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Today we will have Pastor Henry Stenbergen lead us in worship. We will reflect on Luke 18:1-8, A Haunting Question! The haunting question is this—will Jesus still find faith on earth when he returns?  Will we keep clinging to God in faith even when life doesn’t always go the way we want it to, even when we don’t get answers to the prayers we lift up to God?  The opposite of faith is not necessarily unbelief, but what shows up as cynicism, where we become weary and are ready to pack it in when everything seems to be going against us.  Jesus urges us to keep hanging in there, to keep trusting that God will stick with us and work out his good purposes in our lives no matter what.

Today, we will have Jerry Roukema bringing us the Word. Jerry Roukema is commissioned to exhort in his classis in Ontario. We have the privilege to have him lead us in the Word this Sunday in celebration of Tenna Stol’s 85th birthday. We will reflect on Matthew 12:46-50, Family Matters. In this short passage, Jesus defines what the family of God looks like. Our nuclear family matters, but the family of God, the body of Christ, is the one that lasts forever, and its population is beyond our comprehension. The family of Jesus does the will of the Father, which is to love God above all, and our neighbours as ourselves. And to radiate that love in everything we do and to everyone we meet.

Today, we will be reflecting on Mark 9:14-29, Overcoming Unbelief. We live in a world in which we need to be on guard against the false narratives with which we are inundated, especially through social media. We are well advised not to believe everything we hear and see. BUT this scepticism and unbelief can affect our faith! Many, including in our own communities, seemingly have abandoned "the faith that was once entrusted to God's holy people" (Jude 3). A good way NOT to allow scepticism to turn into unbelief is through the prayer we find in Mark 9:24: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief".

Today, we will wrap up our series on 2 Peter by reflecting on 2 Peter 3, The Day of the Lord. In chapter 3, Peter moves into talking about the Day of the Lord, or what we see as the return of Jesus when he will come to reclaim all creation again under his rule of the kingdom of heaven. This day will come unexpectedly, and all that is evil and against the kingdom of heaven will face judgment. Peter warns us to be on our guard and to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

Today, we will continue our series on 2 Peter by reflecting on 2 Peter 2, False Teachers. Jesus has always been a controversial leader and teacher simply because his claims and teachings are rooted in his identity as the Son of God, as being divine. This places huge weight on his teachings and great responsibility on his followers to accept his teachings as the foundation of their own lives. This is part of why false teachers entered the church already early on, putting their own spin and interpretation on who Jesus is and what he taught. Peter calls us to be aware of false teachers and to learn to recognize their teachings as false.

Today, we will begin a short summer series based on 2 Peter. We will begin by reflecting on 2 Peter 1, Confirming Your Election and Calling. 2 Peter is not just about Peter’s time; it’s also for us today in that Peter teaches us how to think about God, ourselves, sin, obedience, worship, suffering, community, and hope. His letter invites us to come close to him to understand Jesus and to respond to him. It’s a letter written to warn people about false teachers, but also to stir us out of spiritual laziness. Peter reminds us that God is working with real people in real places; his letter’s not about throwing ideas about who Jesus is out to the people; it points us to Jesus who acts, speaks, judges, saves, and guides his people.

Today, Pastor Jake is away on a pulpit exchange. We have the privilege of having Pastor Ken Vanderploeg lead us in worship. During our worship service, we will reflect on Psalm 130, Because of God’s Grace, Here I Go! The Awesome Character of God: His amazing grace, his unfailing love, full (complete) redemption; He does it all! Because of His grace, we are able to approach him, cry out to him, and reverently serve him. Praise the Lord and give thanks for God’s amazing grace.

Today we will reflect on Exodus 34:1-8, What's in a Name?

Today, we will reflect on 3 John, Walking in the Truth. This letter is closely connected to 2 John, which was written to encourage the church not to support traveling teachers who were teaching heresies about Jesus. Here in 3 John, John is now encouraging them to support those who are travelling teachers who are teaching about Jesus. Even in the early church, there were power struggles, and so John is encouraging them to walk in the truth, to walk in the way of Jesus, to remember who they are as followers of Jesus. John calls the church to extend hospitality to these workers of God, as God is a generous and hospitable God.

Today, we will be reflecting on Romans 12, Peacemakers. In a world of chaos and hatred, we are still called to be peacemakers.

Today, we will be finishing our series on Ecclesiastes by reflecting on Ecclesiastes 12:1-14, The End of the Matter. Solomon now comes to the end of his journey of examining the world from the perspective of “under the sun.” He discovers that he’s been looking in all the wrong places, and his search leads him back to his Creator, the God of heaven and earth. Solomon calls us to remember our Creator, to commit ourselves to God

Today, we will reflect on Ecclesiastes 11:1-10, The Work of God. God created us to work, to have dominion over creation and help it flourish, responsible human work is part of God’s creation plan for humanity, but human sin spoiled God’s good creation, work is now much harder and made our work less certain. Jesus came to pay the penalty for our sin and to restore the good creation. Jesus sees work in the context of the kingdom of God, “I will make you fishers of men,” and urges his followers to do the work of God. We are called to do everything as if for the Lord, as in our work we bless our community and create places of flourishing.

Today, we will be continuing our series on Ecclesiastes by reflecting on Ecclesiastes 9:1-12, The End is the Same for All. We will be reflecting on death and life. In the end, we will all die, and for Solomon, death is the great enemy, the punishment for sin. No matter how hard you work, how much you gather, or how evil you’ve been, we all end up the same, in the grave. This is why Solomon encourages his readers to eat, drink, and enjoy life with your life. We will also be installing our new elders and deacons as part of the service .

Today, we will be returning to our series on Ecclesiastes by reflecting on Ecclesiastes 8:2-17, The King and Obedience. When Solomon calls for obedience to the king, he’s speaking about obedience to God as our king. Solomon has been reflecting for so long about life under the sun, and as we near the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is turning his focus more and more towards God, recognizing that without God, life is meaningless, and there is no hope or future without God.