The Nexus Podcast

Tribute to Murray (S13 Episode8)

After 10 years of service and on the occasion of his 75th Birthday, Nexus pays tribute to Murray Baker.

Your Questions, My Responses (S13 Episode7)

I mentioned in Week 1 of our prayer series that I would do a final Sunday where I answered any questions people have on prayer. I received five questions. They are these:

1. Why pray if I’m totally willing to accept whatever God sends my way? When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer I did not pray for healing. I prayed that God would help me deal with whatever resulted in a God honouring way. Was that a demonstration of submissive faith? Or was it a cop out; afraid a prayer for healing would not be answered?
2. Some Christians believe that if many are praying for something the more likely it will be answered. Wouldn’t that mean a famous preacher is more likely to be healed than an usher?
3. Do you think that substances that alter our state of mind (alcohol, cannabis, or psychedelics) could be a tool for prayer?
4. You have talked a lot about how prayer is about our own formation…what is God’s role in all of this? What is God doing while we pray? Does God answer prayer?
5. Sending "thoughts and prayers" has become a ubiquitous phrase people offer up in the face of tragedy. But it seems to be a cheap platitude for doing nothing. Does prayer make a difference in the face of suffering? 

Well…this ought to be interesting.

Things that Keep Me Up At Night (S13 Episode6)

One final teaching on prayer. I know for some of you this series has been a bit of a slog…our questions and doubts around prayer seem too insurmountable to find any real value in prayer. I get that. Thanks for tracking with us anyway.

For this final teaching on prayer I want to look at evening (or night) prayers – the prayers we might utter at the end of the day or when restless nights find us. To do that, it will be helpful to have on hand the “morning and evening prayers” I gave you earlier in the series. If you don’t have a hard copy, it is attached here.

I want to take you through three parts of my evening prayer routine: Examen, Evening Prayer, and Prayer Before Sleep. For me, these three have become incredibly meaningful to me and I am fairly confident they could be the same for you. Of course there are plenty of pit stops to make along the way. Beyond that, I have something exciting to share with you this Sunday, so I hope you will join us this coming Sunday for The Things That Keep Me Up At Night.

What Should We Pray For? (S13 Episode5)

In 2016, Martin Scorsese released a passion project film – Silence. It was immediately lauded by critics as a thoughtful and moving meditation on faith and Christianity. Scorsese had turned theology into art. In making the film, Scorsese consulted with the Jesuit priest, James Martin, to ensure he conveyed Jesuit spirituality as accurately as possible. The leading actors in the film, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, spent a year learning under James Martin so they could play the role of Jesuit priests well. You should check out some of Andrew Garfield’s interviews about his experience making the film – fascinating stuff.

The film has stayed with me since I first saw it in 2016, but what I was particularly struck by was a specific question Martin Scorsese asked of James Martin. Scorsese wanted to authentically capture Jesuit faith under pressure. One scene in the film depicts a Jesuit priest facing a crucifixion drowning. Scorsese asked Martin what a Jesuit priest would pray for in such cruel circumstances. James Martin’s response (which makes it into the film) has stayed with me for years, and I want to share his insight with us all this Sunday. As we move towards the conclusion of our prayer series, this Sunday I simply want to ask the question, what should we pray for?

When Trees Fly (S13 Episode4)

Today is Karla’s first sermon, tackling some words of Jesus that are curious, sarcastic, nuanced, paradoxical, and challenging. We’ll explore questions of faith (What is it? Do I have enough? Enough for what?), consider the power of gentleness, and explore other tensions and paradoxes on the Jesus path including a really tricky one: What is the best condiment?

Opening the Tuna Can (S13 Episode3)

So, how much mayo do you add to tuna from a can to make a tuna salad sandwich? More or less than 2 tbsp? Just curious. My fam thinks I go a little heavy on the mayo. I think they don’t know what a good sandwich tastes like.
 
Anywho…this Sunday is all about opening the tuna can. By that, I mean I want to continue our prayer series by inviting you into my own prayer routine. I am going to simply show you what I do with prayer every day (ideally) and why I do it. This is something I have never done before at Nexus, and I am excited to fill you in on the prayer routines that work for me. In fact, I have a whole little handout for you and everything. 

- Brad Watson

What is Prayer? (S13 Episode2)

Seems like a pointless question…we know what prayer is…that thing you do where you talk to an invisible God. Yet, many of us have inherited what I think are unhelpful notions about prayer and so I want to help us reimagine what prayer is and what it is supposed to do.

To that end, I want to start the morning with a little game I am calling, “Would you, or would you not, pray for that?” It will be a fun little exercise, no need to keep score or publicize your results, but it will be a fun little way for us to get a sense of what we honestly think about prayer. For instance, if I asked you to pray for the Blue Jays to win tonight, would you do it? I will take us through that before drawing upon the wisdom of Jesus and those within our tradition to help us craft a better understanding of prayer. We will need to explore why pragmatism ruins prayer, what I learned when Glenn Pascoe took me clothes shopping this summer, and what wrestling with my kids has helped me understand about the nature of prayer. I hope it will be an enjoyable and thoughtful morning for us all. 

An Introduction to Prayer and a Personal God (S13 Episode1)

This Sunday, as we start our season, I have decided to dive headfirst into what may be the most personally challenging and intimidating series I have ever put together. A series on prayer. Now, I have done single teachings on prayer, but a whole six-week series? Yikes. Of course, I will have to tell you the story of how I got myself into this situation, but the truth is I struggle with prayer and always have. And yet, I think I have picked up a few things over the years that may be of interest. To start the series, I want to ask a serious question: are there actually any good reasons to pray? I can think of a few and want to share them with you.
 
Of course, to do that I am bringing with me an assortment of stories and observations: conversations under the stars about the James Webb telescope, embarrassing learnings from an ill-conceived paragliding adventure, and the great superstition of those in the West. 

Brad

A Beautiful Thing (S12 Episode43)

As we usher in the summer, I want to share with you the story of Jesus being anointed with oil. Just days before his death, Jesus was at a dinner party when Mary pours an expensive oil on him, causing quite the awkward scene. The way Jesus responds to this gesture is fascinating to me and there is much for us to learn from it. To me, it feels like the perfect story to end our season on as welcome the rhythms of summer! Hope to see you Sunday for A Beautiful Thing.

Blood & Thunder - Mob Mentality (S12 Episode43)

Friends, two Sundays left in our season and this week I want to talk about the Blood & Thunder of mob mentality. In the past few years, we have witnessed the power and devastation of the mob. While the phenomenon dates back thousands of years, a certain mob mentality is recognizable within certain aspects of our culture and current events: Boxing Day shopping mobs, sports fan mobs, the trucker convoy, the January 6 insurrection, and of course Twitter mobs. Anytime there is a collective motivated by anger and accusations, conditions are ripe for Blood & Thunder.
 
This Sunday, I want to get under the phenomenon of the mob and explore how it works, why it is so seductive and dangerous, and of course, how Jesus shows us a way to avoid and resist the mob mentalities we encounter today.