Living Hope CRC https://livinghopecrc.ca Growing in Hope Together Through Jesus Thu, 09 Apr 2026 01:24:32 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9.13 https://livinghopecrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/circle-dove-SMALL-Copy-36x36.png Living Hope CRC https://livinghopecrc.ca 32 32 CLAYBURN COLLECTIVE | SPRING ARTISAN MARKET 2026 https://livinghopecrc.ca/clayburn-collective-spring-artisan-market-2026/ Thu, 09 Apr 2026 01:24:30 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7683 .flex_column.av-2kcurj-fc820d21f04b649dc633dc4bb9b7c0d4{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }


FRIDAY, MAY 8 (4-8pm) and SATURDAY, MAY 9 (9am-2pm)

Location: Living Hope CRC | 34631 Old Clayburn Road, Abbotsford B.C.



We are hosting our third Clayburn Collective market at Living Hope Church this coming Mother’s Day weekend! Happening for two days — Friday, May 8 (4-8pm) and Saturday, May 9 (9am-2pm).

This is going to be a wonderful community event that’s free for all to enter. Be sure to come on out with your friends, family or just yourself! As it happens to be Mother’s Day weekend, bring along your mom or another loved one, and make an outing of it. You’ll be sure to find some amazing handmade or local products from our wide array of 25 vendors.

We encourage you to check out our Instagram (@clayburncollective) as we are featuring our vendors in the days leading up to the market. Here you can also stay up-to-date with other pertinent information, or send us a question in our DMs!

VENDOR LIST


Anna’s Clayworks
Birdy’s Bread
Brainfood Dried Fruit Co.
Christine’s Crocheting
Coloured Expressions
Creme de la Crochet
Distinctive Design
Dots-n-Daisy Designs
Endless Creations by Adrianna
Gayle’s Jams and Jellies
Gifted Creations by Shan
Greens+
Judys’ Crafts
Just Posy
Little House Creations
North Garden Naturals
Rosalie Steenblok Art
Soapscapes
Stoneridge Studio
Sylvia’s Crochet
The Potted Pixel
The Wooden Beard
Wild Bluebell Homestead
With Love and Beads by Tammy-Lee
Woven

FAQs


  • IS THERE AN ADMISSION COST?

    Nope, admission is completely free! It’s up to you how much you spend when shopping though ; )

  • IS THERE SPACE TO PARK?

    Absolutely! The church’s lot has plenty of room.

    There is additional parking located at the park across the road.

  • IS IT WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE?

    Yes!

    The entire market is on the main floor of the building and is wheelchair accessible. Aisles will be wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through.

  • ARE THERE WASHROOMS AVAILABLE?

    Yes, the washrooms are located on the main floor down the hallway on your left as you enter the front doors.

    And a wheelchair accessible family washroom is located just past the main washrooms.

  • WILL REFRESHMENTS BE AVAILABLE?

    We will be serving coffee and tea! Donations will be accepted to go towards Life Recovery, but they’re not required.

    We are excited to have you join us and know that sipping a drink can making shopping all the more enjoyable!

  • WHAT TYPES OF PAYMENT WILL BE ACCEPTED?

    Not all vendors will be accepting credit card or debit (some definitely will!)

    We encourage you to bring cash. Some vendors will accept e-transfer.

  • SHOULD I BRING A REUSEABLE BAG?

    Definitely!

    We encourage you to bring a reusable bag (or two) to carry your purchases home in! As not all vendors will be providing bags.

]]> GLITTERING VICES | SMALL GROUP MATERIAL https://livinghopecrc.ca/glittering-vices-small-group-material/ Wed, 04 Feb 2026 17:52:24 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7659

GLITTERING VICES | SMALL GROUP STUDY MATERIAL



Download a printable copy of the whole study here


Written by Ben Wimmers, Pastor of Youth and Family

for Fleetwood CRC, Langley Immanuel CRC, and Living Hope CRC

Introduction

Welcome to the Glittering Vices Small Group Study Guide! It has been a joy and a challenge to read through Glittering Vices by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung; it is my hope that you find our Lenten sermon series and the subsequent discussions will leave you feeling likewise. It is my privilege to be a fourth voice in this series, being able to speak with you and your small group as you wrestle with the sermons of Pastors Chris, Justin, and Steve. It is my hope that you find the substance of their preaching transformative and that this guide serves to draw you deeper into the truths they unfold each Sunday morning.

You will note that I’ve included Lust as an additional session. Since lent only has 6 Sundays we will not be covering lust, but the option is there for each group to treat each separately or at once based on the ideas from the sermon.

This guide will assume that you have listened to the corresponding sermon, but that you have not read DeYoung’s book. There will be quotes from the book throughout this guide, providing an opportunity to deepen your discussions. Page numbers from Glittering Vices accompany the quotes if you have a copy and want to dig into the broader context of DeYoung’s work.

Glittering Vices

Within this study, we will explore the Seven Deadly Sins, or Vices. Within the Christian tradition, these seven have emerged as capital vices, from the Latin capitis, which means head or source. We explore these seven, not because they are the only sins or vices that we can experience, but because all our sins can be understood as flowing out of one or more of these vices.

A vice (or its counterpart, a virtue), first of all, is a habit or a character trait. Unlike something we are born with—such as an outgoing personality or a predisposition to have high cholesterol levels—virtues and vices count as moral qualities. We can cultivate habits or break them down over time through our repeated actions (7).

This study will be an exploration of our hearts and habits, as both inform and shape each other. The invitation will be to investigate how our hearts and habits have been misshappen by the vices and how the gospel, by the work of the Holy Spirit reforms us.

Before you begin:

Write down a definition of each of the vices, as you understand them, or write down what you believe to be the most common definition that Christians would likely define it as. We will compare them to Rebecca DeYoung’s definitions as we go. I hope that it we be a good exercise to begin each session, wrestling with our preconceived notions of the vices and how they might be affirmed or turned on their heads.

Here are a few questions that can be used as a starting point for each session.

  • What stood out to you from the pastor’s sermon?
  • What was new or surprising?
  • What would you like to learn about more?
  • How were you challenged?


Pride/Vainglory

Vainglory is the excessive and disordered desire for recognition and approval from others (42).

Pride excessively concerns excellence itself (i.e., my excelling others); vainglory, by contrast, concerns primarily the display or manifestation of my excellence (45). In other words, it doesn’t even matter so much if you are good at something, what matters more is if you are seen as good at it.

  • How do these definitions of Pride/Vainglory compare with yours? What is the same or different?
  • Where have you seen vainglory prized in culture? Can you think of examples in your own life?

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4)

  • Why do we love recognition for the things we do well?
  • Why is the temptation to flaunt our righteousness so serious, and so easy to succumb to?

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

  • How do we determine if we are shining a light that points to our glory or to God’s glory?

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

Relinquishing our reputation-seeking yields a significant reward: we have a chance to be truly known and loved (59).

  • What holds us back from letting people know the real us, instead of the reputation that we have cultivated?
  • Before we can be known by others, we must first allow ourselves to be known by God (and to know him). What practices help you to be known by God?

Remedy to Pride/Vainglory:

Jesus modeled a spiritually healthy rhythm of sociability and solitude: he ministered among the crowds, teaching and healing, but balanced that work by withdrawing often to a solitary place to pray (61-62).

  • How does solitude work against pride and vainglory?
  • What does solitude look like for you?

Envy

DeYoung describes envy this way: In envy, we eye the internal qualities of another person, qualities that give a person worth, honor, standing, or status (69). Envy can also be described as not being able to delight in the good that someone else is experiencing because you want it for yourself.

  • How does DeYoung’s definition of envy compare to your own?
  • Consider the difference between envy and jealousy. “Jealousy counts as envy’s close cousin because both are personal and related to love. The jealous “have” something or someone they love but might lose. The envious, by contrast, are “have-nots”—they do not have the good their rival does, and they do not have self-love either. Thus, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain from another’s loss” (70). How do you see the difference between envy and jealousy?

DeYoung notes that envy is a matter of self-worth. The envious care how they stack up against others because they measure their self-worth comparatively (71).

  • Comparison is a thief of joy; a common phrase that points to envy as the root of this joyless comparison. Why does envy love comparing and why is the result joylessness?
  • What internal qualities (that give honor, standing, and status) are people most envious of, most likely to compare themselves to?

In short, the envious resent God, feel bitter toward others, and condemn themselves to a hell of their own making already on earth (79).

  • Why might the envious resent God and others?
  • Why does DeYoung say that the bitterness and resentment they feel originates from the envious person themselves?

The Remedy to Envy:

Overcoming envy requires acknowledging a deeply human need for unconditional love. It likewise requires that we acknowledge the divine source of such love (82). The cure for envy is not contentment, it is not being ambivalent about what others have, but loves others and desires to see them flourish.

Isaiah 43:1-4 “But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.”

  • How do we come to know that God loves us unconditionally, that our value comes from his love, rather than the things in life we are most envious of (and value most)?
  • Isaiah speaks about God’s fierce love for his people, his unconditional love, as evidenced by the way he has saved them. What stories from your life affirm that God loves you unconditionally?

Quiet benevolence also develops a habit of acting for others’ sake in ways that are not instrumental to engineering superiority or status for ourselves (83).

  • What quiet acts can you do this week, that do not build your reputation, but show God’s unconditional love?

Acedia

Acedia often shows up as apathy, a comfortable indifference to duty and neglect of others’ needs (89). Acedia comes from a Greek word that means ‘the lack of care’ and can also be seen as a failure to love God and others with our whole self.

  • How does this definition of sloth compare with your own?

“Not only can acedia and ordinary diligence exist very well together; it is even true that the senselessly exaggerated workaholism of our age is directly traceable to acedia.” It turns out that both the apathetic inertia of the lazy person and the perpetual motion of the busy person can stem from a heart afflicted by this vice, according to the traditional conception.(90)

  • When looking at DeYoung’s definition of acedia, how does simply working harder and being busier fail to be the remedy to the sin of acedia?
  • What reasons are typically given to the ‘lazy person’ to encourage them to cease in their laziness and work harder?
  • The earliest descriptions of acedia call it the noonday demon because it was at the heat of the day that early monks felt distracted from their calling and duty in prayer. They would comment that acedia comes with a listlessness, a discontent with where they were and what they were doing. How has this aspect of acedia impacted our culture? Have you seen this part of acedia in your life?

Thomas Aquinas, one of the great thinkers in Christian history who wrote a lot about vices and virtues in the 1200s, begins with the cryptic definition of acedia as “aversion to the divine good in us.” (94)

  • What do you think this means?

“The divine good in us,” in Aquinas’s medieval-ish way of talking, means the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts—God’s life in us. Paul puts it this way: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:19–20). (95)

  • Why might we resist the work of the Holy Spirit in us (either by doing nothing or by busying ourselves with our own tasks)?
  • Why do we prefer to do our own things (or nothing at all)?

The Remedy to Acedia:

Acedia’s resistance targets nothing less than the gift of the Holy Spirit and our new identity in Christ.(96)

  • Before turning to scripture, work as a group to list the characteristics define the Christian life?
  • Look at 2 Peter, to see what characteristics mark the Christian life.

2 Peter 1:3-7 “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”

Note: Peter calls his readers to make every effort in the cultivation of the life transformed by the work of the Spirit. Acedia is not opposed to effort, but rather opposed to putting effort into the right things, as DeYoung says, “Whether through laziness or busyness, when we have acedia, we avoid changing, stretching, or giving ourselves”.(100-101)

  • Looking at Peter’s list of characteristics of the Christian life – which ones challenge acedia?
  • What practices and rhythms help you nurture a healthy spiritual life? What might you need to change to resist acedia (either as laziness or busyness)?
  • DeYoung suggests Sabbath as a healing practice for those with acedia. How might our resting well actually lead to healing us from our distracted and disordered loves?

Avarice (Greed)

Aquinas’s definition bears this out: we are greedy when we excessively love or desire money or any possession money can buy (113). “[Note] how our greedy tendency to trust in wealth for happiness and security undercuts our trust in God. Like the other vices rooted in pride, greed expresses the do-it-yourself method of finding happiness, instead of the contentedness of receiving the good things that God gives us and gratefully depending on his provision”(114).

  • How does this definition compare with yours?
  • What drives our culture’s obsession with wealth and the things it can buy?

Luke 21:1-4 “As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.””

  • Why does Jesus point to this poor widow as the picture of generosity? How is greed absent from her giving when compared to the rich (who are still giving to the temple)?
  • Ambrose says one of the most influential preachers of the early church wrote, ‘it is the heart that makes the gift rich or poor, and gives things their value. ‘It is the heart that makes the gift rich or poor, and gives things their value.’”(116) What do you make of Ambrose’s words? What postures of the heart are present if gifts given well? What about the heart that gives improperly?

Consider the following scripture passages and a quote from DeYoung:

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?””

When we let avarice take root, we don’t merely want to have more; each of us wants things to count as mine. But in the end, do we possess our possessions, or are we possessed by them?(117-118)

  • What drives us to desire ownership of things, to be able to declare that something is mine? How does the desire for ownership feed our love of money?

The Remedy to Avarice:

In opposition to avarice/greed, stands generosity. “The generous are looking for opportunities to give because they recognize what they have themselves received as a gift.” (123)

  • Why is generosity the remedy to greed? Explore how it impacts your heart and where you place your trust (God or money).
  • What makes generosity difficult? When is it easy?
  • What regular practices can grow generosity in your heart?

Wrath

Is anger good or bad? The Christian tradition is divided over making an absolute claim over the nature of anger. Let’s begin with a few questions to help us understand our own understanding of wrath.

  • What do you get angry about most often?
  • How do you express that anger?

For many of us, anger is a problem, one that often reveals a spiritual problem. As the opening story illustrates, we express this emotion when something interferes with what we expect or feel we deserve.(138) Anger rightly expresses the thought, “This is not the way it’s supposed to be! Something ought to be done to set things straight!”(140) Anger turns wrathful when it fights for its own selfish cause, not for justice, and when it fights dirty.(144)  Wrath’s fighting power tends to protect my ego and entitlements, to the exclusion of the claims of others.(145)

  • How does DeYoung’s explanation of the root cause of anger reframe how we think about it?
  • What does our culture say we should be most angry about? What does it say we deserve the most in life, that we should be angry when we do not receive it?

What about God? What can you say about God’s anger?

  • What angers God? He is angered when his people break the commandments (being unfaithful to God and each other; Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:29-31)
  • How is God angry? God is slow to anger and abounding in love.
  • How does God’s anger inform us about what we should be angry about?

Look at the way Jesus is moved to anger:

John 2:17 “His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.””

Mark 3:4-5 “Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.”

  • What is the difference between wrath and zeal?
  • What was Jesus angry about and how did he express that anger?

The Remedy to Wrath:

Anger, when it is a holy emotion, has justice as its object and love as its root (156).

Luke 6:45 “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

  • How do we cultivate our hearts to love God’s justice and act out of love towards injustice?
  • How can our anger be directed more to the injustices others receive, rather than just acting our when we feel a perceived injustice?

Gluttony

Put simply, this vice gluts on pleasure, reducing human life to self-gratification (165).

  • How does this definition compare with yours?

Consider the acronym FRESH: eating fastidiously, ravenously, excessively, sumptuously, and hastily (166).

Fastidiously – focused on our specific desires (“All I want is…”), demanding that they be met so that they can have a pleasurable experience.

Ravenously – taking much of a pleasurable thing.

Excessively – consume beyond full, for the sake of taste (pleasure)

Sumptuously – focused on the desire to eat and be filled with our most pleasurable foods (and only those foods).

Hastily – moving quickly to ensure you get what you find pleasurable, out of fear of there being not enough.

  • What stands out to you from these 5 aspects of gluttony? Which seem most common, which was the most surprising?

Eccl 6:7 “Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.”

The author of Ecclesiastes points to the way in which eating in a FRESH way leads to dissatisfaction, and that one must continue to work harder to satiate their appetite for pleasurable foods.

  • What is the purpose of food? Share the time you experienced a memorable meal; what made it memorable?

FUN FACT: To have too little desire—the vice of insensitivity—and shun good things therefore counts as a disordered attitude along with having too much desire—the vice of gluttony (175).

The Remedy to Gluttony:

1 Tim 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

  • What practice can help us retrain our appetites towards seeking contentment instead of only pleasure (food can still be enjoyable!)?

Greater abstinence from food may help us focus on spiritual goods and focus our prayers in a way that discipleship in general or a particular kingdom task requires.(179)

Matthew 4:1-2 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

  • As Jesus prepared for ministry, he fasted. What is your experience with fasting? How can it help us be free from the vice of gluttony? How can it help draw us closer to God?

Lust

The chapter on Lust is available on request from the office. It is recommended that you read this chapter in advance of the discussion to enrich your conversation.

Lust says, Sexual pleasure is my pleasure (196).

  • How does this description compare to yours?

In lust, I decide to make my own pleasure the goal, and then I decide where to get it, and when, and how (200).

  • What is the harm, to either oneself or another, by making sexual pleasure about satisfying one’s own needs?

God created us as sexual beings; we bear God’s image in our maleness and femaleness, as the poetic parallelism of Genesis 1:27 indicates. God designed human beings with sexual bodies capable of attraction and arousal. Our sexuality—including bodies, hormones, and the tactile desires and pleasures that go with them—counts as a good gift from God. (191)

  • How does lust corrupt this truth, that sexuality is a gift from God?

The Remedy for Lust:

1 Cor 6:18 “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”

  • What does it look like to flee sexual immorality in our culture? How do we flee it in a way that still affirms the God-given goodness of sexuality?

Lust thrives in privacy and isolation. Lustful people often feel shame, which also motivates them to keep their struggles hidden from others. But when we hide our hearts, we cannot come to grips with the darkness within, or expose it to the light in confession. This means lust’s remedy requires community, openness, and accountability. Sheer individual willpower will not work. You will not beat this vice alone. Lust’s vicious cycle copycats the dynamics of addiction (212).

  • How can community be a factor in addressing lust? What is the posture of such a community towards those struggling with lust?

Phil 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

  • What does it look like to speak about sexuality in a way that demonstrates its “excellence and praiseworthiness”?
  • What is the place for chastity in our conversation on lust?

DeYoung Notes that in the case of the desire for sexual pleasure, being called to love your neighbor as yourself means that respecting persons and their bodies includes both your neighbor’s body and your own.(208)

John 15:12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

  • How do we love ourselves and our neighbours in a way that honours the image of God in each of us?
]]> Care Home Caroling Lyrics 2025 https://livinghopecrc.ca/care-home-caroling-lyrics-2025/ Thu, 18 Dec 2025 23:29:30 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7607 .avia-image-container.av-av_image-aefa2790b8b3def09bada7e153074469 .av-image-caption-overlay-center{ color:#ffffff; }

  • AWAY IN A MANGER

    Verse 1
    Away in a manger no crib for a bed
    The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head
    The stars in the sky looked down where He lay
    The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay

    Verse 2
    The cattle are lowing the Baby awakes
    But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes
    I love Thee Lord Jesus look down from the sky
    And stay by my cradle ’til morning is nigh

    Verse 3
    Be near me Lord Jesus I ask Thee to stay
    Close by me forever and love me I pray
    Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care
    And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there

  • SILENT NIGHT

    Verse 1
    Silent night holy night
    All is calm I’m singin’ all is bright
    ‘Round yon virgin mother and Child
    Holy Infant so tender and mild
    Sleep in heavenly peace
    Oh sleep in heavenly peace

    Verse 2
    Silent night holy night
    Shepherds quake oh at the sight
    Glories stream from heaven afar
    Heavenly hosts sing alleluia
    Christ the Savior is born
    Christ the Savior is born

    Verse 3
    Silent night holy night
    Son of God oh love’s pure light
    Radiant beams from Thy holy face
    With the dawn of redeeming grace
    Jesus Lord at Thy birth
    Jesus Lord at Thy birth

  • WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

    Chorus
    We wish you a merry Christmas
    We wish you a merry Christmas
    We wish you a merry Christmas
    And a happy New Year
    Glad tidings we bring
    To you and your kin
    We wish you a merry Christmas
    And a happy New Year

  • Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn)

    Verse 1
    Hark the herald angels sing
    Glory to the newborn King
    Peace on earth and mercy mild
    God and sinners reconciled
    Joyful all ye nations rise
    Join the triumph of the skies
    With th’angelic hosts proclaim
    Christ is born in Bethlehem
    Hark the herald angels sing
    Glory to the newborn King

    Verse 2
    Christ by highest heav’n adored
    Christ the everlasting Lord
    Late in time behold Him come
    Offspring of the Virgin’s womb
    Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
    Hail th’incarnate Deity
    Pleased as man with men to dwell
    Jesus our Emmanuel
    Hark the herald angels sing
    Glory to the newborn King

    Verse 3
    Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace
    Hail the Sun of Righteousness
    Light and life to all He brings
    Ris’n with healing in His wings
    Mild He lays His glory by
    Born that man no more may die
    Born to raise the sons of earth
    Born to give them second birth
    Hark the herald angels sing
    Glory to the newborn King

    Verse 4
    Come Desire of nations come
    Fix in us Thy humble home
    Rise the woman’s conqu’ring seed
    Bruise in us the serpent’s head
    Adam’s likeness now efface
    Stamp Thine image in its place
    Second Adam from above
    Reinstate us in Thy love
    Hark the herald angels sing
    Glory to the newborn King

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Introducing Alpha https://livinghopecrc.ca/introducing-alpha/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:33:11 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7578 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Introducing Alpha


Read the rest of the newsletter here


We are excited to announce that Living Hope will be hosting the Alpha program early in the new year! Alpha is a series of interactive sessions that create a safe and welcoming space to discuss life’s big questions, explore the basics of Christian faith, and share in meaningful conversations with others.

These sessions are for everyone—whether you’re looking for a way to introduce your neighbour or friend to Christ, curious about Christianity yourself, new to faith, or hoping to build on your foundational knowledge of the gospel.

Everyone is welcome!

Watch for dates, times, and registration in the next couple of months! If you’d like to know more, or are interested in helping to facilitate these evenings, please reach out to Josh and Sandra Ferguson at joshandsandra@hotmail.com

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Recommended Reads https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-recommended-reads/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:31:17 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7572 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Recommended Reads


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Here are some books recommended by Pastor Steve and Pastor Ben. Consider adding these to your reading list.


How Do I Help a Hurting Friend?

Rod Wilson

Are you a pastoral visitor or caregiver or just someone in the church who knows someone going through a tough time? Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, and it’s helpful to get insights from those who know what helps and what unintentionally brings further hurt. This book offers some practical advice touching on subjects like grief, depression, burnout, and dysfunction in family life.

From the Back of the Book: Each of us know someone who is hurting. We want to help but often don’t know how… Rod Wilson offers you practical insights into helping hurting people. These insights are born out of more than twenty-five years of church and counselling experience.  

*This book can be found in our section on pastoral care and grief. 


Made to Belong

David Kim

We celebrated Kick-off with a series on community and there are a plenty of great resources out there to explore what it means to grow as churches longing to develop deeper connection in community. Made to Belong not only gives good biblical foundations but practical ways in which we can cultivate community in our church.

From the Back of the Book: Left to ourselves, we tend to drift away from relationships. David grew up as a Korean American immigrant and realized how difficult it is to find and cultivate meaningful connections, even in Christian community. In other words, we all want to belong, but we just don’t know how. 


Practicing the Way

John Mark Comer

This year council has been focusing on the question of how we are meant to grow as disciples. We have been using Practicing the Way as a guide into looking at how we can be intentional in forming ourselves as leaders and as Christians.

From the back of the Book: To live by what the first Christian disciples called a Rule of Life—a set of practices and relational rhythms that slow us down and open up space in our daily lives for God to do what only God can do—transforms the deepest parts of us to become like him.


Habits of the Household

Justin Witmel Earley

As we have looked at Practicing the Way, you may have thought to yourself, “This is really great, but I am barely keeping up with the rhythms of parenting!” Whether you have small children or teenagers, the dynamics of family life have an impact on our rhythms and habits; and our heart follows those habits. This book offers up opportunities to shape the faith of your family in the daily rhythms you already engage with. I won’t promise that reading this book will make it easier, but it might make it feel more achievable.

From the back of the Book: You long for tender moments with your children–but do you ever find yourself too busy to stop, make eye contact, and say something you really mean? Daily habits are powerful ways to shape the heart–but do you find yourself giving in to screen time just to get through the day? You want to parent with purpose–but do you know how to start? 

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Lent Series: The Remedy to Sin https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-lent-series-the-remedy-to-sin/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:22:25 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7570 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Lent Series: The Remedy to Sin


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Written by Pastor Steve Berkenpas, Lead Pastor


This year lent will start in February. Seeing as it is just around the corner. We are including a reflection on Lent and Easter in this Newsletter. 


How often do you think about sin? For some of us, it is an unhealthy obsession. We can fixate on particular sins and wallow in our own guilt. For others, we try to play it off as not so bad. We hardly give it a second thought. Sin can be a notoriously challenging subject to approach because of the baggage or different assumptions that people hold about what sin is.

In light of that, this Lent, we will be doing a series called ‘The Remedy to Sin.’ Focusing in on the 7 Deadly Sins and the remedy in Christ. In this series we will have a look at how sin is not just the actions we do – but involves the orientation of our hearts and our distorted desires and loves. Often, in looking at particular sins, we can miss the deeper causes. By focusing on the end results, we miss that sin has been crouching within ourselves for a long time, festering and waiting for its expression.

The thing about sin is, it starts somewhere. I think this is the aspect that stood out to me last time I did a deep dive in the 7 deadly sins. These 7 were not distilled in the ancient church because they were absolute worst things that you can do. No, they are the places where sin begins. They are the places where we begin, in our own pride, to look inwardly instead of towards God. In order to uproot sin in our lives, we need to not only see the end results – we need to go to the very places where they originate.

Sometimes it is helpful to take an extra close look at sin, so we know how we can spot it in our own lives, and so we can know how to rid ourselves of it. And what better time to do this than during Lent? Lent is the season where we journey towards the cross – a time of internal inspection – looking at what it is we have to shed. In the words of the Seeking God’s Face devotional, “It is a somber journey of spiritual preparation and renewal, marked especially be repentance and prayer. In our pain-averse culture, Lent stands apart by not shrinking away from suffering but cultivating in us wisdom that growth often (some might say only) comes through suffering.” Sometimes we shy away from sin, not wanting to face the ugly reality of it in our lives. But in order for us to mark seasons of renewal – we need to be willing to take a long hard look at the dark places within us. We need to be able to see these parts of us that are causing brokenness and put an end to it. This is a painful process, it involves suffering, but this is the way towards growth.

This sort of change doesn’t happen overnight. By identifying the deepest parts of our being, we are identifying things that we can’t simply choose to stop doing. Envy seems to come from within, lust can seem like an inescapable reality, anger just flares up. If it was as simple as willing these things away, we’d be done with them a long time ago. In our series we will see how Jesus not only does the work of offering freedom from the penalty of sin, he also gives a way to the remedy of sin in our lives. He offers ways that we transform ourselves – that we can be agents of resistance and healing in a world of decay and hurt.

The 7 Deadly Sins are listed as: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Which of these do you need to attend to in your own life? Are there any that don’t seem so bad or feel misunderstood? Take time to reflect on these as we look to focusing on this in the New Year.


SMALL GROUPS

This past fall, several of our small groups chose to do the material corresponding with our series on Community. It was wonderful to see people thinking deeply about how to live out community in their lives beyond the sermon series. This winter we will be offering a 7-Part Small Group resource corresponding with our Lent series on the Seven Deadly sins.


BOOK SPOTLIGHT

The sermon reflections will be rooted in scripture, seeing how God’s word illuminates sin and the remedy for it. For those looking to gain more knowledge on the 7 Deadly Sins and a Reformed perspective on it, you are encouraged to check out “Glittering Vices” By Rebecca Konyndyk DeYong from Calvin University.

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Reflection on Guess Who’s Coming to Lunch https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-reflection-on-guess-whos-coming-to-lunch/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:19:32 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7568 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Reflection on Guess Who’s Coming to Lunch


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Written by Pastor Steve Berkenpas, Lead Pastor


This fall, as we focused on community, we encouraged the practice of eating together. This is something that forms community – and has been a central practice of the church from the very beginning. To facilitate this, we held a ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Lunch’ event – where people signed up as a host or guest to simply enjoy a meal together on a Sunday afternoon. We had over 60 sign-ups and the responses were positive – it’s something we will certainly be doing again. Here’s a note from Pearl who wrote this reflection for the newsletter:

Guess Who’s Coming was a wonderful event planned by the church. We signed up as being willing to host. We were set up with 5 people joining us. It was so nice to connect over a meal with these 5 people. Two couples, one older than us and one couple younger and a widower. We had such a great time chatting about all kinds of things together. It was positive, uplifting and so very “gezellig”. We used to invite people over after church all the time and for whatever reason, just don’t do it as often anymore. This was just the little push we needed. We love it!  Thanks for organizing it.  — Pearl 

With the positive feedback from Pearl and others – this is something we’d definitely like to do again! If you’d like to help organize this in the future let Pastor Steve or Pastor Ben know. And, you don’t need to wait until the next event – lets continue this practice of eating with others and building community at Living Hope!

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Community as Welcoming the Stranger https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-community-as-welcoming-the-stranger/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:17:24 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7566 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Community as Welcoming the Stranger


Read the rest of the newsletter here


Written by Pastor Ben Wimmers, Pastor of Youth & Family


Pastor Ben created a resource for small groups as an addition to the community curriculum from Practicing the Way. Below is an excerpt encouraging us in our practices that form healthy communities.


Who do you share Christmas Dinner with? For most of us, it is a day for our closest family. We gather to enjoy our most cherished traditions, carried across the generations. It is often a joyful time of connection and comfort, with those who know us best.

In her article Eating with Jesus, Courtney Saldivar notes the importance of having a Christmas dinner with recovering addicts. She notes that the acceptance they felt was deepened because they were gathered at a time that was usually reserved for family. By inviting members of the recovery program to a Christmas Dinner, they were being afforded a family privilege.

It is only natural as Christians that we consider widening our practices of community to inviting “non-family” into the spaces reserved for family. It is natural because we call all followers of Jesus our brothers and sisters. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are adopted into God family together. We are all family through Christ. Kristina and I have reflected on this principle during our time in Abbotsford. Having left all of our biological family behind in Ontario, we no longer have our expected gatherings and celebrations during the holidays. It has been a great joy for us, to be invited to someone’s house for Thanksgiving and Easter; it is an even greater honor when there is family there that does not belong to our immediate church community, showing that we are truly stepping into a time for family; being honored with the privilege reserved for family. It is a wonderful thing to be invited over after church for soup and buns; it is truly spectacular to be invited over for Christmas dinner.

Now, Kristina and I are familiar in the context of Living Hope CRC. I think that the risk of inviting us to your most intimate familial gatherings is low. You know who you are receiving and what type of visit to expect from us. I want to invite you to reflect on the quote from Dr. Christine Pohl on hospitality for the stranger:

“If we are genuinely concerned about the needs of strangers, offering hospitality requires courage. It involves not only a willingness to take some risks in welcoming others, but it also requires the kind of courage that lives close to our limits, continually pressing against the possible, yet always aware of the incompleteness and the inadequacy of our own responses. At the same time, living so close to the edge of sufficient resources increases our dependence on, and our awareness of, God’s interventions and provision.” (Pohl, Christine. “Offering Hospitality”, plough.com)  

To be truly hospitable to the stranger, it requires us to stretch ourselves. It stretches us in our feeling of comfort, but also in our resources (remember the Old Testament practice of Gleaning?). It pushes us to remember that all we have comes from God and is meant to be shared with others; not just those who we know and love, but with everyone who bears the Image of God. John Calvin is especially helpful in articulating who we must extend the hand of love and fellowship to:

The Lord commands all men without exception “to do good” [Heb. 13:16]. Yet the great part of them are most unworthy if they be judged by their own merit. But here Scripture helps in the best way when it teaches that we are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honor and love. (Institutes III.7.6) 

We do not welcome the stranger into our closest community because of who they are, what they are able to provide for the community, nor their ability to be good Christians. We welcome the stranger based on who God is as the creator of the people that we consider strangers. They are not strangers to God; they bear his image the same as we do. In this way, something more significant ties us together with the stranger than separates us.

Throughout Scripture and all Christian history, followers of Jesus have been thinking deeply about the practices of community and how to welcome in the stranger. Jesus lays out a very compelling case for the extension of community and practices of hospitality:

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”  (Matthew 10:40)

What is shocking about this verse is that Jesus takes this and then demonstrates that he is in the stranger, the person who was hungry or thirsty.  

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  (Matthew 25:37-40)

The practice of hospitality is deeper than welcoming in the stranger, it is about welcoming Jesus into our midst. Our practice of hospitality, of bringing the stranger in our closest community should be stimulated by our desire to welcome Christ. This is not optional in the Christian life. We can have important discussion about how we welcome the stranger but should never be caught up asking if we should welcome the stranger.

To close, read the Celtic Rune of Hospitality below, which I believe is a good summary of Jesus’ teaching and call to action on hospitality to the stranger.

We saw a stranger yesterday,  

We put food in the eating place, drink in the drinking place, music in the listening place.  

And, with the sacred name of the triune God,  

He blessed us and our house, our cattle and our dear ones.  

As the lark says in her song:  

Often, often, often, goes Christ in the stranger’s guise.  

Often, often, often, goes Christ in the stranger’s guise. 

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | The Jesse Tree https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-the-jesse-tree/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:13:21 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7563 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | The Jesse Tree


Read the rest of the newsletter here


Written by Pastor Ben Wimmers, Pastor of Youth & Family


Advent is a season where our minds quickly race ahead. Each year we are caught thinking about the Christmas season earlier and earlier. Each year we try and stay ahead of the event planning and gift buying. We might even find ourselves wishing for Christmas Day to come quickly to either satisfy our anticipation of this season, or for it to hurry away so that we can move onto the next thing. Advent has become a hurried season of looking ahead.

Yet, Advent is supposed to be about waiting, perhaps even slowing down. The Advent season is reflective and retrospective. This year, Living Hope CRC wants to invite you to take a different look this Advent season. Instead of looking ahead and racing towards Christmas day and beyond, we want you to slow down (if even for just a moment) and look back, way, way back.

The Jesse Tree is an old practice of the Christian church. It is a way to mark the Advent season to orient the story of Christmas, of Jesus’ birth, into the story of the Bible. To see how Jesus is a part of the entire story of the Bible, we need to spend time in the entirety of scripture.

I always communicate to our youth that Jesus wasn’t “Salvation – Plan B”. It can be tempting to think that way. We imagine that God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, gave them the law, set them up in Canaan as a nation and let them work it out. We might be tempted to see the law as God’s first try at salvation, that it could have worked. The law and the covenant at Sinai was “Salvation – Plan A”. When it became clear that Israel was never going to pull it together, they were never going to be that holy nation, a city on the hill, God sent them into exile and initiated “Salvation – Plan B”. It is a well-worn path in scripture for our youth, to go back to Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Immediately after the Fall, the moment when humanity willingly stepped into rebellion against God, God put “Salvation – The Only Plan” into motion.

Right in the Garden, God planned to send Jesus as the means of salvation. The Old Testament is shaped by God’s revelation of his character and the means of salvation to his people. We see God’s plan for salvation in the stories of the Red Sea, David and Goliath, Daniel in the Lion’s Den. All the stories of scripture serve a multitude of purposes, but they all share one in common, pointing to Christ.

This Advent season, we want to invite you to slow down and look back (instead of hurrying forward). The Jesse Tree is structured to do just that. It follows a four-step liturgy each day (see below). There are ornaments with symbols to mark each day. You can hang them on your tree, or somewhere special in your home. These symbols connect with the scripture reading and help with remembering the story. As the Advent season moves forward, you can quiz yourself on the stories by looking at your Jesse Tree ornaments.

As a final note, do as many days as you can. There are 25 days for the Jesse Tree. You can do as many as you have time for. Some days will be easier than others to create time for devotions. The best thing about the story of scripture is that you can read it whenever you want. Sure, it would be awesome to have 25 straight days of the Jesse Tree, finishing on Christmas morning. But, if you don’t get through all 25, or you finish by Spring Break, that is okay too. The goal of the Jesse Tree is not to check-off 25 scripture readings; it is about taking time to slow down and look back with thankfulness for God’s one plan of salvation.

  • BREATHE

    Take a moment in this busy season to just breathe. Before coming into God’s word, quiet your mind and slow down to hear what God is saying.

  • READ

    Spend time in Scripture, looking back at the story of God. It is a great exercise to read out loud, to hear the words in addition to reading them.

  • WONDER

    Have fun! The provided question can get things rolling, wondering about an aspect of the story that doesn’t have a definitive answer. I love the questions from children and youth that don’t have any deep theological meaning but are nonetheless important wonderings. “What kind of shoes did they wear?” “How far is that to walk?” “What did the kids do for fun in the desert?”. Entertain these questions with sincerity, even allowing your adult-selves to have these wonderings. You can always wonder about how this passage in scripture points to Jesus as a final question.

  • PRAY

    Anchor your liturgy in prayer. Take your moment of breathing, your time in scripture, and your wonderings to God in prayer.

]]> Neighbourhood Christmas https://livinghopecrc.ca/neighbourhood-christmas/ Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:31:55 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7551

Neighbourhood Christmas

Our annual Living Hope Neighbourhood Christmas Event will be back on Friday, December 5th from 6-8pm! We will open our parking lot and our doors to everyone around us, so bring your neighbours, family and friends!  We’ll listen to live music while we visit around the fire with warm drinks and cookies. There will be free pony rides and crafts for the kids. You won’t want to miss this special evening as we celebrate the joy of Christmas with our neighbourhood! See you there.
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