29 December 2019

Christmas 1 A 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew on Flickr.com


24 December 2019

Christmas 2019

Sermon by Canon Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew O.P on Flickr.com



22 December 2019

Christmas Carole Service 2019

Sermon by the Ven. Suzanne Craven
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew O.P. on Flickr.com



15 December 2019

Advent 3 A 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Br. Albert Robertson O.P. on Flickr.com


08 December 2019

Advent 2 A 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike

Photo Credit: Br. Albert Robertson O.P. on Flickr.com


01 December 2019

Advent Carol Service 2019

Sermon by The Rev. Jim Glass
Photo Credit: Stephen Little on Flickr.com

28 November 2019

Christ the King Sunday 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew on Flickr.com


17 November 2019

Proper 33 C

Sermon by Canon Stuart Pike

Photo Credit: Stuart Pike on Flickr.com


10 November 2019

Remembrance Sunday

Sermon By The Rev. James Glass

Photo Credit: Stuart Pike on Flickr.com

03 November 2019

All Saints Sunday 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Chora Anastasis (detail) - Jim Forest on Flickr.com


27 October 2019

Proper 23 C - The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Sermon by the Rev. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew O.P. on Flickr.com


20 October 2019

St. Luke's Sunday 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Sandy Darling


09 October 2019

Harvest Sunday 2019 - Indigenous Heritage

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Pamela Couture.
Photo Credit: Jamie McCaffrey on Flickr.com

30 September 2019

St. Michael and All Angels 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Abaroa Boloña

Photo Credit: Svenstorm on Flickr.com



22 September 2019

Proper 25 C 2019 - The Dishonest Manager

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Anita Hart on Flickr.com


15 September 2019

Proper 24 C 2019

Sermon by Rev. Leonel Abaroa Boloña

Photo Credit: Stefan Schmidt on Flickr.com


08 September 2019

Youth Ministry Sunday - Proper 23 C 2019

Family Talk by Dr. Rebecca Vendetti
Photo Credit: Harini Calamur on Flickr.com


01 September 2019

Proper 22 C 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Ivo Jansch "Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese" on Flickr.com


25 August 2019

Proper 21 C 2019

Sermon by Canon Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Stuart Pike @flickr.com

Propers 17 to 20 Year C

4 Sermons by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Stuart Pike on Flickr.com


21 July 2019

Proper 16C 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike - on Martha and Mary

Photo Credit: Bill Rogers on Flickr.com


14 July 2019

Proper 15 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña

Photo Credit: Sandy Darling on Flickr.com


07 July 2019

Proper 14 C 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: IPC Canada Photo Service


30 June 2019

Canada Day 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Gord McKenna on Flickr.com



23 June 2019

Indigenous Sunday 2019

Sermon by Canon Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Norval Morrisseau by Le Bistronomme on Flickr.com


16 June 2019

Trinity C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Ted on Flickr.com


09 June 2019

Pentecost Sunday 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Bill McChesney on Flickr.com


02 June 2019

Ascension C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Jim Glass

Photo Credit: Lucas Land on Flickr.com

26 May 2019

Easter 6 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: New Life Church Collingwood on Flickr.com



19 May 2019

Easter 5 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Sandy Darling on Flickr.com



12 May 2019

Easter 4C 2019 - Good Shepherd

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Pam Couture
Photo Credit: Sandy Darling on Flickr.com


05 May 2019

Easter 3 C

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Rodney on Flickr.com


28 April 2019

El Hogar Mission Team 2019

Presentation by St. Luke's El Hogar Mission Team
Photo Credit: El Hogar St. Luke's Mission Team


21 April 2019

easter Day 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Holly Hayes on Flickr.com


Easter Vigil 2019

Sermon by the Rev Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew O.P. on Flickr.com



14 April 2019

Palm/Passion Sunday 2019

Sermon by the Rev. James Glass

Photo Credit: Stuart Caie on Flickr.com


When Canon Pike invited me to preach today, I pondered what I could say that would bring this holiest of weeks in the life of every Christian into perspective.  It is a week, whichever of the Gospels one reads, begins in triumph and ends in disaster. One could argue that the events take on a certain mockery, cruelty even.  Today we are invited once again to consider the final moments of Jesus life before his tragic, and unnecessary, murder.  And more importantly, where we were individually fit, for the history of this week is our history too.  
In 1984, I worked as a consultant to a small organization who had big dreams of wanting to restore the ancient port city of Caesarea Maritime, which is also the location of the first Christian church.  I was delegated to go to Israel for a week to meet with representatives there to ascertain the feasibility of such a monumental undertaking. My travels took me to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Caesarea Maritime.  
While in Jerusalem, it was arranged for me to be escorted about the city by a guide, who had intimate knowledge of the history of the city.  She was also a paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces, so I felt quite safe.
We entered a section of a city street, discovered in 1977 beneath the current city level, that dated from the time of Christ.  She informed me, as we set out toward the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, that I was walking a street where “Jesus walked.”  The Via Dolorosa!  
It gave me goosebumps.  I wanted to stand still and savour the moment, pray, shout, hug the very stones on which we were standing, but she pressed us on toward the church.   My head reeled with the thought of where I was, that I was standing on history, my own history as a Christian and a minister, and that of my paternal grandfather and great grandfather, also Methodist ministers.  To recall the feeling I felt then I only need to recall the moment now.
We approached the church, thousands of pilgrims about for it was Passover, and entered its darkened interior, lit by candles and lanterns only, and as she explained the origins and history of this great edifice we approached the place where the cross of Jesus supposedly had been erected, the Altar of the Crucifixion. Around it, around the hole in the middle of a brass plate, Christians from all over the world were waiting for the moment to approach it, kneel, pray, kiss the very place were the True Cross was said to have been found.   Whether that’s absolutely true is a matter of conjecture.  But what wasn’t up for debate was that true or not, millions of pilgrims over the centuries had come here, to this very spot, to bare their souls, confess their sins, and to worship their Lord and Savior.  It was hallowed ground, and if you could feel nothing else, you couldn’t help but sense the intensity of the moment as each knelt, and with arms extended, bowed and embraced the brass plate.  
When my turn came, my paratrooper guide watching intently from one side, an irony unquestionably, and I knelt down, and as my lips encountered the plate, I discovered it was wet to the touch, from tear;  the tears of devoted Christians at this place of ultimate connection between the past and their present and future.
I recall subsequently telling this story to another congregation, and noticed one woman wiping her own eyes as my experience was shared.  She didn’t have to physically be there to capture and be moved by the power of the moment.  
So what is it about a 33 year old Jewish peasant from a small obscure town in Galilee, that evokes such emotional deep reaction?  Who was He?  What did He represent that created such a stirring of unease that Imperial Rome agreed to kill him after  his own religious leaders, and a kangaroo crowd, insisted on it?  Who was He to his followers, who abandoned him anyway.  He dies alone, deserted by those closest to Him for the last three years.  And how is it that his death brings us all together in this place at this time to re-enact a moment in his history before everything dissolved into chaos?  Who is this man, Jesus, that centuries later people bow their heads at his name, kneel to pray to him, create buildings for the worship of him?
Was he the Son of God as the Centurion claimed?  Risky on the part of the soldier because Caesar was, by decree, the Son of God.  Was he the Son of Man, whatever that term implies?  And what was He that countless individuals have martyred themselves rather than renounce their loyalty to him?
Precisely the questions that His disciples, and the religious and political authorities wrestled with – then and now.  Making matters even more complicated, Jesus continuously confounded everyone by His refusal to give a definitive answer except to Peter, who he then forbade to share. So it was left to those who survived him, and survive him still, to answer the question – for themselves, initially, and then, when the structure of an organized movement called Christianity began to emerge, to take votes on the matter and thereby establish orthodoxy.  
But back to the story...
John Piper could write: “There is no doubt what was in the disciples' minds. This was the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy given centuries earlier:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:910)
No, were weren’t a part of the welcoming throng, nor were we present from Sunday to Wednesday when Jesus was in the Temple, alternately provoking the authorities and/or being bated by them.  No, were weren’t at the Last Supper, or Gethsemane, or in the courtyard with Pilate, or presence of Herod, nor were any of us on the Via Dolorosa watching Jesus struggling with carrying the transept of his cross through the streets. And none of us, were anywhere near Golgotha when he died, cruelly,  mercilessly, on a cross, condemned there by Roman Imperial power at the insistence of Jewish officials, religion protecting itself with political power.
No, not one of us was physically there, but spiritually, within the deepest reaches of our faith, we were, or – should I say – we are!  The tears I tasted kneeling on the rock witness to that realty.  


In "One Solitary Life"by James Francis he sums it up very succinctly. You’ve heard this before, no doubt, but it’s worth repeating, and I quote:

   "He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew
   up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he
   was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.

   He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family
   or owned a home. He didn't go to college. He never lived in a big
   city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born.
   He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no
   credentials but himself.

   He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him.
   His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to
   his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed
   to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners
   gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he
   was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a
   friend.

   Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central
   figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that
   all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed,
   all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned
   --put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as
   much as that one, solitary life."

How could One Man have such an impact on the world, unless He truly
   is...
   a. The bread of life
   b. The light of the world
   c. The door of the sheep
   d. The good shepherd
   e. The resurrection and the life
   f. The way, the truth, and the life
   g. The true vine
   h. The great "I AM"!



Hear again the great prophetic words of Isaiah 53:4-5:

Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 

We are all here as the result of that history, and that commitment, to share, with one another, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and the benefits of Christ’s passion.  God be praised

07 April 2019

Lent 5 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew O.P on Flickr.com


31 March 2019

Lent 4 C 2019 - The Prodigal

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike

Photo Credit: Rembrandt - Jim Forest on Flickr.com


24 March 2019

Lent 3 C 2019

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Fig Tree by Michael Jefferies on Flickr.com


17 March 2019

Lent 2 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: John Strung on Flickr.com


10 March 2019

Lent 1 C 2019 - Wilderness

Sermon by Canon Stuart Pike
Photo Credit:

மைதா கோந்து on Flickr.com

03 March 2019

Transfiguration 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Matthew Huntback on Flickr.com


24 February 2019

Epiphany 7 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Lonnie Woodruff on Flickr.com


17 February 2019

Charge to Vestry 2019

Charge by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Stuart Pike on Flickr.com


10 February 2019

Epiphany 5 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Nick Garrod on Flickr.com


03 February 2019

27 January 2019

Epiphany 3 C 2019

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Vanderbilt Divinity Library


20 January 2019

Epiphany 2 C 2019 - The Wedding at Cana

Sermon by Canon H. Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Thomas Alan on Flickr.com


14 January 2019

Epiphany 1 C 2019 - The Baptism of the Lord

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leonel Abaroa Boloña
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew O.P. on Flickr.com


06 January 2019

Epiphany 2019

Sermon by Canon Stuart Pike
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew O.P. on Flickr.com