Jesus’ ministry was characterised by how he frequently set people free from demonic oppression. And he commands us, his disciples, to do the same in his name. There are of course theological and pastoral sensitivities about the subject, which need to be addressed. But let’s not let them distract from the main thing: Jesus has all authority and power over the demonic; and he comes to deliver the whole cosmos from evil.
Jesus’ Supernatural Power: 12 Baskets Left Over
The feeding of the multitude is one of Jesus most well-known miracles, and its central message is clear: Jesus provides - physically, as well as spiritually. But it’s the 12 baskets leftover we examine this morning. Each one of the 12 disciples, with a full basket of bread, left to sit and contemplate what they’d just been a part of. Maybe the most significant thing about this miracle is not that God can provide, but what it shows us about what happens when we trust, and follow him.
Jesus’ Supernatural Power: Joy Bringer
Jesus first miracle is about joy! And it encapsulates the whole meaning of his ministry. He comes to earth as the joy-bringer. So let us open ourselves to him the great provider- to provide joy instead of our sadness, our disgrace, our hopelessness, or our pain. Our supernatural faith means his joy comes to us from his spirit directly. We just have to open ourselves to him and ask.
Church: Social + Supernatural
We’ve heard a lot about the mission recently, but not for one moment are we ever supposed to do this in our own strength. The church in Philippi began, and was sustained by, the holy spirits power, and we as a church are to do the same. This is the time to remember the things we have seen and heard - the lives changed, bodies healed, evil delivered - and a time to experience his power. Listen with expectation!
Party Packages vs Kingdom Kinship
How To Be Good - Part 3
Alice finishes our mini-series on Micah’s call do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with a look at the final part of that. Jesus’ humility is not one of passivity but of radical boldness. He knew that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him, yet He took on the likeness of a Gentile slave to serve others, and challenges His followers do the same. How can we as Christians, embody this radical humility and how does God empower us, in our humility, to build His kingdom on earth?
How To Be Good - Part 2
‘It is not your sacrifice i desire, but your mercy.’ Jesus recites this Hosea prophecy a couple of times to the religious leaders in his day.. And mercy isn’t necessarily quite what we mean (it doesn’t have any implication of deserved punishment in the Hebrew.) It just means love: committed, unrelenting, care. Jesus life and teaching was unrelenting on this message: It’s not sacrifice, nor the temple (statues!), nor righteous behaviour nor any level of being right that he desires. It’s steadfast love. And it’s a flipping challenging message to hear right now.
How To Be Good - Part 1
The theme of justice is on everyone’s lips at the moment. In order to speak about, fight for and do justice meaningfully we need to know what God thinks about justice. The biblical picture is that all lives are of equal value. But it also says something much more: some lives at some times require much more focused concern. Christians are all called not do simply care about justice, but to do and be justice.
What Happens Next Has To Start With Repentance
Given all that is going on in our country right now, we as followers of Jesus, need to allow him now more than ever to search our hearts and direct our actions. The work that must precede all other action is the work of repentance. This is not easy for us to hear. But let us be people of courage and humility. And let us grasp the opportunity to be people of change for the sake of God’s kingdom being seen here on earth.
Genesis: What Does It Say About Women
If we want to stand on the steadfast knowledge that the gospel of jesus proclaims one-ness - absolute inclusion, unity and justice for all - we HAVE to know what the Bible has to say about it. Hagar (slave, foreign, female) became the very first theologian in the story of god’s people… Every single martriarch (Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel) was met in her deepest need, by a God who showed them he was different: by blessing her, by including her in the story (a culturally unheard of thing at the time) and by saying, in the context of desperate need: I remember you. They may have been read to us otherwise. But THIS is what they’re about.
Genesis: The Rescue Begins - Fighting with God
Jacob is no saint. His name is deceiver and he spends most of his time looking after number 1, fighting with the world, and tricking his way through life. That is until he gets in to a fight he can’t win and he can’t trick his way out of.
It’s ok to be mad at God and to wrestle with him. But ultimately a fight with him is one we’ll never win. But it is the best one we’ll ever lose. Because when we’re weak, he is strong. And when we bow down, he lifts us up.
Genesis: The Rescue Begins - The Sacrifice Was Never Ours to Make
Genesis: The Rescue Begins - We're All Abraham
Genesis: The Rescue Begins - Cain and Abel
Hannah kicks off a new teaching series on the book of Genesis, our original origins, that reminds us what these massively misunderstood introduction stories are really all about. Cain and Abel is about injustice, pain, and our work not being rewarded - experiences every one of us go through, now maybe more than ever.
Ask a Therapist - Blake Answers
Blake is a practicing psychotherapist, city group leader at Bread, and all-round kind, compassionate human familiar with the messy journey we’re all on at this time. She chats through some answer to the anonymous questions that have been posted on our site.
Chances are someone is feeling something similar so don’t be shy. Ask Blake! The only bad question is the one you can’t ask!
How Can I Find the Presence of God?
Five weeks of ‘safer at home’. Our days may feel that they are merging into one, our emotions continue to be unexpected and there are daily developments in information. Amidst everything that comes with this worldwide experience, feeling a sense of peace can feel difficult. But, we know that God is here, that He is good and that He promises to provide rest for our weary souls. So- how do we experience His peace, that surpasses all human understanding, for ourselves?
Easter Sunday: What the world needs now, and always has.
How Does God Feel About Coronavirus?
As things continue to unfold around the world and in our city, what many of us are increasingly aware of is that we’re in a grieving process. Even if we haven’t lost anyone we know, we’re grieving plans, security, the safety of loved ones, and - to greater and lesser extents - life as we knew it before. It is safe to say, that grieving isn’t always something we’re comfortable with as a culture, and there are many things about the biblical tradition of lament that just don’t come easily to us. So this talk is all about that. As we continue to work out how to work this out in our faith, it has to start with a close look at what God thinks about all pain and suffering in his glorious creation.
How Can God Always Be There?
How to Trust God in the Trench.
We’re isolated, and yet so together in the fact that (almost certainly without exception) we’re now having to trust God for things that used to feel like ours to control. A couple of verses in Romans 12 are very good ones to hang onto in all this: Be Transformed By The Renewing of Your Mind… This talk is about WHY it is we need to be transformed, whose job it is to do the transforming (hint - the answer is the holy spirit), and how we can allow him to do that.