Sunday, 22 January 2023
Obedience based on trust and discipline are two key aspects of what it means to live as Jesus’ disciples. Jesus expects obedience to His commands, God disciplines us as the children that He loves and it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to follow Jesus’ example. Having child-like faith means that we instinctively trust and obey God because of our relationship with Him. We should raise our children similarly, and when our parenting differs from the world around us, God’s timeless Word is to be our ultimate source of truth.
Sunday, 27 March 2022
Duration: 18 mins 54 secs
When we make the decision to put God first, Jesus says it should radically change our outlook on life. Using comparisons from nature, Jesus highlights the folly of worrying about the things of this world, even including the essentials that sustain us such as food, drink and clothes. He says that worrying is worthless and undermines our faith to the point where we look no different from the world around us. Instead, we are to be people that trust God to provide for our every need, knowing that He is our Father who loves us, and to seek His will for our life first. Once we have those priorities straight we will be able to more easily deal with each day’s troubles as it comes.
Sunday, 11 April 2021
Duration: 20 mins 32 secs
Hope is a confident assurance in the unseen, despite what we do see. Just like the Corinthians, we live in uncertain times, with the last year and a half full of the unexpected and unprecedented. It can be tempting to allow our ultimate hope to be substituted for the lesser things that the world has to offer, rather than being based on Jesus’ death and resurrection and on the promises of God. When we remind ourselves of these things we are better able to encourage and share where true hope may be found with others.
Sunday, 22 December 2019
Duration: 34 mins 33 secs
This passage of Isaiah is the first of four Servant Songs in the book and has strong messianic overtones. But who is the prophet referring to as he describes the role that the servant will have in bringing justice to the nations, but with an unexpected gentleness? It is the nation of Israel itself? Is it Cyrus the Great who ended the exile of the Jews? How about Muhammad as the Muslims believe? In today’s message we examine the evidence that shows that Jesus best fits the figurative fingerprint that Isaiah describes. As Jesus’ followers, we too are called to exhibit justice with gentleness. What does that look like for you today?
Sunday, 25 June 2017
Duration: 36 mins 21 secs
As Christians, we need the right attitude when it comes to our finances. Our world preaches financial security. We need to be sure that we don't pursue our own financial desires and recognise that everything we have is a gift from God. God calls us to be wise stewards. We need to invest in the things that God wants by living generously, providing for the work of the Kingdom of God and by showing our dependance on God in our giving.
Sunday, 22 January 2017
Duration: 24 mins 29 secs
Unlike God, we have a beginning on this earth - the day we are born. We have a choice on how we live our lives. We can choose to reject Jesus or accept that it is only through Him that we can have an eternal future with God. For Christians, the choice to follow Jesus is the opportunity to widen our focus on the day to day things that we face. We can now consider the eternal perspective of our lives and for those things that we think are big isues now become small. We can now value the power of prayer and trust God completely because he is sovereign over all things, and that in all things, He works for the good of those who love Him.
Sunday, 13 September 2015
In Ephesians 4 Paul describes how God equips us through His Spirit to serve Him as part of a unified body. We are called to live lives worthy of the hope we have received by embodying characteristics similar to the Fruit of the Spirit. This is to be particularly evident in our unity, although we are each gifted differently. In this passage Paul identifies leadership gifts to equip the saints to equip other saints. The language throughout is similar to how one might prepare for battle, with each person playing their part towards a common goal. Are we living a life worthy of our calling, and are we growing together in unity and maturity?
Sunday, 12 April 2015
Duration: 30 mins 28 secs
Death – the final frontier. The unexplored territory where many have gone but none returned. The great unknown at the end of this life. Or is it? What are the logical and practical implications of the Easter story for you and I? Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 15 that it is solely on one event in human history – the death and resurrection of Jesus – that the Christian faith rests. If it falls, then everything else goes with it, including Jesus’ teachings and promises about the life to come which form the basis of Christian hope.
Sunday, 13 July 2014
Duration: 17 mins 44 secs
From where do you gain your confidence for your life beyond this one? In today's passage Paul uses dwelling and clothing metaphors to compare the temporal and the eternal and helps us to see things the way God does. He answers some challenging questions about what it looks like to live with the hope that God has promised us in the midst of difficult circumstances right now, and to be motivated to carry out God's mission in spite of them.
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Duration: 29 mins 28 secs
Integrity is the extent to which who we are on the inside matches who we are on the outside. This encompasses everything we do, say, think and feel. It includes our body, mouth, mind and heart. Maintaining personal integrity is not something we can do alone. The Bible calls us to confess our sins to each other, and keep each other accountable to what it teaches. This is really difficult to do in practice, but there are a few things that can help. Giving permission, doing it well, making it mutual, thinking spiritually and considering eternity are all important ways we can encourage each other to be people of integrity.
Here is a copy of the
Christian Accountability Contract referred to in this message.
