Please join us for our Sunday morning in-person worship services at 9:15am. For those that prefer to view our Live Video services, you can do that by viewing on our Facebook page or the Live Video window below will open on this Home Page at 9:15-9:16am. Please see the calendar below for dates and times, and info on Special Services.
We usually have a wonderful coffee/fellowship hour after the service in the basement. It's a great time to have some snacks, tea or coffee, and fellowship with one another!
We are a diverse congregation seeking the unity of Christ through worship, fellowship and servant-hood.
Please bring a food donation for Project Share if you can. A bin will be at the church entrance.
Dear Friends of Good Shepherd, we want to thank all of you that continue to support our church and pastor through prayer, tithing and worship. Your support helps us to continue to spread the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ. If Anyone would like to make a monetary donation, you can do that through our website. There is a red DONATE NOW button that allows you to make a donation to our church through Canada Helps. You can print an immediate receipt for your donation. There is also a Donate page in the dropdown bar for other ways to donate to our church. Let us pray that God's Peace & the Light of Jesus is felt and seen by everyone in 2024.
This year we celebrate Reformation Sunday on October 27. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, then a professor of moral theology, posted 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. They were intended to begin a debate among academics about such Church practices as indulgences, but the controversy set off was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. This pivotal movement in the history of Christianity fundamentally reshaped the relationship between believers and their faith. At the heart of Lutheran theology is the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Martin Luther’s central assertion was that salvation is a gift of grace from God, not something earned through good works or human effort. This radical shift was revolutionary in a time when the Church emphasized rituals and penance as a means to secure God’s favour. Luther argued that no amount of human striving could attain the righteousness necessary for salvation. Instead, it is through faith in Christ – believing in His sacrifice and resurrection – that one is justified. The emphasis on grace, “sola gratia” (grace alone), liberated believers from the burden of works-based righteousness and allowed them to experience the fullness of God’s love and mercy. Equally significant to the Lutheran Reformation was the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. Luther believed that Scripture should be accessible to all, not just the clergy or the educated elite. By translating the Bible into German from Hebrew and Greek, he empowered individuals to engage with God’s Word directly, fostering personal faith and understanding. This democratization of Scripture was a radical departure from the Church’s practice of Latin readings, which often left the laity in a passive role. The Bible in the common language encouraged believers to read, interpret, and apply Scripture in their lives, making faith a personal and direct relationship with God. In his discussions of “sola scriptura” (Scripture alone) Luther declared that all believers were priests: lay people had as much right as the clergy to determine what Scripture meant. By encouraging believers to read the Bible for themselves, Luther ignited a spiritual awakening that promoted critical thinking and personal responsibility in faith. The Lutheran view of the Reformation underscores the importance of grace as the sole means of salvation and the necessity of Scripture for nurturing an informed and vibrant faith. These principles not only reshaped the Church in Luther’s time but continue to resonate with Lutheranism today, reminding believers that they are invited to encounter God’s grace personally and directly through His Word. Rooted in the past and growing in the future, the Church must always be reformed in order to live out the love of Christ in an ever-changing world.
Time After Pentecost
The Time After Pentecost, or Ordinary Time (from “ordinal” which means that the Sundays are ‘ordered’ - counted, numbered as opposed to plain and ordinary) is the longest season in the liturgical year. The seasonal colour is green except for some festivals. After celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as recounted in Acts, the scripture in the Gospel readings from Mark focuses on Jesus’ actions and the themes of faith, trust and service. In Mark, Jesus’ message to his disciples was to tell no one he was the Messiah, known as the “Messianic Secret”. The disciples did not recognize it until His death on the cross, although all the signs were there. However, if each passage is looked at closely, the symbolism shows the fulfilment of prophecy and a message that God is in control and will act decisively to save God’s people as this was all planned. The readings include parallel themes from the Old Testament as well as the story of David. The season is a time for spiritual growth and living the life of Christ. It begins with Trinity Sunday and continues through Reformation Sunday and All Saints Sunday to its culmination in Christ the King Sunday. Then the liturgical year begins again with Advent.