Rev Chris Roth

This is a paper I did in university in 2003. I presented it at the University of Lethbridge at the Religious Studies Conference. The Violent Vehicle:  Fight Club as a Buddhist Path to Enlightenment 4/1/2003 Fight Club  is a 1999 American film based on the 1996  novel of the same name  by  Chuck Palahniuk . The film was directed by  David Fincher  and stars  Edward Norton ,  Brad Pitt , and  Helena Bonham Carter . [1] Besides painfully obvious utterances by Edward Norton’s character, such as “I was the Zen master” [i] and his haiku writing, the movie Fight Club has many Buddhist parallels.  Edward Norton’s character is unnamed (hinting at Anatman ) and will be referred to as ‘Jack’.  His life loosely parallels the Life of the Buddha, as he begins to realize that there is something oddly not right about existence ( Dukkha ), he sets forth on a journey to learn how to quench his discomfort.  On this journ...

James 5:7-10 Hear the sermon here It has been said that Patience is something we admire in the driver behind us, but not in the driver in front of us. Patience is an essential part of mature Christian character. Patience is mentioned as one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22- “love, joy, peace, patience , kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Patience is also mentioned as a characteristic of love in 1 Cor 13- “Love is patient ; love is kind…” In Colossians 3:12 we read, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience .” Over and over again when the Bible describes the character of someone who is a part of the Kingdom of God we read that patience is a part of their character. It seems like this is something God has been trying to teach his people for a very long time. The Patriarchs were taught patience. For example Abraham and Sarah were told they would have...

Matthew 3:1-12 hear the sermon here “In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ … Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him”.             If we were to declare that at St. Timothy’s we are going to preach on ‘repentance’ for the next 6 months I doubt that the people of Edmonton would flock to St. Timothy’s. … But, that’s what happened with John the Baptist. John left the centers of political and religious power and went into the wilderness. He dressed like a prophet and called the people to purify themselves in the wilderness, just as they purified themselves so long ago. When they left Egypt under Moses’ leadership. John was calling them to once again reenter the Promised Land through the Jordan River.  He called the people to repentance and they flocked into the wilderness.     ...

Hear the sermon here Just days after Halloween I was in Canadian Tire. There were still a few shelves of Halloween decorations, but they had been all shoved to the side. Busy employees were filling the shelves with snowmen, Christmas trees, lights, candy canes and anything that twinkled with a wintery theme. The snow hadn’t even hit yet, …. and in Edmonton that is saying something. We want to skip ahead so quickly to Christmas. Today we are starting a new year in the church’s calendar. The Church year always begins with Advent. Advent is a season that brings a certain level of tension. Our culture wants to sing Christmas Carols, but the spirits of Advent say “wait”. Our culture wants to celebrate by eating cookies and decorating Christmas trees, but the spirits of Advent say “wait”. On the way to church we hear frank Sentara’s voice on the radio singing “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas”, and our heads are filled with cozy images of sleigh rides and fire places and hot chocol...

My Journey Through Chistology Col 1:15-20 Hear the sermon here When I became a Christian I was obviously really drawn to Jesus, but I also remember being really confused by him as well. He would say things like in John chapter 10, "The Father and I are one", and in chapter 14 "anyone who has seen me has seen the Father". And what made me confused was that Jesus was human and he would sneak off to deserted places to pray to God. If he and the Father were one, who was he praying to? Why did he need to? I continued to be drawn to Jesus, but it seemed like the more I tried to understand him the more mysterious he begame.           I went to university and took classes in Christian history and then later in seminary I took classes on Christology, which tries to understand Jesus. I started to realize that when I became a Christian I drifted through numerous heresies. I remember being fascinated in my classes because I had lived...

2 Thes 3:6-13 Click here to hear the sermon Crystal and I aren’t really into reality shows, but one that we did enjoy was America’s Best Dance Crew.  Our favorite group was called “ Quest Crew ”.  Through their dance they would often tell a story. They would show an amazing physical ability as they flipped through the air. They worked together amazingly. … But, if any one of the members didn’t do their part it wouldn’t work. The story wouldn’t be told, and watching it would become awkward. All the attention would be on the person who let the group down.  In our reading from 2 Thessalonians Paul is describing members who are letting the group down. The church is like a dance. There are many parts to play and it works best when all the parts are played well.  Paul is warning the Thessalonian church about those who are “living in idleness”. The word in the original Greek has a couple meanings. It could refer to a person who is slacking off, but it can...