Southside Community Church - Milton

November 24, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell Rev 20.11-15 "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." So we find in Dante's Inferno from the 14th Century where he describes an inscription at the entrance to Hell. Is Hell a real place? Who is destined for Hell? Is it about conscious, eternal punishment as many doctrinal statements of evangelicalism state?

November 17, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 14.6 Jesus was very plain about His claim to be the only way to the Father. So is it just that plain and simple, come to Jesus and you're given a ticket to heaven and the Father? Or is it more complicated somehow? Do you find yourself with some "but.." questions that don't seem easily resolved? Are they "who.." questions that poke at the "us" and "them" sorting that we might have grown up with? Is there any other way? What if you don't know about Jesus?

November 10, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell Genesis 50.20 Last week we established that God knows and loves us individually and personally. The follow up question is why then doesn’t He intervene in our lives when we are in trouble of some kind? Perhaps the greatest objection people raise is about the relationship between God and suffering. Is there a reasonable response?

November 3, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell Psalm 139 This question might be followed by a "why" sort of question which is perhaps the harder one to figure out. But it's a very important one to ask first. Then we might be able to discuss possibilities for the "why" follow ups!

October 27, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 20.29 On the other end of our discussion about the value of questions and doubt we are faced with a statement Jesus made to Thomas calling those who believe without seeing "blessed." How do we make sense of this? Wouldn't it be better to know God's existence for sure and then deal with what implications that has? What is the added value of faith?

October 20, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell 2 Timothy 3.16 What kind of book is the Bible? How are we supposed to read it and understand it? The National Post posed that question a few years ago and proposed that there are four views on this question: 1. supernatural revelation of God's eternal will; 2. inspiring moral guide; 3. sacred literature like all sacred literature or 4. faithful confessions and family album. What does the Bible claim about itself? What has your experience of the Bible been?

October 13, 2019 Speaker: Mike Burns If anyone has ever read through the Bible – or even read parts of the Bible from both the Old & New Testament – a nagging question usually arises: How can the God of the Old Testament be the same as the God of the New Testament? A quick glance could leave us viewing the OT God as an angry father and the NT God as the hippie son. Are they different? Did God change? Do Christian’s have to reconcile the two or can we just ignore what we read in the Old Testament in favour of Jesus? Join us this Sunday as we wrestle with these questions together!

October 6, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 14.1-6 Is Heaven real? Is there really an afterlife? We will address this question this week as the gatekeeper of the rest of our doubts. Should we join John Lennon and imagine there’s no heaven? Would that solve our problems or create new ones?

September 30, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell Job 19.25-27 In the midst of Job's great existential struggles for meaning and answers he has the profound clarity of the hope of life after life and certainty that he will see God in a physical existence. Can we hope in the midst of doubt?

September 22, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell Each Sunday we are taking an "Alpha" approach to our teaching time as we explore our questions about life's meaning. Join us as we piece together some topics of discussion and instruction and feed in your great questions! Question #1 Is it OK to ask? (Ecclesiastes 1.3) I once asked a difficult theological question of a mentor as we were travelling together. He looked at me rather severely and in a rather stern voice said "Don't ever ask that sort of question." Is that right, that there are some questions we dare not ask? As we prepare our questions for this series we will assure ourselves that there is no question no allowed at the 200 Main table!

September 15, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 1:6-9 The classic introducer in the stories of the Bible is someone that we meet with the simple words that "there was a man sent from God whose name was John."Many of the Kingdom aspects of introduction are personified in this dramatic character. He was sent to bear witness of the Light. And his means of bearing witness was the public job of introduction. A good role model in many ways.

September 8, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 1:41-42 Last Sunday we dispensed with "Inviters" in favour of a better word to describe our role as Christ's Followers. As we continue to follow the example of Andrew we will find that this is precisely the role he assumed. Our role is not to invite people to something but to introduce them to someone. And we will see there is often a chain of introductions that has surprise and exciting endings in store.

August 25, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell Exodus 20.5 Can God be jealous? Is it like an exclusive relationship that has God looking nervously or suspiciously at someone moving in on his lover? Is he insecure? We have a hard time with this adjective "jealous" don't we? What do we make of it?

January 7, 2018 Speaker: Ian Campbell Proverbs 29.18 (msg) As we enter 2018 we do so with great excitement looking forward to a move to Main Street. In a different setting with different surroundings, different facilities and many different opportunities some of us will feel tremendously empowered and some will feel quite daunted! For all of us there needs to be a grounding in our understanding of who we are as a church and a movement. So we will spend the last teaching series here on Derry to be reminded of our calling as a church as we review and embed our vision, mission and discipleship values. This Sunday we will take counsel from the book of Proverbs where we are guided by the principle of vision directed activity. This will be important as we select ministry approaches in the near future through the lens of our vision. And it should warm our spiritual hearts to long towards the opportunity to join God in HIs great mission.

January 21, 2018 Speaker: Ian Campbell Mark 1:15-17 As we enter 2018 we do so with great excitement looking forward to a move to Main Street. In a different setting with different surroundings, different facilities and many different opportunities some of us will feel tremendously empowered and some will feel quite daunted! For all of us there needs to be a grounding in our understanding of who we are as a church and a movement. So we will spend the last teaching series here on Derry to be reminded of our calling as a church as we review and embed our vision, mission and discipleship values. This Sunday we will explore the meaning of the semi-circle - the vine and branches lesson apart from which Jesus says we can do nothing! It seems quite obvious then, that we must understand this dynamic in our lives or we'll be bound to "do nothing" effectively as his followers.

January 14 2018 Speaker : Ian Campbell Mark 1:15-17 As we enter 2018 we do so with great excitement looking forward to a move to Main Street. In a different setting with different surroundings, different facilities and many different opportunities some of us will feel tremendously empowered and some will feel quite daunted! For all of us there needs to be a grounding in our understanding of who we are as a church and a movement. So we will spend the last teaching series here on Derry to be reminded of our calling as a church as we review and embed our vision, mission and discipleship values. This Sunday we will camp on the Kingdom Call of Jesus as we recall Mark's account of fishermen leaving their chronos nets to go "person" fishing. What is my version of the circle, kairos opportunities and seasons?

January 28, 2018 Speaker: Ian Campbell As we enter 2018 we do so with great excitement looking forward to a move to Main Street. In a different setting with different surroundings, different facilities and many different opportunities some of us will feel tremendously empowered and some will feel quite daunted! For all of us there needs to be a grounding in our understanding of who we are as a church and a movement. So we will spend the last teaching series here on Derry to be reminded of our calling as a church as we review and embed our vision, mission and discipleship values. This Sunday we will consider the triangle which represents "deeper relationships" At any given point in our Christian journey we may explore how we are balanced in three areas of priority. The "up" is our relationship with God; the "in" our relationships with one another in our networks of family and friends and the "out" our relationships with our "neighbours" - those we don't yet know as friends.

August 18, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell Psalms 107 & 145 Are we ever beyond hope? Does anyone ever reach the limit and is found to be a write-off? If so it is a self imposed state and never can be ascribed to God. He is always ready to rescue.

August 11, 2019 Speaker: Mike Burns The wrath of God is not a popular subject these days. Though prominent in both the Old and New Testament, even Christians seem to want to play this subject down a little. Perhaps we find it difficult to reconcile God’s anger when we consider His message of love. Can the two be one in the same? Can a loving God also be angry? And how do we apply this to both ourselves and others?

August 4, 2019 Speaker: Ian Campbell John 5:22-24 Packer wonders if we believe in God as Judge and says “speak to people of God as a Father, a friend, a helper, one who loves us despite all our weakness and folly and sin, and their faces light up.. but speak to them of God as Judge and they frown and shake their heads.” What are our thoughts on this matter?