Time. This elusive thing that seems to rush by quicker and quicker with each passing month. And if you’re anything like me, you try to grasp for more of it, willing it to slow down because it never feels like there’s quite enough. Not enough time in the workday, where the to-do list seems to get longer instead of shorter. Not enough time to spend with family and friends - not even enough time to send the quick text checking-in to say, ‘I’m thinking of you’. Not enough time to

I used to think that rest was related to sleep. It was something that was earned after working hard through the day and followed the expending of most of my energy. Rest was what happened when I just couldn’t push myself any further. The purpose of rest was to get sufficiently recharged so more work and productivity could happen.    The result of this in my life was that I could never get enough rest to meet the ever-increasing demands I would place on myself. Instead of rest

When it comes to having faith, I often feel like Peter on the waves. Whether I like it or not, the world rages on around me and my attention is pulled to the fierceness of the storms: the pelting of the rain, the swirling black of the clouds, the howling of the wind. All of the worldly things that speak fear, distraction, or doubt into my heart and mind. And, like Peter, in the looking away I can feel what it is to be overcome. To begin to sink. And while Jesus reaches out, t

Every year as a church we journey through the 40 days of Lent together. It has become a deeply meaningful experience for so many of us as we walk with Jesus and one another on a road of confession, examination, and responsiveness to the Holy Spirit.  As a team we’ve been praying and asking Jesus to give us a theme for Lent that would speak specifically to our community and shine a light on things that are keeping us from experiencing fullness of life. As we listened and disce

From January 19-20 we are calling the church community to join us in a Day of Prayer and Fasting in which we are seeking God's heart of healing for our community as well as his provision for our financial reality. As part of this day, we invite you to help us cover an entire 24 hour period with prayer.  You can sign up for one (or more) half-hour time slots that you are committing to spending in prayer for our community here . You are also invited to a Prayer Meeting at 7PM o

As a community, we value storytelling as a key way in which God moves in our midst. We believe that the darkness gets pushed back every time we tell a kingdom story - every time we say what is true of God, of us, of each other, and of the world around us. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. -- Revelation 12:11 NIV Jesus was the greatest storyteller that eve

Dear Stony Plain Alliance Church family, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5 As we make our way through this season of Advent, there are a few things happening in our community that we’d like to draw your attention to. December 17 th  at 7 PM  is our Blue Christmas Service . In the middle of the rush of the season, this is a space where we offer a time of quiet reflection for those walking the road of grief, loss, loneliness, a

After some time with Jesus his disciples come to Jesus with a question. They have witnessed his teachings, his miracles of healing and deliverance, they have seen the way he responds to aggression and rejection, and they have seen his rhythm of escaping to the wilderness in prayer. They see Jesus, they see his dependence on the God he refers to as his Father, and they see how things happen when he prays. So one day as Jesus is praying in a certain place, they come to Jesus w

Anticipation is a powerful emotion.   We can be in an incredibly dark season, thinking that there’s no way through and that how it is now is the only way it can ever be. Then, often unexpectedly, something happens that moves our attention from the present to the future.   ​ An invitation arrives.   Someone you love says they’re coming for a visit.   An event gets announced that you’ve been wanting to experience.   ​ And while the difficulty of the present may not have changed

There are many ways the world promises us a full life – through the pursuit of wealth, status, family, comfort, success. ​ These ways to fullness are often based around performance, doing the right things and getting the right results. And so we push and push, striving to be better, never content. We are left battered and bruised, and in need of healing. ​ The good news is that Jesus is the God of healing, and he offers another way. ​ We believe the true fullness of life is f