Avon Church Podcast

Pastor Troy shares how he views and approaches Scripture by talking about trash, treasure, storage rooms, 3D paintings, Socrates, Matthew 13:52 and I Corinthians 2. 

Join Pastor Stephen as he explores the beautiful book of Isaiah.

Art pieces mentioned:

Chief by Robert Bateman

Fountain by Marcelle Duchamp

Pastor Troy explores the complex and difficult task of holding people and power accountable by examining the timeless insights revealed in 2 Samuel 12 and Galatians 6:1-2

Hear from our students as they reflect on their time in Montreal. Their focus was urban poverty, gentrification, and seeing God in the everyday. 

Video Recap Here.

Liam McEvoy shares his faith story.

Pastor Troy explores the Parable of the Trees and Jesus' teachings on how we navigate power in community.

Pastor Troy explores power dynamics in the story of Judges and 1 Samuel and how human beings have not changed much in 3000 years. 

Join Pastor Stephen as he explores difficult passages of violence in our Bible. 

Join Pastor Troy as he explores the roadmap of transformation for all of us, revealed in the story of Gideon in Judges 6-8.

Join Pastor Troy explore the story of Joshua's mysterious encounter with the commander of the Lord's army in Joshua 5:13-15, as well as the stories of Melchizedek and Balaam for context.

Join Pastor Troy in exploring how to engage difficult texts in the Bible. He unpacks three common filters that colour and distort our interpretive lens, hindering us from interacting with Scripture in open and fresh ways. The three filters are

And he offers six questions we can ask to help us engage the Bible more meaningfully.

Join Pastor Stephen as he reflects on Galatians chapter 5.

Spoiler: Transformation doesn't happen from the rules of a distant God but from getting to know a loving God's heart.

Join Sarah Whitsed as she unpacks the story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah; the five faithful daughters of Zelophehad. Their story is told in Numbers 27 and 36.

Join Pastor Stephen as he unpacks The Book of Hebrews. 

If you're interested in joining our discussion time during this recording, here are the verses we explored:

Hebrews 1:1-3, Hebrews 7: 23-26, Hebrews 8: 8b-12, Hebrews 9: 11-14, Hebrews 9: 15, Hebrews 10: 16-18, Hebrews 10:19-22, Hebrews 10: 24-25, Hebrews 12: 1-3.

Join Troy in exploring the way of the cross, the power of powerlessness, the victory of love.

Pastor Troy unpacks the grand story of God's liberation - from Genesis to Revelation - and how God sets us free from the Adversary through Jesus' death and resurrection.

Join Pastor Troy as he explores Jesus' teachings on the need to be slow, honest, mindful and succinct when we speak. Matthew 5:33-37

Pastor Troy explores one of the primary emotions that leads to the dark side and how we develop and maintain healthy relationships by "living at the altar." Matt. 5:21-26

Join Pastor Stephen as he unpacks a challenging section of Jesus' sermon around adultery and divorce. Spoiler alter: These verses hold a deeper hidden wisdom about our entire lives. 

Pastor Troy explores Jesus' calling us salt and light - and his introducing a different kind of righteousness in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:13-20

What does it mean to be a Peacemaker? To participate in the world we live in. 

Join Pastor Stephen as he explores Part 3 of the Sermon on the Mount.

Join Pastor Troy as he explores the blessing of being meek, merciful, hungry for justice and pure in heart. Matthew 5:5-8

Join Pastor Troy in exploring the meaning of Jesus blessing those who are poor in spirit and mourning.

Pastor Troy introduces the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus' Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Join Pastor Stephen as he unpacks our Avon Covenant and how to become more generous in your life.

This year at Avon we are learning to become a community of generosity in our faith, our relationships and our resources.

Sarah Whitsed shares a reflection on the story of Tamar.

Margaret Smart shares a reflection on the story of Bathsheba.

Liisa Farrugia starts off our Jesus' Family HERitage series with her reflections on Rahab's story. 

Join Pastor Troy as he walks us through two ways of engaging Scripture.

1. Ignatian Imaginative Contemplation

2. Anabaptist Community Hermeneutic

Ignatian Imaginative Contemplation 

Choose a Bible story from the Gospels.

1. Read it slowly: 

Read the passage slowly and thoughtfully, paying attention to words or phrases that stand out to you.

2. Imagine the scene: 

Close the text and imagine the scene vividly using all your senses. Visualize the sights, sounds, and smells. Imagine the people involved.

3. Put yourself in the scene: 

...

Join guest speaker, and Avon congregant, Brent Musser this week.

Scripture is a key way for us to connect with God, and yet, for so many of us, scripture can feel overwhelming and inaccessible. Join us for 4 weeks of learning how to read scripture and actually find truth, find life, and find a connection with Christ. 

Scripture is a key way for us to connect with God, and yet, for so many of us, scripture can feel overwhelming and inaccessible. Join us for 4 weeks of learning how to read scripture and actually find truth, find life, and find a connection with Christ. 

Scripture is a key way for us to connect with God, and yet, for so many of us, scripture can feel overwhelming and inaccessible. Join us for 4 weeks of learning how to read scripture and actually find truth, find life, and find a connection with Christ. 

Troy talks about pickled eggs, banana peels, peach pits and walking in the Spirit as he explores the idea of our authentic self being who we are in Christ. 

Troy explores the teachings of Jesus to unpack the role of ego and the essential self in our personal and spiritual development. 

Join Troy Watson in exploring the process of losing our self - our bulb / caterpillar identity - to find our authentic self - our inner flower / butterfly... the unique image of God we truly are.

Join Troy as he explores Jesus' teachings on how to discern and fulfill the genuine desires of our authentic self. 

Troy explores the power of our expectations in our lives, how to manage our expectations and how to follow the Jesus' path by learning to expect the unexpected. Lk 14, Mt 6

The first step towards self-awareness is admitting we have a problem, that we have contradictions in our lives and gaps in our self image. We are often surprised to see these contradictions and gaps are gifts that help us explore who we really are - underneath the surface.

Join Pastor Stephen as he explores how we can truly know whether we have a genuine and truth-filled picture of God in our mind or if we are following a counter-fit. It'll be refreshing. 

Liisa and Peter Farrugia share about their learning experience in Rwanda.