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
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
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.
By Raul Sandoval
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.
By Ed Flint
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.
By Raul Sandoval
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!)
By Hannah Flint
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.
By Ed Flint
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.
By Raul Sandoval
David: The fall of the king.
The story of David and Bathsheba reminds us again how important it is to read an ancient Hebrew story with context and background. This story is uncomfortable! It’s uncomfortable that David did what he did to Bathsheba and Uriah, it's uncomfortable that her feelings and perspective (and name!) are barely included in the account, and it’s uncomfortable that David is still revered as Jesus’ forefather and fore-shadow, after all this. It’s a intricately woven piece of writing - with messaging in there that it’s easy to miss.
With a CW on sexual abuse, let this passage speak to you like it might not have done before.
Bb Hannah Flint
David: A legacy of worship.
From deep lament to joyful praise, the influence that David has had over the way we worship is probably the most of any other human in history. In this talk we explore the expansive faith of David through his worship, and we learn some lesser-known stories, like that of Michal, his wife. When our identity as children of God becomes the foundation, faith and freedom in worship follows
By Tavia Grubbs
David: An act of faith.
David sparing Saul’s life was not just an act of mercy and forgiveness, but it was an act of great faith. When faced with the opportunity to take his destiny into his own hands, David chose to trust in the Lord to do what He said that He would do. This simple moment of trusting God gives us an insight into why he is one of the great heroes of the Christian faith, and encourages us put our hope in God for our own lives.
By Ben Manusama
David: God's looking out.
How can we be sure God is looking out for us? David faces a less than ideal scenario, his best friend’s dad is out to kill him. Saul is set on holding onto power by killing David. Jonathan, however, ensures David that their friendship is in the Lord. Meaning that their friendship with one another is like that of the Lord’s; he won’t leave David alone. And like David, if we’ve ever been alone facing less than ideal scenarios, we long to know whether or not God is looking out. Community is God’s antidote to loneliness; in the same way Jonathan was an extension of God’s love and faithfulness. Godly community is like a well that God can draw on to look out for us. In his community we find that we’re not alone, we’re not orphans. Jesus calls us his siblings, clothed in his Sonship to the Father. In his family, the Spirit empowers us to fight loneliness and stand in solidarity with one another.
By Raul Sandoval
David: The end of envy.
Saul’s murderous envy of David is similar to other stories in OT- Cain and Abel and Joseph and his brothers are the best examples. Envy is serious and it can lead to violent outcomes. Unfortunately we’re all susceptible. We desire. Saul’s envy of David, leads him to obsess over David. He becomes embittered and joyless. The antidote is seen in Jonathan. Instead of envy and rivalry he chooses love. The love we need is so pure it can only come from God. And just as Jonathan gives up his claim to power, and gives himself to David, we’re called to do the something similar to Jesus. When we direct our desire towards him he fills us with a sense of identity and a fullness of love that truly satisfies.
By Ed Flint
David: The real hero.
David and Goliath is more than a story of the small guy overcoming the big guy. And it’s more than a moral story about the importance of faith. Rather it is about God being our champion though David. It is about him fighting for us, him holding our fears, him giving us a way through when we feel afraid. When we are able to admit our fears and our weakness, God can get to work. Ultimately David is the foreshadow of our eternal champion Jesus, who overcomes all that holds us back on the cross. Our challenge is to bring out fears to him and let him deal with them.
By Ed Flint
David: The goodish shepherd.
More pages of the bible are dedicated to the life and legacy of King David than any other person apart from Jesus, and in today’s talk we meet him for the first time. He is anointed as the new chosen King of Israel but Samuel the prophet, when he wasn’t even invited to anointing party (he’d been out on the fields, protecting the family sheep.) In front of 7 of his more eligible brothers, God says ’this is the one.’ It’s hard not to imagine how this must have felt to Eliab, Abinadab and the ones Samuel doesn’t even bother to name. God chooses the unexpected one over and over again, which leads us to ask why, and what does it say about Him. This one is about the human instinct to compare, and the unexpected work that God does when we’re out in the wilderness.
By Hannah Flint
David: Where delight lies.
Before we get to David, we’re introduced to Saul. In a famous scene from chapter 15 we see the kind of person Saul is – he serves as a warning of what can happen when we allow pride to make a home in our hearts. Pride pushes God out and it puts us at the center. Saul, in his pride, rejects God and forfeits the call on his life. The story-teller then sets us up for the one who models the opposite of pride, humility. Jesus is the ultimate humble one who comes to us – he isn’t too great for the least of us. Jesus, in his humility, comes to us all. The invitation to us is to humbly follow him. Humility brings God in. Humility positions us to listen to his voice and that is where God’s delight lies.
By Raul Sandoval
David: Give it to God.
We begin our series in 1 and 2 Samuel with the story of Hannah. Her culture tells her that she is valued only if she bears children, but she is barren. This causes great distress. Her husband Elkanah tries to be kind, but unwittingly simply replaces one sort of cultural expectation and oppression with another (that her worth can be found in being a loved wife). Hannah chooses instead to pray and seek God. In doing so she gives both herself and her potential pregnancy to God, and it is this process of surrender that brings joy and peace. Moreover in her rejoicing she hints at a greater peace that is to come- not just for her, but the whole world. God’s anointed Messiah is coming, the prince of peace, to end all anguish and strife. When we can come before him in prayer and submission, he carries us free from the burdens that cultural expectation look to oppress us with, and we can as Hannah did before, live in peace and joy.
By Ed Flint
Worship and money.
Concluding our series on worship we consider how we treat money as an act of worship. Paul encourages us all, rich or poor, to not put our faith in money. The love of money can lead to all sorts of problems. Rather contentment is what we’re after. And it can be found by all, wealthy or not, when the whole of our lives (including our wallets) are orientated around, and given in worship to, the only One worthy of devotion. When we worship him we experience the rich provision of everything for our enjoyment that God promises.
By Ed Flint
Generosity as worship.
Though sung worship is central to our expression of church (culturally, and certainly for us at Bread) the words translated as worship in the new testament aren’t actually to do with singing specifically at all. They build to a much more general picture full and submission and devotion, and wherever these new worshipful communities spread, generosity was their hallmark. It’s not an aspect of christianity that many of us feel most comfortable with, is it? But as Paul reminded the church in Corinth (a community particularly known for its generous promises) giving should not be done under compulsion; rather as a mark of evidence that God’s grace has been understood. Let’s return to this picture of God as the ultimate cheerful giver - the one who shows us how much He loves to gives his children good gifts - as we try to comprehend how this was always meant to work for us too.
By Hannah Flint
What's the Spirit got to do with it?
The fullest depiction of worship services in NT is found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. There he encourages the church to both follow the way of love and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit. It’s always both/and not either/or. When we do both the church is edified, which is always the goal. A church full of the Spirit and full of love is the hope both for us and the world. In this talk we look specifically at the role of the gifts of tongues and prophecy to edify us all.
By Ed Flint