Eucharist Church

How to be Christian? It's more complicated than it used to be. But perhaps a revolution is underway. Let the Monastics lead the way to Jesus and up the mountain... The first sermon in an eight week journey. Join with us. New podcast each Sunday (or come and worship with us if you're in Hamilton and don't belong to a congregation).

We dedicated eleven babies on Sunday (and more to come next week) so it seemed like a good time to talk about what our faith is, and how we ought to hold it. - Kevin

First you receive the meal, then you gotta get it in you. That's how food words. It's also how truth works. - Kevin

You should repent. It's the best. - Kevin Makins

Nina didn't plan to preach today, but when Kevin got sick, she was on the hot seat! Strangely (providentially??) she had an old sermon from another community that just so happened to be about none other than the Psalms, which is what we've been walking through here at Eucharist this fall. Listen and hear the invitation the Psalms give us to pay loving attention to God's good world.

Nina Schuurman-Drenth preaches on one of the most uncomfortable psalms in the whole Psalter. 

I fear I may have been too subtle... It's time to talk about where GOD wants to take us. - Kevin Makins Closing song is Psalm 126 by BiFrost Arts, played by Tim Selles and sung by Eucharist.

Whether we are aware of it or not, we're all searching for something. Jesus and the Psalmist suggest that perhaps it's not something at all, but someone we ought to seek. - Kevin Makins

I never really got the Psalms. They seemed a little dramatic, un-relatable, and unnecessarily emotional. But then I started praying the Psalms regularly, chanting them alone and with others, and I'm realized that it's true: I really didn't understand the Psalms. And now it's time rectify that error. - Kevin Makins

Kevin Makins preaches on a bold decision: To give worth to the One who is Most High.

When it comes to rules, the church has got quite a few First, there is the list of "don’t do's" which may include drinking alcohol, dancing, R-rated movies, gambling, using cannabis, swearing, or wearing a hat in church. Then there's the list of what we "ought to do," including kindness, mercy, forgiveness, generosity, sabbath, witnessing, praying, going to church on a Wednesday night at 8pm The truth is that most of the rules are (at least at some level) good things. And despite this, so many Christian just crushed under the pressure to live up to what feels like unattainable ideals. But perhaps the biggest issue with “church rules” isn’t actually about any one rule, but about how human beings respond to the very idea of rules! But to go there, we've first got to travel through time 3,500 years...

This is a sermon about the Bible, but before you listen, read the following poem written by Samantha Butler, a part of our Eucharist community: You are an old friend, aren’t you, An old friend with many arms, Bound and brushed off, and pulled in all directions, and contorted, A feat of human imagination, now ammunition, now a balm of honey and milk. Can I weave the threads of the ocean, Drip by drip in a long line of wet molecules, As they firm, rigid, a promise for the oppressed, Creatures of the deep slipping out and splashing All at the risk of swallowing me whole? Can I pull the stars into a recipe that calls for your type of dust, Explosive dust; history and presence and good, all in one? Can I watch a man rise from his seat, sandals dropping one by one into the ground, As he ascends into the sky? Son of earth, mother of us all, red juice dripping down your chin, Can I hold your hand as you walk out of the vines? You are an old friend aren’t you. It is better if I sit back and watch you from here, And listen, and wonder.

Quiet time. Daily Hours. "Devos" if you're in a cool Christian college. What are these spiritual practices and why do they make so many of us feel guilty?

This is a sermon about confessing our sin before God and others... which is already a very, very loaded sentence. Fantastic album art by Scott Aasman. Opening music by Church of the Beloved (RIP)

Worship music is... strange.  Fantastic album art by Scott Aasman. Opening music by Church of the Beloved (RIP)

How do you engage a conversation about the good, bad and the ugly of theology? Like Jesus did: You tell a story. Fantastic album art by Scott Aasman. Opening music by Church of the Beloved (RIP)

If you feel like every day is just a repeat of the day before, If you feel like you can’t hear your soul anymore If you feel like butter stretched over too much toast. ... do we have some good news for you. Fantastic album art by Scott Aasman. Opening music by Church of the Beloved (RIP)

We continue on our quest to reclaim Christianity with a few simple questions: Is it possible to talk about religion without coercion?  Will "sharing the gospel" always result in some form of colonization? Time to jump into everyones favourite topic: Evangelism. Fantastic album art by Scott Aasman. Opening music by Church of the Beloved (RIP)

Over the last few weeks we've seen the worst of what Christianity can look like: Nationalist, racist, arrogant and even violent.  In light of those horrors, you might be tempted to walk away from it all. But perhaps there is another way. Over the next few months in Eucharist, our Wednesday evening services are going to explore what this can look like. Each week we'll take an element of the Christian faith and explore what it would look like to “reclaim it." From doctrine to evangelism, morning devotions to praise music, we’ll name the ways these gifts have been corrupted by unclean spirits like colonialism and coercion, and explore through liturgy, sermons, and conversation how we can reclaim every piece of Christianity as a force for good. Each week will include a 45-minute service, followed by the opportunity to  join a break out group with the same people each week. There you’ll be able to share insights, questions, and build connections. (Note: Breakout groups will begin on Wednesday, January 20th) It's my hope that, in the end, we'll be equipped to say yes to the difficult challenge before us, and discover, by the Spirit, a more Christ-like Christianity. We kick off tonight by looking at religion itself: Reclaiming Christianity. Fantastic album art by Scott Aasman. Opening music by Church of the Beloved (RIP)

COVID means this Christmas season is going to be unlike any other: No parties. No carolling. No family parties on multiple sides. What could you do with all that space in your calendar?