Regarding BLCF Church's Hours of Operation, BLCF - 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON.

Dear BLCF Friends,

Important Notice: Due to the current explosion of infections of the Omicron Variant of the COVID-19 Virus and in order to minimize exposure to vulnerable members who depend on public transit to get to and from church on Boxing Day, December 26, 2021, we regretfully announce that BLCF Church Sunday Worship Service is suspended for the time being. Please monitor our social media for the date that BLCF will resume our Sunday Worship Services.

 

Please be advised that both the BLCF Café Community Dinner and the BLCF Wednesday Prayer Service will continue to remain closed effective March 16, 2020, and until further notice. We pray with the administration of sufficient COVID-19 vaccinations, and following the determination of Health Canada and other Health Authorities, that the danger of the Pandemic will have subsided sufficiently, to allow BLCF to safely reopen more of our worship and outreach activities without any concern of infection to the vulnerable within our community.

 

God’s Blessings for this Christmas and for the 2022 New Year. May you, your family, and your friends have a safe and blessed Holiday Season throughout the New Year! Though we will be closed on December 26, I believe you would enjoy the lesson that I have prepared for that Sunday.

 

– Pastor Steve

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church, 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON. 

Message for Sunday:

‘Gathered in the Spirit and Gifted with Understanding, Unity, and Blessing of the Lord’   

© March 27, 2022, by Steve Mickelson

Based on Messages Shared at BLCF on February 23, 2020, & January 22, 2017

BLCF Bulletin Februay 23, 2020

BLCF: bulletin-january-22-2017

Music Special: Peace Be Still (feat. Lauren Daigle) // The Belonging Co // All The Earth - https://youtu.be/dUpKZz0Nm7c 

https://youtu.be/dUpKZz0Nm7c 

Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer                                                           

Tithing and Prayer; Hymn #572: Praise God; Prayers   

Responsive Reading #634: (Christian Unity – John 10 & 17, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12)                                                                                                            

Message by Steve Mickelson: ‘Gathered in the Spirit and Gifted with Understanding, Unity, and Blessing of the Lord’    

Music Special: Lauren Daigle - Still Rolling Stones (Social Distancing Version) - https://youtu.be/Vr0d51uFTMc

https://youtu.be/Vr0d51uFTMc 

Let us pray… 

Welcome to BLCF Church’s Praise and Worship Service for Sunday, March 27, 2022. It is ironic that the world has yet to recover from a COVID-19 Pandemic, that the threat to humanity of an expanded Russian Ukrainian conflict brings pause that Satan enjoys testing our faith by multiplying our suffering and misery, with fear, anxiety, and despair. It is at such times we must redouble our efforts to draw nearer to the Lord through prayer, studying the truth in His Word, and by actions of love to others that demonstrate His grace, mercy, and peace. 

Our lesson today, entitled ‘Gathered in the Spirit and Gifted with Understanding, Unity, and Blessing of the Lord’, will examine how the power and presence of God’s Holy Spirit are most effective when more than one believer is present. Remember the Lord’s promise found in Matthew 18:20 (ESV): 

²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Music Special: Crowder - Come As You Are (Music Video) - https://youtu.be/r2zhf2mqEMI https://youtu.be/r2zhf2mqEMI 

You may recall that Jesus, after His resurrection and just before he ascended, to heaven, instructed his disciples to gather in the Upper Room so that together they may receive God’s Holy Spirit as one group on the Day of Pentecost. But what was Christ’s reason for sending the Holy Spirit? The answer to this question is found in John 14:15-17 (ESV):

 Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,^[a] to be with you forever,¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be^[b] in you.

Footnotes: a. John 14:16 Or Advocate, or Counselor; also 14:26; 15:26; 16:7 b. John 14:17 Some manuscripts and is

The Spirit is described as the Spirit of truth, sent as a Helper, a Companion forever, to those who believe in the Gospel of Christ, Jesus. 

The Power of the Spirit is expressed by way of Gifts  of the Spirit, which are described in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (ESV):

Gifts of the Spirit

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.⁸ For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 

You see that no one person receives all the possible gifts of the Spirit, as collectively all of the gifts are empowered in everyone. That means that when the Spirit of God arrived in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost to the group of believers, each believer received a gift for the common good. 

The gifts were not intended for the benefit of individuals and all are only effective together in a group or gathering of individual believers, acting together in harmony as a single group. Our Lord intended the Holy Spirit’s Gifts to be distributed amongst a body of believers, gathered as His Church. 

Together, Christ’s Church becomes the unified expression of His love and power. It is expected that Christ’s Church expresses the Lord’s Commandments, which Jesus described in Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV):

Commandments of Jesus

³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 

The Holy Spirit’s presence helps the Church, the collective group of believers, to best express God’s Gifts. It is Christian Unity that assures that all of its members are acting in harmony, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

This brings us to Paul’s letter to the members of the Church in Corinth, who demonstrated a disharmony or absence of unity of mind and judgment, expressed quarrels  and disagreement between Church members, as described in  the verses in  1 Corinthians 1:10-31 (ESV):

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^[a] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers and sisters. ¹² What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[b] to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[c] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being^[d] might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him^[e] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Footnotes: a. 1 Corinthians 1:10 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 11, 26 b. 1 Corinthians 1:21 Or the folly of preaching c. 1 Corinthians 1:26 Greek according to the flesh d. 1 Corinthians 1:29 Greek no flesh e. 1 Corinthians 1:30 Greek And from him

Paul implied that the disharmony of the Spirit in Church in Corinth resulted when the church’s members attempted to apply worldly standards and values to matters and actions related to the Spirit. In this regard, Paul felt that this disharmony acted as a “stumbling block” to the church achieving full Spiritual health. We see a similar expression of this Spiritual disharmonious behavior among Christian churches today when our attendance and activities within the church are focused on other people and not the Lord. Our service and commitment should be focused solely on Jesus, as we read in Ephesians 4:1-8 (ESV) :

Unity in the Body of Christ

4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.⁸ Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men and women.”^[a]

Footnotes: a. Ephesians 4:8 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women

The other cause of ineffectiveness and disharmony within the body of the church miss attending gatherings or services within the church. We see this effect described in the following poem by an anonymous author poem someone wrote about people who miss church:

You missed the fellowship that’s there,

You missed the handshake, missed the prayer.

You missed the Word of God when read,

You missed the things the preacher said.

You missed the worship’s wondrous hour,

You missed the Holy Spirit’s power.

Not only did you miss the chance 

Your life in Jesus to enhance, 

You missed your chance to do your share,

To build His church, the house of prayer.

And so the loss is yours indeed,

God had no chance to meet your need.

–Unknown Author

Music Special: Cochren & Co. - Church (Take Me Back) [Official Lyric Video] - 

https://youtu.be/3eTOcrWu8mQ

We are reminded of both the importance and benefit of meeting as a church body in Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV): 

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 

 Let us pray…

Music Special: KATY NICHOLE - In Jesus Name (God Of Possible): Song Session - https://youtu.be/RoUfwjwQ_Xk 

https://youtu.be/RoUfwjwQ_Xk 

Benediction – (2 John 3):  Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

The Cross: A Symbol of Our Faith and Reminder of God’s Love 2022 - BLCF Church, , 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON.

 

Dear BLCF Friends,

Important Notice: Due to the current explosion of infections of the Omicron Variant of the COVID-19 Virus and in order to minimize exposure to vulnerable members who depend on public transit to get to and from church on Boxing Day, December 26, 2021, we regretfully announce that BLCF Church Sunday Worship Service is suspended for the time being. Please monitor our social media for the date that BLCF will resume our Sunday Worship Services.

 

Please be advised that both the BLCF Café Community Dinner and the BLCF Wednesday Prayer Service will continue to remain closed effective March 16, 2020, and until further notice. We pray with the administration of sufficient COVID-19 vaccinations, and following the determination of Health Canada and other Health Authorities, that the danger of the Pandemic will have subsided sufficiently, to allow BLCF to safely reopen more of our worship and outreach activities without any concern of infection to the vulnerable within our community.

 

God’s Blessings for this Christmas and for the 2022 New Year. May you, your family, and your friends have a safe and blessed Holiday Season throughout the New Year! Though we will be closed on December 26, I believe you would enjoy the lesson that I have prepared for that Sunday.

 

– Pastor Steve

Music Special - The Power of the Cross (Official Lyric Video) - Keith & Kristyn Getty - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wcULqyoINg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wcULqyoINg

Near the Cross - The Petersens (Lyrics) - https://youtu.be/Gf_wlFwBIMc https://youtu.be/Gf_wlFwBIMc

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church, 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON. 

Message for Sunday:

‘The Cross: A Symbol of Our Faith and Reminder of God’s Love’

© March 20, 2022, by Steve Mickelson

Based on Messages shared at BLCF on January 14, 2018, and October 26, 2014

BLCF Bulletin January 14, 2018

BLCF: Bulletin October 26, 2014

Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer     

Prayer and Tithing Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings

Responsive Reading #632 (God’s Redeeming Lover – John 3 and 1 John 4);

Message by Steve Mickelson:

‘The Cross: A Symbol of Our Faith and Reminder of God’s Love’

Music Special: Pass It On - TheNCrew - https://youtu.be/ovdKx6lQ8OM 

https://youtu.be/ovdKx6lQ8OM

Let us pray… 

 Welcome to our Sunday Praise and Worship service today at Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship, on this the first day of Spring for 2022.

It was just over two years ago, on March 16, 2020, that Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship closed its doors and suspended all in-person Church Service Meetings, as well as all outreach activities, including the BLCF Cafe Community Dinner, due to the deadly threat to the vulnerable from the COVID-19 Virus which had spread to a Pandemic. 

We finally reopened our doors last October 2021, to Sunday Worship Services, under the guidelines of Public Health of wearing masks, keeping social distance, etc. Services at BLCF continued until Boxing Day, 2021, when BLCF again suspended in-person worship activities due to the Omicron Variant of COVID-19, from December 2021 until the present date. 

While we hope to reopen again prior to this Easter, we continue to keep a watchful eye for any new variant, including the new Omicron Sub-Variant that is currently in the UK, USA, and Canada. 

After being open since 1938 as Crusaders Church, and now as Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship. only a deadly virus could shut the doors to this church. The two tenant congregations who also use our church building have had to deal with the threat of COVID-19 while keeping their own health and safety policies. 

We continue to maintain contact with fellow members of the BLCF Community by way of phone and via social media until we are certain that the threat to the vulnerable in our community from the COVID-19 has passed. 

We encourage you to continue to pray for each other and contact one another with words of encouragement and hope, until the day we can reopen our doors for Praise and Worship Services at Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship.

 

Let us now begin our lesson for today, which is entitled: ‘The Cross: A Symbust over two years jol of Our Faith and Reminder of God’s Love’. 

Before we delve into the lesson, I would like to share our own miracle of the cross here at BLCF. 

It was at a BLCF picnic in the back of the church at St. Helens several years ago, that the congregation decided to invite the Bloor Lansdowne Community to a simple barbeque/picnic, featuring hot dogs and corn on the cob.

 .  

Since we had a small Hibachi grill, it was decided to cook the hot dogs outside and boil the corn inside the church kitchen. I was running the barbeque in the front driveway so as to catch the attention of passersby with a sign, posted as an invitation to join the picnic posted above my station. 

As I cooked the hot dogs, a group of four or five young people passed by, where one having read our sign commented: “What kind of place is this?” To which another replied: “I think it is a church.”

 

When I heard their comments, I realized that the church signage consisted of a front marquee sign and another on the east wall, outside of the prayer room, both mounted high above eye level, making the signs all but invisible to pedestrians walking on the sidewalk in front of the building. 

The church had a small cross, composed of white bricks embedded in the red brick wall located high above the front facade of the church. No wonder many people were unaware that we were a church. The lights inside the marquee sign had stopped working several years before. 

Later, intrigued about the cross, I went to the roof and found an old five-foot cross made of plywood with faded white paint sitting upon the roof. It looked as if the weather and wind had caused the cross to fall some years before, with the lag bolts pulling free from the peak of the front wall. Here is where our little miracle occurred.  

As I pondered whether the cross might be repaired, restored, and mounted back on the roof, we received an interesting message from the daughter of one of the members of our congregation, who had passed away two years before. It seemed that a nearby church had closed and the property sold for commercial use. The new owners intended to convert the building to lofts. 

Part of the conversion included the removal of the large twelve-foot silver cross mounted on the front of the building. It seems that the young lady noticed the cross was placed in a scrap bin. She convinced the contractor to give her the cross, indicating that she knew of a church that needed a cross. When she contacted me, she asked: “Could use a new cross?” 

My reply was an emphatic ”Yes", though I was not sure how to arrange delivery of a twelve-foot cross, let alone how we would mount it on the building. I did not tell her that the church at the time had funds for either. I was informed that in memory of her mother, she wanted to hire a contractor to deliver and mount the cross, all at her expense and that we do not reveal her name. 

 When I received the dimensions, I measure the wall and from examining recent photos of the building, I had determined that it would fit perfectly above the front doors, between the double arches that framed the front doorway.

The contractors have asked whether we wanted the small white cross formed by white bricks embedded in the wall to be painted red so that the new cross would be the only cross above the front entrance. I told them to leave the cross as is and asked that the small white window arch behind the new cross be painted red to match the rest of the brickwork of the front wall.

 

I marveled how the Lord had provided a solution to the need to replace the old cross before I had even raised the need to him. And the solution that the Lord provided was far better than what I had imagined. The Lord was going to ensure that people in the community knew without a doubt that BLCF is a place of worship. The Lord recognized the need for a new cross. He provided both the cross, as well as the means to install it before we had a chance to pray for it

.

I wonder how many times God provides for His children before the need is raised? And how many times does the Lord provides for a need before it is even recognized? This was not the first time God has provided in a miraculous way for the need at BLCF. 

By the way, I did manage to repair, stain, and mount the old BLCF cross and mount it on the wall behind the risers where Terry Sywanyk performs at our BLCF Cafe Community Dinner beside the “kNOw JESUS kNOw PEACE” sign.

 

It may surprise you to find out that the cross has not always been a symbol of the Christian Church. Let us check our Wikibits for the history of the cross:

 

The Christian Cross

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

A Latin cross

The Christian Cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus, is the best-known symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix (a cross that includes a usually three-dimensional representation of Jesus' body) and to the more general family of cross symbols. 

In contemporary Christianity, the cross is a symbol of the atonement and reminds Christians of God's love in sacrificing his own son for humanity. It represents Jesus' victory over sin and death, since it is believed that through his death and resurrection he conquered death itself. 

See Colossians 2:15, "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross".

The cross is often shown in different shapes and sizes, in many different styles. It may be used in personal jewelry, or used on top of church buildings. It is shown both empty and in crucifix form, that is, with a figure of Christ, often referred to as the corpus (Latin for "body"), affixed to it. Roman Catholic, 

Anglican and Lutheran depictions of the cross are often crucifixes, in order to emphasize that it is Jesus that is important, rather than the cross in isolation. Large crucifixes are a prominent feature of some Lutheran churches, as illustrated in the article Rood. 

However, some other Protestant traditions depict the cross without the corpus, interpreting this form as an indication of belief in the resurrection rather than as representing the interval between the death and the resurrection of Jesus. 

Crosses are a prominent feature of Christian cemeteries, either carved on gravestones or as sculpted stelas. Because of this, planting small crosses is sometimes used in countries of Christian culture to mark the site of fatal accidents, or to protest alleged deaths.

In Catholic countries, crosses are often erected on the peaks of prominent mountains, such as the Zugspitze or Mount Royal, so as to be visible over the entire surrounding area.

Patriarchal cross

Also called an archiepiscopal cross or a crux gemina. 

A double cross, with the two crossbars near the top. The upper one is shorter, representing the plaque nailed to Jesus' cross. Similar to the Cross of Lorraine, though in the original version of the latter, the bottom arm is lower. The Eastern Orthodox cross adds a slanted bar near the foot.

Cross (disambiguation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cross consists of two lines or bars, intersecting each other at a 90° angle and dividing one or both of the lines in half. Cross or to cross may also refer to: Religion

• Christian cross, the basic symbol of Christianity

• As a simple ritual or prayer, it is the Sign of the Cross

• Cross necklace, a necklace worn by adherents of the Christian religion

Object

• Cross (crown), the decoration located at the highest level of a crown

• A cross with a human body affixed is referred to as a crucifix

• cross (x mark)

• High cross, early Medieval free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_(disambiguation)

The cross as a symbol in the Christian Church may refer to either an object or a motion with the hand or fingers did not come into practice in the Christian Church until the third or fourth century A.D. Members of the early Christian church would often use a fish, represented by two intersecting arches as a symbol to represent the Christian faith.

Some churches avoid having a cross in their place of worship, fearing that the cross may be treated not as an icon or symbol but worshiped as an idol. In the same manner, many evangelical churches avoid having statues for the same fear that they will be prayed to and worshiped as idols.

There are some denominations who feel the cross may offend church attendees as a symbol of torture and death. I think that if you sanitize what happened to Jesus on the cross you run the risk of diminishing the impact of the resurrection! 

The fact that our Lord, Christ Jesus instructed all disciples to remember his sacrifice by way of the Communion observance indicates that we should not hide what the cross represents, his death and sacrifice for our sins.

While the cross or crucifix does remind us that Christ suffered and died for the sins of humanity, without the resurrection Christ’s death would have only made him a martyr. It is only after Jesus was resurrected from the grave and following the Holy Spirit’s arrival on the Day of Pentecost, did the Christian Church come into being, as a proof of Christ’s Lordship with the fulfillment of the prophecy found in the Scriptures, as we read in Isaiah 53:5-6 (ESV):

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;

 he was crushed for our iniquities;

 upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, 

and with his wounds we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Is it wrong to have a symbol such as the cross as a reminder of the sacrifice of the cross? I believe that Jesus felt it was useful to have visual cues to help remind us of the price that he paid for our salvation. We find that the holes left by being nailed to the cross, and by the Centurion’s spear to his side, helped Jesus demonstrate his supernatural victory over death to the disciples, including Thomas who was absent at his first appearance but arrived eight days later, John 20:19-31 (ESV):

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus and Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” ²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

 

  ³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Footnotes: a. John 20:19 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time b. John 20:24 Greek Didymus 

The signs of the wounds Jesus showed his disciples helped them to understand both the suffering he endured and the supernatural victory Christ achieved over death by His resurrection. Interestingly, though Jesus had the wounds from the cross, he now was able to pass through the locked door of the upper room. Having shown the disciples his wounds, Jesus breathed onto them the breath of the Holy Spirit, to help them go forth in his place, no longer disciples, but apostles of the Gospel of Christ. Jesus death on the cross had removed the debts from sin, Colossians 2:13-14 (ESV):

¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 

The cross is a symbol, not just of the suffering and death that Jesus experienced, but reminds us that while we are called to follow the Lord and may suffer for our faith, we have the assurance that the judgment for our sins has been born by the Lord, 1 Peter 2:20-24 (ESV):

²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. ²¹ For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. ²² He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ²³ When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Just as the cross acts as a reminder to Christians of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, our faith in the Lord is made perfect, not just because he endured the cross, but the holes in his hands and side act as a reminder to God the Father in heaven, as Jesus sits at the right-hand side of the throne of God. Our faith is made perfect through Jesus, Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV):

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Jesus revealed his hands and side to the disciples, it was not so that they would dwell upon his wounds upon the cross. The intent was to give encouragement and hope in the victory of his resurrection. And we read that is exactly what took place, John 20:19-20 (ESV):

 ¹⁹ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.   

 The disciples were glad when they saw the marks of the crucifixion. Let us, therefore view the cross not as an instrument of torture and death of Christ, but as a symbol for our own hope in his resurrection and be encouraged in the truth of his promise to all believers of their own resurrection on the day Christ returns.

Let us pray...

 

Music Special: In Christ Alone (My Hope Is Found) - Adrienne Liesching | LYRIC VIDEO - https://youtu.be/rn9-UNer6MQ https://youtu.be/rn9-UNer6MQ

Benediction - (Romans 15:13):   May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Heart of Toronto - BLCF Church, 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON.

 

The Three Rewards of Faith: Grace, Love, and Fellowship 2022

 Dear BLCF Friends,

Important Notice: Due to the current explosion of infections of the Omicron Variant of the COVID-19 Virus and in order to minimize exposure to vulnerable members who depend on public transit to get to and from church on Boxing Day, December 26, 2021, we regretfully announce that BLCF Church Sunday Worship Service is suspended for the time being. Please monitor our social media for the date that BLCF will resume our Sunday Worship Services.

 

Please be advised that both the BLCF Café Community Dinner and the BLCF Wednesday Prayer Service will continue to remain closed effective March 16, 2020, and until further notice. We pray with the administration of sufficient COVID-19 vaccinations, and following the determination of Health Canada and other Health Authorities, that the danger of the Pandemic will have subsided sufficiently, to allow BLCF to safely reopen more of our worship and outreach activities without any concern of infection to the vulnerable within our community.

 

God's Blessings for this Christmas and for the 2022 New Year. May you, your family, and your friends have a safe and blessed Holiday Season throughout the New Year! Though we will be closed on December 26, I believe you would enjoy the lesson that I have prepared for that Sunday.

 

– Pastor Steve

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church, 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON.

Message for Sunday: 

‘The Three Rewards of Faith: Grace, Love and Fellowship’

© March 13, 2022, by Steve Mickelson

Based on a Message Previously Shared at BLCF on August 6, 2017

BLCF Bulletin August 6, 2017

Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer                                                          

Opening Music Special: Cochren & Co - One Day (Lyrics) - https://youtu.be/LIWAoT9aX78

https://youtu.be/LIWAoT9aX78

Tithing and Prayer Requests: Hymn #572: Praise God; Prayers

Responsive Reading #640 (Redemption in Christ – Romans 5)                 

Message by Steve Mickelson:                                                                                               ‘                          The Three Rewards of Faith: Grace, Love, and Fellowship

Music Special: Lauren Daigle - We Believe (Acoustic) [Newsboys Cover] - https://youtu.be/DoPLgOwg4tY

https://youtu.be/DoPLgOwg4tY

Let us pray…

Welcome to BLCF’s Praise and Worship Service, on this the second Sunday of  March. I trust those who live in a Time Zone that observes Daylight Saving Time, that you remembers to adjust your clocks ahead last night!

For our lesson today, we will examine: ‘The Three Rewards of Faith: Grace, Love, and Fellowship’ .

Let us begin our lesson by examining what is meant by faith and how could we explain its presence? I found an interesting posting on the topic on the Web site, bibleinoneyear.org:

On Faith

John Paton (1824–1907), a Scot, had travelled to the New Hebrides (a group of islands in the south-west Pacific) determined to tell the tribal people about Jesus, but he struggled to find the right word for ‘faith’. One day, when his indigenous servant came in, Paton raised both feet off the floor, sat back in his chair and asked, ‘What am I doing now?’ In reply, the servant used a word that means, ‘to lean your whole weight upon’. This became the expression that Paton used. Faith is leaning our whole weight upon Jesus.

https://www.bibleinoneyear.org/bioy/commentary/2354

So we have a good working definition of faith, but what about the three rewards of faith that are the focus of today’s lesson: grace, love, and fellowship?

Music Special: This Is Amazing Grace - Phil Wickham (Lyrics) - https://youtu.be/SUglaJyobks

https://youtu.be/SUglaJyobks

Christian Grace

In 2 Timothy 2:1-7, e have a good description of grace, which is the first reward of our faith:

2 Timothy 2:1-7 (ESV): A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men and women, who will be able to teach others also. ³ Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ⁵ An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

While there are three examples of the rewards of faith in everyday life, valid both today as well as in the time of Christ: a dedicated soldier, a winning athlete’s crown, and a productive farmer’s first share of the harvest.

In the same regard, as apostles or messengers of the Gospel of Christ, we are expected to bear witness of Jesus, so that others may become messengers and teachers of the Way of the Lord.

Music Special: Lauren Daigle ~ Love Like This (Lyrics)- https://youtu.be/U7eyU9EPGWo

https://youtu.be/U7eyU9EPGWo

Christian Love

But how does one best share the Gospel of Christ? Just as God gave us His only Son, Jesus, who demonstrated his love for humanity by surrendering his own life as the final sacrifice for the sins of the world, the best way to share the message of the Gospel is to share the love that God and His Son Jesus, demonstrated to us:

John 3:16-21 (ESV): For God So Loved the World

John 3:16-21 (ESV): For God So Loved the World

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world,^[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Footnotes: a. John 3:16 Or For this is how God loved the world

John 13:35 (ESV)

³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Music Special: Church (Take Me Back) Cochren & Co. Worship Video with lyrics https://youtu.be/ns8lIG6cLc8

https://youtu.be/ns8lIG6cLc8

Christian Fellowship

While we may take comfort in the unconditional love of our Father and His Son that we receive as our reward to faith, as a body of believers in the message of the Gospel of Christ we enjoy a fellowship with the Lord and each other, by way of the Holy Spirit, another gift which Jesus gives us as a reward to our faith and trust.

1 John 1:3 (ESV)

 ³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

The gift of the Holy Spirit, an expression of God’s love is not only a reward for our faith, His love is intertwined in the message of the Gospel of Christ, Jesus:

We may conclude that grace, love, and fellowship are the three rewards of faith in the message of the Gospel of Christ, there  is another reward to our receiving and sharing God’s New Covenant made manefest by His Son Christ, Jesus is the complete joy found in the fellowship we enjoy with our Father, His son and each other:

1 John 1:1-4 (ESV): The Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ² the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— ³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so that our^[a] joy may be complete.

Footnotes: a. 1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your

Let us pray…

Closing Music Special: Word Of Life - [Lyric Video] Jeremy Camp - https://youtu.be/s6Q1KCI6teg

https://youtu.be/s6Q1KCI6teg

Benediction – (2 Corinthians 13:14):

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.