Central Presbyterian Church Brantford

09/06/2026

09/04/2026

Join us for Worship on Sunday, September 6, 2026 at 10 a.m. at 442 - Unit E Grey Street!

If you can't join us in-person, we will also be on Facebook Live.
September 6, 2026, 15th Sunday after Pentecost.

All Welcome!

Minister: Rev. Bill Bynum
Message: “Signs, signs everywhere are signs"

Organist: Ron Beckett
Soloist: Michaela Chiste

Hymns:

#324 Great is thy faithfulness, #625 Seek ye first, #730 O for a world where everyone, #650 He leadeth me.

One License # A-742671

09/04/2026

Weekly message from our Pastoral Care Minister; Rev. Larry Amiro:

September 6, 2026
15th Sunday after Pentecost

Ezekiel 33:7–11
Psalm 119:33–40
Romans 13:8–14
Matthew 18:15–20

Love That Repairs: The Gospel’s Call to Courageous Reconciliation

Matthew 18:15–20 is one of Jesus’ most practical teachings. It does not deal with lofty ideas or distant doctrines—it deals with the everyday reality of conflict, misunderstanding, and hurt within the
community of faith. Jesus assumes these things will happen. What matters is how we respond.

His instruction is simple but demanding: Go to the one who has hurt you. Speak honestly. Seek restoration.

This is not the easy path. It is far simpler to avoid the person, to speak about them rather than to them, or to let resentment quietly harden. But Jesus insists that love is not passive. Love moves toward the other. Love desires healing. Love risks the conversation that might mend what has been torn.

Paul’s words in Romans 13:8–14 deepen this teaching by giving us the inner posture that makes reconciliation possible. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.”

Paul is not talking about emotion—he is talking about obligation. Love is the Christian’s ongoing debt, the duty we never finish paying. And this duty shapes how we handle conflict.

- Love refuses to harm a neighbour.

- Love seeks the good of the other.

- Love wakes us up from spiritual sleep and calls us to live honourably.

- Love fulfils the law because it embodies the heart of God’s commands.

When Jesus tells us to go to a brother or sister who has sinned against us, he is giving us the practice of love. When Paul tells us that love fulfils the law, he is giving us the reason for that practice.

Matthew shows us what love does. Romans shows us why love does it.

Reconciliation is not merely a relational skill—it is an act of obedience. It is the way we live out the law of Christ. It is how we honour the debt of love we owe to one another.

This kind of love is courageous. It speaks truth gently. It listens humbly. It seeks restoration rather than victory. It keeps the community whole.

And Jesus promises that when we engage in this work—this holy labour of repairing relationships—he is present. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

If there is someone with whom you need to speak—someone you need to forgive, or someone from whom you need forgiveness—consider that Christ may be inviting you into the work of reconciliation. Not to win an argument, but to win back a relationship.

Love fulfils the law. Love restores what is broken. Love makes room for Christ to stand among us.

08/28/2026

Join us for Worship on Sunday, August 30, 2026 at 10 a.m. at 442 - Unit E Grey Street!

If you can't join us in-person, we will also be on Facebook Live.
August 30, 2026, 14th Sunday after Pentecost.

All Welcome!

Minister: Rev. Bill Bynum
Message: “Our Ability to Accessorize”

Organist: Ron Beckett
Soloist: Terri-Lyn Paterson

Hymns:

#214 All glory, laud and honour, #274 Crown him with many crowns, #211 Take up your cross, #231 When I survey the wondrous cross.

One License # A-742671

08/28/2026

Weekly message from our Pastoral Care Minister; Rev. Larry Amiro:

August 30, 2026
14th Sunday after Pentecost

Exodus 3:1–15
Psalm 105:1–6, 23–26, 45b
Romans 12:9–21
Matthew 16:21–28

There are moments in the Gospels when Jesus speaks with a clarity that startles us. Matthew 16:21–28 is one of those moments. It marks a turning point: Jesus begins to tell his disciples plainly that the road ahead will lead to suffering, rejection, and death — and then to resurrection. It is the first time he reveals the shape of his mission so directly, and the disciples are shaken.

Peter, who has just confessed Jesus as the Messiah, cannot imagine that suffering could be part of God’s plan. His reaction is understandable. Most of us resist the idea that hardship can be woven into God’s purposes. Yet Jesus responds with a firm correction and an invitation that reaches across centuries to us
today: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

This passage is not meant to frighten us. It is meant to reorient us.

Jesus does not hide the truth. He tells the disciples that the path of love will cost him something. But he also tells them that suffering is not the end — resurrection is. The cross and the empty tomb belong together.

For many this pairing of honesty and hope feels familiar. Life brings real challenges: declining health, transitions in living, grief, loneliness, and the quiet work of adjusting to new realities. Yet faith reminds us that God’s story always bends toward life. Jesus names the hard truth, but he also promises a future.

Peter’s instinct is to protect Jesus from pain. He wants a Messiah without a cross, a victory without sacrifice. We often want the same. We prefer faith that comforts but does not challenge, hope that
reassures but does not stretch us.

Jesus’ response — “you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” — is not a rejection of Peter. It is a reminder that God’s ways are larger, deeper, and more mysterious than our
instincts. Sometimes the path of love leads through places we would not choose. But God is present there too.

“Take up your cross” is one of the most misunderstood phrases in Scripture. It does not mean seeking suffering or accepting harm as God’s will. It means choosing the way of Christ even when it is difficult —choosing love over resentment, forgiveness over bitterness, compassion over indifference, courage over
fear.

In everyday life, taking up the cross looks like:

- Offering patience when frustration would be easier

- Reaching out to someone who feels forgotten

- Praying for those who have hurt us

- Trusting God when circumstances feel uncertain

- Continuing to hope even when the path ahead is unclear

These are quiet acts of discipleship, but they are powerful.

Jesus’ words about losing life to find it are not about literal loss. They are about letting go of the things that keep us from living fully — pride, fear, self centeredness, the need to control, the reluctance to trust.

As life changes, priorities shift. What matters becomes clearer: relationships, kindness, faith, gratitude, and the presence of God in daily moments. In a way, this is the very life Jesus promises — a life rooted not in achievement but in love.

Matthew 16 invites us to be a community that follows Jesus not only in belief but in practice. A community where people carry one another’s burdens, where compassion is shared freely, where hope
is spoken gently, and where Christ’s way of self giving love is lived out in small, faithful steps.

This is not dramatic discipleship. It is everyday discipleship — and it is holy.

Jesus’ call to take up the cross is not a call to despair. It is a call to deeper life. It is an invitation to trust that God is at work even in difficult seasons, and that the path of Christ — though sometimes costly — always leads toward resurrection hope.

08/21/2026

Join us for Worship on Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 10 a.m. at 442 - Unit E Grey Street!

If you can't join us in-person, we will also be on Facebook Live.
August 23, 2026, 13th Sunday after Pentecost.
All Welcome!

Minister: Rev. Bill Bynum
Message: “The View From The Hill”

Organist: Ron Beckett
Soloist: Terri-Lyn Paterson

Hymns:
#321 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, #635 Brother, sister, let me serve you, #648 I’m gonna live so God can use me, #757 Come sing, O church, in joy!

One License # A-742671

08/21/2026

Weekly message from our Pastoral Care Minister; Rev. Larry Amiro:

August 23, 2026
13th Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 51:1–6
Psalm 138;
Romans 12:1–8;
Matthew 16:13–20

“All That I Have, All That I Am, All That I’ll Ever Be…”

Therefore, brothers and sisters, because of all that I have told you in the last few chapters—because of God’s mercy, God’s faithfulness, God’s saving love—you should offer yourselves fully to God. Paul’s words in Romans 12 are not abstract theology; they are a call to commitment. They invite us to say with our whole lives:

“All that I have, all that I am, all that I’ll ever be, I offer now to Thee.”

This is the heart of Christian discipleship. Not a one time promise, but a daily posture. Not a dramatic sacrifice, but a steady offering of ordinary life to the God who has already given us everything.

Paul begins with grace. Before he asks anything of us, he reminds us of what God has done:

- God has welcomed us.

- God has forgiven us.

- God has claimed us as beloved children.

- God has poured out mercy we could never earn.

Our commitment is not payment—it is gratitude. We offer ourselves because God first offered Himself to us.

To “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” means bringing your whole self—your work, your relationships, your time, your abilities—under God’s loving direction. It means letting God shape your
thinking, your choices, and your priorities.

It is saying, “Lord, take my life today. Use it as You will.”

This is worship lived out in kitchens, workplaces, care homes, neighbourhoods, and quiet moments of kindness.

Paul then urges us to look at ourselves “with sober judgment.” Not inflated pride. Not false humility. Just truth.

We are not asked to be everything. We are asked to be faithful with what God has given.

Humility is not thinking less of ourselves—it is thinking truthfully about ourselves, recognizing both our strengths and our limits, and trusting that God can use both.

Paul’s image of the church as a body is simple and profound. We belong to one another. We depend on one another. We are strengthened by one another.

And God has given each of us gifts—different gifts, important gifts, needed gifts.

Some teach. Some encourage. Some serve quietly. Some lead. Some give generously. Some pray faithfully. Some bring compassion that heals hearts. Some offer practical help that keeps ministry moving.

No one has all the gifts. No one is without gifts. And no gift is too small for God to use.

Romans 12 reminds us that commitment is not a solo act. It is lived in community. We support one another, uplift one another, and help one another grow. When one person’s gift is offered, the whole body benefits. When one person struggles, the whole body responds with care.

A church becomes strong not through a few extraordinary people, but through many faithful people offering what God has placed in them.

This is how God’s mercy becomes visible in the world: through shared service, shared compassion, shared commitment.

So today, let Paul’s words invite us to renew our commitment:

All that I have—my time, my abilities, my resources— I offer now to Thee.

All that I am—my personality, my story, my strengths and weaknesses— I offer now to Thee.

All that I’ll ever be—my hopes, my future, my unfolding life— I offer now to Thee.

May our church be a place where every gift is welcomed, every person is valued, and every act of service—large or small—becomes part of God’s ongoing work of mercy in our community.

08/14/2026

Central Presbyterian Church will not be on Facebook Live this Sunday as our IPad and Facebook account need to be updated. We will be back on Sunday, August 23rd.