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Philippians: Anxious About Nothing

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Philippians: Anxious About Nothing

As a population we are becoming more and more anxious. We live in one of the most opportunity-rich nations on earth, and yet we worry more and more. In this context Paul’s command to not be anxious about anything seems particularly stark. And yet Paul has such a depth of relationship with Jesus that he knows this isn’t an anxiety free life is not a pipe dream. In Jesus we access to a peace that is so profound that it washes away every worry. The question is: do we want to let Jesus into the source of our anxieties?

By Ed Flint

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Philippians: Be of the Same Mind

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Philippians: Be of the Same Mind

Whilst the Philippian church is clearly doing very well - they are Paul’s ‘joy and crown’ - there is nevertheless some unresolved conflict within their ranks. Conflict is not necessarily a sign of dysfunction. In fact, biblical churches are marked not by an absence of conflict - it is inevitable - but by the presence of a deep desire to reconcile. Conflict exists because whilst the church is full of redeemed, Spirit-filled people, we still exhibit traits of our fallen nature. We always have a choice between living in one of two kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness which brings slander and unforgiveness and division and hate, or Jesus’ kingdom, which is marked by peace. Let us be a church that chooses the latter. And let us be people insistent on resolving conflict healthily, graciously, biblically, and regularly.

By Ed Flint

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Philippians: Citizens of Heaven

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Philippians: Citizens of Heaven

As well as persecution and conflict, it’s clear from this week’s passage, that the church in Philippi was also dealing with the age-old problem of false-teaching from within. Paul, who is never anything but crystal clear about how to deal with anything or anyone that would infiltrate, distract or dilute the central message of Jesus’ saving power in His churches, reminds his friends of who they are (making some fascinating tangential remarks about maturity, and what it looks like, along the way.) To a city built on a colonist’s mindset he makes the searing statement: You are citizens of heaven, NOT to keep their eyes focussed on future glory (in this instance) but to reverse that logic. It is your highest call, to bring the ways of heaven (its love, justice, and humility) to earth! To meet your universal human condition, wired for tribal belonging and expansion, with a totally other kind of existence. A challenge surely as relevant to us today, as it ever was!

By Hannah Flint

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Philippians: Surpassing Worth

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Philippians: Surpassing Worth

Paul warns against valuing things which squeeze Jesus out as being our supreme value. Culture puts a high value on success, money, fame, intelligence and beauty amongst other things. Religion values outward performance and empty tradition. From time to time we need to reevaluate our values. Our faith can slide into performance. Our hearts are always susceptible to going after culture’s values. Paul calls us to worship the living God as a safeguard and antidote to these. It’s in the presence of Jesus that we see him for who he is again. And here, we can both die to that which robs us of life, and be resurrected to the life of fullness that Jesus promises.

By. Ed Flint

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Philippians: Whatever Happens

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Philippians: Whatever Happens

Paul faces two outcomes: life or death. In the uncertainty of this situation he remains confident of one thing: his future is wrapped up in Jesus’ presence. This is the case with us in every uncertain and ambiguous situation. It’s in this light that Paul encourages the church - with its disunity and fearfulness - to continue to live out their faith because it is the Spirit that establishes us in Christ. So, in “whatever happens,” we can be confident that Jesus is the ground we can stand on. He supplies the Spirit and others as evidence of his present and coming kingdom.

By Raul Sandoval

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Philippians: Rejoice

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Philippians: Rejoice

Paul is able to rejoice in the most difficult circumstances. He’s a great example for us: He is certain that God’s purposes for the world will win out nevertheless and despite these trials (the Gospel is preached in and outside the prison); He recognizes that God’s purposes for his own life will win out through these trials (God is using them to deepen Paul’s experience of salvation); and He has one singular focus: ‘to live is Christ’. So career, family, relationships whilst important, if threatened, will not derail him. When we follow him in establishing our lives on these three foundations, we can live in peace and with joy even in the toughest of times.

By Ed Flint

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Philippians: Good Work

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Philippians: Good Work

As we kick off our series on Philippians, we find a powerful origin story of the church at Philippi in Acts 16: where two women of wildly different social statuses find deliverance through Jesus. Paul and friends are then thrown into prison, bound, and they worship the Living God deep into the midnight hours. In the midst of their worship we have a dramatic prison-break—an earthquake shakes them out of their chains. About a decade later, Paul writes to this small church in Philippi, reminding them of his love for them in Christ. Picking up in Philippians chapter 1, we will explore the power of the Spirit’s kind voice, resilient joy in suffering, and the insistence that Jesus will finish the work he began in us.

By Nelly D’Alessandro

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I AM - The Resurrection and the Life

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I AM - The Resurrection and the Life

We finished up our series on John’s 7 statements of Jesus’ I ams with arguably the most clear scene of Immanuel - God with us- in the whole of the bible. It shows Jesus operating in extreme truth, power, and messianic fulfilment but also reveals his profoundly loving humanity. It’s quite a scene to grasp, when we get to grips with how badly our english translations have depicted Jesus’ depth about his grieving friends at Lazarus’ tomb. It’s a bonkers concept to hold in tension: the God of the universe, on the throne, who was victorious in conquering all outworkings of death and destruction in our lives. And a God who became human, to show us how deeply he cares about our pain, grief and loss, and draw near to us in them; We can’t pick one Jesus or the other, the fact that he is both these things is life's work for all of us, as his followers, to hold together.

By Hannah Flint

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I AM - The True Vine

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I AM - The True Vine

Do we earn God’s love by obeying his commands? The perfectionist mindset makes it very difficult to understand the concept of unconditional love. In this talk we unpack what Jesus really means when he says “if you obey my commands you will abide in my love”, what his commands are, and how his purposes in everything are to lead us toward joy and life to the fullest.

by Tavia Grubbs

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I AM - The Way, Truth, Life

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I AM - The Way, Truth, Life

On Jesus’ final night before his arrest and betrayal, his disciples become troubled. Will they be abandoned? Were they right to put their faith in him? Jesus’s response is to reassure them of his identity - He is the fullness of God. But not just this - he is also the way to heaven. Heaven is both a glorious future reality in which all suffering ceases, but also, because of what Jesus achieves on the cross - a present experience. Jesus will never leave us, so we need not be troubled by the thought of being abandoned. And all our troubles recede in the light of heaven - now in part, and in the future forever.

By Ed Flint

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Serve the City Sunday

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Serve the City Sunday

We’re taking a break from our current series to focus on a goal of ours here at Bread. We aim to be a church that exists for the good of the city. Jesus loves it and he’s already at work in bringing his goodness and kingdom to it. So we want to partner with him in that. Serve the City Sunday is about making our service initiatives known in accessible ways. In this talk you'll hear various speakers share about what this looks like. We believe that his kingdom is a place where everyone can play. Our hope is that you’d find your place as people who carry out God’s good work in this beloved city of his.

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I AM - The Good Shepherd

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I AM - The Good Shepherd

Jesus condemns the religious leaders of his time. They were tasked with looking after God’s people, his sheep - but they’ve failed in their task. Jesus announces himself, in contrast, as the one true and Good Shepherd. And he leads his people into safe and bountiful pasture. It’s important for us to separate Jesus, the Good Shepherd, from those who have caused harm to us his sheep. Jesus is always part of the solution, so it’s important not to see him as part of the problem. His desire is to heal and restore those of us who have been hurt, and to renew our intimacy with him.

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I AM - The Gate

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I AM - The Gate

Gates are entryways. They are entrances into realms. For the man born blind who was healed by Jesus, this was a transformative reality. He was rejected by the religious leaders so Jesus became the way in for him. The way into a new beginning, a new story, and a God-infused life. This goes for us as well. When life has a way of pushing us to the fringes, Jesus assures us that he is the way into the good life, a life that overflows with beauty and harmony. What does that look like? Jesus uses shepherd imagery to describe it. Take a listen and invite Jesus to meet with you.

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I AM - The Bread

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I AM - The Bread

I am the bread of life. Jesus was making a very bold statement about a lot more than a specific food source, having just turned 5 loaves and 2 fishes into a meal for thousands, which had HUGE messianic symbolism and implications to that crowd, that we might easily miss. John wrote his gospel carefully and masterfully because he believed that meeting Jesus had the power to change absolutely everything for everyone of us, so give this 'I am’ statement another listen (and as a bonus, find out how we got our name!)

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I AM - The Light

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I AM - The Light

I am the light of the world. Light is wonderful. It brings life, it brings joy, it grows good things. It is also awesome. It has extraordinary power to reveal, to consume and to refine. Jesus says I am not just a light, but the light of the whole universe. Every other light- every person, philosophy or belief is a mere reflection. And he comes so that he can shine his light on us to bring joy, life, refinement, and growth. He has come so that we can meet with him, for the first time, or the hundredth, and be changed forever by his wonderful awesome light.

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David: David's Deliverer

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David: David's Deliverer

We’ve reached the end of 2 Samuel and in it’s epilogue we find David’s song. It captures the essence of his life. It is David’s memoir-ic poem and he say’s “God is my deliverer”; David gets into trouble and God delivers him. From lions, Sauls, and personal failures God demonstrates to us through David that he can deliver us. We all face things - spiritual and natural - that work against us and in those moments it can feel like we’re up to our necks in trouble. David models a practice of calling on God when we’re in trouble. But more than that, David and the prophets point us to Jesus, the ultimate deliver. Jesus is the Son of David but he doesn’t rule as David did. Jesus rejected the nationalistic and militaristic ideas placed on the expected son of David – Jesus instead leads a kingdom not by violence, one that isn’t characterized by oppressive rule but one that is self denying, one that is marked by love. As we call on Jesus, he delivers us into his loving presence.

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Jesus With Gentiles

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Jesus With Gentiles

New series alert! We always want to understand Jesus better, so what better way than a series on how he interacted with people in Luke’s gospel? Right from the start, Jesus spoke about how he came to bring a new day for jews and gentiles alike. We might not always relate to how offensive this message was. But we are all wired for groups!

We think this is one of the most important pastoral words we can share in our divided era (but be warned - it’s never been an easy one to hear.)

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The Way Into Life

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The week after Easter: Thomas doesn’t meet the risen Jesus until a week after the resurrection. He’s an intriguing character- alone, doubting, troubled- but he goes on to doing extraordinary things. As such he is the perfect example of how Jesus changes people. Following Thomas we’ve got to be honest, we’ve got to believe, but more than that- we’ve also got to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. This is simple, but not easy. But the consequences are huge- this is the way into life in all its fullness.

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Good News of Resurrection

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The most important moment in all of human history is the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. In the resurrection Jesus provides all humankind with answers to our most fundamental questions - is there a God? What happens when we die? Is there more to life than just the material? - as well as our most longed for needs - do we matter? Can we change? will we be ok?

When Jesus rises from the death all pain and sickness, evil and death are defeated - and he welcomes us into a new world order of love and peace and joy with him.