What do we do when life unfolds beyond our control?

In the closing chapters of Acts, Paul learns to release the communities he helped build—and eventually loses control over his own journey. Yet even amid imprisonment, uncertainty, and shipwreck, he retains something vital: the freedom to choose how he will show up.

Jeremy explores the difference between control and agency, the courage required to let go, and how we can meet life’s changing seasons with grace, hope, and trust in God.

Scripture: Acts 20–27

In this sermon from our Soapbox Sundays series, Yelena explores the layered and universal idea of "home". Grounded in Ephesians 2:19–22, this message looks at how Christ breaks down dividing walls, invites outsiders into full belonging, and joins us together into a living sanctuary where God makes a home.

Key Topics Covered:
The Complexity of Home: How personal memories, mobility, and cultural contexts shape our understanding of home.

Who Gets to Belong? Exploring Ephesians 2:19–22 and how Paul redefines household, citizenship, and community.

Home as a Place of Becoming: Moving away from a static view of home to see community as an active, ongoing work in progress.

Where God is at Home: Reflecting on the biblical narrative of home, homelessness, and homecoming.

Scripture: Ephesians 2:19–22

In the first message of the Soapbox Sundays series, Scott makes the case for how an intellectual, reflective life is a spiritual life. Looking at the wisdom literature of Proverbs 4, this teaching explores how engaging our minds across generations, embracing curiosity, and asking hard questions helps us love God and serve our neighbours more deeply.

Key Takeaways & Outline:
Welcome & Fall Outlook: Reflecting on community life and upcoming fall opportunities, including the Marda Loop parish launch.
What Minds Are For: Why living a thoughtful and reflective life is integral to spiritual growth.
All We Inherit: The importance of engaging with history, tradition, and wisdom passed down through generations.
Getting Wisdom: How curiosity, courage, and wrestling with big questions shape a healthy faith.
Learning as Love: Fulfilling the command to love God with all our mind and using knowledge to edify others.
Scripture References:
Proverbs 4:1–9
Proverbs 4:23–26

Psalm 7 is a song for anyone who has ever felt falsely accused, misunderstood, or desperate to be vindicated.

But underneath David’s very reasonable words is something more volatile: anger, frustration, and the desire for God to feel exactly what he feels.

In this sermon, Jeremy Duncan explores the poetry of Psalm 7—from Taylor Swift and ancient Hebrew wordplay to necks, noses, swords, and bows—and asks what happens when our longing for justice begins to slip into a desire for vengeance.

The Psalms remind us that we don’t need to sanitize our emotions before bringing them to God. But they also invite us to let the presence of God reshape those emotions so that we can pursue justice without becoming consumed by violence.

Psalm 7 ultimately asks a difficult question:

Do we want a God modelled after our anger—or will we allow our anger to be transformed by God’s righteousness?

Recorded at Commons Church in Calgary, Alberta.

#Psalm7 #Psalms #Bible #Sermon #CommonsChurch #Justice #Faith

What can ancient prayers teach us about our own experience of chaos, confusion, or distress?

In this week’s installment of our Summer Songs series, Yelena walks us through Psalm 86—a powerful "psalm of disorientation." Whether life feels stable or everything is falling apart, the Psalms provide a sacred space for profound honesty with the Divine.

In this message, we explore:
Asks and Reasons: Why naming our disorientation is a time-tested religious practice.
Communal Memory: How we lean on the stories of faith when our own words fall short.
Undivided Heart: Moving toward wholeness in the midst of fragmentation.
Relinquishment: Tracing the edge of chaos and trusting that we are held.
About Commons Church:

We are a community dedicated to loving God, loving people, and telling the story. Join us as we explore what it means to live out our faith together.

Connect with us:
Learn more about upcoming community events and gatherings at commons.church.
#Psalm86 #SummerSongs #CommonsChurch #Prayer #Disorientation #Faith #Sermon

What do you do when God feels far away? Psalm 13 is a song for those moments. In this message, we explore how naming our pain and shifting our perspective can help us move from lament to praise.

Key topics covered:
• The relationship between lament and praise: Why the "Book of Praises" is full of sorrow and how lament provides a place to stand while we grieve.
• Challenging our categories: Understanding how we use bias to simplify the world and how to move past the "outgroup homogeneity effect" to see our neighbors more clearly.
• Learning from diverse worldviews: Contrasting different cultural perspectives on suffering—moving from asking God to take suffering away to asking for the strength to endure it well.
• Practicing the Examen: A practical 10-minute rhythm to notice God’s presence in both desolation and consolation, helping us become agents of God’s love in the world.
Whether you are in a season of struggle or looking to deepen your trust in God, join us as we learn to bring our honest pain before a faithful God who is always at work.

What do you do when the world feels unfair and you find yourself “fret-burning” with anger? In this message, we explore the wisdom of Psalm 37—not as a transactional set of rules, but as a roadmap for finding composure, delight, and hope in the midst of life's messiness.

While many read the Psalms looking for guarantees, they are actually poetic invitations to engage with the world honestly. When we choose to notice the goodness around us—even in the face of injustice—we can metabolize our anxiety and find a way back to the source of our strength.

In this sermon, we discuss:
• The Difference Between Fret and Delight: How to stop "setting yourself on fire" with anger and practice intentional delight.
• Moving Beyond Transactional Spirituality: Why the Psalms don't offer a simple "if/then" contract with God, but a way to walk through life's highs and lows.
• The Power of First-Person Awe: How sharing our experiences of wonder helps us face threats and find meaning in hard seasons.
• Guarding the Good: Wisdom isn't just about what we know; it’s about how we act on the goodness we see in the world.
Whether you are navigating burnout, doubt, or the search for deeper meaning, these verses offer a way to stay anchored in the truth that God is our ultimate stronghold.

What does it mean to trust God when there are still very real reasons to be afraid?

Psalm 46 doesn’t promise a life without chaos. Instead, it points to the presence of God—our refuge and strength—within our complicated histories, uncertain futures, and present moments.

In this message, Alexandra explores how remembering, hope, creativity, mindfulness, and nonviolence can make us more aware of the God who is as close as our breath.

“The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” — Psalm 46:11

#Psalm46 #BeStill #ChristianSermon #Faith #GodsPresence