In the final message in this series on spiritual maturity, Pastor Steve provides a recap of the series followed by a look at what reward, what pay-off, awaits those who pursue maturity in Jesus. The two-fold answer, he suggests, are the very things needed in our world today: stability and unity.
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Visiting speaker Dr. Samuel Sarpiya from Redwood Park Church offers a challenge to discern what God is doing in a deeply polarized world and to respond with faith, wisdom, and courage. Drawing from 1 Chronicles 12:32 and the example of the Tribe of Issachar—who “understood the signs of the times”—Samuel calls followers of Jesus to be spiritually awake, culturally aware, and biblically grounded, offering timely leadership in an age of division and uncertainty.
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Guest speaker Scott Baker shares some Anishinaabe teachings centred around Sweetgrass and how it can help us treat each other with kindness. This was an interactive activity - hopefully some of what we learned comes across in the audio.
To learn more you can go to www.sweetgrassteachings.com.
This message was originally delivered on October 19, 2025.
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Being a mature follower of Jesus means cultivating a posture of forgiveness in our lives - such that forgiving becomes a reflex. This is not easy but in Part 5 of our series on maturity, Pastor Steve walks through Matthew 18 to demonstrate how we can begin to do this today.
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In Part 4 of our series on Spiritual Maturity, Pastor Steve moves into the necessary outcome of empathy: love in action. Without it, empathy is mere sentiment. In his first epistle, the elder John reminds the church of the need for love to be more than words and speech. Our profession of love of God (vertical love) is expressed through our tangible acts of love toward one another.
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Part 3 of our series on spiritual maturity continues the conversation on empathy by looking at what Paul considers the barriers to empathy - namely, selfish ambition and vain conceit. Using The Enemies Project (enemiesproject.org), he shows how putting aside these barriers and practicing seeing the world through the eyes of another can yield beautiful healing between people who see the world so completely different! Have a listen!
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Continuing to explore this "moment" we are in, Pastor Steve suggests a trait many in the church are lacking these days is the ability to empathize with others. It's particularly disconcerting, perhaps, because within the incarnation itself we see the embodiment of empathy. Pastor Steve argues that we should not be afraid of empathy and should embrace it as the means in which we find our way to see the humanity in each other. This is the first part of a 2 part message in this larger series.
We are in a political, cultural, social moment and very oddly it seems the Church has aligned itself with many of the opposite values and virtues of the Kingdom Jesus came to announce. How have we gotten to this point? Pastor Steve suggests it has to do with a lack of spiritual maturity which incidentally is, in some part, because we've misunderstood what it means to be spiritually mature.
Grassroots begins the fall with a child dedication service, providing an opportunity for Pastor Steve to remind us of how the entirety of the church--parents and the rest of us alike--have a role to play in teaching and showing what it means to help raise these little ones in the faith.
Our final message in our summer series is a conversation with Joseph Modi! Follow along as we see the role faith has played in Joseph's life from his youth growing up as a refugee in Uganda, to studies in Jordan, Egypt and finally to Thunder Bay, where e has called home since stepping on Canadian soil 20+ years ago!
As we continue the summer series getting to know each other through listening to the stories and faith journeys of one another, today we get to hear from Marianne Jones! Marianne is simply an amazing human. With a deep passion for the arts, listen in on this important conversation to see how faith and the arts have intersected in Marianne's life. You will be richly blessed - promise!
As we carry on with our summer series discovering the faith journeys of those from within our church community, we get to listen to Amy Purton, a relatively new Christian, share about how she came to faith over the past year and what this journey has meant for her. Amy is a retired palliative care nurse who lives with her husband and two German shepherds in Kaministiqua.
Before theology or anything else concerning our faith exists, there is story. It is the great connective tissue between our lived experience and our beliefs. Guest speaker Brad Woods, professional storyteller, shares a message on the power of story and its ability to impact us, encouraging all of us to be willing to share our stories.
Our summer series commences with a different approach to Sunday sermons. Less sermony and more interview-y/podcast-y. We'll be listening to Pastor Steve have a conversation with various Grassrooters on their faith journeys, showing what faith looks like in the every day life of our community. The first conversation is with Russell Pinson, husband and father of 2 young girls, who shares about the work he's done on the intersection of faith and vocation/work, among other topics. Tune in!
Visiting speaker Michael Pahl suggests truth Christian spirituality should be centered on the person of Jesus - rather than on concerns with who is in and who is out. That said, there are many Jesus' we could "centre" on so which one should we choose? Listen in and find out!
As we close the series, Pastor Steve offers a challenge to consider pain and suffering not as an obstacle to be avoided at all cost in our pursuit of happiness, but, in fact, as a gift to be embraced as it serves as an invitation to deeper meaning and forming us into the likeness of Jesus.
Using John Mark Comer's "multi-polar view" approach to understanding theodicy, Pastor Steve uses the 5 different wills that help us understand, at least in part, why evil and suffering exists in our world, conceding, once more that a perfect theodicy is beyond our grasp as humans. This message helps set up the final message in this series in which we seek to find meaning in our suffering.
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Pastor Steve continues to develop a hopeful and robust theodicy by looking at the idea of God being "all powerful." Using a "theology of the cross," he looks at how God's strength and power is not revealed through control or domination but instead through the self-emptying and vulnerability we see at Calvary. This "kenotic" love is not just shown at the incarnation but in fact points to who God is at his core.
The series in Theodicy continues with Part 4 as Pastor Steve begins to address the question of suffering with a loving God directly through beginning with a discussion on God's sovereignty. What is God's will? Does it always get accomplished? How much free will do we have? These and other questions are raised and discussed as Pastor Steve dives into theological waters discussing Calvinism and Arminianism.
Cory presents the next part in our series on theodicy. Using scripture, theology, psychology, and literature, he explores how suffering unravels our sense of order, plunging us into chaos. Yet, he argues, the biblical story holds both chaos and order in tension, showing us a God who enters the chaos through Christ’s suffering and redeems it through resurrection. Through Genesis, Job, and the wisdom literature, Cory reflects on how we rebuild meaning after trauma, and how Christian hope enables us to remember order—even when surrounded by disorder.Download the Discussion Guide for this message.
