Brother Lawrence

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Scriptures: John 5:17, 19

• Sermon Summary

  Summary
  In the second sermon of our series Reads a Classic, Scott introduces us to Brother Lawrence. This 17th century layman/mystic gave attention to God’s presence throughout his work and is an encouragement to all of us living and working in socially charged times.

  
  Brother Lawrence: Scott begins the introduction by showing us Lawrence who was changed by war and injury, who re-examined the faith that was handed down to him, and who internalized Jesus’ words, “the kingdom of God is within you.”
  Divine connection: Brother Lawrence built an important connection with one Abbot at the monastery where he worked. Scott points out how sincere connections are one way that we meet and discover the divine.
  Holy freedom: Lawrence formed his daily spiritual practices to grow an awareness of God’s presence in the world. He encourages us that there are no prescriptive ways to experience God’s presence. This is what Holy Freedom is for our spiritual lives.
  All things work: Throughout our labour of life, we too can practice the presence of God. Lawrence points us to Jesus’ own work which was intrinsically tied to the work of the Father, even through the mundane.

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Summer Discussion Guide 2025

  If your group is meeting this summer and wants to talk about the sermons, here are a few questions that you could use to engage with our teaching.

  • What specific part of the message resonated with you the most? Why do you think that particular part, or idea, or story caught your attention?

  • Did the sermon speak into a particular struggle or question in your life or your faith journey right now?

  • What did the message challenge or encourage you personally? And what do you think the application could be for our church community? Was there anything that could strengthen or stretch us as a church?

  How did the exposition of the scriptures used in the sermon provide you with a new perspective of deeper understanding?

  It is good to remember that the conversation experience in the group is shaped by the personal stories of those who participate in it and how willing the people are to be open and vulnerable in the group.
  
  So if you’re leading the discussion, feel free to model and encourage person-centred and story-centred sharing by reflecting on how some parts of the sermon resonate with you personally.

  Additionally, what contributes to a more authentic group discussion is when people can share not about the abstract and theoretical applications, but one or two practical things they are taking away from either the sermon or the discussion.

  So, you can end your time together with this question:

  • What is one thing you are taking away from either the sermon or the discussion we’ve just had?

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 103

  MUSIC Curated by Kevin Borst
  The McClures - Reign Above It All
  Commons Worship - Be Thou My Vision
  Brooke Ligertwood - A Thousand Hallelujahs
  Hillsong Worship - O Praise The Name
  
  PRAYING THE SCRIPTURE
  Written by Bobbi Salkeld
  
  Today, I’d like to invite you into a summertime reflection where we will pray with the Parable of the Growing Seed in Mark 4. 

  Jesus told stories to bring the truth into focus. This is a story Jesus told about the kingdom of God. Feel your feet on the ground, and then I’ll guide you.
  
  Let us pray. 

  Jesus began: This is what the kingdom of God is like. 

  As we consider a parable together, we prepare for the upside-down wisdom of God at work in our midst.

  Jesus’s story went: The kingdom of God is like a person who scatters seed on the ground. 

  God places the work of the kingdom into our own hands. Like seeds to scatter, we hold the potential for how faith, hope, and love will spring up in the world. We aren’t meant to hoard the seeds. We are meant to fling them out into the world with kind gestures, trust over suspicion, and the capacity to help wherever we can. 

  Jesus said, Night and day, whether the farmer sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though the farmer does not know how. 

  Let this image settle your worry. The growth of healing and wholeness in your life and in the world is already happening. Can you trust that? That right now, God is growing love, God is growing forgiveness, and God is growing your imagination for what might be next. 

  Then Jesus said: All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

  With summer’s longer days, be reminded today that everything good and growing takes time. Our grief takes time, the start of something new takes time, healing our bodies and relationships takes time. Even in your rest and play, God is taking care of the serious stuff.  

  Jesus finishes with these words: As soon as the grain is ripe, the farmer puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. 

  Even good seasons come to an end. May you sense the mysterious ways God is bringing about the harvest of love, creativity, and care with your efforts and even when you’ve made none whatsoever. 

  God is always at work.
  Amen.
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  Reads A Classic