SERMON “Textual Idolatry”
Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

A Sermon by Rev. Ernest Janzen.

“A Cross a the Center”, A Sermon by Robert Campbell.

Resurrection in the Present Tense, a Sermon by Rev. Robert Campbell.

Rev. James Christies preached the following sermon, Sunday, January 30. His topic was "Beam Me Out Scottie". Captain Kirk of the TV show, Star Trek, was often on a strange planet calling to the Enterprise to get him back on board- Beam me up, Scottie.

Dr. Christie's sermon topic was not a typographical error! As his sermon makes clear. Thanks to James Campbell for the recording and the audio file.

What Good is God? In Search of Faith That Matters...
Read the article...

A Communion Meditation, a Sermon by Rev. Robert Campbell.

The First Christmas - Marcus J. Borg & John Dominic Crossan (Harper Collins) (2007) Marcus Borg is an American biblical scholar, a voice in “progressive Christianity”. He is a professor at Oregon State University and a frequent contributor to the “Living The Question” DVD programs which we have used in Westminster as part of our Bible Study series. John Crossan is an Irish American, a co-founder of the Jesus Seminar and a “major figure in the fields of biblical archeology, anthropology and New testament textual and higher criticism “. The First Christmas is the second of three books on which Borg and Crossan have collaborated.*

The basic position of the authors in The First Christmas is that the birth narrative as presented in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke is not only quite different in the two gospels but is in fact parable, or as they refer to it a “parabolic overture’ to the accounts of Jesus’ ministry which occupy the remainder of the two gospels. “We are not concerned about the factuality of the birth stories…Rather we focus on their meanings. What did and do these stories mean?”

To pursue “what these stories mean’ the authors reflect on the parallels which Matthew and Luke draw between the Old and New Testaments, for example the figures of Jesus in the New and of Moses in the Old Testament. (Both boys born during a mass slaughter of Jewish children and both boys escape” . Or Jesus with his Sermon on the Mount and Moses’ encounter with God on Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments.)

The gospel writers, acutely aware of Rome’s domination over the world of their day use these narratives , according to Borg and Crossan, as subvertive attacks on Rome’s leadership. Where Caesar Augustas is widely referred to as Son of God (Apollo actually), whose name translates in Greek as “One who is to be worshipped” and who brought Peace (the Pax Romana) to the Empire or Kingdom, Jesus, too, becomes the Son of God in the birth narratives, as one also to be worshipped and as a bringer of Peace (just listen to those angels singing to the shepherds!). As the gospel narratives move on to Jesus’ ministry He establishes God’s Kingdom on Earth as opposed to Rome’s.

The book is rich in its look at the details of the two gospels, the differences between them and the possible intentions. of the Matthew and Luke as they penned their stories. Was Jesus born in a stable (Luke) or in Mary and Joseph’s “home” (Matthew)? Why were the heavenly visits to Joseph in Matthew’s account, and to Mary in Luke’s account? The book also deals with the matters of Jesus as light of the world and as the fulfillment of prophesy.

Borg and Crossan contend that the gospels of Matthew and Luke are records of Jesus’ ministry after age 30, that no factual record of Jesus life exists prior to his thirtieth year. These birth narratives, they say, are overtures to the important material, a prelude, a setting of the scene and a laying out of the intent of the authors (Matthew and Luke) as to how they are going to treat those years of Jesus’ most important activity.

The First Christmas then is not a debunking of the birth stories but a deeper look at what they are meant to tell us. How they help us to a deeper understanding of Jesus, the preacher, the founder of our faith. I have to say that the book is a “good read” generally, written for people like myself who have a pretty rudimentary knowledge of our Bible. I’ll admit I skipped those chapters on the genealogy of Jesus’ birth (in the one gospel the writer moves from parents to children, ancestors to descendants, in the other gospel the writer moves his genealogical list from children to parents, from descendants back to ancestors. The gospel writers had a reason for this but do I really care?).

Otherwise I came away from reading the book as happy as always with the Christmas we will soon experience at Westminster, And fascinated with what was going on in Matthew’s and Luke’s heads as they set out to write their accounts of our Lord Jesus.

Roy Halstead

*The Last Week: A Day by Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon

Sermon for Loyalist Sunday, a Sermon by Rev. Robert Campbell.

STATEMENT TO THE CONGREGATION ON THREATS TO BURN THE KORAN

Given by Rev. Robert Campbell at Westminster Church, Sunday, September 12, 2010

I have been asked by the Outreach Committee of our church to speak today to the threat that was being made this week by a Florida pastor and his congregation to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As people of the Word, of course we mourn and condemn any desecration of sacred texts.

After reflecting upon this matter, I offer these further thoughts:

The threat to burn sacred texts is a provocation. Acting upon the threat would be an even greater one. It seems that we are living in an era in which our public life is filled with provocations. Who is culpable on this occasion? I point the finger first at the media who cannot seem to pass up on any provocation. They have taken something that might have gone largely unnoticed and blown it up into a major problem that has set the world’s teeth on edge. Now, I suppose that we cannot do anything to stop a small band of extremists from performing a nasty act, making a video of it, and putting it up on You Tube. But what is it that compels the media to make themselves complicit in such activities and to give them more attention than they warrant? I think that there is some soul-searching needed here. The media need to learn that freedom of speech does not mean freedom from restraint.

Also culpable are the authors of the provocation themselves, Pastor Jones and his congregation. The burning of books is an assault on the mind and on the spirit, an act of violence. How could any Christian, steeped in the ways of Jesus, contemplate doing such a thing? When our fellow Christians behave in such a manner, we must be quick to take issue with them, lest the Christian faith be scandalized and the reputation of the church be sullied. Book burning is an activity for Nazis, not Christians, and we must be bold to say so.

As of today, it appears that this church in Gainsville, Florida will not be following through on its threat to burn the Koran. But, if it should change its mind and do so at a later date, or if others claiming the name of Christ should do such a thing, a message will be placed on our church sign condemning the act so that the people of our neighbourhood, Muslims especially, will know that the folk of Westminster Church operate from a different set of values and view those who would desecrate any sacred text as having betrayed the faith.

Audio of Rev. Robert Campbell’s sermon called “Saying the Right Thing at the Right Time” on July 11th, 2010.

Audio of Rev. James Christie's sermon on June 20th, 2010.

Rev. James Christie gave the sermon at the service in which he praised Robert for his steadfast attention to the basic issues of the Christian faith.

Sermon...

Each of us is an individual.
Well, sometimes, maybe!

On the one hand there are notions of “standard” lives, and “standard” people (Baby- boomers, The X generation, The A generation, The Post-Modernists), notions which prompt movers and shakers to sniff out our similarities and use them to entice us into living lives not always of our own choosing, to holding attitudes that don’t stand up to the scrutiny of our own critical thinking, to spending and acquiring things we don’t need; the culture we live in therefore encouraging us to adopt a “sense of self” without encouraging much in the way of our personal input. Read More...

Rev. Dr. James Christie's Remembrance service address November 8, 2009.

Remembrance service on Vimeo.

Joan Jarvis Preachers Her Final Sermon To The Westminster Congregation.

Joan Jarvis Preachers Her Final Sermon To The Westminster Congregation.