May 4, 2025

  I invite you to consider the following unplanned encounter with nature. It’s after dinner on a warm spring evening. The sun has set and soon stars will be twinkling in the sky. On the drive back home from a wonderful day by the lake, fields pass by on either side. In the distance there is a light from an approaching car. A large deer suddenly appears, damaging your vehicle. The deer is seriously injured. Standing by the driver’s door, you are visibly distraught while also feeling grateful that no one in the car was injured. As a result of this encounter, you decide to change how you drive on that stretch of road in the future. Maybe you drive a little slower or drive a little more attentively while watching out for deer warning signs. Changes intentionally occur.

April 27, 2025

Poor Thomas gets a bad rap. He is always being called Doubting Thomas. But he isn’t alone in doubt. In fact, he is just the last and a long line of doubters. Let’s break it down. Last week on Easter Sunday we heard that Peter was the first doubter. He looks in the empty tomb, and where the grave clothes have been set and yet he does not understand. OK, not understanding isn’t really the same as doubt, but he certainly doesn’t believe that Jesus has risen.

April 02, 2025

The Easter stories in the four gospels have a lot of similarities. For example, it is always women or a woman who come to the tomb very early on the third day. There is a stone at the entrance that has either been moved or will be moved in the story. For all the similarities there are also differences. Details added to each gospel that help us see the faith and theology of each of the gospel writers. The writer of the gospel of John is the most theological and it is the last of the gospels to be written. So, we should pay careful attention to John as a window into the theology of the early church.

The Good Friday service held April 18, 2025 at Forest Hill United Church. The joint service included:

• Forest Hill United Church

• Trinity United Church

• St. James’~Rosemount United Church

• Calvary Memorial United Church

April 6, 2025

A discussion of the importance of having connection with those around us as exemplified by Jesus.

“Jesus is in the home of his closest friends and supporters, Mary, Martha & Lazarus. And Mary once again is in the spotlight. She has been anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume; an extravagant act since its’ value was probably the equivalent of a year’s wage for some. Yet she anoints him, which we are told is symbolic of burial rituals that Jesus will undertake in the near future. Judas speaks out against her saying “the money for the perfume could have gone to the poor”. But Jesus says, “the poor will always be among us whereas I will not.” This response of Jesus’ has been misused to diminish our responsibility of caring for the poor among us or as justification to ignore their needs. The quote is actually from Deuteronomy 15:11 which says: There will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother to the needy and to the poor, in your land.” In this passage I see this interaction in terms of what it says about Jesus’ relationships and the significance of the connections Jesus made not only with the poor, with the powerful, but with family, with friend, with the world and context in which he lived.“

March 23,2025

We are into the third week of Lent and as we continue our journey to become purveyors of ‘Awe’ we are looking at curiosity. So, I’m curious… (see what I did there? LOL) I’m curious what you think of when you hear the word “curious”? 

Curiosity kills the cat?

Curious George?

In both these examples, …..

March 16, 2025

As Rev. Dr Marcia McFee says, “we are meaning mongers. We look for meaning in the chaos that is life.” Sometimes the meaning we find leads us to wonder anew at the awesome of God. The passage that we heard from today from the book of Genesis is one of the core scriptures that describes not only Abraham and Sarah’s relationship with God, but also the central promise around the birth of Israel. Keeping in mind what was said in the introduction to that reading that this passage has been used as an evil cudgel, with which to conquer and destroy indigenous peoples all over the world. Now, when

March 9, 2025

Last week Rev. Gaylyn spoke about whether we are above the line or below the line. If you are feeling below the line, then you are filled with dread because you feel that there is not enough. Not enough money, energy, space and time. That is the story we tell ourselves when we are below the line. But if you are feeling below the line, meaning a sense of dread and fear, and in action that arises from risking in a new chances or any new possibilities. Whereas when we are above the line…

March 2, 2025

In our Gospel reading from Luke today we hear two very familiar and I would say foundational sayings of our faith: vs 31 “Do to others as you would have them do to you” what we sometimes refer to as the Golden Rule, since it is shared by many faiths and vs 38 “give, and it will be given to you.”  Both of these sayings, are foundational to Eric Law’s understanding of Holy Currencies.

February 16, 2025

This morning, I’d like to begin with the gospel lesson because in it, Jesus shows a very particular kind of leadership. In the very first sentence, we hear that Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. Clearly, even though the disciples and the crowds around elevate Jesus, Jesus himself is not after that. 

February 2, 2025

While driving into work recently I was listening to an interview on the CBC with Order of Canada recipient Pinchas Gutter, an over 90 years old survivor of several Nazi death camps during the Holocaust. After living in the Polish ghetto, he and his family were sent by train to the first camp when he was separated from his parents and his twin sister who was just 8. He was the only one of 150 members of his family to survive. ….

January 26, 2025

……. So it is Forest Hill has invested in following the program called Holy Currencies. This program developed by Reverend Eric Law proposes that there are six blessings or currencies that we as a church are to be engaged in to create sustainable missional ministries. ……

Considering the hopeful news of a cease-fire in the Middle East that’s supposed to happen today, we have to acknowledge that Christianity has played a significant hand in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Certainly, it was Christian guilt on the part of western nations who were silent at the atrocities of the holocaust and then refuse to give refuge to Jews fleeing persecution, that agree to the creating of the state on Israel. ….

Theologian Rev. Dr. Mitzie J Smith, says that the Gospel of Luke, is filled anticipation. Right from the angel visitation to Zechariah and Elizabeth, then Mary and Joseph and finally the shepherds responding to the song of angelic hosts saying to each other, “come let us go and to see this thing that the of which the angel spoke.” But the anticipation doesn’t end there

This week we strive to learn the lessons of humility and love that are found in the birth narrative of Jesus and is found in the study book “On the Way to Bethlehem.”

Rev. Cameron Trimble tells this story:

Two friends were caught in a storm while hiking in the ……………………….

In our Advent book study, Jerusalem is called the City of Waiting, but one of its other titles is the City of Peace. Now …

We are exploring this season of Advent through the book “On the Way to Bethlehem.” Our study is Tuesday afternoons from 2-3:30 or Wednesday evenings from 7-8:30. And idea of the study is to take a new look at the old, old, story of Christmas through the lens of the places that are significant in the story. This week, as the guide and the scripture reader highlights, we focus on the learnings that arise from Rome.

Today is Reign of Christ Sunday. It is the culmination of a whole year of scripture reading, discernment, and prayer. We have walked with this Jesus from the time he was a child, to his calling of the disciples, and the teaching and healing that followed. We have been with him on trial and watched helplessly as he died on a cross. We were surprised at his rising. Now on this Sunday we are asked, …

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately

One of the worst lines to hear is, “What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?” Well, you already know that there is going to be bad news, so it doesn’t matter how good the good news is.