Grassroots Church | Thunder Bay, Ontario
186 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago -Weekly teachings from a community seeking to cover the earth with the selfless love of Jesus
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Episodes
Parables 101: The Lost Sheep
July 07, 2024 17:30 - 22 minutes - 18.8 MBGuest Speaker Richard Clark looks at the parable of the lost sheep. In a conversational message, he looks on how this story can lead us to acceptance, humility, repentance, and joy. Our parables "Summer School" series is designed to involve a bit more back-and-forth than a standard sermon. Unfortunately, that doesn't already translate well to a podcast. We have edited this down into a coherent message, but it is unfortunately missing most of the profound insights from the congregation. Thi...
Parables 101 Part 2: Get Lost (with Richard Clark)
July 07, 2024 17:30 - 22 minutes - 18.8 MBGuest Speaker Richard Clark looks at the parable of the lost sheep. In a conversational message, he looks on how this story can lead us to acceptance, humility, repentance, and joy. Our parables "Summer School" series is designed to involve a bit more back-and-forth than a standard sermon. Unfortunately, that doesn't already translate well to a podcast. We have edited this down into a coherent message, but it is unfortunately missing most of the profound insights from the congregation. Thi...
Parables 101: Why Parables?
June 30, 2024 22:31 - 38 minutes - 33.6 MBWhy did Jesus do so much of His teaching using parables? What is a parable anyway? How should we read them? Join Pastor Steve Bill as he looks at all of this and more in the first official sermon in our summer series on parables. This message was originally given on June 30, 2024.
Parables 101 Part 1: Why Parables?
June 30, 2024 22:31 - 38 minutes - 33.6 MBWhy did Jesus do so much of His teaching using parables? What is a parable anyway? How should we read them? Join Pastor Steve Bill as he looks at all of this and more in the first official sermon in our summer series on parables. This message was originally given on June 30, 2024.
Parables 101 PRELUDE: Quick & Slow
June 24, 2024 13:10 - 25 minutes - 20.6 MBGrassroots is going to summer school! Through July and August, we'll be looking through the parables of Jesus to discover what they have to say to us as Jesus followers in the 21st century. As a prelude, Pastor Steve shares about a posture we should strive to have in all of our interactions with each another: learning to be QUICK to listen and SLOW to speak. Andy Stanley's message "How Winning is Costing You Relationships" is what Pastor Steve drew inspiration from in this message.
Revealing Jesus BONUS: Jesus the Carpenter
June 16, 2024 23:59 - 32 minutes - 26.6 MBGuest speaker Scott Baker takes time to look at what it means to Christians that Jesus worked as a carpenter. He looks at what that might have been like for Jesus, and what it means for how we view our own relationship with work, and how we should treat people who work with us. It's a little bit of a Father's Day message. Scriptures this message: Mark 6:1-3, Matthew13:55-57; Matthew 20:1-7; Luke 3:21-23 This message was oringally delivered on June 16, 2024.
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre *BONUS*: Jesus the Carpenter
June 16, 2024 23:59 - 32 minutes - 26.6 MBGuest speaker Scott Baker takes time to look at what it means to Christians that Jesus worked as a carpenter. He looks at what that might have been like for Jesus, and what it means for how we view our own relationship with work, and how we should treat people who work with us. It's a little bit of a Father's Day message. Scriptures this message: Mark 6:1-3, Matthew13:55-57; Matthew 20:1-7; Luke 3:21-23 This message was originally delivered on June 16, 2024.
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 7: Stop Stalking Jesus
June 09, 2024 20:11 - 39 minutes - 29.4 MBIn the final message in the series, Pastor Steve talks about how we might begin to go about taking all of the beautiful truths of the Jesus of the Centre that we've learned and move them from our head to our heart; from intellectual ascent to transformation of our being. What does it mean for Jesus to become more than just a list of concepts for us?
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 6: The Non-Violent Peacemaker
June 02, 2024 17:44 - 46 minutes - 38.3 MBContinuing our series on Jesus' teachings and character, Pastor Steve looks at how Jesus as a non-violent peacemaker. In a world saturated with violence, Jesus calls us to bring peace. Pastor Steve also examines why the modern church often avoids this aspect of Jesus' life and teachings. This message was originally delivered on June 2, 2024.
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 5: Whose Side is Jesus on?
May 26, 2024 17:24 - 38 minutes - 31.6 MBIn this message, Pastor Steve looks at how Jesus stands with the "least of these", who are people who recognize their profound need for Jesus. As Christians, we are to model ourselves after Jesus and care for the poor, the sick, and the oppressed. We also need to make sure that, like the "least of these", we never lose sight of our need to have Jesus move in our lives. Finally, we seek to be radically inclusive like Jesus and be on everyone's side. Pastor Steve references this article by M...
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 4: The Love of Jesus
May 12, 2024 18:22 - 53 minutes - 43.2 MBPastor Steve looks at the unconditional and profound love that Jesus reveals. God loves the whole world, that love looks like Jesus laying down his life on the cross, and there is nothing we need to do to earn that love. Pastor Steve references this podcast with Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries that is worth checking out. We kept the final song as it related so well to the message. It sounds pretty good but not quite as good as it did live. This message was originally delivered ...
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 4: Jesus Loves Me...?
May 12, 2024 18:22 - 53 minutes - 43.2 MBPastor Steve looks at the unconditional and profound love that Jesus reveals. God loves the whole world, that love looks like Jesus laying down his life on the cross, and there is nothing we need to do to earn that love. Pastor Steve references this podcast with Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries that is worth checking out. We kept the final song as it related so well to the message. It sounds pretty good but not quite as good as it did live. This message was originally delivered ...
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 3: A New Kind of Power
May 05, 2024 18:03 - 43 minutes - 27.7 MBPastor Steve resumes the series on revealing the Jesus of the Centre by looking at the means in which the work of Jesus is done on earth - How does Jesus do what he does? In other words, what does Jesus' power look like? We find out that Jesus is never coercive and that the form of power Jesus uses looks entirely unlike what we know to be power. This is a power that works "with" us... not "over" us. David Fitch's new book, "Reconciling with Power" helped inform Pastor Steve's thoughts on t...
Lifewater Canada special presentation
April 28, 2024 20:30 - 44 minutes - 35.9 MBIn this special presentation, Lifewater Canada president Lynda Gehrels speaks to the Grassroots congregation. Lifewater Canada is a charity based out of Thunder Bay that provides drinking water to communities in Africa and Haiti. It is regularly recognized as one of the most effective charities in Canada. Grassroots Church is proud to support Lifewater Canada. You can find out more about Lifewater on their website www.lifewater.ca. This message was originally delivered April 28, 2024.
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 2: What Enemy Love Reveals
April 21, 2024 19:56 - 45 minutes - 32.3 MBPastor Steve resumes the series on Revealing the Jesus of the Centre by exploring one of Jesus' most distinctive teachings: Enemy Love. Why does Jesus seem to care more about grace and forgiveness than he does about tit-for-tat sense of justice? And what does this mean for followers of Jesus? Listen and find out!
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 2: What Enemy Love Tells Us About Jesus
April 21, 2024 19:56 - 45 minutes - 32.3 MBPastor Steve resumes the series on Revealing the Jesus of the Centre by exploring one of Jesus' most distinctive teachings: Enemy Love. Why does Jesus seem to care more about grace and forgiveness than he does about tit-for-tat sense of justice? And what does this mean for followers of Jesus? Listen and find out!
Resting in God's Love - A Message from Vincent Ng
April 14, 2024 16:18 - 30 minutes - 23.2 MBUsing the baptism of Jesus and the following 40 days in the desert in which Jesus was tempted by Satan, Vincent shares on the need to find our identity in God's love, resting in that truth rather than having to "hustle" in order to find approval from those around us.
Revealing the Jesus of the Centre Part 1: Which Jesus?
April 07, 2024 17:51 - 34 minutes - 30.5 MBGrassroots Church joined Jesus Collective in 2023 with a goal of making Jesus the centre of everything. But what does that even look like? Exactly who is the Jesus of the centre? In this first message of our new series, Pastor Steve demonstrates how talk of being "Jesus centred" is futile if we don't have a clear understanding of exactly who that Jesus is. He establishes 3 assumptions that we need to hold in our pursuit of discovering the Jesus of the centre: 1. Proceed with much grace and ...
Easter Sunday: Living Out the Resurrection
March 31, 2024 19:45 - 33 minutes - 27.5 MBIn this Easter Sunday sermon, Pastor Steve Bill looks at what it means to live our lives knowing that Christ is risen, and that resurrection is part of the plan for all of us. This message was originally delivered March 31, 2024.
Palm Sunday: Donkey Power!
March 24, 2024 18:42 - 35 minutes - 30.5 MBIn a special Palm Sunday sermon, Pastor Steve Bill preaches on how Jesus demonstrates an alternative to the violent, conquest-focused type of power that dominates our world. Scripture readings are Matthew 22:1 - 11 and Philippians 2:8. You can view the Brian Zahnd tweet about muscular Jesus here. This message was originally delivered March 24, 2024. We had a few technical issues this week which we tried to edit around, but some remnants of them may still remain. Everything should be be...
Renewed Rhythms Part 10: Fasting
March 17, 2024 16:57 - 43 minutes - 38.3 MBPastor Steve Bill explores fasting in the tenth and final installment of our series on Spiritual Disciplines. He explores how fasting can be a practice that allows us to bring our "fleshly" desires into better balance. For additional resources on spiritual disciplines, go to www.practicingtheway.org. This message was originally delivered on March 17, 2024.
Renewed Rhythms Part 9: Journaling
March 10, 2024 18:18 - 43 minutes - 37.9 MBTo explore journaling as a spiritual discipline, we hear from two guest speakers this week. First, Carol Freeman shares about her remarkable 40-year practice of keeping a daily journal. Following that, Matt Denis shares some practical tips on how to use journaling to promote spiritual transformation. This message was originally delivered on March 10, 2024.
Renewed Rhythms Part 8: Soul Friendships
March 03, 2024 19:36 - 42 minutes - 36.8 MBIn the 8th installment of our series on spiritual disciplines, Pastor Steve Bill shares about Soul Friendships. He explores how we can model ourselves after Jesus' friendship structure to cultivate relationships that lead to true spiritual transformation. This message was originally delivered March 3, 2024.
Renewed Rhythms Part 7: Secret Goodness
February 25, 2024 23:01 - 44 minutes - 38.1 MBIn this message, Pastor Steve Bill looks at why Jesus asks us in Matthew 6 to do good works in secret, and how we can live that out in our lives today. This message continues our ongoing series on Spiritual Disciplines. Steve references the activity "Coldest Night of the Year" a few times during this message, including a slideshow video of photos from this year's activity. You can find out more about this Canada-wide event here, and more about Grace Place here. If you're reading this before...
Renewed Rhythms Part 6: Silence and Solitude
February 18, 2024 20:09 - 35 minutes - 29.5 MBAngela Wiebe shares on the theme of Silence and Solitude. She shares some of the reasons behind the practice and shares some practical tips from her experience. Enjoy this sixth installment of Grassroots' Spiritual Disciplines series! You can find the John Mark Comer podcast that Angela referenced right here.
Renewed Rhythms Part 5: Service
February 11, 2024 19:22 - 44 minutes - 38.5 MBIn the 5th installment of our series on spiritual disciplines, Pastor Steve Bill uses Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan to explore the concept of service. Steve looks at the concept of compassion fatigue, what we need to be ready to sacrifice to make service a habit, and some of the benefits of living a life in service to others. You can find one of the positive news sources Steve referred to here: https://www.instagram.com/globalpositivenews/.
Renewed Rhythms Part 4: Submission
February 04, 2024 17:21 - 33 minutes - 23.6 MBPaul Wolfe shares on the theme of submission as a spiritual discipline and, unlike most sermons on the topic of submission, this one is not "icky." Have a listen!
Renewed Rhythms Part 3: Scripture Reading
January 28, 2024 18:16 - 45 minutes - 40.4 MBIn this 3rd installment in the spiritual disciplines series, Pastor Steve discusses the discipline of scripture reading by addressing some of the hang ups many of us have when reading the Bible. Using a sermon from John Mark Comer, Steve shows how neither a liberal nor a conservative ideology properly encapsulates the Bible and that for disciples of Jesus, the primary objective of scripture reading is NOT to read the text but to be read by the text and to align with the heart of Jesus. Che...
Testimonials of Transformation: Adult & Teen Challenge Thunder Bay
January 21, 2024 17:42 - 46 minutes - 34.1 MBStudents share stories of addiction and recovery through the ministry of Adult & Teen Challenge here in Thunder Bay. Listen and be encouraged, challenged and inspired through testimonials of experiencing God's transformative grace. Learn more about Adult & Teen Challenge and consider becoming a monthly donor here: https://www.teenchallenge.tc Pastor Steve provides a brief review and update on the Renewed Rhythms series and will continue this series, focusing on scripture reading, the foll...
Renewed Rhythms Part 2: Prayer
January 14, 2024 19:24 - 43 minutes - 36.8 MBIn our second sermon on spiritual disciplines, guest speaker Scott Baker looks at prayer from the perspective of someone who has always struggled with the practice. Read about the prayer of Examen here. Find out more about the prayer Labyrinth at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Thunder Bay here. Find out about Take our Moments and our Days, the Anabaptist Prayer Book, here. (Includes links to download the app version.) This message was originally delivered January 14, 2024.
Renewed Rhythms Part 1: Sabbath
January 07, 2024 19:23 - 41 minutes - 35.9 MBTo kick off the new year, Grassroots Church is beginning a series on Spiritual Disciplines called "Renewed Rhythms". In this first installment, Pastor Steve Bill provides an overview of Spiritual Disciplines and their role in the Christian life. He then looks at the first discipline: Sabbath. Several times in this sermon Pastor Steve references a little paper journal that was distributed at the service. If you were not able to attend on Sunday, these will be available to pick up in the week...
God’s Faithfulness to Grassroots Church in 2023
December 31, 2023 18:42 - 26 minutes - 23 MBOn this New Year's Eve Sunday morning service, Pastor Steve Bill reflects on how we have seen God's faithfulness to Grassroots Church over the past year. He also reflects on how we can recognize God's faithfulness through God's presence, even in times when our circumstances are difficult. The service closes with a few short testimonials from congregation members. This service was originally recorded on December 31, 2023. Happy New Year!
Advent 2023: Love Defined by Jesus
December 24, 2023 18:32 - 31 minutes - 28 MBWe conclude our Advent series looking at the theme of Love. Pastor Steve explores how Jesus defines love both at the manger and the cross. This service was originally delivered December 24, 2023. We've left in a few of the musical pieces and children's readings. Merry Christmas!
Advent 2023: Unexpected Joy
December 17, 2023 21:28 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBWe continue the Advent series, looking at the theme of joy this week. The Good News of Great Joy spoken to the shepherds in the field did not bring about the end of oppression or living in fear for the people of God. So... what was so good about it? Pastor Steve explores how joy in the New Testament comes from unexpected moments - in the midst of darkness and pain - not in the easygoing life, despite our world's pursuit of this. Like the audacious hope and the tumultuous path of peace, thi...
Advent 2023: The Path of Peace is the Path of Jesus
December 10, 2023 19:59 - 38 minutes - 33.1 MBThe 2023 Advent series continues with a message on Peace. Pastor Steve Bill leads the congregation in a collective struggle to understand how we should live out the peace of Christ in a world that seems so dominated by violence. The Jesus Collective Podcast that Steve Bill referenced can be found here. You can find the text of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis here. In the spirit of the season, we have included portions of the advent children's lesson delivered before the sermon. The tradit...
Advent 2023: Hope for the Radical Reorienting of Reality
December 03, 2023 18:04 - 30 minutes - 22.6 MBThe 2023 Advent series begins with an exploration of the radical reorienting of reality expressed through Isaiah's prophetic oracles. It may be a form of naive hope that Jesus followers are to practice but if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we can begin to see this hope actualized in our lives.
Why Do We Church? Part 3: To Reconcile All the Things
November 26, 2023 19:11 - 38 minutes - 34.5 MBIn this 3rd and final message in the series asking why we bother going to church, Pastor Steve brings it home by challenging the church to carry out good deeds/works that speak to reconciliation in our spheres of influence.
Why Do We Church? Part 2: One Anothering Toward Othering
November 20, 2023 01:31 - 38 minutes - 33.6 MBIn this sermon, Pastor Steve Bill looks at the concept of allelon ("one another") and how coming together as a church allows us to support one another in becoming more like Jesus. Pastor Steve referenced the book Shantung Compound - The Story Of Men And Women Under Pressure by Langdon Gilkey. You can access the 5+ hour Spotify playlist of Grassroots music here. This message was originally delivered on November 19, 2023.
Why Do We Church? Part 1: Why Do We NOT Church?
November 12, 2023 17:35 - 36 minutes - 31.5 MBPastor Steve begins this series on why we church by looking at reasons we don't church and asking if being a Jesus follower actually requires going to church.
Jesus Centred Jesus Following with Vincent Ng
November 05, 2023 18:38 - 22 minutes - 17.7 MBVincent shares a message on what it looks like to follow Jesus through a Jesus Centred paradigm. Drawing from Jesus' command that anyone who wants to follow him, "must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Part 4: Galatians - Avoiding a Divided Table over Differing Tastes: Present Evil Age & New Creation
October 29, 2023 17:19 - 41 minutes - 36.9 MBIn Part 4, Pastor Steve closes ends the Galatians series by tying together the bookends of 1:4 "The Present Evil Age" defined by shame and exclusion with 6:15 "New Creation" defined by a type of community that transcends lines of division to be united in Christ. The last ~15 minutes of the message is a conversation with the congregation about boundaries we have created or have been on the receiving end of as individuals and as a community.
Part 3: Galatians - Avoiding a Divided Table over Differing Tastes: In Christ
October 23, 2023 00:42 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBIn Part 3, Pastor Steve looks at how a church that resists judgement and embraces diversity can become a rich and caring Christ-centred community. Scriptures referenced include Galatians 2:20-21; Galatians 3:26-29, and Galatians 4:7. The Relevant Magazine article on Kat Von D can be found here. For more reading see Mark Baker's book Freedom for Religiosity and Judgmentalism: Studies in Paul's Letter to the Galatians. Get info here. Get more information on Sarah Clarkson's book This Beaut...
Part 2: Galatians - Avoiding a Divided Table over Differing Tastes: Just Jesus; No And.
October 15, 2023 17:19 - 49 minutes - 42 MBIn Part 2, Pastor Steve explores the situation at Galatia more closely by looking at the distorted concept of grace that was being taught to Galatia. A form of grace that had prerequisites to being "in." If we're going to move past a bounded/fuzzy-set model for how to do church, we begin with an inward look at our own tendencies to build religion built on a false gospel that implies Jesus is not enough.
Part 1: Galatians - Avoiding a Divided Table over Differing Tastes: Why so Urgent, Paul?
October 09, 2023 00:37 - 43 minutes - 39.3 MBJesus clearly calls for the church to be unified - and we are clearly falling short of that ideal. In part 1 of this series, Pastor Steve Bill starts to look at the book of Galatians and what we can learn from Paul's letter to that community. Scriptures in this sermon include Galatians 2: 11-14; Acts 10; and John 17: 21 For further exploration see Mark Baker's book Freedom for Religiosity and Judgmentalism: Studies in Paul's Letter to the Galatians. Get info here. The Thanksgiving Liturgy...
Galatians - Avoiding a Divided Table over Differing Tastes Part 1: Why so Urgent, Paul?
October 09, 2023 00:37 - 43 minutes - 39.3 MBJesus clearly calls for the church to be unified - and we are clearly falling short of that ideal. In part 1 of this series, Pastor Steve Bill starts to look at the book of Galatians and what we can learn from Paul's letter to that community. Scriptures in this sermon include Galatians 2: 11-14; Acts 10; and John 17: 21 For further exploration see Mark Baker's book Freedom for Religiosity and Judgmentalism: Studies in Paul's Letter to the Galatians. Get info here. The Thanksgiving Liturgy...
The Diverse Table
October 01, 2023 18:09 - 29 minutes - 24.2 MBGuest speaker Amy Baker takes a look at the Great Banquet described in Luke 14 and what the church needs to do to bring about this vision of the Kingdom of God. This message was originally delivered October 1, 2023.
Jesus Collective Recap Part 2
September 25, 2023 01:45 - 48 minutes - 40.9 MBPastor Steve Bill continues his recap of the Jesus Collective, this time focusing on the last 4 Markers of the New Reformation. Scriptures used in this sermon include Romans 12:14, 21; Acts 1:5-6; John 17:21-23. This sermon was originally recorded on September 24, 2023. For more information on Grassroots Church, visit our newly refreshed website at grassroots.church.
Jesus Collective Recap Part 1
September 18, 2023 11:44 - 39 minutes - 34.2 MBPastor Steve Bill begins his recap of the Jesus Collective and the 5 markers of the new reformation. This sermon was originally recorded on September 17, 2023. For more information on Grassroots Church, visit our newly refreshed website at grassroots.church.
Borrowing Eyes
September 12, 2023 00:09 - 35 minutes - 30.9 MBIn his first official sermon as Grassroots Church's full-time pastor, Steve Bill preaches on how new situations can lead to doubt. When that happens, we can rely on each other to provide the perspective on our situation that we're unable to see. This sermon was originally delivered on September 10, 2023.
Bikers Against Child Abuse Special Presentation
July 12, 2023 23:13 - 31 minutes - 28.2 MBAt Grassroots, we believe in protecting the vulnerable, and that evil can be overcome through the power of suffering love. That is why we were so happy to have some members of Bikers Against Child Abuse come speak to our congregation about the work they do in Thunder Bay. This presentation was originally delivered July 9, 2023.