It's been almost a year since we were told to "stay home." In that time, some have leaned into the gift of a slower-pace and an empty calendar, spending more time with roommates or family than ever before. For others, whether you live alone or in an unhealthy situation, it has been a time of deep loneliness and overwhelming struggle. Or, maybe you've just felt your family's faith drift. As we continue to spend much of our time at home, what does it look like to flourish rather than flounder? Wha...
Jan 10, 2021•22 min•Ep. 346
New Year's Eve is one of the most hyped events every year. Still aglow from holiday festivities, we bask in the hope of what a new year will bring. It's the thrill of uncertainty fuelled by the power of possibility. But this wide-eyed optimism always leads to let down when we realize that, as the classic song says, "nothing changes on New Year's Day". But what if, as we launch into a new year, we could actually realize the full potential of a new start? What if we this season could function as a...
Jan 03, 2021•20 min•Ep. 345
At Southridge we like to say that “friendship makes the difference” when we are in relationships with people who are different than ourselves. But what kind of difference should our friendships make? And what are the systemic injustices that are unseen until we walk together in these ‘unlikely’ friendships? Join us as we hear from our friends who are facing injustice and oppression right here in our community, and are inviting us to join them in experiencing the joy of becoming both change-maker...
Dec 20, 2020•33 min•Ep. 344
Martin Luther King Jr. famously wrote “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” But how do we take steps from a privileged place of being indirectly affected, which is easy to ignore, to really knowing and feeling the impact of injustice? We do it by following the example of Jesus and standing in friendship alongside those being directly affected. Join us as we learn how we can specifically and lovingly accompany people in our c...
Dec 13, 2020•20 min•Ep. 343
You’ve probably heard the expression “keep up or get left behind”. Realizing that all is not right in the familiar and comfortable systems around us, it may seem like the only choice is to forge ahead, leaving everyone else behind. But that can damage not only our relationships, but the very cause that we’re wanting to champion, ostracizing the very community that we’re trying to positively change. So, what if there was another way? What if the God of unity, embodied by Jesus, the Prince of Peac...
Dec 06, 2020•31 min•Ep. 342
The news cycles change rapidly enough that, if we try hard enough, we can ignore the issues until they seem to go away. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, we know that people are experiencing injustices that are built into the systems in the world around us, in the Church, and in our own lives of privilege that don’t just go away because we ignore them. In following the example of Jesus in responding as advocates for justice in our context, the question is what better place than here, wha...
Nov 29, 2020•24 min•Ep. 341
You have probably experienced the sad and undeniable reality that "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." You have probably experienced the crushing defeat of your plans inexplicably self-destructing, despite being inspired by an indomitable vision, implemented with carefully planning, and executed at what felt like right time in the right place with the right people. Perhaps you were even convinced that God was "on your side." Yet, nothing happened. Or worse, something happened and...
Nov 22, 2020•22 min•Ep. 340
As far as inspiring stories go, there is hardly a better source than the Bible. It is filled with incredible (sometimes, literally in-credible) stories about an incredible God using incredible people to bring the rescuing, healing life and love of Jesus into a broken and dying world. Yet sometimes the stories of the Bible can only be described as confusing and bizarre... like the time when, after freeing Israel from racial, political and economic oppression, apparently decided to kill Moses. Eve...
Nov 15, 2020•22 min•Ep. 339
Exodus is, in part, a story about the incredible way that God uses Moses to set Israel free from slavery. He becomes a prophet for God, an instigator of mass protest, a miracle worker, the leader of a nation, the mediator of Israel’s relationship with God, the giver of the Ten Commandments, and the architect and builder of Israel’s sacred worship space. There are few greater people in Israel's history, if any. And the scriptures say that God wants to use people like you and me in the same kind o...
Nov 08, 2020•20 min•Ep. 338
As a church, we talk a lot about encountering the God who is revealed in Jesus. We talk about encountering God in worship, either in the moving, truth-filled songs we sing, or in the truth of the scriptures being exposed, or in the moments of spiritual practice that we share, both together on Sundays and on our own throughout the week. We talk about encountering God in community, through the questions and conversation, and the prayer and care that are rooted in relationships. But what if there a...
Nov 01, 2020•22 min•Ep. 337
The questions surrounding elections seem to be in the air these days. With a newly elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, the potential for a federal election now looms on the horizon. On November 3, Americans will go to the polls to elect a president for the next four years. The question behind election questions is always this: what kind of person can actually accomplish the important changes that will transform our future? This is just as true of the politics of Jesus' kingdom. G...
Oct 25, 2020•22 min•Ep. 336
The renowned British historian Edmund Burke once wrote, "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." Yet, we live in an era of declining interest in the past, where even many of the shows on the history channel aren't actually about history! People seem less and less interested in what happened in the past, imagining that it is irrelevant to their present or to their future. But what if the stories the Bible tells about the distant past are meant to affect our immediate present and le...
Oct 11, 2020•23 min•Ep. 335
As if there wasn't enough division and polarization already, add to issues like COVID-19 and racial injustice a generational divide across our society. In the church though, aren't we all supposed to be a family together? What does it take from each of us - and from each generation - to live out God's "from generation to generation" vision? What can different generations give to each other, and - more importantly - what can each generation gain from each other? How can every single one of us in ...
Oct 04, 2020•20 min•Ep. 334
In addition to navigating the pandemic, this season has been marked by another theme: racial injustice. And again, strong feelings emerge that have greater potential to further divide than unify. What ought the church's role to be in such a time as this? And is there a "right way" to fight for what's right? How would God intend His people of faith to advocate for justice and equality? And what would God desire for justice-hungry believers to become in order to advance justice and equality in way...
Sep 27, 2020•21 min•Ep. 333
If this pandemic has done nothing else, it's polarized our society. Some are paralyzed with anxiety regarding the medical threats while others rant about conspiracy theories. Parents are ravaged to know whether to send their kids to in-person school or keep them home to learn online. Some people are taking every precaution, wearing facemasks and observing physical distancing, while others are eager to resume everyday life as it was before COVID-19, believing there are greater health risks in not...
Sep 20, 2020•23 min•Ep. 332
If COVID-19 has done nothing else to Christians, it's challenged them to ask, "How can you continue to be a church without going to church?" This has not only confused faith-based families; it's muddied the waters for how the world understands what the church is and is supposed to be and do. But what has the pandemic actually helped clarify about the church's purpose and its role in the world today? And - this year at Southridge - how can we leverage this season to see God do amazing things amon...
Sep 13, 2020•20 min•Ep. 331
A lot has happened since we began our journey into the book of Galatians. We began this series in the fall of 2019, as a way to re-explore the biblical concept of grace. We wanted to ask ourselves what our church would look like if it was fundamentally shaped by the Gospel: the good news that our life with God is given by grace alone (as the free gift of God), through faith alone (not earned by human effort), in Christ alone (not the result of our religious rule-keeping). So, where has this book...
Sep 06, 2020•22 min•Ep. 329
"No good deed goes unpunished," or so the saying goes. It is a sarcastic commentary on the frequency with which acts of kindness backfire on those who offer them. In other words, those who help others are often doomed to suffer as a result of their being helpful. And everyone likely has a story that validates the truth behind the cliché. It kind of makes you wonder, at the end of the day, what the point of it all really is, why anyone would ever bother to make an effort to do good at all. But wh...
Aug 30, 2020•23 min•Ep. 328
According to some recent studies among people who are disillusioned with the church, people who avoid the church do so because it is too political, judgmental, patriarchal, homophobic, arrogantly exclusivistic, and fundamentalist. Examining these reasons closely, it is striking to note that almost all of these reasons directly relate to how Christians treat each other and those outside the community (especially those who don't fit the Christian "norm"), precisely the kinds of attitudes that the ...
Aug 23, 2020•22 min•Ep. 327
As a western democracy, one of the values we cherish the most is the value of freedom. Whether it is the freedom of conscience and religion, the freedom of thought and speech, or the freedom of assembly and association, people from all over the world leave their homes, sometimes making treacherous journeys, just to immigrate to our country, in search of the very freedoms we enjoy and even take for granted. But what is freedom, really? Especially as a follower of Jesus, what does it mean to be fr...
Aug 16, 2020•24 min•Ep. 330
From parents to teachers to bosses to politicians, people who are responsible for social groups of various sizes and shapes and characters all seem to share one fundamental question: what does it take to make people behave? In parenting, for example, the philosophies range from the flexibility and affection of Dr. Spock to the strict boundaries and strong discipline of Dr. Dobson. Societally, these days the debate is between the necessity of mask mandates or the need to trust people to do the ri...
Aug 09, 2020•22 min•Ep. 326
We live in a world of options. There are a seeming infinite number of alternatives available to us, from the type toothpaste or deodorant you use, how you consume countless genres of music and media, to the endlessly increasing number of car models, clothing brands, restaurants and religions, airlines, workouts, paint colours and flavours of ice cream. All these options are intended to improve our lives, putting us in charge of all our choices. But some have suggested that all this choice has le...
Aug 02, 2020•25 min•Ep. 325
Jesus said that, if His followers would stand together as one unified community, the watching world would be compelled to believe in God’s love. Unity was such a high priority to Jesus that His final prayer as He was being betrayed to be crucified wasn’t for courage or personal protection, it was that His followers would remain united. Our desire is to be an answer to the one prayer of the One who answers all of ours, not just at Southridge but by being unified with all of God’s church, especial...
Jul 26, 2020•22 min•Ep. 324
Jesus said that, if His followers would stand together as one unified community, the watching world would be compelled to believe in God’s love. Unity was such a high priority to Jesus that His final prayer as He was being betrayed to be crucified wasn’t for courage or personal protection, it was that His followers would remain united. Our desire is to be an answer to the one prayer of the One who answers all of ours, not just at Southridge but by being unified with all of God’s church, especial...
Jul 19, 2020•19 min•Ep. 323
Jesus said that, if His followers would stand together as one unified community, the watching world would be compelled to believe in God’s love. Unity was such a high priority to Jesus that His final prayer as He was being betrayed to be crucified wasn’t for courage or personal protection, it was that His followers would remain united. Our desire is to be an answer to the one prayer of the One who answers all of ours, not just at Southridge but by being unified with all of God’s church, especial...
Jul 12, 2020•25 min•Ep. 322
How many times have you asked someone how they're doing, only to have them reply, "Busy." For how many of us is that our regular answer too? So much of our lives have felt propelled by the forward momentum generated by the multitude of commitments that dominate our schedule, and the multitude of things that we think we "need." In a world that has, for many of us, come to a screeching halt, what if this was that moment! What if we just decided to press "pause" on life, and restart again but at a ...
Jun 14, 2020•21 min•Ep. 321
Many of us have had to acclimatize to this weird dynamic of "working from home," or being home and trying to get work done (as well as homeschooling and/or parenting and/or disinfecting, and/or...). Others aren't working and are collecting cheques from the government. So many of us are trying to figure out who we are to be if we're can't be productive. But what if not working is just as spiritually important as working? What if getting nothing done is as good for the soul as getting something do...
Jun 07, 2020•23 min•Ep. 320
There are probably more than a few of us who have found that, with our schedules freed up, the one activity that is not canceled is consuming. We snack because we are bored or stressed. We shop online for things we don't need because we can (and even if we can't). We scroll social media for endless hours because we are lonely or anxious about the news. Far from being canceled, consuming is how many of us are coping with this season. But what if this survival mechanism is actually killing us spir...
May 31, 2020•19 min•Ep. 319
It is easy to go negative when life isn't going the way that we had hoped. Emotions like fear, envy, greed, entitlement, resentment, anger, and regret seem to live just below the surface of our hearts, and emerge quickly in times of difficulty. In fact, at times it can feel hard to resist the pull of the disappointment embedded in these kinds of reactions. But what if there was a way to resist, a way to push back against these emotions that can so easily overwhelm us? How would it change our out...
May 24, 2020•30 min•Ep. 318
We live in a world where there seem to be a million ways to maintain relationships. Whether it's Netflix Party, Houseparty, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, FaceTime, texting, or even (worst case scenario) making a phone call, there are no shortage of options for staying in touch. Yet many of us feel desperately alone and/or we invest enormous amounts of energy to avoid being alone. But as much as relationships matter, what if learning to be alone is just as essential to becoming the people God has...
May 17, 2020•21 min•Ep. 317
