Tyndale Chapel Podcast

George Sweetman
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to community chapel this week. We're glad that you are here in the house, as well as those of you who are joining us online, welcome. Recently, we began a series on the inward life or the outward display of our lives together, and we're continuing that this week. It's been a challenging but inspiring series so far. We've heard from Dr. Pedler and Dr. Sudirgo, and this morning we are really pleased to have with us, Pastor Quincy Bergman, who is the Global Mission Pastor at The Peoples Church here in Toronto, not too far from our campus. The reason it works out really well that Pastor Bergman's with us is because this week at Tyndale is actually Global Engagement Week. It's a chance for our community to engage in global opportunities, but also significantly to expand our horizons cross-culturally. It doesn't take an expert to understand that our community is filled with people from diverse backgrounds; culturally, ethnically, racially, denominationally. And it's a beautiful opportunity week after week that we have to come together as the Tyndale community to worship together, in one voice; but reflective of who we are as a community. And given that it's Global Engagement Week, there are actually a number of events and activities that are sprinkled out through this week that the Center for Academic Excellence has been putting together. You would have received an email earlier this week from Chad Muise about some of the activities, and there's posters around the campus. So, please, if you're able, we hope that you'll take advantage of some of these opportunities. Pastor Bergman, as I've already indicated, is the Global Mission Pastor at the Peoples Church, and in that capacity, he's he is there to support global partnerships. And if anyone knows anything about the Peoples Church, it has been a remarkable global church for many years, really from its out from its start. And not only does he support global partnerships, but he also oversees outreach for displaced people needing emergency housing and helps people engage with God's mission locally and globally. Quincy, as all good speakers at Tyndale are, is a graduate of Tyndale University, and for over the last 20 years, he has ministered in large church settings such as the one that he's in right now, as well as small living room churches that he, and his wife Duann, have planted and continued. He also has worked with youth and young adults, and prison reintegration, worked with young men in conflict with the law. At the heart of who Quincy is is that his ministry is shaped by a passion for peace and reconciliation, and a desire to help people discover their identities as precious image bearers of God. As I've already indicated, Quincy is married to Duann, who is at our soundboard today, and I teased with her that if there's anything that Quincy says today that she doesn't like, she's got the mute button, so we're good to go. Quincy and Duann have a son and a daughter. We're really looking forward to your time with us this morning, Quincy. So as we begin to prepare our hearts for this morning, let's take a moment to pray together. O God, we never have enough. We give You what we have, and You make of it a feast, and hand it back to us to give to others. We never have enough; You ask for what we have, we lay it at Your feet, and You multiply and give it back to use to give to others. So this morning, Jesus, do it again now. Take our meager offerings, our talents, our time, our treasures, the fruit of all of our labors, and make them something more than we alone can give. And if it pleases You, take and bless, and break, and multiply these small gifts that through them we might minister Your life, and hope, and joy, and comfort, and mercy, and love to others here in Toronto, and around the world. God, we're grateful that morning, every Tuesday morning, we come together as a community to celebrate you. That we are in the midst of You, You not in with us, but we are here because You have invited us here, and Your spirit is already richly present in this place. So God, this morning we ask that You will be with us, that You will open our eyes, and our ears, and our hearts, and then our hands to the work that You have for us. And we pray for Pastor Bergman as he comes to give us these words, and we pray for our Tyndale Singers as they lead us in songs of celebration and of hope. We give You this day and these moments together. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Tyndale Singers
Good morning. Please stand as you are able as we worship the Lord together. You were the Word at the beginning, one with God the Lord Most High. Your hidden glory in creation, now revealed in You are Christ. What a beautiful name it is! What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a beautiful name it is. Nothing compares to this. What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus. You didn't want heaven without us. So, Jesus, You brought heaven down. My sin was great, Your love was greater. What could separate us now? What a wonderful name it is! What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a wonderful name it is! Nothing compares to this. What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus. What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus. Death could not hold You. The veil tore before You. He silenced the boast of sin and rage. The heavens are roaring the praise of Your glory, for You are raised to life again. You have no rival, You have no equal. Now and forever, God, You reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above all names. What a powerful name it is! What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is! Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. You have no rival, You have no equal. Now and forever, God, You reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above all names. What a powerful name it is! What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is! Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is! The name of Jesus.

Tyndale Singers
I was a wretch. I remember who I was. I was lost. I was blind. I was running out of time. Sin separated. The breach was far too wide. But from the far side of the chasm, You held me in Your sight, so You made a way across the great divide, left behind Heaven's throne to build it here inside. And there at the cross You paid the debt I owe. Broke my chains freed my soul, for the first time I had hope. Thank you, Jesus, for the blood applied. Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me white. Thank you, Jesus, You have saved my life. Brought me from the darkness into glorious light. You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin. You were buried for three days, but then You walked right out again, and now death has no sting and life has no end. For I have been transformed by the blood of the Lamb. Thank you, Jesus, for the blood of applied. Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me white. Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life. Brought me from the darkness into glorious light. There is nothing stronger than the wonder working power of the blood. The blood that calls us sons and daughters, we are ransomed by our Father through the blood. The blood. There is nothing stronger than the wonder working power of the blood. The blood that calls us sons and daughters, we are ransomed by our Father through the blood, the blood. Thank you, Jesus, for the blood applied. Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me white. Thank you, Jesus, You have saved my life. Brought me from the darkness into glorious light. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood applied. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood applied. Glory to His name. Amen. You may be seated.

Pastor Quincy Bergman
Wow! Thank you so much. I think I was ready for another song. Good afternoon, everyone. It's nice to see you. I want to ask that we just take a moment and pause. Often we can be caught up with where we're just coming from, or where we have to be after this, and sometimes it's just helpful to take a couple minutes. Today we'll take one, just to breathe, and to be present where we are. So I'm going to invite you to do that now. You can close your eyes, you can pray, or you can can look at the the image on the screen, and just be present.

Pastor Quincy Bergman
"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 'Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you a message.' So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?' declares the Lord. 'Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." It's an honor to be here with you this morning. As dear, George, said, I am a former student at Tyndale, and it's an honor to be on this side and not sitting and trying to keep my eyes open in chapel. I remember what Tuesday mornings are like. It's a wonderful tradition, but bear with me. I recently, I think, did some significant damage to my algorithm on YouTube; and that I've been exploring some of the things happening with AI, especially like agents and everything. And now YouTube is telling me that we've got about six months to a year left of civilization before everything comes crumbling down. So, we'll see what happens. But my, my YouTube, my YouTube is telling me all of these things; and so I'm clicking on these different connections, different talks, and different speeches, and it's absolutely incredible what's happened in my lifetime. And even I'm sure for many of you as students, what you've seen; how fast things are moving at the break neck pace that things are going. I never thought in a million years that I would see the things that we're seeing now. It's becoming unbelievable how fast information gets passed along. But as complex as it is, I'm reassured that God is still who He says He is. And I'm encouraged to see so many people; there were more people, there were less people when I was at the front. When I turn around, there's more people that showed up. But, I'm encouraged to see so many people, and I know there's a number that are online, of devoting themselves to service and to ministry. I believe with my whole heart that each of you here are uniquely equipped for the challenges that we've got ahead, whatever those challenges will be. As my generation becomes and gets a little bit older, we're counting on all of you to continue and to run the good race, because there's so much work to be done. God is faithful. His church is not in trouble, and neither are we. Amen. Amen. One of the videos that I was watching, there was a professor, and he was talking about this this shift that's beginning to happen. And and the thing that's starting to happen is, for years, there's been a battle for the attention and the eyeballs of people, right? Like, advertisements and social media; there's been a battle to get people to be focused and connected with their, focused on their devices, right? Like that's that's been the war, the war for the eyeballs, the war for attention. But what he was, as he was continuing and talking about this, he started saying that there's a shift that's happening, and what's happening is less about the attention for people's eyeballs, and more for a connection in their relationships. And that as technology advances at a break neck speed, that there are now people that are finding deep relationships with, not people online, which is one thing, and real people that live somewhere else, but actual artificial intelligence that's on their devices. That people are actually getting attached to and having these deep relationships. And I, and I thought, wow, like we've had some difficult conversations about who and who you won't perform marriages for, these are the conversation within the church; and I thought, I wonder, it's only a matter of time before someone will come to a young pastor and say, "You know, Pastor, I'd love for you to to marry me to my device." And I thought, "How crazy is that?" And then, just for fun, I looked it up online, and sure enough, there are at least three cases of people that are are actually wanting to marry their artificial intelligence companion, their their agent. So, so that's concerning, I would say, at the very least. But the question is changing to how how we maintain that connection. And for all of you that are here and in ministry, accessing information is not going to be an issue for you; getting knowledge is not going to be an issue for you. But I'm sure that you know that there's a big difference between wisdom and information. And that, what I suspect the world is going to need a lot more of are people that are deeply rooted and formed by being in the presence of Jesus. People will have no, they'll have access to all of the information, all of the data, people will have that. But what I believe people are going to be drawn to are people who have spent time, meaningful, deep, unhurried, and unrushed time with Jesus. So I want to encourage you, as you go into these spaces, that that you'll hear it said often by gray-haired people and older people, "Slow down and take time with Jesus." We need you to be informed. We need you to be technologically responsible. But, we need you to be deeply rooted in who Jesus is, because that will form who you are becoming. So, in this passage that we read, we see God talking to Jeremiah, and He says, "Go," and "I want to show you something." So he does. He goes, and when he gets down to the space, he sees a potter doing the work and shaping the clay. And God has a way of teaching the prophet through this very ordinary experience. Maybe he knew this potter. Maybe he had passed him a million times. But with intention, God says, "Go down to this space. I'm going to show you something and tell you something; teach you a lesson." The vessel becomes marred. The potter reworks it, and the clay remains in the potter's hands. This idea of spiritual formation; we can make the analogy fit to us, I think, pretty easily; is that, is that being molded and formed by the hands of the Master. But in order to do that, we have to be pliable, because if we're not, then it's so very easy for us to be broken. But this spiritual formation isn't something that we finish before we enter into ministry. Something that we accomplish. It's not a destination we arrive at, but it's a constant and ongoing formation that happens for the rest of your life, the rest of your journey with Jesus. I'm still trying to be formed by Him in the Spirit, and changing, and learning, and being broken, and rebroken, and being close to Him. But God doesn't finish forming us and then send us; He forms us as we go. So as we're contemplating this, I want you to ask a question. There'll be some questions. I just want you to be reflective after you've left from here, or even while I'm speaking. "Are we becoming more pliable in God's hands, or being more resistant?" There's a danger of getting the information and knowing it, and being able to to handle an argument or debate, and getting a false sense of confidence, but no love. My wife knows this very well, but I am a deep, like nerd, sci-fi nerd. I'll say it. I'm just going to confess it. This is the this is church, right? I'm going to confess it. Every time there's a Marvel movie that's out, I will go to the theater whether she wants to come or not. I'm fine to do that with great confidence. I was the only one in the movie theater as I sat and watched The Street Fighter movie about a week ago. It was the most glorious, awful piece of mess that I've seen, and I love it. But I love like you know DCU MCU, they're getting better I think, Star Wars all of that, and as a kid I would be so consumed with this idea of like space travel. And if you know this like right before they're about to jump into hyperspace you'll see all of the stars there, and they press the button, then the stars they just blur, right? So you've got like time warp, hyper speed, and all of these different kind of levels right, that just keeps going up and up. And everything is just becoming it's just just more and more intense, right? So I wonder like what, you know, the next version is, like teleportation, or you know, who knows? Maybe I won't sign up for that quite, quite yet till there's some test test runs. But then this idea of what would God speed be? If you were to think and imagine, like, how fast God speed could be? Would be near like teleportation speed I would think, right? Is there, is there a flash character named Godspeed? Is there? For those that know, yeah, okay. It's like one of the fastest, right? One of the one of the fastest flashes because he's Godspeed. But there's an interesting an interesting take on this idea that I got from a Japanese theologian and missiologist named Kosuke Koyama, and and he has a take on what God speed actually is. And here's one of the quotes that I love from him. He says, "Love has its speed. It's a spiritual speed. It's a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed." He's writing this, I think, in the early 1970s. Yeah, there were no computers, hardly, right? Yeah. "It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice or not, at three miles an hour. It is the speed we walk, and therefore the speed the love of God walks." Three miles an hour is what He's describing as God's speed, because that's about the average speed of somebody walking; the speed of relationship, the speed of love. So we look at Jesus through His life. When God is wanting to give a message of who He is, what God is like; we learn this in the first chapter of Colossians; when God wants to send a message, He wants His people to know what He is like, He says, "Look at my Son, Jesus." Everything you want to know about God, you can see in the person of Jesus. Walking slowly, listening, not thinking of about efficiency, or getting the task done." But a shared life in people's homes, spending time with them. The Incarnation; we will be getting ready to celebrate that in in an intense way over Christmas, of God coming, Emmanuel coming, to be with us and to live with us. The challenge that you'll have is, especially in your youth, is a focus on efficiency and productivity. I want to pray for each of you that you would fight against that. That you would fight against the striving; for more, for better, for recognition, to be seen, to be to be celebrated, to be noticed; this isn't what the world needs, we don't need more of that. I think we need less. But moving at God's speed, which is three miles an hour. In a world increasingly capable of simulating relationship, the Church must become a community that actually knows how to show love. One of the benefits and great honors that I have in the role that I'm in at the Peoples Church is I get to travel all over the world to see different parts of the Church and how God is at work. And often we meet with people who have been doing work faithfully for many many years. And just this past summer, I was in Colombia, right at the border of Venezuela, where a number of Venezuelan refugees had come, completely displaced from where they were and seeking refuge there. So at one encampment we were there, and this one was particularly a rough place, a hard place. And I'm usually unflappable. I don't get I don't get panicked, but I was I was my head was on a swivel, as you might say, right? I'm watching what's happening, who's behind me, who's beside me. And we, we're walking along, and there was a couple of us. One gentleman who was our guide, who was taking us in, was a great great, has become a great friend of mine. And as we're walking, I'm ahead, and there's about four or five guys, probably in their like late teens, early 20s, right? And they're looking at me kind of sideways, you know. And the other one they, gives the elbow and looks, and then the other one's looking at me, and then they all they're kind of looking, and the two of us that are walking. And I'm noticing them noticing me, and I'm I'm a little panicked. But as we got closer, our host, our friend, he was there just behind, and he pokes his head. He was a little bit shorter than me, and he pokes his head up and sees the guys. And in that moment, you saw these guys their faces changed from like suspicion to like you saw, like like a light switch, it just lit up. "Ah, Francisco!" They see him and they run and they grab him. They dap him up and they're hugging and laughing and everything in that moment changed. Like for them and for me, I could exhale a little bit. But everything changed, and I then inherited their their favor, their acceptance because of who I was walking with. The person that I had, I was walking with, had spent years and years showing up in this community, loving the people, caring for the people, hearing their concerns, doing all of the things that they that they needed, he would respond. And because of their trust in him, they were able to now trust me. "Well, if Francisco says you're good people, then I guess I'm going to say that, we're going to say that, you're good people." So we were accepted in that. It's like vicarious trust: that I trust you because they trust you. And I think there's something very similar to to our experience in time spent with Jesus and that vicarious trust; that people, I think, and what the world needs more of, are people who have spent that time with Jesus. Walking with Him, learning from Him, interacting with Him; that does something to a person, it forms you in the hand of the Master. That pliable spirit and that dedication of spending time with Him makes you a person that somehow is attractive, somehow is acceptable, somehow can be seen as love. I want us in the the last few minutes that we have, just share some practical ways and how you can be practicing the presence, so to speak. Some of you may be familiar with Brother Lawrence, a monk from many years ago. A small little book. It's a little, the English is a little hard to get through, but I recommend it. It's a wonderful book that you can read called, "Practicing the Presence," of just taking the every day, the monotonous kind of grind of your existence, and somehow bringing it and transforming it into an invitation to be with the Most High God. By show of hands, anybody planning on breathing today? Yes, everyone. Okay, good. There's a passage in Thessalonians that kind of troubles me a bit. It's when Paul is talking and he's encouraging the church, like, "Pray without ceasing", and that passage is troubling because it's like, well, I've got things to do. It's like, it's not practical for me to like close my eyes and say a prayer while I'm taking my kids to school or I'm or I'm involved in something else. But then something occurred to me that maybe the praying without ceasing is like, what else like, what else are we doing all the time without ceasing? And it's breathing, it's inhaling and exhaling. So this passage then has reminded me, and I want to I want to encourage you, that as anxiety builds up in your life as you become challenged by the day to day, therapists and and counselors will say, "Focus on your breathing." Take some, what's it? Box breathing, right? Inhale four, hold four, exhale four, hold. They'll teach you these practices, and this is valuable on calming and calming and taking care of anxiety. I'm going to add something. I think that's great. It's wonderful, but I'm going to add something; as you're doing that, or as you're being conscious or mindful of your breath, remember that God is the one who gave you life. That as anxiety starts to creep up, or the pressures of your schedules, or the demands of life start to start to get a chokehold on you, and you're compelled to move faster and faster, be mindful of your breath. Emmanuel. God is with us. Remember the story in Genesis when, God blew His breath and filled the nostrils of this creation that He made out of the dust. Remember that you are made in the image of the Creator, the Most High God, who loves you and cares cares for you and is moving at the speed of your walking, the speed of your breathing, inhaling and exhaling. Show of hands: anyone planning on eating anything or drinking anything today? The super spiritual people who are saying, "I'm not. I'm fasting right now, so I won't. I won't call you out. I plan on eating as soon as I leave from here. But, but again, another reminder. We see this in Jesus before He was crucified. He sits with his disciples and says, "Every time you do this, do it in remembrance of me." We have communion on a monthly basis. But what if there's an invitation for us to remember what God has done for us in His sacrifice? When I put something to my mouth, whether it's a communion wafer that they have now, the COVID wafers, I call them, you know, the little cups where you can, yeah. My wife is convinced. She said, "Next year Halloween, we're going to hand out those things instead of candy." I was like, "My, our house will be egged for sure, 100%, if we do that." But whether it's a small little communion wafer that you're putting to your, or a cracker, or a candy, or what would happen if every single time, yeah we say the prayer, we say, "Oh, thanks God for the food." But with every bite, with every morsel, with everything that we put to our mouth, we're reminded, just in a subtle way. You don't have to say it; doesn't have to be a big prayer that you break out. But what what happens if, with every morsel of sustenance we put to our mouths, we remember the broken body of Jesus for us? That somehow I have intrinsic value that God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me, with every bite. And as you wash it down with whatever it is; if it's a if it's a cold coffee that's been sitting for too many hours, or or a glass of water; with every swallow, being reminded of the new covenant of Jesus shedding His blood for us, reminding us of who we belong to. I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but if anyone plans on bathing at some point in the next 24 hours or so, or at least washing. I see that hand. I see that hand. But even if you plan on washing your hands, or if you know you every time that you take a shower, let it be a reminder of the baptism that you received. That when Jesus started His ministry, He was baptized by John the Baptist, came up; this was before He had done anything in His ministry, He hadn't accomplished a thing; and the voice of God comes and says, "This is my son with whom I'm, I'm so pleased." What happens if now every time that we take a shower, in the morning or at night, or we're preparing for our day, or even if we were washing our hands preparing to to do something else, that we would be reminded that, in Christ, I'm a new creation. The old is past and the new has come. I'm loved. I'm accepted. I'm seen. I'm cared for. The point isn't to make religious rules for you, but helpful hooks for you as you go along your day, just to be reminded of being in His presence, to be close with Him, to be walking with Him. We cannot give the world a depth of relationship with God that we ourselves are unwilling to cultivate. You've heard the old adage that, people don't care how much you know until what? They know how much you care. Spending time with Jesus helps with that; heightens your alertness, your awareness to the needs that are happening in your community and what's happening. So, I want to pray for us but, before I pray, I just want to invite you to consider three questions as you go on the rest of your day. One, what might God want to change in you? What might God be inviting you to listen to and learn from? And this is a hard one, but are you willing to remain pliable in the hands of the Master? Are you willing to allow Him to mold you and shape you into what He has planned for you? With those three questions in mind, let's just take a moment to pray. Heavenly Father, you are such a good God, gracious, generous, caring, and Lord, You love us for who we are and not who we pretend to be. What a, what a relief, but also somewhat intimidating. I thank you for this wonderful group of people, beautiful image bearers of You, made in Your likeness for Your purpose. I pray, Lord, that You would speak to each of us, and invite us in ways that we may be holding on to, or being unpliable or unflexible; ways that we may be striving, grasping to put us at the center, instead of You. Lord, I just pray that You would speak to us where we are, for Your kingdom, for Your glory. Make us the kind of people that are able to move at Your pace. We thank you, God, for how You show up and what You're going to do in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen.

George Sweetman
Thank you, Pastor Bergman. The pace in which you have delivered this sermon is emblematic of the pace that Jesus invites us into. So, thank you for those moments of reflection and meditation. Friends, hear these good words as we leave. O God, You are a God of justice, the God of wisdom, the God of mercy, the God of redemption, the God of the slow walk. You are the Lord of love. You were before all things, and in all things You are all things are held together. There is no corner of creation that You will fail to redeem. You are Lord of lords and King of kings, O Jesus, our King of everything. Go with us now and give us Your peace. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Go in peace.