Category: Table Talk
Why we gather: A lesson from Nicea
by Mathew Block Almost 1,700 years ago, bishops and other delegates from all across the Roman Empire converged on the city of Nicea (located in modern-day Turkey). They had serious business on the agenda. Trouble was brewing in Alexandria (in Egypt); a presbyter by the…
Standing on guard
by Mathew Block It’s become almost commonplace to note that Canada is not the nation it once was. We have quickly become a post-Christian society—a nation which counts Christian faith as part of its history but not its future. Last year, Statistics Canada announced that…
Jesus’ right-hand man
by Mathew Block You can understand why the other disciples were angry. James and John had approached Jesus in secret and asked to be given authority above the rest. “Let one of us sit at your right,” they requested, “and the other at your left…
Death gives way to life
by Mathew Block When I first moved to Winnipeg from Regina a few years ago, I couldn’t help but notice little differences between the two communities. I learned quickly, for instance, that Winnipeg was about three times larger than Regina; it took me much longer…
Might meets humility
by Mathew Block I sometimes find myself wondering what it must have been like for Mary to be confronted by the angel Gabriel—to be going about daily life when the divine suddenly breaks in on the ordinary so clearly and undeniably. Here the supernatural trespasses…
We believe, therefore we speak
by Mathew Block “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is the refrain, the key doctrine which echoes through the work…