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Newmarket Alliance Church Podcasts
A podcast of Sermons from Valley View Alliance Church in Newmarket, ON
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Will you finish the race? Paul described his life goal as finishing the race and ministry he had been given by Jesus, and wow, he really put in all of his effort to do that. Paul pushed through no matter what obstacles came at him, and forged ahead even when he knew there would be more challenges. When Paul bids farewell to the Ephesian church lead…
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The church in Ephesus has been experiencing what it means to live in Holy Spirit power. Lives are being changed, and the word of God is alive and spreading! What could stop this momentum? Enter Demetrius, and his fellow craftsmen. What is good for the Church is not good for them and their livelihood. These makers of idols and shrines stir up dissen…
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Paul’s incredible journey reminds us that we too can be on an adventure with God. Some of us may think we will never need a passport, but if God asked us to pack up a few things, pull together a team and follow Him, where would we be willing to go? And in the middle of this incredible journey, there is a little story tucked in about a young fellow …
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At the beginning of his 3rd missionary journey, Paul stumbles upon a group of disciples who have never experienced the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. This group is doing the best they can with what they know, but they don’t even realize that God has so much more for them. Do you ever feel like your Christian experience re…
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In Acts 19 the supernatural starts to really take center stage - both the miraculous healing deeds of God AND the destructive works of Satan and his demons. Some wannabe exorcists try to face evil head-on by invoking the name of Jesus as though it were some sort of "abracadabra" incantation. In one of the more darkly hilarious narratives in the New…
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Pulling in the same direction This second missionary journey of Paul's hasn't sent him to ONE but to MANY different areas. They've both been fruitful and wrought with tensions. Or to put it another way, he's been "run out of town on a rail" Now in Corinth, he has the opportunity to actually stay for a year and a half, and it allows him a couple of …
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Ever feel like God sets up divine appointments in the most unexpected ways? In Acts 8, Philip follows a nudge from God and ends up in a desert-road conversation with an Ethiopian official who’s hungry for truth. That encounter ends with the man putting his faith in Jesus—and getting baptized right then and there. It’s a powerful reminder that God i…
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The boys are on a missionary "road trip" this week, staying long enough to plant churches and then often getting run out of town. Paul then lands in the world class city of Athens and he takes his message from the synagogues to the streets... the public square. And here is a culture kind of like Canada. Pluralistic. Accepting. Vaguely "spiritual" w…
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We saw last week how God in His goodness and ways in which He redeems ALL things, used an argument to double His missionary effort ... which is starting to REALLY reach "the ends of the earth". THIS week, we'll see how going to one of their most godless locations, being harassed by a demon-possessed woman and being thrown in jail is actually being …
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Remember that Bible verse that promises Christians will never disagree with each other? Where is that passage found again? Oh, right. That's not found in the Bible. Disagreeing with your Christian brother or sister - even vehemently so - isn't necessarily sinful. Getting ANGRY isn't necessarily sinful. What you choose to DO in these situations may …
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Ah, the Acts Church. Isn't it dreamy? Everyone sharing everything. On mission together. Filled with the Holy Spirit. Looking out for widows and the vulnerable. Loving being together, fellowshipping and breaking bread together. It was all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows everywhere And if you believe THAT, I have a wonderful timeshare opportunity I'…
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The mission of Jesus is now entering the "to the ends of the earth" phase. This is where the gospel is about to become a worldwide game-changer. In this, the first of Paul's missionary trips, you'll notice some principles or "best practices"w that will be repeated throughout Acts and even to this very day. Not everyone has been called to leave thei…
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We live in the "now but not yet". God's Kingdom is here but not fully realized until the day of King Jesus's glorious appearing. So in the meantime we live in the tension that evil seems to go unpunished. Arrogant and corrupt rulers and governments seem to get away with it. We hold to the hope that one day all these injustices will be made right. H…
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A look at the sequel to Luke's Gospel and what we can learn from the introduction to Acts, as well as a note to what's coming.
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Just when you think the stories in Acts can’t get any more exciting, we read about a miraculous escape from prison… and it’s an inside job! But not before we hear about a tragic event that ends the life of one of Jesus’ closest disciples. The juxtaposition of these things will certainly leave you scratching your head and challenging your faith. But…
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We're at that point in Acts where the Jesus story is about to move from a localized phenomenon to a world-changer! First though, it means some barricades that kept people at arm's length need to be dismantled. That is what Jesus has done. One of the first signs of it happens at His crucifixion as the Temple curtain is supernaturally torn, represent…
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Amazing things happen in the Book of Acts. Things Jesus modeled in the Gospels and then actually told His followers to go and do likewise, or in fact go and do even GREATER things. Most Christians are on board with these works of the Apostles being available to us in 2025, UNTIL, that is, we get to passages of raising the dead. That's just a bridge…
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We are now entering a whole new phase of Acts, and for that matter Christianity in general. We are moving out of the Jerusalem epicentre. This may not have been by choice, but God has a way of redeeming the bad stuff for our good and His glory AND to fulfill his mission... to spread the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and even to the ends of th…
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You just knew that "poking the bear" (the religious elite) couldn't last forever. The keepers of the "old way" had too much at stake. I want to tell you about Stephen, who as you may remember from last week, just got appointed as a Deacon. But far from only working behind the scenes with ministry logistics, Stephen is someone "filled with God's gra…
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What if our Church just... oh, I don't know... quadrupled attendance overnight? No transfer growth... all NEW Christians. Praise God! Now, picture some of the logistics around that. Do we have to move? Go to four services? What kind of volunteer crisis would that create? You think we have parking issues now? Plus these would be new Christians who n…
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Back to our series on the Book of Acts: "How to BE the Church" In our last "episode" of our Acts series, we saw that following the miraculous early growth of the first Church, some opposition starts to appear. It appears from the INSIDE (see Ananias and Saphira) and the attack is really starting to amp up from the religious OUTSIDE. Shouldn't the r…
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You might already be sick of any talk of "resolutions" or "New Year's goals". You find the January 1 date an arbitrary timeline to make life changes. Why not make life changes in November or December if they're that important?The problem is that most of us don't spend the time in intentional reflection to even assess what changes need to happen... …
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The birth of Jesus prompted some extreme responses.On one hand, there was an outpouring of worship, adoration and celebration... all to a baby boy.On the other hand, there was a narcissistic, genocidal, resentful response.Some may ask "Surely there's a third way? Some sort of measured response?"Maybe that's been part of our issue around Christmas: …
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This was NOT an "Instagram moment"Our nativity scenes have such a lovely Hallmark Christmas Card feel to them, one might forget (or never have heard) how desperate, dark and dismal the whole situation was.Don't get me wrong. The birth of Jesus was truly "good news of great joy" but the circumstances surrounding his birth were not "fit for a King"..…
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I realize it's nice to picture baby Jesus as He is in our pristine Nativity sets: Jesus smiling with a little halo behind him. Lambs cuddling up to the baby in a well-lit, rustic but sterile setting. Mary and Joseph looking like a typical young adult couple hosting guests of mystics and shepherds, oblivious that a genocidal monster is in the proces…
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Our Study in Acts continues...Last Sunday we ended our narrative with an earthquake at a prayer meeting. The Church was experiencing unprecedented growth with miracles, power, sharing life together, and an incredible outpouring of generosity among the multitude of believers and beyond. But a dark cloud soon emerged, threatening to derail the growth…
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Our Study in Acts continues...Peter and John were just jailed and berated, all for the "misdeed" of healing a man and proclaiming the good news of Jesus. Clearly, these two never felt alone amid this bullying: Jesus was with them, giving them courage and even the words to say to the authorities.They're about to be reminded that they are not alone i…
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Our Study in Acts continues...Peter and John have just healed a lame man through the name and power of Jesus. The man is obviously ecstatic and the gathering crowd is curious now and open to the gospel.You'd think EVERYONE would want to carry these two disciples on their shoulders in a heroes' parade, but wouldn't you know it, there are powerful pe…
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Our Study in Acts continues...As we've seen in the first few months of the Church's origin story, the Holy Spirit comes with wind and fire. It comes with the supernatural gift of speaking in other known languages for the purpose of proclaiming Jesus.The Holy Spirit comes with a new boldness to recently fearful disciples and a clear articulation of …
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Our Study in Acts continues with guest speaker Tony Wong.If you have ever read the brief verses describing this early Church in Acts 2:42-47, perhaps your heart has sped up as mine has. THIS sounds like the Church we all long to be a part of... Deep community. Breaking bread together. Praying together. Sharing possessions and money for those among …
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Our Study in Acts continues...Remember that blustery fisherman dude with a temper, who 50 days prior had fearfully denied the Lord three times?He is beautifully forgiven and restored by Jesus over breakfast following His resurrection, and then before Jesus ascended to heaven, told him and the other disciples to WAIT... something exciting is going t…
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This following proposition may be controversial but here goes...Without the events of Acts 2, there is no Christianity.There. I said it.The Incarnation of Jesus proved He was a missionary to the world He created.The Cross proved His great sacrificial love and plan for salvation.The Resurrection proves the hope we have of eternal life and our enemy …
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There might be as many opinions as there are people as to what it means to BE the Church and BE a true discipleSometimes in the business world, when the organization begins to drift or lose their core values, there is a strategic effort to return to the founder's vision and template.I can't help but think our "Founder's" vision and values for The C…
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Context is everything...Think of a simple word like "ball"1. A cylindrical toy or sporting apparatus that most often bounces (noun)2. A dance party where you dress in formal attire (noun)3. To have a good time, as in, "we had a ball" (idiom)That's just one example, and we are typically adept at parsing out words depending on their context; but in a…
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Pastor Glenn is only partly right. I (Jonathan) only hate MOST country music. There's one cowboy I hold in hallowed esteem... The "man in black"... Johnny Cash. A committed Christian, who had previously done some "hard livin’ ”, Johnny wrote nuanced songs of faith AND of struggle. This is one of my favourites:The beast in me is caged by frail and f…
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As much as our inclination is to make PEOPLE our enemy, we actually remember that our battle is not against "flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12). The first of our real enemies is Satan.I realize in our modern world there are many - even Christians - who put as much credence in the Devil as they would in mythological villains like Medusa, Loki or "the Boog…
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Some are uncomfortable with equating the Christian walk with "war" or "battle" imagery (while others are perhaps a little too comfortable with it). I assure you our Church forefathers had no such reservations.Make no mistake, we are in a FIGHT... a fight for souls! Unfortunately many are directing their resistance at the wrong foe... namely PEOPLE!…
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There are many of you in our Church family living with long-term illness. Many of you live with, or love someone, suffering in this way. One thing is true for ALL of us. Everyone will be afflicted at some point in their life with an area of brokenness that needs healing. Physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. The secular sciences are final…
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We have never seen this kind of widespread cultural affliction of Anxiety & Depression. It is no respecter of age, race, gender or even whether you are a Christian or not. You may not struggle with it personally but you definitely know and love someone who does. Brett Ullman is part of the "walking wounded" and his story is both raw and hopeful.…
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"Yes, YOU!"In this brief wrap-up of our summer series "Get in the Game" we will talk about the last spiritual gift (and it's a doozy) and then I suppose the onus is on you...How has God uniquely wired you?What is your role in "the body"?What will it take for you to get off the sidelines and into the game?…
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"Get the FAMILY in the game" This long weekend we will have a short and engaging service for the whole family (children will be remaining in the service) which will include some games, some laughs, some prizes and an opportunity to receive Communion together with all the generations represented... the whole Church FAMILY!We'll also address one spir…
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"Get in the game" Power Gifts (part 2)Are you up for some more (as we referred to it last week) "weird stuff"?Do you believe that the prophecy of Joel and of Pentecost is being fulfilled in our day and generation?Do you believe that miracles can happen in 2024... not just theoretically, but that miracles could happen at NAC... even at any given mom…
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Power GiftsLately, have you heard people speak colloquially of someone's "superpower"? As in, "that's Jenny's superpower... staying calm in a crisis".It can even be used as a bit of a back-handed compliment;"That's just like Tony. His superpower is to turn the centre of attention back to him"What if I told you the Holy Spirit may, at times, give yo…
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"Get in the game" Part 2 of the "WORD" GiftsSomebody asked me (Jonathan) at our Alliance General Assembly this week what my favourite thing about being a pastor is. I thought for a second - and I realize the spiritual gifts series is kind of “on the brain” - but what I said is spiritual gifts have got to be in the top three. I love seeing people di…
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"There are two great moments in a person's life:the moment you were born and the moment you realize why you were born."—Pastor Kirbyjon CaldwelFor the purposes of this series, you'll remember we've divided up the Spiritual Gifts into 3 categories. If the LOVE gifts (which we talked about last week) are more about the DOING, then the WORD gifts are …
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The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. - Frederick BuechnerAs we said, all-y'all have been blessed through the Holy Spirit with unique spiritual gifts.For the purposes of this series, we've divided them up into 3 categories.This Sunday we start with the LOVE GIFTSThese are the wonderful an…
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A New Summer Series!It is not the critic who counts; not the one who points out how the strong one stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena. - Theodore RoseveltThere will always be those who sit on the sidelines. Those who fancy themselves as armchair quarterbacks. …
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Hey Jude!Here we are with ANOTHER letter that seems to be addressing yet another messed-up Church.In fact it seems A LOT of the New Testament is responding to messed-up churches... It makes you wonder if the whole enterprise is worth the effort, or if it should be abandoned (as many people that you probably know have decided).But in fact, that's WH…
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Walking in the TruthJohn continues to lay out the three things that form the core of the identity of a true believer, obedience-truth-love, in his third letter to his friend Gaius. In the midst of a culture hostile to the early Christian churches, John stresses over and over how important it is for followers of Jesus to know and walk out the Truth.…
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