A Case for Christ (and other resources for learning about our faith)

As Bjorn was speaking on Sunday, he mentioned that there are lots of excellent resources available for us to be able to explore the evidence related to our faith. Have you ever had the chance to do some extra-curricular studying on Christianity and other world religions? Or been able to take some time to learn the answers to some of the most-asked questions about believing in Jesus? There's no time like the present! 

I want to encourage you to take to heart Paul's advice to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:15: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." Even as we put our faith in Christ alone, there are so many great things we can do and study to deepen and mature that faith so that we can be more effective in our lives and ministries. 

If you're ready to take up the challenge, Bjorn and I have put together some resources for you as a starting place. Once you read them, drop us an email and let us know what you thought about them and how they helped you!

The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
Lee Strobel (Available on Amazon and Chapters)

Jesus Among Other Gods
Ravi Zacharias (Available on Amazon and Chapters)

Evidence that Demands a Verdict
Josh McDowell (Available on Amazon and Chapters)

Mere Christianity
C.S. Lewis (Available on Amazon and Chapters)

Some of these are available as audio books and a couple are available to borrow from our local library (Kitchener Public Library). And hey, maybe you have a copy of one of these books that you'd be willing to lend to someone else in our church family. Let us know and we'll try and get some resources shared among us.

I am praying for you as you apply yourself to "correctly handling the word of truth." No matter where you are on your spiritual journey or how long (or short) you've known Christ, let's all take another step in Him!

See you on Sunday,
Pastor Tracy

God is Jealous? (and what that says about how much He loves us)

On Sunday, we heard it mentioned that God is jealous for our hearts. We wanted to take a moment to unpack that idea in our devotional this week.

Jealousy is not a revered characteristic. I am not sure that is ever has been. It has the undertones of envy (wanting something that belongs to someone else), which is actually a sin. We get the picture of a person who is angry and controlling.

So, how is the truth that God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) a positive thing? We talk about it as though it is a reminder of God's great love for us, but it can sound possessive, even oppressive. How can we understand this?

We have to be aware of Who we are talking about. God is not like us. (1 Samuel 2:2) There is no sin, nothing but "goodness" in Him. God has standards for us, but He has no standard outside Himself; He is the standard. For example, we are encouraged to be humble. God has no need to be humble - He is God!

Also, associating God's jealousy with envy doesn't work either. Remember that envy is the desire for something that does not belong to you. However, we do, legitimately, belong to God. Not only is He our maker and creator, but when we ran away and sold ourselves, He purchased us back at the highest price. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

Think of the patient love of Hosea, the prophet who married (and loved) an adulterous woman. He loves her despite her gallivanting and gives her gifts she will attribute to her lovers, all as a living picture of how we treat our Great Love.

God is jealous because of His incredible love for us. He bankrupted heaven to buy back His greatest love in order to have a relationship with us. Yes, He is jealous for our time and our affection. His greatest desire is not that we serve Him, but that we would love and adore Him. If anyone on earth were to invest this much care and resource to show their affection to us, we would blush with humility and be won over by such steadfastness.

Will we give ourselves fully to returning such affection today? This will lead to blessing, fulfillment, peace, and joy. It is the very thing we were designed for.

Bjorn
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PS - Did you hear about our Zoning Application? Get all the details here. If you have any questions, we're hosting a Q&A on Sunday night after Deep Roots (7:30pm).

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This Sunday...

Our outbound message is called Gifted:

"I will be preaching on the spiritual gifts in preparation for 5th Sunday (which will be so much fun). Let's explore together what it means to be gifted and what potential it holds. See you then." - Bjorn

You can also follow along with the message on YouVersion. Here's the link.

Zoning Application... and why it matters!

Dear Freedom Church Family and Neighbours,

In mid-August, we submitted a zoning application to the City of Kitchener. Sound boring? Well, yeah, the paperwork wasn't all that fun to do! But it represents a significant way that we are setting Freedom Church up for the future. 

Essentially we're just changing our Agricultural (A-1) zoning to Institutional (I-1), which makes total sense. But there are a few other things that we've taken the opportunity to do while we were at it, most significantly, adding a Residential (R-6) zone to the south of the property... and a little triangle to the east.

It's kind of a lot of information so we've put together the story of how we got here and what it means for the future in a nifty little package. (Click on the "Learn More" button on the right.) Take a few minutes and give it a read. I think you'll see why we're excited for what God's doing here at 1643 Bleams Road!

In Christ,

Tracy Dunham
Lead Pastor