Grace United Church, Brampton

09/08/2026

With profound grief we announce the sad demise of our brother Late Mr. Raymond Madriaga.

09/05/2026

Mid Week Reflection – Faith for the Long Haul: Distraction and Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 30, 2026 – Grace United Church, Brampton – Rev. Dr. Connie denBok

What's occupying more of your attention than it deserves? Rev. Dr. Connie denBok points out that most of us don't walk away from faith in one dramatic moment — we drift, one distraction at a time.

Jesus told a parable about seed that fell among thorns: it grew, it had leaves, but the worries of life and the pull of other things choked it before it could bear fruit. That's what distraction does. It doesn't destroy our faith outright — it just out-competes it, one notification, one worry, one "later" at a time, until prayer becomes occasional and worship becomes optional.

Hebrews offers a different way: run with perseverance, fixing our eyes on Jesus. Not a glance now and then, but a steady reference point — the way a single light in the fog keeps us walking in the right direction instead of drifting off course.

You don't need ten new commitments this week. Just one. Maybe it's a screen-free block of time. Maybe it's scripture before the news. Maybe it's simply returning to a practice you've let slip. ✨

What's the one distraction you could set down this week to keep your eyes on Jesus?

Choose one intentional practice for this week and share it in the comments to encourage someone else to do the same.

Watch the full sermon here (starts automatically at the message): https://www.youtube.com/live/jwSB9C9LEcc?si=u_NEA-f338EYVuKi&t=1469

09/03/2026

Mid Week Reflection – Faith for the Long Haul: Sin That Entangles

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 30, 2026 – Grace United Church, Brampton – Rev. Dr. Connie denBok

Have you ever packed away a string of Christmas lights without a single knot, only to pull them out again and find an impossible tangle? Rev. Dr. Connie denBok says that's exactly what sin does to us.

It rarely starts big. One small compromise, one story stretched a little to stay out of trouble, one shortcut we tell ourselves doesn't matter. And then, almost without noticing, we're tangled — tied up in explanations, debts, half-truths we now have to keep track of.

Hebrews 12:1 names it plainly: "the sin that so easily entangles." Not because we set out to get caught, but because sin has a way of knotting one small thing to the next until we can barely move.

The good news is that Hebrews doesn't leave us tangled. It says: throw it off. Not carry it forever, not manage it quietly in the background — throw it off, and run.

Is there a knot you've been carrying that you didn't mean to tie? A small thing that's grown heavier than it looks?

You don't have to untangle it alone. 🙏

Take a moment today to name one thing that's tangled you up — then bring it honestly to God in prayer, or share this reflection with someone who might need the reminder.

Watch the full sermon here (starts automatically at the message): https://www.youtube.com/live/jwSB9C9LEcc?si=u_NEA-f338EYVuKi&t=1469

08/31/2026

Mid Week Reflection – Faith for the Long Haul: Baggage, Hurt, and Forgiveness (Part- 1)

Grace United Church, Brampton – Rev. Dr. Connie denBok (August 30, 2026 )

Not everything we carry is sin — some of it is just heavy. Rev. Dr. Connie denBok reminds us that hurt, especially hurt from within the church, can weigh us down just as much as anything we'd call wrongdoing.

If you stay in community long enough, someone will disappoint you. Someone will misunderstand you, overlook you, or say something careless. Left unattended, that hurt doesn't just sit quietly — it ferments. It grows into resentment, into distance, into the quiet decision to stop showing up.

But Hebrews calls us to lay that burden down too. And here's the freeing part: forgiveness isn't denial. It doesn't mean pretending we weren't hurt, and it doesn't mean staying in something unsafe. It means the person who hurt us no longer gets to decide the direction of our lives — including whether we keep following Jesus.

So many people didn't leave church in one dramatic moment. They just kept carrying a hurt until it became too heavy to bring through the door.

Is there something you're still carrying from a wound in this community — or any community? What would it feel like to set that piece of baggage down? 🌱

So reflect today on whether there's a hurt you've been quietly carrying, and consider talking with someone you trust about it. Share this post with someone who might need the reminder that they're not alone.

Watch the full sermon here (starts automatically at the message): https://www.youtube.com/live/jwSB9C9LEcc?si=u_NEA-f338EYVuKi&t=1469

08/26/2026

Mid Week Reflection – The Papyrus Basket – Chariot for a Prince

13th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16) – August 23, 2026 – Grace United Church, Brampton – Keith Mayers, LLWL

A handful of reeds, woven together and sealed with pitch, became an unsinkable chariot for a baby destined to deliver a nation. That's the image at the heart of this week's message: God working through the small, the ordinary, the overlooked.

Moses' mother had no army, no plan drawn up at a war-room table — just her hands, some papyrus, and a fierce love for her son. Midwives who quietly disobeyed a deadly decree. A princess who saw a crying baby and chose compassion over convenience. None of them knew they were shaping the story of a nation's deliverance. They simply did the small thing in front of them. 🌱

Isn't that how God still moves? Not always through grand gestures, but through willing hands, a listening ear, a voice raised in kindness or song. The basket looked fragile. It held a future.

So this week, sit with the question: What small work is God calling you to do? What "basket" might you be weaving — in your home, your workplace, your community — that God intends to carry something far greater than you can see?

Take a moment today to name one small act of faithfulness you can offer this week. Then share it in the comments or with someone who needs the encouragement — your small basket might carry someone else's deliverance too.

Watch the full sermon here (starts automatically at the message): https://www.youtube.com/live/gYq9RvPynzQ?si=grpSiG644tHO2Ncu&t=1845

08/05/2026

Mid Week Reflection – Purpose

10th after Pentecost – August 2, 2026 – Grace United Church, Brampton – Cheri Butt

Purpose can feel like a big, heavy word—meaningful and life-giving, yet sometimes scary and overwhelming. Cheri shared how for years the question “What is my purpose?” shadowed everything: her work, her relationships, her sense of whether she was making any real difference.

We were created in God’s image—to work, to be fruitful, and to live in fellowship with God. That means we are multi-purpose, more like a Swiss Army knife than a single fixed tool. No one grand calling defines us. Purpose is shaped daily by our actions, our relationships, and our growing connection with God.

Jesus is the vine; we are the branches. Abiding in him is how we bear fruit. God is the gardener who tends, prunes, and nurtures so that life can flourish. And we are never without worth. As children of God we are already valuable—education, status, or achievement cannot add to or take away from that truth.

Jesus chose us. He abides with us whether we feel it or not. His love and joy are already in us, waiting to make our joy complete. Even the smallest act of encouragement or truth-telling can become purposeful in God’s hands.

So pause today and notice one ordinary place where you are already living out purpose—simply by staying connected to the vine and sharing a little of that love and joy with someone else. 🙏
Watch the full sermon here (starts automatically at the message):

https://www.youtube.com/live/3b4nWQIftyk?si=3p7wg4d2tmoKjofJ&t=1814

07/30/2026

🫖✨ Welcoming Wednesdays Seniors – High Tea & Royal Trivia! ✨🫖

Our seniors enjoyed a lovely high tea this past Wednesday, led by Head Coordinator Nancy Wilson. The highlight? A fun British monarchy trivia contest! 👑🇬🇧 After lunch, everyone joined in for afternoon games and great company.

Thank you to all who made it a success! 💙

07/29/2026

Mid Week Reflection – The Great Garage Sale – Keith Mayers, LLWL

9th after Pentecost – July 26, 2026 – Grace United Church, Brampton

Jesus points us to a mustard seed—so small, yet holding the promise of something vast. In the same breath he speaks of hidden treasure buried in a field, worth selling everything to possess. Keith Mayers invites us to picture our own lives as a great garage sale.
We spread out the choices, habits, and priorities that fill our days. Some we keep. Some we gently set aside.

The question is not how much we have, but what we are willing to release so the true treasure can remain. God delights in small, genuine acts of surrender far more than grand displays of self. A quiet “yes,” a simple act of kindness, a heart that turns toward Christ—these are the mustard seeds that matter.

In the end we discover we are not only the ones searching. We are the treasure God has already found. Our lives, offered in faith, become priceless in God’s sight.

So pause today and look at one small corner of your life. What might you release, and what treasure of faith are you ready to keep?

Watch the full sermon here (starts automatically at the message): https://www.youtube.com/live/z6HQQqSN8T4?si=dxEzElVtnp_Jyqhz&t=1779

07/22/2026

Mid Week Reflection – When Heaven Meets Earth
July 19, 2026 – Grace United Church, Brampton – Jennifer Franczek

Jacob never planned to meet God that night. He was running—alone, ashamed, sleeping with a rock for a pillow in the middle of nowhere. Yet right there, in the wilderness of his lowest moment, heaven opened. A ladder stretched between earth and sky, and God spoke the words that changed everything: “I am with you.”

Jennifer Franczek reminded us that God does not wait for us to get our lives cleaned up first. Grace comes first. Love comes first. God meets us exactly where we are—not where we should be, not where we wish we were.

Sometimes the ladder between heaven and earth looks remarkably ordinary: a neighbour shovelling a driveway, a well-timed phone call, children singing at full volume by Friday of VBS, or a quiet peace that settles for no obvious reason. Ordinary places become Bethel—the house of God—when we finally notice God has been present all along.

The stone that once meant discomfort becomes a memorial of faithfulness. The hardest chapters often become the places where our faith grows deepest. We leave with something better than certainty: the promise of presence.

So pause today and look for the helpers, the unexpected kindnesses, the quiet signs that God is already at work. Where is heaven brushing against earth in your life this week?

Share one place you’ve noticed God’s presence—we’d love to hear.

Watch the full sermon here (starts automatically at the message): https://www.youtube.com/live/hf4yJCJ74dU?si=w2YAx66eMNgV-Pyp&t=1754

07/22/2026

From Medicine to Ministry of Service: Honouring Founding Zonta Member and Longtime Grace United Volunteer Dr. Kathleen Armitage-Peddle

The retired physician has spent decades in leadership roles across health care and community service, while advancing opportunities for women.