Rev Chris Roth

  Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 Whenever I think about the Ascension, I think about a cell phone. Let me explain. With a cell phone, I can speak into a little microphone and it will transform my speech into a radio wave that can be sent to my brother’s phone in Vancouver, or just about anywhere else on the planet. … But there is a strange transformation that has to happen to my voice in order for my brother to hear it. My voice, which is audible to those standing near me, has to be transformed into radio waves, which are invisible and inaudible. In fact, my voice becomes completely imperceptible when it is transformed into radio waves. If my brother in Vancouver wants to hear my voice it has to be transformed into a state that can’t be heard. I think about that when I think about the Ascension of Jesus because Jesus was visible and audible. He was with his disciples for 40 days after he was resurrected from the dead. He met with them, they touched him, they at

  Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29 In our Gospel reading today Jesus says, “‘Those who love me will keep my word…”. … I would like to take some time to look at that. … When a lot of us hear that, there might be a bit of panic that arises in us. Do I really keep Jesus’ word? Do I really love Jesus? It is important to define what Jesus means by “word”. Jesus says some things that we might have questions about regarding “keeping his word”. For example, In Matthew 5 Jesus says,  “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matt 5:29-30). So, does this mean that if I love Jesus that I should pluck out my eye and cut off my hand? … This might be the case if what Jesus was giving

Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 In the study of human genetics, scientists have mapped out a kind of family tree for humanity. They can actually trace all of humanity back to one female they call Mitochondrial Eve. … This probably isn’t the Eve of the Bible. Mitochondrial Eve was probably a part of a group of humans. But genetically, every human being on the planet has her as their ancestor. … In that sense, we all share her as our common mother, and in her we are all related. This scientific discovery reflects the Biblical teaching that all of humanity has common ancestry in Adam and Eve. In that common ancestry we all share in the reality of being bearers of the image of God (Gen. 1:27, Acts 17:26). And in that common ancestry we all inherit the damage done to that image by sin (Gen. 3:17, 1 Cor. 15:22). … The mission of God is to rescue us from the mess we have gotten ourselves into, and it is a mission of love and salvation for all of humanity

Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30 In the Bible, the image of the shepherd is used to refer to leaders- Often to kings, and also to God. So when Jesus says,  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11);  and  “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27)  he is leaning on that cultural understanding of what “shepherd” is referring to. He is claiming to be at least a king, which is what it means to be the Messiah. The image of the shepherd has become a much loved way for Christians to refer to Jesus. We see this right in Peter’s first letter-  “For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”; “And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away” (1 Pet 2:25; 5:4).  … We also see this happening in our reading from Revelation, where we read,  “the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,

What I want to do is go up 30,000 feet and look down on what the point of Cursillo is in about 7 minutes. Lots of pieces of this that will be missing because I want to keep this tight. I'm generally dealing with the human side of this because that is were we can make choices to act. (A lot of this comes from a teacher I really respect named Dallas Willard.) First, I think we have to talk about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. At the end of Matthew Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:18b-20). So, as we are baptized into the life of the Trinity, we are called to obey everything Christ has commanded. And we are to then turn around and baptize others into the life of the Trinity, an

  Acts 9:1-6, 7-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is probably the most famous conversion in Christianity, if not all of history. It is dramatic not only in how it happened, but also in who it happened to. You’ll hear people talk about a “Damascus Road experience”. And people who haven’t had that kind of dramatic conversion will sometimes wonder if there’s something wrong with them- especially if they grew up in the church. … Let me just say that there are all kinds of conversions, and I think that if we are faithful, we will continue to have conversions as we grow closer and closer to God. Paul wasn’t converted from being an Atheist to being a Christian. He was already a passionate believer in God, and he grew to have a deeper understanding of God as he came to know Christ. Paul is a passionate believer in God, and so zealous that he is willing to have those who he sees as dangerous heretics imprisoned or killed. We might compare