to gain the eternal perspective on worship so as to inform our worship now. What will happen after this life? What does worship in heaven look like? What can we do to better reflect that now?

As we come then to this third message in the series, we’ll look at Revelation 5, which represents another episode, so to speak, in the amazing story of God’s redemptive plan. As an aside, I find myself thinking, whenever I come upon a passage like this one, that surely this is the greatest moment in history…and then I come upon another episode that is just as amazing and moves the story along even more. 

In Revelation 5:1-10 we will see that Jesus Christ alone relieves us of our sorrows. John weeps at the depth of the trouble we find ourselves in, and then he is quickly assured that there is one who has conquered and therefore is worthy of our worship. And he is hearing our prayers, intending fully to deliver us of our sorrows forever.

That’s a critical message for people to hear: that Jesus Christ is offering relief from all sorrows.  Who wouldn’t want that?

As always, I would strongly encourage you to listen to the worship songs we have lined up for Sunday and in that way prepare to be with the church to honour the Lord. Read the passage (Revelation 5:1-10) and allow the scene described there and the assurances given to wash over you. What a God we worship?! And come ready to receive the Lord’s Table during the extended worship time we’ll have after the preaching.

The sermon will be starting earlier in the service again.  Come early, get a seat near the front (let’s fill those rows) and show great eagerness to worship the Lord. And don’t forget to shut off the ringer on your cellphone so we are undistracted in our time together.

See you Sunday!

Todd

After This—the eternal perspective on worship

You’ve likely heard it before: worship is the one thing we do now that we will continue to do for all eternity. Faith will be made sight. Praying will cease because we will be face to face with our Lord. Evangelism will be over because those who are to be saved will be enjoying their reward and those who are not will be forever separated from the Lord. And preaching…well, I’ll be out of a job because the truth will be fully known.

And so After This…after this life is over for us, there will be…

WORSHIP!

You see, because that’s what we do. With “eternity in our hearts”, placed there by God himself, the whole point of everything in our lives is the glory of God.  Those who follow Christ will be receiving glorified bodies and will enjoy the majesty and awesomeness of their God forever as he shares the lavish riches of his kingdom with his children. In every way and with everything we do and all that we are and will be, eternity will reflect pure, unhindered, passionate worship.

So if it is that important when we get there, I would think that getting a head start on knowing what it is and how to do it right would be a high priority for his followers now. Worshiping him in this life should begin to look like worship in heaven in eternal life. And so for the next four weeks we will be diving into Revelation 4-5 and John’s vision of heavenly worship in the hope of gaining the perspective of eternity to transform our worship today.

The Book of Revelation, as you probably know, is both wild and wonderful. The apocalyptic scenes that John described are meant to wash over us like a wave of the ocean and overwhelm us with what we hear described. The goal of interpretation of this amazing revelation is not to pin down every detail and interpret it, but rather to be in awe of the God who will decisively bring about his will in heaven and on earth. The two chapters we will examine focus entirely on what is going on now and forever in eternity. In that sense, it is not predictive of what will happen, but declarative of what is happening right now.

The first message in our series looks at Revelation 4:1-8 where we hear Jesus say to John, “I will show you.” If I heard that from Jesus (and I am), then I’d want to be paying attention and taking in all I could of what he was showing me. We’ll hear of a door that looks into eternal worship to see his majesty and his authority over us, the mind-blowing glory of God and the very essence of who he is. We’ll see that he is perfect in every way, powerful beyond our imagination and has been and will be all of these things for all eternity!

I feel the weight already of trying to preach the awesomeness of this remarkable passage.

Get yourself ready for this series by reading Revelation 4-5 and listening to the great worship songs Jordan has lined up for us to sing together. Pray through the passage and ask God to shred you and re-make you into the person he wants you to be. I believe we’re going to have an amazing morning together.

A reminder about three things: (1) As it is November 11 on Sunday, we will be sending out the team we recruited last week to give out Timmies cards to veterans and military personnel at the Remembrance Day cenotaph service in downtown Barrie. They will leave the 9 a.m. service after our time of worship; (2) As I announced last week, we are now in the midst of our First Things financial campaign to retire our property debt by year-end. Carefully consider your part in that appeal; and (3) This is week one of our If They Were Mine drive to provide gift baskets for the orphans we support in Haiti and Nigeria. Look for the booth in the lobby to give your $40 Christmas gift to these precious children.

So looking forward to being together as the church again to worship our great God and King, Jesus Christ!

See you Sunday!

Todd

Thanks for not walking out last Sunday when I gave you the chance. There are, it seems, plenty of people who don’t like it when pastors preach about money. And that was a hard-as-nails sermon on greed. But you took in every word of it.  Thanks for that. Seems many of you are interested in Making Change in your lives. If you missed part 1 in the series, download the podcast from iTunes or listen to it on our website.

Our little “money series” (Making Change) continues this Sunday as we move from a look at our problem (Greed) to a solution, Gratitude.  We will spend our time in just one verse—and a short one at that—2 Corinthians 9:15 which reads, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”

For the Christ-follower, gratitude must be rightly directed and passionately expressed. Unless it is, we will continue to find ourselves discontent and succumbing to greed. We will take the time to look at some very practical ways to become grateful people. It hinges, of course, on understanding what that “inexpressible gift” is that Paul is referring to. That gift changes everything.

Instead of just reading the verse for this week (it is sooooo short!), why not memorize it (it is soooooo short!). And take the time to pray through each of the words and thoughts that are there. Ask God to give you a deep understanding of what it is to be grateful.

Listen ahead of time to the songs that our worship team has prepared for us. It is a highlight of my week when we gather as the church for corporate worship, and I like to be as ready as I can be to lift high the name of Jesus Christ with you.

And we will be showing our gratitude to the Lord by observing the Lord’s Table, or the Eucharist as liturgical churches call it. That word Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharisteo, used in Paul’s teaching on the Lord’s Table in 1 Corinthians 11:24, and simply means “gratefulness.” Which just makes it all so appropriate for our worship time this weekend.  

See you Sunday!

Todd

“What’s in it for me?” That’s a question that, I’m sure, every human being has asked or will ask at some point in his or her life. “If I do this or that, what do I get out of it?”

On its face, the question is inherently selfish. But that’s to be expected since we are inherently selfish people. We want what we want. We have expectations. We have perceived needs. We’re wired up for compensation for effort expended.

And so with this GO5PEL series we come to the end of the GOD-SIN-SUBSTITUTION-BELIEVE-LIFE journey with this question in mind on behalf of those who have not yet believed. “What’s in it for me?”

LIFE.

Though we are undeserving of anything, God loves us so much that he graciously answers our selfish question with the best of all answers.

In this series, we have already spent a bunch of time in Paul’s letter to the Romans because the gospel is his principle subject for 11 chapters. To explore this matter of the eternal benefits of the gospel we will look at Romans 8. In a phrase, the eternal benefit is life in Christ. We need to receive this life by believing that Christ was raised from the dead and by confessing that “Jesus is Lord” of our lives (for more on that, listen to last week’s message and read Romans 10:9-10).

But what does life in Christ look like? That’s what Romans 8 unpacks for us. In fact, in that chapter we’ll find what are really ten benefits of life in Christ. In each case the benefit trumps something negative in our lives…a struggle, unfulfilled longings, sin and evil. I’m looking forward to preaching all that Jesus offers us in a relationship with him. It would be good for you to take some time to read this great chapter in anticipation of looking at it together on Sunday morning.

If you have not yet pre-ordered your GO5PEL series CD package, stop by the bookstore on Sunday or . The cost is just $12 for the five-message set.

I’m eager to worship with you too. Jordan and the team have prepared an acoustic, folk-style worship package that includes an musical instrument that, I believe, is new to our worship team. You’ll have to show up on Sunday to hear it for yourself. Check out the songs we’ll be singing together and prepare your heart to lift high the name of Jesus Christ in worship.

Terry Codling will also be bringing a brief report on our recent Global Ministries trip to Scotland and Romania.

It’s going to be an amazing morning together. Pray for God’s presence to be with us in power!

See you Sunday,

Todd

Terry Codling and I are well into the second leg of our Harvest Bible Fellowship trip to Scotland and Romania and the clock is affording me a few minutes to send a report back home.

Our time in Glasgow was short but productive. To see our partner church reach the point of having her own elders is satisfying for sure. Harvest Glasgow was established three years ago and so has not rushed into having elders. It was a blessing for us to be there to lay hands on these men and commission them in their role. Mark Hardy, Russell Hamilton and Al Duncan have already proven themselves as godly leaders and gracious servants.

On Sunday evening we had a short time with these new elders at their first official meeting over coffee. We had a candid talk about “Elder Expectations.”

It was also cool to spend some time with Hilary Shewfelt, Harvest Barrie member who is interning in Glasgow right now. Sadly we didn’t get any Dutch Blitz in with Hilary while there, but she did get a care package of Sour Patch Kids.

   

On Monday we traveled by air from Glasgow to London to Budapest, Hungary and then by car to Arad, Romania. Tuesday morning we jumped right in to a meeting with Pastor Cristian Barbosu and the two pastors from his staff team to better understand some of the leadership challenges they are facing. We believe that God has equipped both me and Terry to counsel and lead this church in crisis to a better place.  We're grateful to have Kirk Vanmaanen here from Harvest Bible Fellowship in Chicago who knows the Romanian churches really well having worked with them from their inception in 2003.

The week is filled with meetings and training sessions. On Sunday I will preach in the morning services in Arad and in the late afternoon at Ghioroc at an outdoor baptism service. We travel home via Timisoara, Bucharest and Warsaw next Monday.

It was a privilege for our church to hear both Pastor Scott and Pastor Cristian preach this past year in Barrie. We are blessed to have these partnerships and to enjoy all that we have in our Harvest Bible Fellowship.  Continue to pray for us to have great success in what we are seeking to accomplish on this trip. All for the glory of Jesus Christ in the church.

Todd

When we talk about the gospel, in its purest form we’re talking about the good news concerning Jesus Christ and the salvation from eternal punishment that he offers to those who are separated from God by their sin. That’s a bit wordy, but it captures the essentials.

I was recently inspired by an exercise Pastor James MacDonald did with his staff and leaders. He challenged them to boil the gospel down to just five words. Get rid of the excess, include all the essentials and make it just five words. If you were to do the same exercise and come up with five words, what would they be? Take a few minutes to think about it.

Ready to move on?

So, as we get a start on our new ministry year, we are taking time to identify and explain each of these five words that capture the heart of the gospel of Christ. Our theme for the year is First Things (I know you knew that), and the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received…” and he proceeded to outline, that’s right, the gospel. And so, it just seemed right to make this preaching series first among the First Things.

Now I already outlined the five words for the church last Sunday, so if you’re still working on figuring them out, this is a SPOILER ALERT. GOD, Sin, Substitution, Believe, and Life are the five words and outline the five messages in our GO5PEL series starting this week. With the first of the messages being simply titled, “GOD”.

From the Scriptures we’ll see that there is indeed a God and everyone, in fact, knows it. We’ll look at three key passages, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Romans 1:19-20 and Acts 17:22-31, to make the point. Come ready to hear the Word of God and be changed by it.

Pray for your response and that of all those who will be in the room and who will hear this message online, by podcast and on CD. 

Listen to the songs we have lined up for our time in worship and come prepared to lift your voice and your heart before the Lord of glory.

We got a great start to our ministry year last Sunday. If you’re one of the few regular attendees and members who had to miss last week and you haven’t already listened to the kick-off message on Matthew 6:33 as well as my pastoral comments to our church family, you can listen here.

I believe that it is going to be another amazing time together.

See you Sunday,

Todd

It has been eight weeks since I last preached to the church I love the most. And while I have been refreshed this summer by not having the weight of sermon preparation on my shoulders, I am eager to be with this church again on Sunday morning and to stand before them with God’s Word in my hands.

The church I love the most was blessed by some pretty great preaching while I was taking my break. I was either there or listened online to most of these messages. I’m grateful for Pastor Roger and Pastor Mike who carried the bulk of that load, and I’m grateful for Pastor Scott Hamilton (Harvest Glasgow) and Pastor Ian Hales (Harvest Durham Region) for their messages in July. If you missed any of these while vacationing this summer, you can still listen here on our website.

Our family had the opportunity to be with three other Harvest Bible Chapel families over the course of our time away. We had the privilege of worshipping at Harvest Niagara (Pastor Daryl Molyneaux), Harvest Philadelphia West, PA (Pastor Matt Townsend), and Harvest North Raleigh, NC (Pastor Mike Willis). We love these churches and were encouraged by what we experienced. But they are not the church I love the most.

And so, as many of us gather this “last long weekend of the summer”, we will get the Bible open to Galatians 2:20 and talk about what it means to be wanted, dead AND alive. Wanted by God, dead AND alive. 

This message is largely coming out of my own experience with this verse from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Back in 1979, the man who led me to Christ pointed me to Galatians 2:20 in the early days of my walk as a follower of Christ. I was a teenager at the time. And the verse stuck to me like super-glue. Some thirty years later I’m still seeking to live out the simple and clear principle it teaches.  I am wanted by God, dead AND alive. He wants you too. Under the same terms.

Curiously, while the verse is so integral to my walk with Christ, I’ve never preached it. So, in some ways, this message is 33 years in the making. This Sunday, by God’s grace, I will preach it to the church I love the most.

Jordan and I have planned the worship and the preaching as a package and we will cap everything off with a celebration of the Lord’s Table. Take some time before Sunday to listen to the worship songs that we have lined up to sing to the Lord, giving special attention to the ancient Issac Watts hymn (and the Chris Tomlin chorus that was added to it a few years ago), “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” as it will be crafted together with our time in Galatians 2:20.

Pray for God’s power and presence to be with us in an earth-shattering, window-rattling, life-changing kind of way. Because that’s what I want for the church I love the most.

See you Sunday Harvest,

Todd

I tweeted already this week that the Book of Hebrews has 303 verses in it and that, as of last week, we had studied 295 of them. Since September we have worked our way verse-by-verse through Hebrews, praying that God would make us more like his Truly Epic Son, Jesus Christ, and that we would have in ourselves, “the power of the indestructible life.”

And here we are at the end. Just eight more verses to look at and we are done this epic journey through and amazing sermon that was preached some two thousand years ago to a church that was evidently not unlike our own. Things they needed to hear, we have needed to hear too.

The last words that the preacher wrote in the last verse that we will look at Sunday are these, “Grace be with all of you.”  It is a fitting end to a powerful message about the superiority of Jesus Christ.  It is by grace that we have all we have. Grace. Undeserved. Unearned. It is God’s generous and love-saturated favour on stubborn, rebellious sinners. On me.  On you.  And because it is all of grace, it is also all to his glory and not ours.

So that’s the last verse. As I said, we will be together as the church to look at it on Sunday. Take a few minutes before we get together to read Hebrews 13:8-25. The title of the final message is “To whom be glory” which puts the credit in the right place…gives it to the right one.

Listen to the songs that the team has prepared for us to sing in worship to our God. Among the songs lined up for us is the “Great I Am,” which I know many of you love singing. High impact worship!

You might want to also come prepared to SHARE at the mic a particular verse from Hebrews that has impacted your life this year. Jordan will be leading us through an open mic time during our worship.

And pray for us to both hear from God and to properly respond to what he says to us. Make it personal, praying, “How can I live so as to fully appreciate your grace and bring glory to you alone?”

If you’re away on vacation reading this, may God give you rest and bring you home re-energized for the mission he’s given us in this world. For the rest of you…

See you Sunday! 

Todd

P.S. Would you pray for me in the coming weeks. I start my summer preaching break after this Sunday. Apart from preaching messages I’ve already preached at Harvest Niagara on July 15 and Harvest Philadelphia on August 5, I will be taking time off from sermon preparation. The next time I’ll be preaching in Barrie is Labour Day weekend. My preaching calendar study week is July 17-20. I would appreciate your prayers as I seek the Lord for what he has for us in the next ministry year.

While I’m off from preaching, you’ll be blessed by:
July 15 - Pastor Ian Hales, Harvest Durham
July 22 - Pastor Scott Hamilton, Harvest Glasgow
July 29, August 5 - Pastor Mike Armstrong
August 12, 19 - Pastor Roger Freeman
August 29 - Terry Codling, chair of our elders

It is going to be a great summer at Harvest Barrie with great messages from God’s Word.

“No one wants to kill them anymore”

This line from Sunday’s message was a bit jarring, wasn’t it? The full quotation made the point for the church in the free democracies of the Western world,

Christianity has been made so completely devoid of character that there is really nothing to persecute. The chief trouble with Christians, therefore, is that no one wants to kill them any more! Søren Kierkegaard

Freedom of religion, it is argued, has made us soft and weakened our faith, not strengthened it. I used the word “impoverished” to describe the state of the church. And so, we have something to think about concerning the lack of persecution in our culture. We have to ask why it is that no one cares that much about us. Have we simply lost our edge? No boldness anymore?

Good questions. Perhaps we are seeing the tide change and the days of Christ-followers being persecuted for the faith are coming. In that day, Lord, help us stand firm for you and for your gospel no matter the cost.

But for many, that day is already here. In countries that have oppressive regimes governing them, those who follow Jesus Christ are routinely and legally persecuted for their faith.

International Christian Concern is an advocacy ministry that speaks on behalf of persecuted believers around the world. On their website, (www.persecution.org) they make this statement:

International Christian Concern (ICC) exists to relieve the suffering of the worldwide persecuted church and help the church grow in strength and breadth by providing effective advocacy, awareness and assistance with integrity toward God and our donors. In this past century alone an estimated 200 million Christians were murdered for their faith, more than during any other century in human history. ICC acts as a bridge between believers in free countries and believers in persecuted countries by sending encouragement, prayers and aid over the bridge while bringing back news, requests and love.

Another helpful ministry and website is that of The Voice of the Martyrs (www.persecution.net).  They state their purpose as:

Countless Christians around the world are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. The Voice of the Martyrs Canada stands alongside persecuted brothers and sisters worldwide. We help Christians who are, or have been, persecuted for their involvement in spreading the gospel; we love and support believers who are willing to invite their fellow men, even their persecutors, to Jesus Christ; and we encourage persecuted Christians by giving their testimony a voice, informing Christians in Canada to know how to help. Join us in raising awareness of and reaching out to the persecuted Church!

The Apostle Paul wrote from prison to the church in Colossae, “Remember my chains” (Colossians 4:18), and the preacher in Hebrews 13:3 exhorted his hearers to, “Remember those is prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you are also in the body.”

From the perspective of those in prison, the former verse expresses the heart of those who are persecuted that their brothers and sisters in Christ would remember them to the Father in prayer. And what I understand their primary request to be is simply, “Pray that our faith will not fail.”

From the perspective of those who are not being persecuted, the latter verse compels us to not abandon our responsibility to care for those in the body…if “only” by making ourselves aware and with our prayers.

And we should because someday we might be the ones needing those prayers. I understand that no one wants to kill us. For now.

I want to be completely upfront with you about Sunday’s message.  It will be filled with boasting.

But this won’t be chest-thumping, look-what-we’ve-done braggadocio. It isn’t going to be an awards show with all manner of self-aggrandizing and showcasing of our accomplishments. There will be no arrogant assumption of personal credit for what has taken place this year.

Nevertheless, I am going to boast. It is just that I’m going to do it as Paul did. In 2 Corinthians 10:17 he wrote, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  He actually uses the word “boast” and its variants some eighteen times in the space of three chapters. While Paul had done amazing things in his life, he wanted his readers to know that it was all the Lord. His boasting was in things that showed his personal weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30) and showcased the Lord’s awesome strength (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul’s intent was to manifest the glory of Jesus Christ in his life. And so, he boasted in that.

And so will we.

We know our weakness. We have been brought low and we have experienced the joy of being raised up. We have known want and abundance (cf. Philippians 4:12-13). In every situation, we have seen God’s glory manifested among us.

And we will boast in that!

Sunday’s message is going to start with our theme and theme verse for the year. “To him be glory” is taken from Ephesians 3:20-21 and formed the backdrop to a tenth anniversary year that was filled with God’s abundance. We saw him work in amazing ways over the past months and, again, we want to be able to boast in that.

The message will be less traditional than usual. I won’t be taking a single passage and working verse by verse through it, but instead we will be touching down in a bunch of passages and hearing a bunch of stories of God’s glory radiating in our Harvest family. My hope is that we will all be encouraged and built up by what we hear, that unbelievers will be drawn to the church and to the Lord as a result and that God will be glorified further in the boasting we’ll do.

If you are ambitious, read the passages I’ve lined up for this message—Ephesians 3:20-21; Revelation 4:11; Matthew 6:19-21; Romans 5:1-5; Colossians 2:6-7; Acts 4:31; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; John 13:34-35; Ephesians 4:1-16; 2 Corinthians 4:5-7—and look for the way God glorified himself in each passage.

Pray that God will do a powerful work in us as we gather as the church. The last two weekends have been amazing displays of his glory. Pray for the Spirit of God to continue to pour out his presence in his church.

Listen to the great worship songs that the team has lined up for us to sing and prepare your heart to be here.

Two special elements in this Sunday’s service are an interview with Kathy Pedersen of the Barrie Pregnancy Resource Centre, one of our compassion partner agencies. The baby bottle drive concludes next Sunday. And, on a similar theme, I’ll have the privilege of helping some parents dedicate their children to the Lord. That’s always a great time.

God is doing a powerful work in our church. It is exciting to be part of it. And I’m looking forward to sharing some of it with you. I’m looking forward to boasting in the Lord.

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4 (ESV)

I appreciate that Luke took the time to write down the history of Jesus and then, in the Book of Acts, of Peter, Paul and the early church.  Reading the events of those days serves to inform, encourage and inspire me. It gives me certainty about God’s work among us.

In the same spirit, and with our big celebration weekend upon us, I wanted “to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us” here at Harvest Bible Chapel in Barrie with the same hope that we would be informed, encouraged and inspired to continue on and do even more for the glory of the God; that we would have certainty about God’s work here over the past ten years.

The little known history of Harvest Barrie dates back to the year 2000 and a small church known as Hope Community Church that was meeting at the Sunnidale Community Centre (now the Dorian Parker Centre).  The church had no pastor, no building, little money in the bank, eleven members with about thirty people meeting on Sundays for worship.  They knew they needed to close up shop and move on, or believe God for something greater.

A couple of leaders (one of whom is still a faithful member here at Harvest) came up with a plan to contact as many larger, church planting churches as possible to see if one of them would adopt this group of people and give them oversight and a vision for the future. The list was compiled, letters were written…but they never went out.

That summer, through a series of providential circumstances, God led the group to visit Muskoka Bible Conference where a pastor named James MacDonald was preaching.  This Chicago-area pastor’s daily radio program, Walk in the Word, was airing on the fledgling Life 100.3 in Barrie and was having an impact on those who were hearing the powerful preaching of God’s Word.

As the group made their way to MBC, one of the two men who had conceived of the plan to have a larger church adopt them wrote on a small card, “Ask James about planting a church in Barrie.” After the evening session the group gathered for snacks and an elder from Chicago sat with them. Before the suggestion was made or the small card produced, the elder called James over to meet the group and himself made the suggestion that they plant a church in Barrie with this group.

Hope Community Church shut down that summer for several weeks while plans were made and consultations continued. When the group met again, they had Pastor James MacDonald’s sermons on video (VHS tapes sent on a one week delay). On the first week about two dozen people gathered around a thirteen-inch television to watch it!

That modest start led to months in the “soft-launch” phase as plans came together to find and appoint a church planter to lead the core group and move toward a launch in 2001.

On March 25, 2001 Pastor Todd Dugard began his ministry in this new role. He preached that Sunday in Barrie and then moved with his wife Cheryl and their three children, Joel, Emilie and Luke, to Chicago for a five-month residency. The kids were 8, 6 and 4 at the time.  They completed their time at Harvest in Rolling Meadows, Illinois in August of that same year and the church officially launched on September 16, 2001 with Emma King Elementary School as the new worship location.

The church would remain at EKES for the next four years growing rapidly during that time to eventually see us in three services including one on Saturday evenings. Some of you will remember the “Harvest Night in Canada” promotion as we geared up for the additional service during hockey season.

In September 2005 a contract was signed with the new Timothy Christian School to host not only our Sunday services, but also many of our weekday ministries, and we have been in that location for almost seven years now. The facility is so well suited to our ongoing needs and the Timothy community has been a gracious and generous host.

After bouncing from leased and borrowed and cloud-like office space for many years (public library, 58 Clapperton Street, 560 Bryne Drive, home-office with meetings and such at either Williams Coffee Pub or the Dugard house, 112 Caplan Drive), we purchased an investment property and office at 258 Bayfield Street. After what seemed like a very long time, we got through the re-zoning, renovations and retrofitting to give ourselves a solid Monday to Friday presence in the city.

But the real story of Harvest is not about facilities and locations. It is what is happening in those buildings and in houses and coffee shops and countless other places in the city and county every day of the week. God is at work in our church. There are so many stories of lives being transformed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And our Storylines videos have sought to relate just a handful of those stories as we have celebrated God’s goodness to us this year.

Beyond what is happening in Barrie, God has seen fit to see nine more Harvest Bible Chapels planted in Canada since we launched in September 2001. We were the third church plant out of the original Harvest in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Now there are about eighty in a dozen countries globally. The hope is that we’ll hit 100 within the next year. What God is doing is a remarkable thing! And we get to be part of his unfolding plan.

What God has for us next will be exciting to see. I love our church. I love what God’s Holy Spirit is doing in and through our church. And should the Lord’s return not be as soon as we would like, may we be found faithfully lifting high the name of Jesus Christ and tirelessly serving him until that day comes.

And so we worship and celebrate this weekend. We are welcoming Pastor James MacDonald and his wife Kathy to Harvest Barrie. James will be preaching a sermon titled “When I Need a Miracle” from John 2:1-12.  I know it will be an impactful message for all of us. Pray for God’s Spirit to use it in your life! Meredith Andrews, who is a passionate and enthusiastic worship leader, will lead us to lift high the name of Jesus! Check out the songs here and come prepared to meet the Lord. To him be glory!

Don’t forget that we have added a worship service this weekend. In addition to our regular Sunday times of 9 and 11:15 a.m., we’ll also meet Saturday at 4 p.m. for worship. That is an identical service to Sunday morning's services. 

And there are still some tickets left for the Meredith Andrews concert (Joshua Seller is opening) on Saturday evening. to reserve your tickets or take a chance we’ll still have some at the door.

See you Saturday and Sunday!

Todd

It is a word that is among the most powerful and definitive descriptions of a Christ-follower. Those who are truly Christ’s endure. They just do. Jesus said, “The one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13), and in James 1:2 we hear that, “The testing of your faith produces steadfastness” or “endurance”.

At the recent Harvest University conference the theme was, “Building strong leaders requires enduring commitments.”  And in the past few years I’d say that among the greatest lessons God was teaching me was about enduring through challenging situations. Throughout the Bible you’ll see that word or similar ones driving the point. Christ-followers don’t ever quit.

And it should be no surprise to us that as we move on from the “hall of faith” in Hebrews to the first few verses in Hebrews 12 that faith is further described for us in terms of this enduring spirit. Faith endures. It just does. Where there’s no endurance, there’s little or no faith. So that means I don’t try to squirm out from under a trial and I don’t cut and run when things get hard. I persevere. I’m steadfast. I endure.

But because we indeed “grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:3) at times, God makes it clear in the passage that if we get a few things right concerning our faith it will be, “so that WE WON’T grow weary or fainthearted” (emphasis mine).

If you want to be done with weary and fainthearted, give careful attention to what needs to be put away from your life and what you need to put your attention on to have a faith that endures.

We have a special time of prayer scheduled for the end of our time of worship with a great song we are introducing called, “Not for a moment”. If you know someone who is under a heavy weight right now and could be described as “weary or fainthearted” then INVITE THEM to Harvest this Sunday. The same power that allowed Jesus to “endure the cross” is available to us to endure whatever it is we will face or are facing now.

The full song line up for worship is powerful. Give these songs a listen and prepare your heart to sing out to the Lord with passion. The full text for Sunday’s message is Hebrews 12:1-3. Take some time to read those verses and pray through them asking God to do something great in your life as a result of hearing the Word preached.

Sunday is also Mother’s Day and I’ll acknowledge here my deep love and appreciation for my mom and all the “moms” I’ve had and have in my life. God, bless the godly moms in our lives who give themselves so freely to love us all. 

And because it is Mother’s Day it is also the start of our annual Baby Bottle Drive for the Barrie Pregnancy Resource Centre (check out the quick video about the BPRC below). From now until Father’s Day, we want you to fill these bottles with coin, cash, and cheques as a blessing to moms, dads and babies who need a little encouragement and help from this great ministry. The bottles will be available in the lobby before and after the service.

Todd

I’m still basking in the benefits of last Sunday! What a great time in worship and what a powerful sermon we all heard from Pastor Cristian Barbosu from Harvest in Arad, Romania.  If you missed it, the message and study resources are available online.

This Sunday we are back in Hebrews to continue our pursuit of what is Truly Epic, having “the power of an indestructible life” in us. In section three of the Hebrews sermon we are seeking to Run Hard by faith, and in the eleventh chapter we have been examining the lives of those who lived prior to the coming of Jesus and who lived a life of faith. Their example is for our benefit. Will we run hard as they did?

The preacher has taken us through a number of examples in detail and by the time he reaches verse 32 you get a sense that he is watching the clock and needs to move on. “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of…” and he proceeds to list a bunch of names and situations where genuine faith was seen.

As I read Hebrews 11:32-40, the question I have is what in the world does someone have to believe to live “by faith”? With everything these men and women faced, they demonstrated “the power of the indestructible life” and showed us what they believed. The evidence is in four key phrases in the passage:

“were made strong out of weakness”

“that they might rise again to a better life”

“of whom the world was not worthy”

“God had provided something better”

Take some time to think about how each of these phrases communicates something about what we must believe as the followers of Christ…as people who live by faith. I’m eager to work through this passage with you. Despite some hard things we have to work through in verse 32 about some of these “heroes”, we won’t skip any verses! We preach the whole counsel of God! It is going to be a great Sunday together!

Don’t forget that it is only a few weeks now until we have our fifth and final 10th anniversary celebration weekend on May 26 and 27 with Pastor James MacDonald and Meredith Andrews. Details are here. Get your Saturday evening concert tickets on Sunday at the bookstore.

By the way, last Sunday’s Storyline video featuring Rod and Elaine Duff is now up on Vimeo. Check it out and be encouraged in how God is so faithful to us.

You can prepare for our time in worship and the Word on Sunday by listening to the songs that Jordan has lined up for us this week and read and pray through the passage I’ll be preaching. We will be remembering the Lord’s death and burial at the communion table too. You might want to also read 1 Corinthians 11:17-32 and refresh your understanding of why we do this. Let’s not let the Lord’s Table become too familiar and so treat it with contempt.

I’m so grateful for each of you and for the joy we have in being the church of Jesus Christ here in Barrie. Pray for one another. Encourage one another. Serve one another in love. Live a life of faith for the benefit of one another.

See you Sunday,

How do we follow that?!

We’re coming off of a pretty amazing weekend. From everything we’re hearing and all we experienced ourselves as staff and elders, I’d say God’s presence was heavy in the room and that his power was in evidence. It was a high impact weekend for our church.

And seven days later, we’ll do it again. I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that the reason the church meets on Sunday and not the Sabbath (according to the Jewish tradition) is because of the resurrection. Every Sunday…all 52 of them…are celebrations of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

And so, though we are coming off of an incredible weekend, we follow that up with another one where God wants to meet with us just as eagerly (we should be eager too) and to work just as much in our hearts and lives (we should want that too).

So I’m excited about being together again with you this Sunday. We have two new Christ-followers in our church family since we last met together. One person in each of our services stood in response to the gospel and declared their intention to follow Christ. Praise God for that! Pray for them as they take their first steps as Christ-followers.

We will dive back into our “Truly Epic” series in Hebrews, picking up where we left off at Hebrews 11:20-22, with a message titled, “Faith blesses”.  In this third section of Hebrews we are being urged to “Run Hard” and we’ve come to understand that we can only do that “by faith”. Sunday’s message will look at the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph in an effort to understand what it means to pass on a godly legacy—a blessing—to succeeding generations. This is something that some of you as parents and potential parents haven’t thought a lot about, and you should! What of lasting value am I giving to my children, grandchildren and the generations to follow? It matters to God that we pass along a blessing by faith. Should matter to us too.

Jordan has lined up some great worship songs for us to sing. It is always a great idea to give them a quick listen and prepare your heart to lift high the name of Jesus corporately on Sunday. Read the passage for Sunday’s message and, if you want to understand the full context of these verses, take a look at Genesis 25-50 for the full story. And pray for God’s Holy Spirit to do a deep work in your heart through our time together.

See you Sunday,

I was trying to think of different words for “obey.” “Act upon”, “observe”, “abide by”, “follow”, “comply with”. The thesaurus helped me out. As I read it, those alternatives all soften the blow of “obey” which seems harsh and unrelenting. There’s wiggle room in “observe” and “follow”. There’s none of that in “obey”. The lines are drawn. I have to do this. No option.

This wrestling match with the word “obey” was precipitated, of course, by my study of Hebrews 11:8-19. In this passage we see Abraham’s faith manifested in his obedience. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out…” He did what he was told. He just did. “Obey” seems to be the right word because there’s no sense that there was any other option. No wiggle room.

This hyper-sensitivity to this word comes out of our tolerant-obsessed culture. We can’t tell people to obey anyone. Seems so old fashioned or something.

For example, advocates of modern parenting would almost universally agree that “obedience” was for another generation. The tenor of parenting today seems to be to convince your child that they should do this or that. Worse, some parents have taken to catering to their kid's every whim and wish. Most pathetic of all are the parents who cajole (sweet-talk) their children into a given action. There would be little call to have your children “obey” you.

Parenting is a pretty soft sell example actually. I mean, if pressed, we would all agree that children should obey their parents in some fashion for their own good. But what if we apply the word “obey” to our citizenship as in, we should obey our government? Uh…we’d rather sign a petition, carry a placard or vote them out of office. What about teachers? Ha! You haven’t been in a classroom for a while, have you? Teachers have been stripped of any real authority in their own classrooms. What about the workplace? Do you “obey” your employer or merely comply with his/her wishes? Even then, if you’re unionized you have the option of disobeying and checking in with the union steward. If the issue is big enough, file a grievance, work to rule or go on strike. Obey?! Whatever. And the church? Obey your leaders? Really?!

By that last example we can see that this dearth of obedience in our culture isn’t restricted to non-believers. Sadly, even the followers of Christ—who ought to be living out the values of God’s Kingdom—often allow the culture to inform their attitudes and actions concerning authorities not only in the church, but also in their homes, their schools and their workplace relationships. But it isn’t hard at all to see obedience—yes, OBEDIENCE—taught as the biblical standard in all these spheres of life: church (Hebrews 13:17), workplace (Ephesians 6:5-8), government (Romans 13:1-7), home (Ephesians 6:1-3), and school (Luke 6:40).

And yet, we resist.

Can I just call it out? I agree that “obey” just doesn’t sound very nice. But that sound is our sin nature clashing with God’s Word. We like our autonomy. We like self-determination. We like to call our own shots. We’re not fond of submission and obedience. And if our rebellion in this were limited to these earthly institutions it would be bad enough, but the truth? It plays out in our relationship with God too. We don’t like to obey him. In fact, if we did obey him, we wouldn’t be so quick to give our parents, MP’s, teachers and elders such a hard time. In obeying him, we would obey them.

So think about this: “By faith Abraham obeyed…” Simple. Clear. If I am to follow Christ and obey him in all things (he is LORD!) then my obedience will be characterized by immediate action. I will raise no objections. I will expect nothing in return in this life (though I anticipate the fulfillment of God’s promises in the next). I will not fear any cost, any consequences, or any test of obedience God might send my way. By faith I will obey.

I hope that is what is on your heart too. What’s great about all of these members of the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 is that none of them got it right 100% of the time. They often failed. Sometimes their failures came after stunning, faith-filled victories. That encourages me because I know that no one is beyond hope. We can all grow in this even if it is by a small margin this week.

Come ready to worship on Sunday by listening to the songs that Jordan and Steve have lined up for us to sing. Take a close look at the stage on Sunday to find Jordan…he’s not playing his usual instrument. And read and study the passage, Hebrews 11:8-19. And pray it out. Ask God to make you obedient to every word he has spoken.

And a reminder that we only have one week left before Good Friday and Easter Sunday. If God’s Spirit is with us, these will be high impact services that bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and will change us forever. Be bold in inviting friends and loved ones to the services and pray that God does a powerful work in their lives to draw them to himself in a life-changing relationship. More invitation cards will be available Sunday but you can also use this link to send email and text invitations:  

See you Sunday,

Todd

Much of what we do on Sundays when we get God’s Word open is to look at particular words in the verses we study. The authors took the time to carefully consider what words they would use to communicate their point. The Holy Spirit, who inspired this Book, guided them in the choice of these words. And so, we should take the time to consider the nuances and impact of these words in the Word.

The words we will see this week include assurance, conviction, commendation, and, of course, faith. Strong words. Powerful implications for us.

As you prepare for this coming Sunday you’ll notice that we have bitten off a smaller passage as we take our first step into the great hall of faith in Hebrews 11. Before we get to the stories and testimonies of these “heroes” we must first consider what faith is…and what it isn’t. As one preacher said, we don’t want our faith to be wishful thinking, blind optimism or faith in faith.  We want it to be substantive, genuine and focused on the right object.

There is no better passage to get there but Hebrews 11 and this Sunday we’ll be in the first three verses with a message simply titled, “Faith is…” This third section of Hebrews is compelling us to run hard, but we can’t do that if we don’t have an unshakable faith in Jesus Christ. Faith will give us complete confidence in what God says and compel us to act no matter the circumstances around us. Faith will also have us looking to God to gain his approval knowing that everything good in life comes from him. I can’t wait to be with you to talk through all this on Sunday!

It is so important to recall that the Book of Hebrews is a the sermon that was preached to people who were in tough, under intense persecution, were suffering loss and were, in some cases, even struggling to persevere in the face of what was going on in their lives. The preacher was calling them to endure and not to quit.  That’s where many of you are…facing huge obstacles and deep trials and the message is the same: endure…exercise faith…God has you covered.

You can get ready for Sunday by listening to the worship songs we will be singing together and by reading the passage (Hebrews 11:1-3). Those verses, by the way, are part of our memory project and are the new verses for this week.  How great would it be if we all had the passage locked in our hearts and minds before Sunday! And don’t forget to pray about your own response to what God will say to you and to us all. Father, make us more like Jesus Christ, who alone is truly epic!

See you Sunday!

As I closed last week’s service I made mention that we would be starting a new section of Hebrews this coming Sunday titled, “Run Hard”, and that the first message would have us looking at that well-known verse that tells us not to be “neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.”

I then gave you a couple of options: (a) you could neglect to meet together and avoid the message altogether and thus any convicting application points that come out of that abundantly clear phrase; or (b) you could make a point to obey that verse in advance and make sure you’re there to hear it.

My guess—please forgive the cynicism—is that the people who take the time to read this blog are the ones most likely to be in worship on Sunday anyway. You are the keeners! So this post is a bit of a waste. Except in that you could give someone a call and encourage him or her to be there on Sunday. Would you be so bold as to do that?  

And as you prepare your own heart to be with the church, take a look at Hebrews 10:19-25 and think hard about this paragraph: Faith in Christ fills you with an unwavering confidence that rests on all that he has done for you, allowing you to draw near without reservation, having a sincere heart, a clean conscience, and evidence of purity, calling on you to have a firm grip on your profession of faith in him, and compelling you to stir it up in one another to worship Christ together, walk with Christ together, and work for Christ together.

I believe it is going to be a powerful time together. We will also be lifting high the name of Jesus in worship as Jordan leads us through these songs. Take the time to listen to them ahead of time and come on time and ready to sing passionately to the Lord as we gather.

And with Pastor Roger back from a two-week Florida vacation, we will get back on track with our Memory Project and see how he’s been doing. That should be fun for everyone…including him!

One Trillion Dollars

That’s the amount of wealth that experts say will be transferred from the so-called baby boomers to their kids over the next two decades. That’s a lot of bacon double cheeseburgers.

The article that came across my Twitter feed also said that the trillion-dollar number has a lot of people in the younger crowd thinking about all the cash that their folks apparently have tucked away.  In fact, too many are planning their own retirement savings around what they expect to get in the will.

Those same experts with the huge calculator are saying that that’s actually a pretty bad plan and that the inheritances aren’t turning out as lucrative as once imagined.

With the article in my mind, I turned to Hebrews 9:15-28 to study up for this Sunday’s message and, well, the preaching of the Hebrews message has us thinking about whether or not we’re in God’s Last Will and Testament and thus in line for an inheritance.

I’m thinking that the eternal inheritance is going to make a trillion dollars look like pocket change.

In simplest terms, Jesus is “the promised eternal inheritance”. Receiving that inheritance (which is already being paid out to us) means that as beneficiaries we get some pretty incredible benefits. The question that plagues my thoughts though is how often you and I leave those benefits unclaimed, and how we live as though we are not children of the king and haven’t been included in a will that has already been read.  It's time for some of you to step up and say, “Hey, I want my inheritance.”

As I said above, some people are already pretty disappointed by the amount of earthly wealth that’s being transferred to them. So what?! Follow Jesus Christ and you’ll receive something far better in this life and something beyond comprehension in the next.

I’m pretty excited about this message and being with the church again on Sunday.  Take some time to prep your own heart to be together: read the passage, work on the memory verses (Hebrews 9:27-28), listen to the great worship package we have lined up, pray for it all and for your response, and think about calling someone up and inviting them to join you for worship.

We will also be dedicating some young ones in both services…that’s always a blessing to stand together as a church family with these young families as they commit their children to the Lord.

See you Sunday!  

You can’t just show up to a church on Sunday and automatically start worshipping. Not Christ anyway. You can worship the church, the church building, the ministry philosophy, the theology, or the person leading worship or the guy preaching. You can worship the people in the church. You can worship your involvement and service in the church. But don’t assume that you can waltz in on any given Sunday and worship the Father.

You see, before you can worship the Lord, there’s an admission fee.  No, not tickets in advance or at the door and certainly not your offering as the price of admission. But a price does have to be paid before you can worship God.

There are tons of people who are in denial about this. They think they can come and go as they please to churches of all kinds and worship when they want. Lots of Christmas and Easter “worshippers” as well as those who come once in a while when it works for them. Not to mention those who don’t necessarily see the need to be with the church every week. They don’t understand, perhaps, that a price has to be paid to worship the Lord.

Then there are those who know there’s a price, but they’re trying to pay it themselves. Through giving, serving, performing religious rituals, and outward morality they think they can pay the price of admission on their own not realizing they don’t have the capital for a down payment on a ticket. The sum total of good works and wealth and morality of every single human being on the planet would not be enough to purchase one ticket for one person to be able to enter in and worship God.

Only those who understand that Jesus Christ alone can pay the price will be admitted to worship. In Hebrews 9:1-14, the preacher says that the first covenant (the obsolete one) had regulations that would permit people to worship and know something about holiness in their lives. But it wasn’t adequate. They couldn’t “perfect the conscience of the worshiper.” The best religious observances fell short.

When we gather for worship on Sunday morning, we’ll be working through that passage asking this question: Who paid the price to make it possible for you to worship God? The answer, of course, is found in the message title, “Jesus: securing an eternal redemption”.  He redeemed us. He paid the price.

Be sure to prepare for Sunday by reading the passage, working on the memory project and listening to Sunday’s song list. And, of course, pray for your heart to be softened to the things of God’s Word.

And don’t forget that we will be watching as many as eighteen people get baptized in obedience to Jesus Christ and his Word. We’ll hear some powerful stories of conversion and transformation. This is one of those DON’T MISS Sundays. But, then again, aren’t they all?!

See you then,

Forgive me for two things right up front, please. One, I’m typing this from sunny and warm Orlando. Don’t need to say much more than that, do I?  And two, this won’t be like our regular Friday blog that previews what’s coming up Sunday. I’m thinking I’d rather just reflect on some things that crossed my path this week.

Cheryl and I have been in the Sunshine State since Sunday evening for three reasons: a Harvest senior pastors and wives retreat, church plant coaches training and some R&R. The week has been simply amazing on all three fronts. Certainly blessed to be enjoying where we are, but mostly overwhelmed by the goodness of God with regard to the people who are in our lives with whom we get to do ministry in Harvestworld.

We're self-swindlers. We convince ourselves that we're okay with things that are not okay.

The character of life is made in 10,000 little moments, not in the three or four big decision moments we have in a lifetime.

Glory is the only product the church has to offer.

What has struck me most again after this week was what we have as a fellowship. I stood with men and women who are committed to planting churches that are vertical…that are all about bringing God the glory and seeing his glory manifest around us. As we spent time with these amazing friends in ministry, Cheryl and I have such gratitude in our hearts for what God has done and is doing. “To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus!” (Ephesians 3:21). Amen?!

As for Sunday? I’m anticipating an amazing time together as we seek God for his manifest presence among us. Get yourself ready by listening to the worship songs we will be singing together and read and consider Hebrews 7:11-28, the passage we will be studying together. The question being raised is this:  

Who is your Saviour? The answer should be obvious! Jesus: able to save.

Florida sunshine aside, we are eager to be back with the church family we love. God has given us something pretty great and week after week we are seeing evidence of the truly epic nature of who he is.  Lord, show us your glory and help us to listen up to what you have said to us in your Word and to hold fast to these truths.

See you Sunday,

Todd 

It is January. Where is the hope?

The Christmas lights are fading. The family and friends are gone. The kids are back to school. The distractions of the season have given way to the cold and dark reality of winter.

Christmas and New Year's elicit varying responses. For some, the holidays accentuate the loneliness and hopelessness they feel in the midst of whatever circumstance or life situation they are in. For others, it is all a distraction. It is when the Christmas lights are turned off that life’s realities coming crashing back in.

I don’t mean for it all to be so negative and morose. There are many others who fully experience the peace and joy that Christmas proclaims. They have a sense of anticipation and eagerness for the New Year no matter what God may have in store for them. For these, faith in Christ and an unfailing hope in his promises are solid and unshakeable.

So let me ask now that it is January, where is the hope? Where is your hope? Where are you finding the hope? What keeps you going? Since none of us knows what is ahead for us this year—it could be good things or hard things—we must have this question answered. Hope is what will have us overcome any and all challenges, trials, setbacks that are ahead. Hope transcends the immediate and the temporal; it goes beyond what we can see or anything we will experience in this life.

Think about this statement: God made a promise, and so, you must patiently await its fulfillment knowing you're still in tough and need an anchor that will not be moved—Jesus your unfailing advocate.

That’s what is in front of us for this Sunday in Hebrews 6:13-20. Remember that our journey through Hebrews this year is called “Truly Epic: Jesus Christ and the power of the indestructible life”. We have already made our way through the first part of the sermon in a series called “Listen Up” and now we are seeking in this second part to “Hold Fast” to the things we have heard. This week’s message is entitled, “Jesus: a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”  That phrase alone ought to stir you up and speed up your heart!

We’ll be gathering at 9 and 11:15 a.m. Bring your burdens, heartaches, sorrows and confusion. Bring your questions and concerns. Come ready to hear a message of hope that will never let you down. Even if hard times are not being rolled out over your head right now, we will all be encouraged and strengthened in our hope as we gather as the church.

Prepare yourself to be together and with the Lord by giving a listen to the songs we have picked out. Be sure to read the passage too and maybe even go back and re-read the entire book (it takes about 50-60 minutes). And pray for yourself…pray that you will hold fast to the things you have heard.

I believe it is going to be an amazing time as we gather in the name of Jesus Christ! To him be glory!

See you Sunday,

Everyone wants something better than what they have. “New and improved” is such a catchy little slogan because everything in our lives is old and not-so-good anymore. The pace of change is such that the moment you drive your new car off of the lot or bring home that new computer, something better than what you have is already in the works.

They’re not wrong, these ad people…these marketers…these producers of consumer goods. They are communicating some pretty remarkable theology actually. Though I’m certain they don’t realize it, their hamartiology is almost perfect!

Hamartiology is the study of sin, and it is the reason that things can be better than they are. Nothing is as it should be. Nothing. After the creation, God said that everything was “good”…after the creation of the man and woman he said it was “very good”. That is to say, it was good in the sense of perfect and without sin. That all changed and since then we have been doing all we can to make things better.

We can’t, of course, make things better. For every better thing we make, we create a subsequent problem…an impact. Things are better in one way (we can get around more easily), but we create another problem: environmental impact or people dying in car accidents and plane crashes. One drug solves a given ailment but creates four side effects, or we find out much later it actually kills us. We develop a resistance. Penicillin helped in the healing of many until the bugs we were battling morphed in response…they got “better” and we had to get better again too. It is “better” we deemed to have free and open trade and to create a global economy. It is that interconnectedness that is now dragging down the whole world because Italy and Greece can’t get their act together. And so European leaders get together to find a system that is…better.

Back to the matter of hamartiology. Because of sin, nothing is really getting better. In fact, as human beings, we are not even keeping up with the pace of degradation in the world. While we continue to be image-bearers of the Creator, our image is so tainted by sin, so marred by the fall, that we would be barely recognizable beside the first man who was as close to “better” as we have ever gotten as humans.

And all that to say, everything can be better than it is. The preacher who gave us the sermon that is the Book of Hebrews said to his hearers, “In your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.”

We will look at those things as we open Hebrews 6:1-12 together on Sunday. After last week’s message challenging us to be mature and to savour the deeper things of God, we have an opportunity to dig in to some real meat here. This is one of the most controversial and talked-about passages in the Bible. Come prepared to receive a solid meal. This isn’t milk.

So, read the passage. Study it out for yourself. Pray it and be prepared to share what you are learning and what God is doing in your life through this teaching series with others. (Like how I just reviewed part of last week’s message right there?)

Sunday’s worship is going to be passionate, so listen to the songs ahead of time and come ready to sing and praise our God. I’m so excited about our youth choir singing “All the Poor and Powerless” just before I get up to preach. And, this is cool, we have someone doing announcements this week who has never done it before!  

And a few other reminders:

-       You all received a letter from the elders some weeks ago about end-of-year giving. Please take some time to carefully consider your response to that and give generously and cheerfully to the work God has entrusted to us here at Harvest;

-       We will be in Clearview Township for prayer on Sunday evening at the home of the Shaws (Nottawa); join us as we continue to seek the Lord for his will in establishing a campus of Harvest Bible Chapel in the Collingwood-Wasaga Beach area;

-       Be sure to invite your friends, family, neighbours, co-workers, and even strangers that God puts in your path to our Christmas Worship on December 23 and 24. Invitation cards are available from the ushers on Sunday.

I believe God is going to move us toward better things on Sunday.

See you then,

If we can just think about Sundays for a minute, my job is to prepare that meal and serve it up to you. I guess you could say I’m the chef. My desire is to put a healthy meal on the table each week…to provide you with a feast, in fact.  I don’t want anyone to go home hungry.

The reality though is that some people come on Sunday and take a look at the meal, but don’t eat anything. Others are still quite young in the faith—baby Christians—and haven’t progressed to solid food yet. They get what they can from the messages, but most of it escapes them. They’re still drinking milk. As they grow, the hope is that they’ll progress to solid food and mature in their walk with Christ.

And that’s the reality. It is only a hope I have that everyone will get to the place of sitting at the table eating the rich meals that we find in the Bible.  Some believers never get to that place. Years after trusting Christ as their Saviour, they continue to suck on a bottle and refuse the meat and potatoes, the gravy and vegetables that are put in front of them.

That was the concern of the pastor who preached the sermon that we have called the Book of Hebrews. He challenged his people in Hebrews 5:11-14 knowing that many of them were not interested in the deeper things of God but were stalled on the elementary principles of the faith.  And he sought to warn them about the dire consequences of such a Christian life.

Like that unnamed first century pastor, I have the same concern. While I am encouraged by so many who are indeed coming to the table each week for a full meal, and feeding themselves great meals during the week, there are still some who are not eating…uh, that is, drinking anything other than milk.

If you want to get ready for Sunday’s meal, try some appetizers before you arrive.  Read and pray through Hebrews 5:11-14 and then think through this statement. Mature believers feast on the Word of God. So, take your seat at the table and dig in, savour the deep things of God, and be filled with what God has set before you, and thus able to think Christianly, grow continually, and choose righteously.

The worship songs for Sunday are here. And don’t forget about the memory project. This week’s verses are the passage I’ll be serving up. 

We will also be recognizing and welcoming some new Harvest members.  Love how God is building our church.

See you Sunday,

Todd

My good friend and brother in Christ, Joel Anderson is making the journey from Orlando, Florida with his wife, Jill, to bring God’s Word to us this Sunday. It is going to be a blessing for us to have them here.

Joel was on the pastoral team at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows before any church plants went out. In March 2001 (the same year we planted here), Joel and Jill moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois where they planted the second of what is now more than 70 church plants in our Harvest Bible Fellowship. That church grew and flourished under his leadership.

In 2007, the decision was made to make Crystal Lake a campus of Harvest Rolling Meadows, and the Andersons moved to Orlando to join a core group there and plant again. To date, they are the only ones to plant two churches in our fellowship. That’s something!  Harvest in Orlando has grown incredibly and has a brand new facility where God’s people are growing and lifting high the name of Jesus Christ. Harvest Orlando has become a centre for church planting in that region of the U.S.

And you must know that Joel and Jill have FIVE…count ‘em…FIVE beautiful daughters who sadly, will not be joining them on this trip.

As we continue to celebrate "Ten Years of Harvest in Canada" Joel has been invited to celebrate with us and bring us a message from the Word of God. He will be preaching a message entitled, “Make Most of Him” in Revelation 1:9-20. Don’t you just appreciate messages in the Book of Revelation?!  I’m certain it will be both challenging and encouraging.

Please pray for your own response to the Word as it is preached this Sunday. Take some time to pray through the passage as we were encouraged to do in our study of Transforming Prayer, and listen to the great line up of songs Jordan has planned for us to sing together in worship. Those two things will help you get your heart prepared to be with the church on Sunday.

God has been and continues to be so gracious toward us as his people. We have received so much from his hand. Let’s continue to seek his face in passionate prayer for even more of him in our lives.

See you Sunday.

To him be glory!

Todd

A quick look at Hebrews 4:11-13 makes it clear that, “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

That seems clear. But how does that square with the thing I’ve preached so often…Jesus has forgiven all of your sin, past, present and future. When Jesus said, “It is finished”, he meant it. The price was paid. Salvation delivered.

So, again, which is it? Judgment to come or forgiven? Free from the penalty of sin or still accountable for my sin?

It is a question that must be answered. As Christ-followers, we should care about this a lot. If there is an accounting to come, we need to know what about the nature of that accounting and the judgment we will face.

On Sunday we will be together to discern all of that as we conclude the first of four series in the Book of Hebrews. In this first section, the preacher has asked us to Listen Up to what God has had to say about Jesus being Truly Epic. This final message in the series has us thinking about the end of the age and the judgment to come. And he’s talking to believers.

I’m looking forward to being with you to look at all this. I’m preparing the message as I write this, and you can prepare for our time together by reading and praying through the passage, by listening to the worship songs we will be singing together.

Four other things:

-       The memory project continues. This week’s verse is Hebrews 4:12. It is a powerful reminder of the intense scrutiny God’s Word puts on our lives

-       Join us for our Night of Prayer at 6:30 p.m.

-       We will be having a special time of prayer over Mike Armstrong as we affirm him as a pastor; our elders will be laying hands on him during our morning worship; and

-       Sunday marks the launch of our new radio program, Time to Change. This airs Sundays at 11 a.m. on Life 100.3. It will feature various Harvest Bible Chapel teaching pastors from our Canadian churches.

-       We want you to be early for church on Sunday (and every Sunday) but not necessarily a whole hour early so remember that daylight saving time ends Saturday night and turn your clocks back.

See you Sunday,

Todd

The city of Ibadan, Nigeria the home of children of Promise Ministries orphanage has been besieged by unprecedented flood in many areas. Many lives were lost and lots of property damage. Many people including children have been displaced from their homes. In situations like this children will be the ones to feel the effect most. CHIPROM is embarking on a campaign that will bring relief to some of the children affected and their families supplying them with fresh water and food. Please join us in this effort to rescue and bring relief to those affected.

1. The testimony of our pastor who lost his oldest son in the earthquake.  To hear him share both his pain and his unwavering faith in God blessed and encouraged me.
2. The offering for the churches in Japan both at the conference and at Horem Baptist Church on Sunday.  Recall for a minute the pictures you've seen of Haiti over that past year.  Out of their poverty they gave because of their love for their brothers and sisters in Japan.
3. The fact that the pastors were there.  To say that travel in Haiti is challenging would be an understatement.  Many sacrifices were made by the pastors to be in attendance at the conference.
4. The resilience and faith of God's people.  Far from blaming God for either the ongoing challenges of being the poorest country in the western hemisphere or for the earthquake, they chose to love God, worship him and see these afflictions as an opportunity for the gospel and to bring glory to God.