The good news of the kingdom was always, in every instruction Jesus gave, supposed to be accompanied by the signs of the kingdom. This is the way we were always called to announce it. Which means, for us, exactly the same thing it meant for his disciples and the early church... healing the sick, casting out demons, and showing in all the ways that Jesus did, what it looks like in his kingdom: creation restored, division destroyed, racism refused, broken bodies put back together, and all the powers of death destroyed. There are valid reasons to explain why we may not have seen it, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have every reason to get our beliefs about them in check, and start, together to have faith for more.
People In Search Of A Kingdom – Confronted With Grace
The parables of Jesus are more than just nice stories, they’re announcements of God’s kingdom being inaugurated on earth. If we’re to understand these parables, we’ve gotta ask ‘what is Jesus announcing about the kingdom?’ This is the guiding question in reading the parable of the Lost Sons from Luke 15. What we find in the story is grace confronts the lost sons, it’s how they can enter the father’s house. Like them, we enter the kingdom by grace – it breaks through to people who do not deserve it. In the kingdom, identities are returned, pain is taken away, joy is restored and we have communion with the King. The lost are found and the dead are made alive again – it all results in joy and celebration. The question we’re left is, what will we do with this kind of scandelous grace?
People In Search Of A Kingdom – The End Has Begun
Jesus is the king that we’ve all been waiting for and his kingdom has come. It’s implications can be felt in every nook and cranny of our lives: when he is king he liberates those who have been held back from all religious, societal, political and familial oppression. His inauguration of the kingdom is an end of world event. It causes us to rejoice for the future is definitively settled. This means we don’t need to be anxious. But instead we can be filled with joy.
People In Search Of A Kingdom - Living In The Interim
Jesus began his ministry and immediately demonstrated - with miraculous signs (over nature and sickness and death and evil) and very clear statements - that he was the one they were waiting for. It didn’t happen like anyone was expecting, however. This is one of the most mind-bending aspects of our faith; that we live in the in-between time, where Jesus life, death and resurrection ushered in a new era, before another has fully ended, and it might not seem like the most theologically relevant point you’ve ever heard a talk on, but actually an accurate understanding of the age we live in impacts everything - from what god is like, to what’s the point in prayer, to what he really thinks about purpose.
People In Search Of A Kingdom – Old Testament Picture of the Kingdom
The kingdom of God is at the heart of the biblical story and the Christian life. Without a full immersion in the theology and experience of the kingdom, our Christian lives will always feel deficient. This is a series challenging us to embrace the kingdom, so we might live life to its fullness. As we begin, we consider the picture of kingdom life from Old Testament. Solomon’s early reign saw a golden age of kingdom living: there is peace and prosperity; worship, celebration, art, science and abundance. It provides a taste of the kingdom to come. The challenge for us is to allow Jesus to be the King in all aspects of our lives. When he is, the kingdom necessarily breaks forth.
1 John - This is the Message - Of God's Deep Compassion
As we wrap up 1 John, we take a fresh look at John the Beloved. Why does it matter that he saw himself as “the one Jesus loved”? Perhaps it’s connected with the reality of the depth of God’s womb-like compassion for his children…and that, says 1 John, is what we are! When we reflect on 1 John in light of the gospel account of John, there’s a richness to the character of Jesus that we see more clearly. We are invited to look closer at the power of the Spirit, of testimony, and one final “p.s.” of 1 John 5.
1 John - This is the Message - To Overcome
In a pluralistic society, there are many ideas and narratives competing with the gospel for our trust and devotion. So how are we to respond? Rather than fighting back, withdrawing or giving in to these, we overcome by relying on Jesus and surrendering to his Kingdom. When we seek Jesus and his Kingdom, all the details of our lives are taken care of. We'll find that he is worthy of our trust because he knows us and his Kingdom is one that cannot be shaken. When we seek his Kingdom all the other competing stories and ideas lose power because King Jesus outshines the rest.
1 John - This is the Message - Of Love
We’re given the imperative to love one another but we must first ask ‘what is love?’ Most of human history has shown that we’re often still scrambling in the dark for an answer. While there may be many opinions and definitions of love, Jesus is the source, embodiment, and culmination of love. When we receive his love ongoingly, we can really love as we’re supposed to – not just in talk but in action. This kind of love is risky but in it we become fully alive, fully ourselves, and undeniably connected to the One who loves us.
1 John - This is the Message - Obedience
Obedience - a word destined to elicit a whole bunch of feelings in people, not usually positive ones! Nevertheless we’re called to obedience to Jesus. Yet so often what obedience is and how it works has been misunderstood. For many it seems impossibly onerous. But true obedience flows from intimacy with God - the more we are connected to him, the more we necessarily follow his guidance. So our prayer should be not ‘help me be more obedient’ but ‘help me be more connected’. As we draw closer to him, his commands stop being burdensome.
1 John - This is the Message - Of Truth
What does truth even mean anymore? It’s personal. It’s relative. Yours is none of my business and mine none of yours. But if who Jesus is, and what he did isn’t ‘true’ true, then what are we even doing here at church? This actually isn’t such a new conversation. As it spread across the region, early churches were rife with those who wanted to change or own it it make it a bit more like their own beliefs. Sometimes it’s quite important to ask what the difference between being true, and being right (because the funny thing with grace is… it never ever needs to be right)
Ruth - THE story of love.
Concluding our series on Ruth, we consider the role of hesed in our lives. Hesed is not just being kind- it’s an extraordinary, risky, honourable loving kindness that is so potent as to change people’s circumstances forever. We can all be and are called to be people of hesed. God acts through our kindness to one another. But to grow in it we must receive it too- the more we receive Gods life changing kindness the more we can give it away to those in need.
Ruth - a 21st century model of what now?
Ruth arrives in Israel - having pledged her life to Naomi - not just as an outsider, not just as a destitute woman, but as a Moabite, she is despised. As a loyal, self-denying woman she may seem like a role model of immigrant subservience we don’t really need right now, but looking a little deeper we see her courageous leadership is what opens the door to everything else. Ruth is called Woman of Valor (the OG OT highest praise) before any of her circumstances actually change though. So this story teaches us about how god loves to do that, and how he loves to use the ones everyone else rights off, and how his loving-kindness is to be the fuel of everything we ever do as christians.
Ruth - An Introduction
Alpha Return - Be Filled
Wrapping up Alpha weekend, we see that Jesus immerses us in the Holy Spirit. When filled with the Spirit, we know ourselves as God's beloved children and his joy. From that place we are empowered to do what Jesus did and so much more. God shares himself with us so we can be the 'little Christs' that we are in our communities. Anything that holds us back can be left by the wayside as we come to him however and wherever we are. We were made for this.
Money Talks - part 2
Money in the bible is depicted neither as being all bad nor as all good. There is both a light side and a dark side to it. Christian maturity is about holding these sometimes paradoxical sides of money’s power together in tension. Used in the right way, money can actually bring us closer to God. As we give away what God has given us we are in fact giving something of ourselves back to him and we can enjoy his nearness, freedom and pleasure in turn. We want bread to be a community of reckless generosity in all things. Generosity is good for us and it is good for our world.
Money Talks
Why is it so many of us find it uncomfortable talking about money in church? Because we’ve had bad experiences with church ‘fundraising’? Because we don’t like what we’ve been taught before? Or because thinking about our relationship with money in church makes us feel uncomfortable things? Probably a bit yes to all those. (NB if you are one of the rare fish who LIKES money talks, teach us your ways!) Jesus taught about it a lot, because he knew it’s power over us, and like all power that isn’t his, he wants us to know how to be free from it. And like always always always, it starts with knowing his goodness.
How to Return - to the Kingdom
We’re all made for purpose - none of us is just a human being, we’re also human doings. And our god-given individual purpose in life is as unique as we are. But all of us also share a universal purpose- it’s the most fulfilling life giving, transformative and meaningful work we can ever be involved in. It is to be part of and extend the kingdom of God. This talk is about that kingdom, what it looks like and how we play our role.
How to Return - to the Spirit
Pentecost is the moment God's promise to fill his people with the Spirit was fulfilled – this marked the birth of the Church. The Spirit is core to our faith but is often missed, forgotten, or even rejected. We can do all the Christian things and yet miss the Spirit. In this talk, we are challenged to return to the One who refills us, who renews us, and sustains us so we can be the people God has called us to be. This all happens as we experience the Spirit again and again.
How to Return - to Worship
Right from the start, coming together to sing songs of worship has been central to the practices of the people of God. Worship can take many forms, and it certainly doesn’t have to be done altogether. But being able to sing songs as a community is central to our ethos as a church.
It can be powerful and transformative, but to get there we need to be real about where we’re at, to bring our hopes and fears to God, and to acknowledge that he’s the only one who can satisfy. When we declare who He is, that’s when we can make sense of our lives and our world, and see him, and receive his love and power. We thought a bit of a recap on what it’s all about might be a good idea.
How to Return - to Community
This is a mini-series looking at Jesus’ various appearances to his disciples, after he was resurrected. This week is the account in Luke 24, to 2 unknown disciples, on the road to Emmaus. It shows us a lot about what can happen when we discover our preconceptions of who Jesus is, and what he looks like, don’t turn out to match up to the Jesus of the gospels. We may well have been on a painful road of learning all this ourselves during the pandemic, but Jesus is still here, still the same, and still wholly passionate about our togetherness.