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August 24, 2026 • 2 Minute Read
Children's Ministry Update (Aug 2026)
Hello, September! 🍎 Our Sunday School Program will be starting on September 20th with new curriculum and new classes. Grades K-4 will be using a new curriculum called Two or More from Group Publishing. It’s designed around Bible-rich, hands-on learning that helps kids not only know the Bible, but grow in faith together and build meaningful relationships. Over the course of each year, kids will journey through the Bible, encountering both the Old and New Testaments and discovering how the whole story points to God’s love. We’re excited for a new year of helping our kids know Jesus, grow in their faith, and know that they are seen, known, and loved. A new Grades 5–7 class will be working through the New City Catechism for Kids. Using 52 simple questions and answers, it helps young people explore some of the big truths of the Christian faith—Who is God? What is sin? What has Jesus done for us? How should we live?—and grounds those answers in Scripture. Our hope is not simply that our kids will memorize the right answers, but that they will understand what they believe, know why they believe it, and see how the truth of the gospel shapes everyday life. As always, the nursery room is open for parents with infants and the TV will be broadcasting the worship service. Is God calling you to take your next step? Join our team and start volunteering today. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask Pastor Joel.
August 24, 2026 • 3 Minute Read
Weekly Update - August 23
Welcome to the weekly roundup 👋 This is your one-stop spot for everything happening in our church family. From children to adults, small groups to special events, here's how you can get connected over the next seven days. Sunday, August 24th 10:00am Worship Gathering - Join us for Sunday
service in person. 11:45am English Conversation Class - all levels welcome downstairs in the Multi-Purpose Room Wednesday, August 26th The Bible Course - 7:00pm in the Multi-Purpose Room, BBQ at 6:00pm Saturday, August 29th Back to School Prayer Walk - Join us from 10am - 11am. We’ll walk around the community and pray for: Windsor Park Collegiate, College Beliveau, Ecole Howden, Frontenac School, Ecole Lacerte, and General Vanier School. RSVP here. Upcoming Events Outdoor Worship Service & BBQ - Sunday, September 13th at 10:00amNew here? We'd love to connect. The Message from Sunday "A Liturgy of Life"
| Pastor Joel Black Romans 12:1-8 In view of God’s mercy, worship becomes a whole life offered to God and transformed by him. Listen to last week’s sermon 👇Subscribe To Our Podcast Community Prayer We carry each other through the spiritual practice of prayer. Visit our Prayer Wall to see what our community is lifting up this week. Also prayer for our International Workers: 🙏 Senegal | Pray with Mike Howell as he meets weekly with a group of young men to study the Bible in Wolof. Some in the group are earnestly seeking, others are curious, and a few are even antagonistic, yet they keep coming! Pray for wisdom and clarity for Mike as he facilitates Bible study, discussion, and application of Scripture. . 🙏 Japan | Pray with Kat for her ongoing Bible studies and discipleship relationships with Ay*, Mai*, and Kino*. Pray for wisdom and discernment as she walks alongside these women. Pray that they would be challenged to hear God’s voice in their own lives and follow His leading with obedience and joy. 🙏 Asia | Pray for our Thailand anti-human trafficking team as they deal with a very difficult case involving a pastor and several young boys. Pray that the team would have wisdom, discernment, and protection as they navigate this very delicate situation. Submit your own prayer request .here Giving Your generosity makes our work in this city possible. We’re so grateful for you. New to our community? No pressure. Today, just be our guest. Give Now Here Stay Connected 📩 Subscribe to this Collection to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox. 📸 Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify. 💬 Pastoral care or questions? Connect with ushere. Services: Sundays at 10:00 AM
1100 Autumnwood Drive, Winnipeg MB R2J 4L5 Next Week: "When in Romans" – Romans 12:9-21
See you soon ☀️
August 12, 2026 • 3 Minute Read
Youth Summer Devotional 5
Have you ever felt happy when someone didn't have a good opinion of you? It's in our nature to want others to think well of us, and we feel pleasure when people are impressed with us. Because of this, a temptation that many people face is to lie, exaggerate, or hide the truth in order to make ourselves look better than we actually are. That's exactly what two people, Ananias and Sapphira, did in the Early Church. In Acts 5:1-11, the husband and wife decide to sell a field, and give the proceeds of it towards helping the poor. Great! But, they wanted to keep some of the money for themselves, which of course they had every right to do. But because they wanted others to be impressed with them, or to see what sacrifice they made or how much they loved the poor, they told the church leaders the amount they gave was the full amount they sold the field for. In other words, they lied to try making themselves look better than they were. And what was the result? The Holy Spirit killed both of them. That might seem extreme, but think about what that says to how extremely seriously God takes lying and truth-telling. God makes an example of Ananias and Sapphira for the early Christians, and I bet none of them did something like that afterwards! Thankfully He doesn't often punish us with death when we sin! God hates lying so much that He included it in the 10 Commandments and in verses like Proverbs 12:22: "The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy." The root of wanting kudos from others, or to be impressive, or to be thought of better than we are, is pride. The main weapon we have against pride is humility. Humility means not thinking of ourselves as better than we actually are, but also not thinking of ourselves as lesser than we actually are. Humility means we don't always have to talk about ourselves, or share our accomplishments, and definitely not exaggerating them, or lying about our sins or deficiencies. Humility also means celebrating who others are and their accomplishments. Think of Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." The rest of the passage talks about how Jesus modelled humility in his life. In what ways do you try to make yourself look better than you are? This week, who can you show interest in and celebrate, while fighting the desire to put the spotlight on yourself? ------------ This week until next Thursday, please pray with your youth that they would take God and His commands more seriously in their day to day lives, and grow in their love of Him and love of others above all other things.
August 7, 2026 • 3 Minute Read
Youth Summer Devotional 4
In John chapter 21, some of the disciples are fishing yet have caught nothing. A stranger on the beach nearby tells them to cast their nets on the side of the boat, and they haul in a massive amount of fish. One of the disciples realizes the stranger is Jesus, and they begin bringing in the boat and fish. This is the part I love: "When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”” (vv. 9-10). Jesus knows they have been working all night and that they'd be hungry, and has breakfast ready for them. But he also invites them to participate in the breakfast by bringing what they have too. There's a lot of different applications we could get out of these verses, but here's what I was thinking about. Jesus doesn't need their fish, of course, and He doesn't need anything from us - but He wants us to bring what makes us happy to Him to enjoy together. Have you ever thought about that? While God is the giver of all good gifts, He enjoys us enjoying those gifts, and enjoys us sharing those gifts with Him. There's a lot of gifts amongst our youth. Based on our 'show and tell' I could point to Jonathan's Rubik's Cube-solving speed, Zoha's crocheting and art, Sarah's baking, Sawyer's game and music creating, Jon's deep thinking (and woodcraft skills), Joel's joy of sharing his slurpee machine, Nathan's athleticism, and Amaya's love of reading. (Of course, you parents can think of many gifts their youth have.) But I wonder what it would be like for you to invite Jesus to enjoy your gifts, skills, and interests with Him? Can you imagine Jesus inviting you to talk about Pokemon with Him? Or enjoy a piece of music or video game with Him? The smell of a freshly-baked bread, or a fantastic play by your favourite team? It might sound weird, but based on John 21:9-10 I don't think it's that far-fetched. Jesus enjoys you, and enjoys you enjoying His gifts. Why not try enjoying them together sometime? -------------------- This week until next Thursday, please pray for Zoha's new baby brother Ilya (Elijah). He is healthy and crying a lot! Pray for the family to continue adapting to a new baby, and that Ilya will be a great blessing to them (this was requested by one of the youth).
August 5, 2026 • 2 Minute Read
Youth Summer Devotional 3
In John 15 Jesus tells His disciples that the world will hate them because it hates Jesus. Even more, the world would persecute and even execute Christians simply because they were Christians (which we read happening in Acts and throughout history). In Canada, and especially in Manitoba, the likelihood of us being persecuted for being Jesus-followers is fairly slim, although we may meet people who dislike us just because of our faith. Generally, we're more likely to face bullying or mocking for reasons other than our faith (and hopefully not reasons we warrant), and that can be hard to go through. Most of us care about being accepted by others, accepted by our classmates and co-workers, and it can hurt when we're not. We shouldn't tolerate bullying happening to anyone, and maybe you have some ideas of what to do in a situation like that. But even getting the situation changed doesn't change the hurt we feel when it happens. So what do we do then? One of the things that helps to lessen the impact of rejection by others is to know our worth and acceptance in Christ. In John 14:23 Jesus gave His disciples the promise that He would be with them. He says, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." A home with the Creator of the universe and the Lord of lords! That's more than just being accepted by God, it's being welcomed by Him, and wanted by Him. If you are a follower of Jesus who loves and obeys Him, this promise is currently true for you! God has and is making His home with you. And, as our relationship with Jesus grows, we come to value His opinion over that of others, especially those who are against us. Like the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 56:4, "In God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" ---------------------- This week until next Thursday, please pray that the youth would grow in their social skills and connecting with others - peers and adults - in person. This is a prayer request from one of our youth.
July 16, 2026 • 2 Minute Read
Youth Summer Devotional 2
Today’s Youth Summer Reading plan reading is John 10, but for the devotional I want to talk about John 11 and the death of Lazarus. From Martha and Mary’s perspectives, that is exactly what happened – God was silent. They had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, yet Jesus did not go to them immediately but waited two days. Jesus knew what would happen and why He was waiting, but for Mary and Martha it must have seemed like Jesus didn’t care. And then, when Jesus did arrive, Lazarus was already dead. When we pray, especially if they’re urgent prayers, and we don’t see God answering, it can feel like God doesn’t care sometimes. Why is He silent? Why isn’t He doing anything? When Martha meets Jesus, she frankly complains to Him – “If you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21). Throughout the Psalms we read complaints to God quite often: “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Ps. 10:1), and Psalm 22 is probably the most famous one. Do you ever complain to God in prayer? It might feel blasphemous or wrong to do so, but God is big enough to handle it. Jesus doesn’t rebuke Martha for complaining, and when she misunderstands Him He is patient with her. And that’s how God is with us too. Patient and understanding. He knows our weaknesses. How do you think complaining to God would change the way you pray? Of course, when you read the chapter, you see that Martha doesn’t just complain. She also has trust in Jesus’ power: “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask” (v. 22). Most of the Psalms end this way too, in a declaration of trust in God’s sovereignty. So, don’t hesitate to complain in your prayers – God knows what you’re unhappy about already, we don't have to hide from Him! But trust that He knows what He’s doing, and if He waits to answer us, or answers in a way we didn’t ask for, that it’s for our best. May He continue to be with us all, Josh