Archives: Messages

A message from the series "Romans."

A message from the series "Romans." In this Bible Study from Pastor Andy Falleur in Romans 16, we read through the closing greetings of the letter from Paul to the church in Rome. There’s a glimpse into the Christian community in Rome and a glimpse into the people around Paul. It’s interesting to see both men and women, and people from all different cultures and ages, marital status and socio-economic levels. There’s also echoes back to the beginning of the letter and there’s information that helps to date the letter and give the circumstances around it’s delivery. What’s also interesting is to see the various ways that Paul describes the people, and how there’s some people that shouldn’t be greeted. They are to be avoided. It’s very interesting to see how and why these people ended up in this list and preserved for us by the Holy Spirit.

A message from the series "Romans." In this Bible Study from Romans 15:14-33, Andy Falleur shows how this particular section serves to not only be a way to prove the veracity of the New Testament, but also as an illustration of all that Paul has been describing and “reminding” in his letter to the Church of Rome so far. We can see that Paul is a person that was evil, and has received the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We can also see his sober view of the people in Rome, the sober view of himself, his calling, the recognition of God’s purposes in the world, grace at work in his life, love motivating him, and how he’s welcoming the wide variety of people that are believers. There’s even a glimpse of submission to the governing authorities. This is all a real life illustration, of how to make plans as a Christian, using all the instructions that Paul has given in Romans 12-15.

A message from the series "Romans." In this Bible Study from Romans 15:1-13, Pastor Andy Falleur shows how Paul continues the ideas from chapter 14, where there are significant differences of opinion and even conviction about various “disputable matters” among Christians. The major point that Paul makes is how we are to “accept” or “welcome” or “receive” one another especially when these differences exist. The point is that we are able to live in harmony, which produces hope, endurance, encouragement and provides a powerful witness to people who have never heard about Jesus. In this study, there are some illustrations of how that has worked out at Calvary Fellowship of Ottawa, even from the earliest days. And, then how we are to handle ourselves in light of the obvious differences of opinion and even conviction in disputable matters that exist in our congregation today.

A message from the series "Romans." This is a Bible Study from Andy Falleur in Romans 14:1-23, where the Apostle Paul is giving the believers in Rome instructions on how to handle themselves in disputable matters. It’s interesting that even in the time of the Apostles, while the New Testament is being written, that they had various topics and issues and questions that weren’t necessarily settled or sorted. Good, godly Christians had differences of opinions very similar to what happens to us today. There are some matters where there should be no dispute, and Paul writes about those in 1 Corinthians, but these are items that Christians have a difference of opinion, and sometimes conviction about, and we need to know how to handle ourselves when those differences are present. Matters like: Tobacco, Alcohol, Netflix, R-Rated movies, Casinos, Hockey Pools, Mixed bathing, Facebook, Coffee, Politics, Plandemic, I mean pandemic, Unrestricted access to the internet with no accountability software, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik-Tok, Circumcision, Tithing, Secular Music, Clothing Styles, Bible Translations, Yoga, Acupuncture, Chiropractics, Gas fuelled cars, Recycling, Compost Bins, Daily Devotions, Women in Ministry, Head-coverings, home-schooling, vaccines, tattoos, cannabis, contraception, the Missionary position.

A message from the series "Romans." n this Bible Study of Romans 12:9-21, Pastor Andy Falleur warns us the two errors that are made sometimes in reading and studying this passage. It is taken as inspirational or as a list of rules to gain God’s acceptance. Both are dead wrong. Here we are seeing how God operates in the world, and how His love is manifested, and the invitation that we have by faith to live as He lives. “Don’t be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.”

A message from the series "Romans." n this Bible Study of Romans 13, Pastor Andy Falleur addresses the questions that often arise from this section. First, in verse 1, what does it mean to submit? Second, does verse 1 mean that Hitler was instituted by God? Third, in verse 4, should a Christian be a government official, or government authority because they would carry a sword? Lastly, in verse 8, should Christians willingly go into debt, specifically financial debt, because Paul writes, “Do not owe anyone anything.”

A message from the series "Romans." In this study with Andy Falleur, we continue in Romans 12, taking verses 3-8 and exploring how to think about life after belief in Jesus, and offering our bodies to the Lord as a living sacrifice. We see that we are to be oriented around grace, grace is power, ability, and it will manifest itself through various functions. The sequence of instructions here in Romans 12 is very informative, as to what is important and significant and where the priority is given.

A message from the series "Topical." Pastor Dan Byrne was our guest speaker today. He read to us from Mark 7, where Jesus is challenging the Pharisees on their use of Scripture in light of their traditions. Pastor Dan showed the significance of what Jesus is talking about, and then made the connection with us today. He showed how evangelicals are often caught up in what he termed “the Catholic Conundrum,” the “Muslim or Mormon Mania,” the “Fundamentalist Folly” and the “Postmodern Predicament” Dan is currently a pastor at large in Ottawa. He is with Connecting Streams, involved in church planting and several evangelistic initiatives in the city.

A message from the series "Romans." Today, we are meditating on Romans 12, verses 1-2, where there’s a major transition in this letter from Paul to the church in Rome. We are beginning the “action” part of the letter, where there’s instructions, practical instructions on how to live life. It’s all based on what has been said before, and dependent upon the strength and the ability that only God can provide through righteousness by faith. In this study, we are meditating on these words, considering their impact and import, what presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice means and looks like, even the parts of our bodies that we consider to be defects.