The Table QC
By The Table
The Table QCAug 31, 2023
On Swearing Oaths - Matthew 5:33-37
What are the things we do and say to convince others that we are serious, that we can be trusted, that we should be believed? In this easily overlooked teaching, Jesus instructs us to discard our attempts to win people over, to persuade someone to trust you, and simply be true and good, letting your life speak for itself. Can you commit to simply being trustworthy, regardless of whether any particular person recognizes your integrity?
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The Parable of Weeds Among the Wheat
The OTHER parable of the sower! The the sower learns weeds are growing amidst his crops, but chooses not to try and pull them out, for fear the crop will be destroyed in the process. Are you able to tolerate the presence of a person or idea that is causing trouble in your space, when you know that trying to eliminate it will hurt more than help? www.thetableqc.com
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The Road to Emmaus - Luke 24:13-35
Why could the disciples in this story not recognize Jesus or comprehend the resurrection? We can hypothesize a list of reasons, but let's start with accepting the basic fact that often human beings simply don't understand things that should be understandable. We wish this wasn't this wasn't the case, but it is a true thing about people. So then the question becomes - What might lead a person from a state of incomprehension, to a full and rich understanding of what God wants us to know? Learn more about The Table at www.thetableqc.com
Doubting Thomas - John 20:19-29
Did Thomas doubt? What was the nature of his doubt? In this message we'll look at Thomas' example as a person of faith, finding more admire and emulate than what tradition may have led us to expect.
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Hold On To These Things - Philippians 4:4-9
In our scripture reading for today, the Apostle Paul counsels his dear friends to embrace and attend to goodness, and compassion and faith, in a time when he cannot promise that they will have homes or money or safety or any of the things that a person would want to have, for a stable and comfortable life. Because they can always hold on to things that are true, and honourable and just and commendable. Goodwill, kindness, dignity and integrity - these things can remain, even when other things pass away.
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The Sheep Know the Shepherd (John 10:14-19, 21)
What is it like to be underwater? Take your best shot at explaining it, but the real way to know what it’s like is to experience it for yourself.
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Easter Says
What makes something unbelievable? What makes it seem an idle tale?
With bad stuff, we’re capable of believing – catastrophe always seems plausible, but we don’t want it to be true. So we deny it. We refuse to believe.
When it’s good stuff, we want to believe, but we don’t think we can.
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The Other Side of Death
A meditation for Holy Week
Mary and Judas
We all have both generosity and greed inside of us, of course we do. We have both devotion and corruption, both truth and deceit, and we are always being called upon to decide which kind of disciple we’re going to be, in this moment and the next.
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Palm Sunday - Luke 19:28-44
Palm Sunday is a celebration. It’s our remembrance of this moment of glory, laud and honour, as the classic hymn describes it. But is this a moment of triumph, as it is so often described? Luke portrays sadness and lament in the midst of the praise. Let's take a look.
Love and Attention
Abundant life if found in doing good, not looking good.
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A Woman Healed in the Synagogue
Sometimes, the things we believe will free us, actually imprison us.
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The Widow at Nain, The Boy with Seizures
Why would Jesus speak so differently to a grieving mother one day and a distraught father on another?
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The Centurion's Servant
When you think of all the people who came to Jesus in faith, why did he say that he’d never seen faith like the faith of the centurion?
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How would you react to a miracle?
Luke 4:38-40
When Simon Peter's mother-in-law is healed, she responds in a way that is different from how most people react to miracles in the gospels.
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Dialogue with the Devil
It is hard to maintain your focus on what is truly important, when you are being taunted and tested and scoffed at and tempted and trolled, by an adversary. It’s hard to persevere through hardship, when there’s this voice reminding you how it easy it is to cash out, if you’ll just abandon your principles.
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Tempted by the Devil - Luke 4-13
What kinds of encouragement and permission is it better for us to reject?
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When Jesus was Baptized
When Jesus was baptized by John, he received the same water, the same words, and the same grace as everybody else.
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Christ Child
In Bethlehem long ago, God arrived small, without spectacle or acclaim. The baby grew up, and over some years gained stature and wisdom, until he was a man, who learned and taught the fierceness of humility, the strength of gentleness and the fire of compassion. The mystery he embodied to the end, was there from the very beginning, in the manger, in the swaddling cloths. It’s the mystery that grace and peace enter softly, and they grow delicately as they recreate the world.
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Christmas Community
There’s a tension in the Christmas story, between feeling surrounding by love and support, and feeling anxious and alone. Today we explore the community that was there for Mary and Joseph when their baby was born. It wasn’t the community most us would expect or hope for, but nevertheless, there were people there for the holy family in their time of need.
Merry Christmas!
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Mary, the Mother of Jesus; Luke 1:26-38
Mary is an inspiration to anyone who seeks courage and wonder in the midst of chaos and confusion.
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Joseph, The Father of Jesus
Joseph chose to say yes to a life with Mary and Jesus as his family. It's a choice he didn't have to make, one he almost didn't make. But God enabled a transformation within Joseph, that enabled him to see is own path in a new way.
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A Meditation on Thanksgiving
Abraham Lincoln believed that thankfulness would be essential to the healing of the nation after the Civil War. How does gratitude work to restore and unite a people?
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What does it mean to be a Christian?
People associate a lot of things with being a Christian. But what is actually essential to this faith and identity? What makes a Christian a Christian?
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The Widow and the Judge - Luke 18:1-8
When the a parable is confusing or even troubling, the best thing is not to try and smooth out all the issues, but to lean in to the puzzle. In scripture, ambiguity and dilemma call us to deep and beneficial questions about ourselves and life on this earth.
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What You Leave and What You Take - Mark 1:16-20
Our stories are filled with experiences of loss and heartache, that both devastate and transform. Sometimes, it is in the midst of the worst fear and pain that we are most ready to hear from and trust in God.
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Is Grace Sufficient? Part 4: Unmet Expectations
To conclude this series, we explore the thorn of disappointment. Can we trust in grace when life does not turn out the way we wanted?
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Is Grace Sufficient? Part 3: Hurt Without Reconciliation
Can we rely on God's grace, when we have been hurt by someone who will never confess, repent, apologize, or try to make things right? If the person who wronged us will never ask for forgiveness, can we trust in Grace, for them and for ourselves?
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Is Grace Sufficient? Part 2: GUILT
In part 2 of this series we focus on GUILT - how we can trust in grace when we feel a great burden over the mistakes or evil choices we have made in the past.
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Is Grace Sufficient? Part 1: Physical Pain & Suffering
There are many things we face in life that are so difficult or painful or overwhelming, we wonder if our faith can persevere, or if WE can persevere. We want to trust God, but sometimes we confront things that cause us to question, “Is God’s grace enough for me, in the face of… this?”
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The Pharisee & The Tax Collector - Luke 18:9-14
One challenge Christians often overlook is the need to accept that God's grace extends not only to us and people we love, but also to people we judge, or even despise.
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The Rich Man & Lazarus PT2
The second part of our exploration of this parable focuses on Lazarus, and God's unique concern for the struggles and destiny of the poor of this world.
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Lazarus and the Rich Man, Part 1
The rich man and the poor man don't know it, but their lives are inextricably bound, on both sides of the grave.
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The Laborers in the Vineyard - Matthew 20:1-16
Most of the time, what is right and what is fair are the same. But sometimes, what is right and what is fair diverge.
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Leaving Afghanistan (Mark 13)
Take time to grieve today, to process the tragedy we have watched unfold, and to imagine together a path that leads us to peace, while honoring the trauma of war.
To Be In Need - Luke 24:13-35
We sometimes treat faith community as a place we go to show how decent and put together we are, as if we were supposed to work out all of our stuff BEFORE we can enter holy spaces. But the implication of this approach is that the only people who belong in church are those who don't need God.
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The Pearl of.Great Price - Matthew 13:45-46
The merchant in Jesus’ parable ceased the project of always trading up, always angling for the next thing. He had found something that caused him to stop fretting about all the other things he could have, all the other pearls that he could find if he kept seeking. Somehow he found the clarity of understanding to say, this is what I want, and I don't have to keep pining for the next thing. Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like that.”
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The Mustard Seed - Matthew 13:31-32
In this parable, Jesus describes God’s kingdom as a present reality that is nonetheless small, at least for now. But the growth that is in store, is not just an increase in size; it is a realization of purpose. Make a gift to The Table: https://thetableqc.churchcenter.com/givingThank You! Read the blog for The Table: https://www.thetableqc.com/blog
The Widow at Zerapheth - 1 Kings 17:8-16
Join us for a stunning tale of profound trust and generosity, as we remember Elijah and the Widow at Zerapheth.
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Parting Words - Parting Words - John 17:1-26
The final words we share with another person are so important. In our scripture today, we read words from Jesus, just before he says goodbye to his friends and goes to heaven.
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Joy and Friendship. - John 15:9-17
How central is the idea of friendship to how you understand faith? How central is joy? In today's scripture, Jesus describes Christianity as a joyful experience of friendship.
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The Story of Loss - Ruth and Naomi
Loss is one of the most powerful forces that shapes our lives, both in how the pain and devastation affects us, and in how it creates new beginnings and fresh possibilities.
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A Woman Healed, A Child Raised - Mark 5:21-43
Stories of trauma and triumph, help us to see timeless truths about grace and new life. To make these truths shine, the gospels sometimes tell stories in pairs.
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To Know That You Know
There are things that we need know in life, which we have access to, things we can grab onto and use, if we trust that we really do have the knowledge, the competency, the wisdom that is called for. But it can be difficult to trust that we really know what we need to know.
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Ways to Retreat - Mark 1:29-39
The blessed life is full of striving and dedication and passion. But it is also a life of restraint, remembering to retreat, and say no when the time is right.
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Still the Storm - Mark 4:35-41
The story of Jesus sleeping in a boat during a great storm, and speaking peace into the waves, is a story of God's awesome power, to be sure. But it's also a reminder of how Christ urges us to engage things we'd like to avoid, and his promise to be with us all the while.
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Easter 2021 - Luke 24:1-12
Some things that happen aren't seen as they happen. They are discovered to have happened, later.
Adoption and Inheritance.- Ephesians 1:3-14
When the Apostle Paul encourages Jesus followers to consider themselves adopted members of God's family, he is making a profound and radical statement about the expansiveness of God's grace and love.
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Weekly Message: Nicodemus 5.30.21
In the deep quiet of night, Jesus and a Pharisee contend with an invitation to a life that is like the wind, expansive and unconfined, without beginning or end
Weekly Message: Vine and Branches 5.2.21
The gospel says we are the branches of Christ's vine, meant to bear fruit. This week we explore the meaning of fruitfulness in this gospel of John