Land Acknowledgement Practice
If you are sitting on a chair or couch, I’m going to ask you to stretch out of your comfort zone for a moment. Move out of your seat and take a seat on the ground instead. Allow yourself to…
Week of Dec 13
People in a hurry never have time for recovery. Their minds have little time to meditate and pray so that problems can be put in perspective. In short, people in our age are showing signs of physiological disintegration because we are living at a pace that is too fast for our bodies.
Encouragement | Being Present in Absence
How does this impact our spiritual practices of loving one another well? How do we be present in absence? Is that even possible?! How can we help carry each other’s hearts, when I can’t be in the room with you?
Does Breathing Happen To You? | Breath Prayer
I want you to do nothing but notice your breathing for the next few seconds. Now I’m going to ask you a weird question… do you think breathing is something that you do, or something that happens to you?
New Year Prayer of Examen
Well we’re at the beginning of a brand new year and I don’t know how many of you are into New Year’s Resolutions....
Upside Down Christmas Posture Prayer
I don’t know about you, but in my life I know there are a lot of things I’d like to see God turn upside down....
Gratitude | Sparking Joy
Lately I've been using a journal called the "5-minute journal" and it's a daily discipline of beginning my day with writing down 3 things that I am grateful for and then closing my day by writing down 3 amazing things that happened....
Prince of Peace | Breath Prayer
Isaiah tells us that despite the fact that government of all humanity's upon Jesus' shoulders, his core identity was as the Prince of Peace......
Practicing Hope
Hope is the practice of looking at a bad situation in front of you, and believing hard that good can still win...
Blessing in the Chaos | Practicing Rest
We often fill this space with a lot of words and a lot of thoughts, and in that, sometimes we can miss the presence and beauty of God so often found more deeply in silence, in stillness, in the quiet spaces...
What Is God Like?
The words that Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner have put together, paint a beautiful picture (actually a bunch of them) of who God is, how God loves, and the place each one of us can find inside those arms...
Tearing Down Other Gods
We want to consider the gods we’ve allowed to exist alongside, or even ahead of God...
The Prodigal: Who You're Not
Many if not all of us have a mixed-up narrative we tell ourselves about who we are, how we don’t measure up, don’t belong, how we aren’t enough...
The Lord's Prayer | A Prayer for "Us"
The Lord’s Prayer is familiar to lots of us. Maybe the one downside to memorizing scripture is that the words can become so familiar, we kind of ‘check out’ even as we’re saying them...
Ruach | Breath Prayer
As if seeing Jesus alive after witnessing his death wasn’t strange enough, Jesus does this really odd thing where he leans in and breathes on them. To make it even more weird, as He breathes on them, He tells them to receive the Holy Spirit...
Joy & Laughter
Today, we want to practice something many people find hard to experience, and that’s JOY. Believe it or not, joy is something that can be practiced...
Trees | Visio Divina
How often do you stop and notice a tree?
Specific Prayers in Specific Places
I want you to take a minute right now to look away from this screen, to whatever is around you. Inside, outside, alone or with other people doesn’t matter. Where are you right now, and what do you notice about the physical space around you?
Holding Joy & Pain | Posture Prayer
How are things going these days? Are you feeling like life is filled with good, hopeful, thriving kind of stuff? OR. Are the clouds feeling kind of heavy?
I Open #2 | Posture Prayer
I’m going to invite you into a reflective posture prayer with me. And that just means we will use our bodies to also communicate to God what we’re saying with our words...
Peace of God | Anxiety Breath & Posture Prayer
Anchoring ourselves through prayerful breath and movement can be a powerful way of releasing anxiety and worry, and becoming more grounded in our connection to God. It can also be a way to engage our heart, soul, mind, and strength in worship...
Family of Origin
You’ve probably heard the saying “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” – which could come as good or bad news to you, depending on how you feel about the “tree” you fell from...
Headline News Prayer
Have you seen the headlines lately? There’s not much there about the “marvelous doings” of God..
Encore | Imaginative Prayer
Do you ever, like the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes, find life boring?
Lament
I’m not sure whether the recent announcement of an extended lockdown caught you off guard or not. But regardless of what we anticipated, for a lot of us, it was just one more let down after a year full of disappointments...
Craving
Have you ever noticed the way cravings affect your body?
Greeting the Dawn
My favourite time of the day right now is between 5-6am. (I know I’ve instantly lost many of you… but stick with me!)
De-Centering Prayer
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of a “centering” prayer before – maybe you’ve even tried one – but this morning we’re going to practice something together called a “De-Centering Prayer.”
I Open #1 | Posture Prayer
Posture prayer is a simple and holistic way of praying, engaging our whole selves: hearts, minds, and bodies.
Be Loved | Breath Prayer
The very good news of a life lived with God, is that even when we don’t know what tomorrow will hold, we know the One who holds tomorrow...
Rhythms of Grace
“Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” I love that translation of this verse...
Mental Health Prayer
For some, mental health has been a lifelong battle, and the current situation is just one more wave that you did not need...
Pray for One Another
We believe prayer does something real, that it has genuine power to change the atmosphere. Not only for ourselves but in our collective experience of God in this world. So today we are going to take some time to practice praying – for one another...
Love Languages
Awhile back, a popular author categorized some of the ways we express and receive love into five different ‘love languages.’ Have you ever thought about the ways that God loves us?
Love Languages: Gift-Giving
Awhile back, a popular author categorized some of the ways we express and receive love into five different ‘love languages.’ But have you ever thought about the ways that God loves us?
Love Languages: Quality Time
Awhile back, a popular author categorized some of the ways we express and receive love into five different ‘love languages.’ But have you ever thought about the ways that God loves us?
Love Languages: Words of Affirmation
Awhile back, a popular author categorized some of the ways we express and receive love into five different ‘love languages.’ But have you ever thought about the ways that God loves us?
Love Languages: Acts of Service
Awhile back, a popular authorcategorized some of the ways we express and receive love into five different ‘love languages.’ But have you ever thought about the ways that God loves us?
Children of God
Remind yourself that you are God’s cherished kid, and that nothing in this world can separate you from that fierce parental love.
S.O.A.P. Bible Reading #1
SOAP is an acronym that stands for Scripture, Observation, Application & Prayer.
Gratitude #1
What if gratitude is less a feeling, and more a mindset or a perspective, something we practice, not because we’re thankful but in order to become more thankful?
Generosity
The Bible reminds us that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1) and that we are merely stewards of the things currently under our care.
Blessing Our Enemies
I don’t know who comes to your mind, when we talk about how we break this, "Do not murder" commandment and harbour murder in our hearts. But likely somebody does. Perhaps a few somebodies.
Blessing Each Other
Let's start to make an intentional practice of noticing people, even strangers in a crowd, but rather than comparing and judging them, pause to intentionally pray a blessing over them in your heart.
Silence | Health & Humility
Not sure if you’ve noticed the world seems to be a bit noisy these days. In fact we are inundated by so much noise, it’s actually making our souls sick....
First Things First
From the moment our bodies awaken, our eyes begin to open, and we enter into the ordinary wonder of a brand new day...
Gethsemane Prayer
Jesus submits to God’s way, rejecting his own instincts and surrendering control of his life into the hands of God...
Holy Spirit Come
We are going to focus in on a phrase that invites us to reflect on the activity of the Spirit in our lives. Holy Spirit Come...
Holy Spirit Prayer
When it comes to prayer, many of us feel out of our depth to say the least. Often we don’t know what say – not the words to use, nor what thoughts or feelings to express.
Jesus Wept
Perhaps you are familiar with what is famously known as the shortest verse in all of scripture, John 11:35: "Jesus wept"...
Wounded Saviour
Think of the way that Jesus – the one who just literally conquered death and proved his dominance over mortality – reveals who he is to Thomas. Instead of Jesus performing another miracle to convince, He invites his disciple to touch his wounds....
Lament
Lament is an important – and beautiful – part of a life of faith...
Love Your Enemies
There’s no small amount of conflict going on in the world right now. Probably always true but it feels especially loud right now...
Silence | Be Still
I don’t know how you’re finding the constant noise and endlessly swirling turmoil in the world these days. I often find myself feeling exhausted – like soul-level exhausted – by it. Wouldn’t you like to take a break from it all? An actual, real break? Wouldn’t that feel so good?
Week of April 17th
“Many times – especially when we feel like God hasn’t delivered on our life the way we’d want him to – our instinct is to revert back to the familiar and to go back to what we know from the past. But the invitation of Jesus is to let go of our grip on the past – on the stable, the secure, the known and familiar – and be willing, in faith, to embrace something brand new.”
Week of April 24, 2022
This week we are going to invite you to engage deeply in the practice of Breath Prayer, with a different Breath Prayer prompt each morning. Although breathing is something we do all day every day – usually without even thinking about it – our own breath moving in and out of our lungs can also become a profound place of encounter with God.
S.O.A.P. Bible Reading #2
This SOAP method of Bible study is a practice we often encourage to make a regular part of your time with God. Digging into and interacting with scripture is such a good spiritual-growth exercise, such a good place to catch a deeper glimpse of God. But even if you’ve never read the Bible before – don't worry; it’s not complicated and we’ll walk through it together step by step.
Month of May 2022
The only foundation of true Christianity, is the person of Christ. Being loved by Christ, filled with the life of Christ, and following in the way of Christ. Therefore it just makes great sense to – on a regular basis – slow down and make time to look extra closely at the life of Jesus. This May we are inviting everyone into a month-long challenge of reading through the Gospel of Luke – one of the best and most beautiful, not to mention most readable – accounts of the life of Jesus.
Journaling the Bible - Psalm 23
Because of that, interacting with Scripture is like a ‘superfood’ of spiritual growth. And yet as we build the habit of reading scripture into our rhythms – which is excellent – we can start to speed over parts of the story that we’ve heard over and over again. And so sometimes what’s right in front of us can become invisible, because we’re so used to it.
Examen | The Garden of Your Soul
“The Examen.” This is a practice that combines prayer and reflection that essentially distills to two questions: “Where did I sense God? And where did I sense God missing?”
Gratitude #2
Today we want to engage in the practice of Gratitude. And to do this, you’ll need a physical piece of paper – and something to write with. In our day-to-day lives, it can be easy to focus on whatever feels like it isn’t going the way we want, and slip often into grumbling and complaining. And that behavior can have a very negative impact on our emotional and even physical well-being.
The Names of God
Whether you were named after a person of significance, or because of the meaning of your name, or just because your parents liked it, our names have meaning to us. They represent who we are. And that can be even more true when it comes to our names for God. The Bible is full of interesting names given to God...
What's Your Story?
Your story reminds me of my story, my story hopefully reminds you a bit of yours, together our stories join the countless other stories of Jesus followers that tell this great big epic tale of God’s love pouring and playing itself out in the world...
Cell Phone Prayer
We want to experiment right now with a simple prayer exercise -- a chance to share some honest and personal thoughts with God about what’s going on in our lives. To help us do this, if you own a cell phone, you’ll want to grab that right now...
Spiritual Gifts Assessment
Think of it like an online personality quiz – this one is designed to help you better understand how God has uniquely wired you with gifts and talents that make our church a more well-rounded and healthier community...
Journaling the Bible - The Lord's Prayer
You might be familiar with The Lord’s Prayer, it’s one of the most frequently quoted passages of the Bible. But what good is memorizing the Bible, if it doesn’t mean anything to you?
Celebration
If Joy was a colour, what would it be? If Joy was a food, what would it be? If Joy was a place, where is that place?
Week of September 11, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Loving Kindness Prayer
I want you to simply picture yourself, either as you are now, or maybe a younger version of yourself. See yourself in your mind, and just try to hold yourself with a soft, open, and loving heart. And now imagine yourself literally being held, cupped by God’s great big hands.
Examen | Last Week
This is a practice of looking backwards and trying to notice where God was at work in the past, in order to more easily spot and open up to where God is at work in our present moments. Since the regular noise of life tends to drown out that awareness.
Three Lies of Identity
In his book entitled, “Who Are We?” late author and priest Henri Nouwen describes three key lies of identity that can mess with our heads and create barriers to us experiencing the love of both God and community. He names these lies as: • I am what I have • I am what I do • I am what other people say or think of me
On Eagles Wings
No matter your age, young or old, at times life can be exhausting. We carry all kinds of pressure at work, or school, in family, or even with friends.
Week of September 18, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Imaginative Prayer | Wounded Healer
I want to invite you to close your eyes and picture your hurt – the ways you’ve experienced pain and hurt in the church, maybe generally or maybe very specifically or even recently – picture it as an actual wound on your body.
Examen | Church History
Examen is a practice of examining your life backwards, over a given period of time, and prayerfully reflecting on two things: 1) Where you noticed a sense of God’s presence, or closeness; and 2) Where you felt absent or disconnected from that sense.
Week of September 25, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Week of October 2, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Journaling the Bible | Micah 6:6-8
What we’re wanting to do here is to shake up both over-familiarity (for those who have been reading the Bible for a long time) that can sometimes cause the Bible to feel stale, as well as to think more deeply about what some of the ancient words and metaphors really mean, and what they might look and sound like in our present day context.
Fall 2022 | The Book of Mark Reading Plan
The only foundation of true Christianity, is the person of Christ. Being loved by Christ, filled with the life of Christ, and following in the way of Christ. Therefore it just makes great sense to – on a regular basis – slow down and make time to look more closely at the life of Jesus. This Fall we are inviting everyone into a 7-week challenge of reading through the Gospel of Mark – one of the best and most beautiful, not to mention most readable – accounts of the life of Jesus.
Tactile Prayer | Autumn Leaves
Autumn is absolutely incredible in all of its colourful splendor. But of course, those colours are actually a signal that we are headed for the dead cold of winter. As the season changes, this is the time of year, as someone has said, when the trees are showing us just how beautiful it can be to let dead things go.
Nature Contemplation | Mindful
We often fill this space with a lot of words and a lot of thoughts, and in that, sometimes we can miss the presence and beauty of God so often found more deeply in silence, in stillness, in the quiet spaces....
Prayer Bowl
We’re going to spend a couple of minutes in prayer right now, but we’re going to do it in a bit of a unique way. To participate, you’ll need to grab a few simple items (that hopefully aren’t too far away, but feel free to pause the video if you need to go hunting). You’ll want a bowl, a pen, and a few scraps of paper...
Week of November 21, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Week of November 28, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Snowstorm Hope / Silence
Imagine it’s snowing and you’re driving on a country road. The snow is coming down pretty heavily and it’s making it hard to see where you’re driving....
Week of December 5, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Practicing Love | Christmas Cards
I wonder how many of us are looking at the weeks ahead, and feeling like love is going to be pretty hard, in some situations. That maybe we’ll be in encounters – whether at family dinners, work parties, even extra time at home – with people we actually find it hard to love...
Week of December 12, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Gratitude | Naming Goodness
Joy indeed. Joy – or happiness – is a funny thing. We tend to think that when we have enough good things in our lives (when we have the stuff we need or want, when we have the relationships we need or want) then we’ll be happy. But it doesn’t typically work that way...
Week of December 19, 2022
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Weeks of December 26, 2022 -January 7, 2023
During this Christmas and New Year season, we invite you to explore a fantastic spiritual practice resource that many in our community have been finding a game-changer in their own spiritual lives.
Christmas Breath Prayer | Love Moves In
Close your eyes right now, and place your hand on your chest overtop of your heart for a minute. Can you feel it beating there? Proof that you’re alive. Proof that God loved the idea of you so much that he actually breathed you into existence.
Week of January 8, 2023
Click here for a selection of Daily Spiritual Practices to engage with each day this week!
Prayer of St. Patrick's
St. Patrick was a follower of Jesus hundreds of years ago and was known for many things, one of which being this prayer. These words, written so long ago, still ring true today. When you struggle to find the words, allow this prayer to become a reflection and connect with the presence of Christ all around you.
Prayer of St. Patrick's
St. Patrick was a follower of Jesus hundreds of years ago and was known for many things, one of which being this prayer. These words, written so long ago, still ring true today. When you struggle to find the words, use this guided prayer to help connect with the presence of Christ all around you.
Understanding An Ancient Text
The Bible is a fascinating and invaluable resource for exploring and understanding the depths of who God is and how he loves. Understanding the unique way in which it was written and the different types of literature found within will go a long way towards helping you know how to accurately apply the truth in this beautiful and ancient book to your own 21st century life.
Week of September 24, 2023
We want to encourage folks to lean into the resources available through the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day Devotional. For the next few weeks this resource will be our daily spiritual practice notification.
Psalms Reading Plan
Journey with us as we read the Psalms throughout this series. Each day we are encouraging folks to read 3 Psalms and track their progress using this reading plan.