Morningstar Christian Fellowship: The Upper Room. From Mark 1, “The Source of Jesus’ Authority” preached by Chris Evangelista, Pastoral Intern for Young Adult Ministries.
Weekly Info - April 30
Hey Everyone!
Well, another week is upon us and on into Mark we go on. Last week, we did a little bit of background work, and then looked at Mark 1:1-15 to see Jesus’ authority being declared to us by the Old Testament Scriptures, and then by none other than God himself. This week, we go further into this first section of the Gospel of Mark - concerning Jesus’ authority as Pastor Jay takes us through some of Jesus’ acts recorded in Mark 2.
As I mentioned last week, please do take the time to read the whole chapter, since we likely won’t have time on Thursday to actually go through it all.
Just a reminder that the retreat is likely going to be moved. We’ve decided to just go ahead and call retreat centres to see what is available to us, before deciding which weekend exactly we will be moving the retreat to. Hopefully by this or next Thursday, I will have more information for you about that.
Well, that’s all for now.
Shalom,
Chris
Weekly Info - April 23
Hey Everyone!
Sorry about the lateness of this weekly update. I was “composing” what I was going to say on my drive home yesterday, but then when I walked in, my mom had made fried chicken for supper and it was all forgotten, and I went straight to bed afterward. Hahaha. But anyway, I hope you’ll be able to find time, nonetheless, to do what I’m asking here.
As we had already mentioned last Thursday, and also in my last email, we are moving into a new series this Thursday: The Gospel of Mark. I’m really looking forward to this, especially after doing a little bit of historical/background research in to Mark, and seeing how incredibly relevant it is in that way (of course Scripture is always releveant to our lives, but Mark, especially in the purpose and the context behind its writing is especially relevant to our culture).
This week, I have three important things to do for you: 1) Talk about the context of Mark, 2) Talk about the literary structure of Mark, and 3) cover the passage we actually have to go through this week, which is Mark 1. Just a note about that as well, what Pastor Jay and I are doing here would really be better described as a “Survey” of the Gospel of Mark. It isn’t the typical lesson/sermon you would hear on the New Testament in a Sunday morning, because we will be going through Mark a pericope at a time, as most other preaches would. Doing that would take quite a bit of time - Pastor Bob, for example, has been in Matthew for 3 years already, and he still has probably another year to go.
And so what would be really helpful is if you were able to read Mark on your own before hand, to get an idea of where the particular pericope that Pastor Jay or I have decided to focus on fits in its immediate context, and maybe even within the whole book. My suggestion for this of course is to read each chapter that we will draw from each week, and then, maybe every 4th week, also read through the whole Gospel. It shouldn’t take very long, as Mark is the shortest of the four canonical Gospels. If you do this, you would have read through Mark a total of 5 times between now and the end of summer, and hopefully you would have gained insight into it beyond what we talk about on Thursday nights.
Well, that’s all for now. I’m looking forward to seeing you all again on Thursday!
Shalom,
Chris
=-= Chris Evangelista chris@ichthus.ca Make a Joyful Noise!
Weekly Info - April 16
Hey Everyone!
Well this week is the last week of Handling the Word with Confidence. We’ve had a great run, and I’m looking forward to finishing it strong and starting on our next series. Let me just encourage you, if you’ve been skipping because you are behind, please come tonight! It’s the perfect lesson to be because Pastor Jay will be recapping all of the lessons we’ve had so far.
In addition to that recap (which should take 20 minutes or so), we will be doing a “Practicum” of one of the important skills we learned in this series - the Author’s intention statement. Except this time, we will be doing it in an Old Testament book. If you are able, please have a read through Amos before coming on Thursday. You don’t have to do anything but read it, as we will be doing the actual work in on Thursday. Finally, we will be meeting in our groups one final time to share what we have learned in this series (or lesson, if it’s your first time coming in), and we will spend time praying for one another.
As I mentioned this is the last week for this series. Starting next week, we will be in the Gospel of Mark. And that is exciting indeed! Very soon (even before Thursday, I hope), I will be putting up a list of resources that you might want to get to follow along with our lessons. But really quickly, I want to highlight one now, which I think is an excellent read: “The King’s Cross” by Tim Keller. It’s a wonderful book that goes through the whole book of Mark without being too commentary- or study bible-ish.
Finally, please note that we did set the date for the summer retreat for August 17-19. Unfortunately that’s about all the details I can give you for now. But hopefully the committee will be able to take some solid steps into booking a place and making more precise plans very soon. For now, though, I’d like to get an idea of who is interested in coming. And so I will be passing around a “Sign Up” list on which to indicate your interest in coming.
Well, that’s all for now.
Shalom,
Chris
Weekly Info - April 2
Hey Everyone!
We continue our work through “Handling the Word with Confidence” this week with a more practical lesson – building a mini-library of interpretive aids. Pastor Jay will be doing a lesson. But I will also help out in my way by bringing some of the resources that I’ve collected over the years (beginning with my very first Bible course out in British Columbia). Hopefully, this will be a helpful week for you to make decisions about what resources to get to help you build your own library.
Just a reminder that we have a new thing we’re doing at the church this Holy Week. It’s called “Journey to the Cross”, a way for you to reflect on the days surrounding Jesus’ death on the cross. It is in our gym, and is open Tuesday to Friday, 9:30AM – 4:00PM/7:00PM – 9:00PM. It takes about 45 minutes to complete.
That’s all for now.
Shalom,
Chris
Weekly Info - March 26
Hey Everyone!
I’m so sorry, I only remembered now that I hadn’t sent a weekly update email yet.
Not that there’s much to say. You should all really be looking through each week’s lessons, which will let you know what you ought to be doing for this week. Anyway, the biggest part of that is to have read through the whole epistle to the Philippians. It might sound daunting. But it really isn’t, since Philippians is one of the shorter of Paul’s epistles. Also (you know how I like to push this), it will also be helpful if you listened and read at the same time. You can do that on the ESV Online Bible: http://www.esvbible.org/
Just one announcement: I’m finally up to date with our website. Right now, everything (at least the one that we have audio to post/decided to post) are now available. Just a reminder, in case you forgot how to get there, http://bit.ly/UpprRmMCF/ is the link.
Well, that’s all for now.
Shalom,
Chris
Weekly Info - March 19
Hey Everyone!
2 IMPORANT announcements this week…
We are going to convene URF at the James Dar Convention Hall (Midland & Sheppard). We will have drivers at the church waiting to take you there, but please note that the debate starts at 7:30PM, and so they will leave the church at 7PM sharp! So please be there on time, or you might not make it.
I mentioned that Pastor Bob is asking for a few people to help with a project he has for Holy Week. I’ve had a chance to talk with him about it, and I found out that he is keen on getting a team together – “this week”, he said to me. I know the details are few, but essentially what the project is, is to help people meditate on Jesus’ final days and resurrection. Now here’s the thing. I said that it was something for the “artsy” people at church.
But after reading through the material, and hearing that Katherine Matthewson will be primarily in charge of the “aesthetics”, what I realize is needed are really a few dedicated individuals who can “help set up”. Meaning, it doesn’t necessarily need “artsy” people (though I’m sure that will help out) as it does need people who are willing to help set up stations. An example of this is a station that has a TV set to static. Obviously a simple station to set up, it obviously needs someone who is able to move a TV and set it up at a particular location in the church lobby (or hallways).
The more I read about it – that it ‘s a modern take on the Stations of the Cross, which I talked about a little on Thursday – the more I’m really liking it. I mentioned that while I disagree with just about everything that the Roman Catholic Church is all about, there are a few things that it does get right… It’s concern for maintaining “sacred” spaces, for example, places which are set apart for things like meditation, is one of them.
Anyway, if this is something that interests you at all, please let me know right away. Honestly, I would love to do it myself, if I wasn’t involved in orchestra. But anyway, this would be an excellent service opportunity for anyone who is interested.
Well, that’s all for now.
Shalom,
Chris
Weekly Info - March 12, 2012
Hey Everyone!
Well, it’s week two of our First Principles Class, Handling the Word With Confidence. If you have a book, please be sure to do the first two sections in the book – Reading the Scriptures, and Consulting the Scholars – *in preparation* for Thursday. I will be teaching this week, though it won’t be as long as Pastor Jay’s lesson last week. He had to hit some high points regarding the First Principles Series in general, and about the book in particular. But this week, look forward to more time for discussion… Which requires that you put in that preparation ahead of time. It really shouldn’t take long. Probably as much time as it took to read the last few chapters of Judges.
Please be reminded that next week, we will be holding the Upper Room at the North American Muslim Foundation/Jamil Dar Convention Hall, for the James White – Shabir Ally debate. This week, I will be gather names of drivers and those who need a ride, and hopefully we can match up as many people as we can. The specific address is 4140 Finch Ave. E, which is just Finch Ave. , and Midland Ave. So it’s really not that far from church.
Well, that’s all for now.
Shalom,
Chris
