Guest speaker Carl Carmody from Challenge Newspaper shares with us about the priority of prayer in evangelism… and everything else for that matter ..read more

Psalm 40 is a wonderful song of thanksgiving as David reflects on what God has done to bring him out of a pit of despair. To get more insight into what David was feeling before his deliverance we tune into Psalms 38 & 39 which describe that in more detail. While our stories might be different, most of us know what it’s like to feel stuck, recognising our own mistakes and their consequences and being surrounded by people who either don’t know how to help or are taking the opportunity to have a go at us. As David comes out of that by God’s grace he celebrates that his story can also be a ble ..read more

After celebrating a child dedication earlier in our service, we take a look at Psalm 78 which reflects on the spiritual journey of Israel from the generations since their exodus from Egypt. The psalm has much to teach us about how we can help each successive generation to know God and walk in His ways. It describes the blessings that are experienced when that happens as well as the burdens that come from forgetting God’s works and His ways. With ANZAC Day approaching we take some time to reflect on the history of our nation and the world around us from God’s point of view – just as Asaph does ..read more

On Palm Sunday we retrace Jesus’ journey from Jericho to Jerusalem with Luke’s gospel as our guide. Luke is very careful to describe both the physical and spiritual journey Jesus took with His disciples and the crowds who flocked to Jerusalem on that day. The crowds were full of anticipation of what would happen when the Messiah rode into Jerusalem as the prophet Zechariah foretold. Their enthusiasm scandalised some of the religious leaders travelling with them, just as it would scandalise the Temple authorities when they arrived. Yet Jesus would not let the crowds be silenced. God wanted it t ..read more

In the gospels we hear Jesus call His followers to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (eg: Lk 9:51, 14:23-24). As He shows us what that actually looks like, we realise that none of us is capable of doing it! That’s exactly the point Paul makes in the letter to the Galatians as he addresses those people who are trying to impose Jewish law on Gentile believers. He clearly sees the danger in moving away from complete dependence on Jesus to save us – not only from the penalty of sin but from its power in our lives. In correcting this dangerous error he uses the example of Peter – a f ..read more

After celebrating a baptism and as we prepare to celebrate communion, we take some time to reflect on what Galatians 2:20 teaches us about the life we have through faith in Jesus. It’s not a once-and-done experience, but a continual dying to self so that we might find our life in Christ ..read more

After showing his readers how we can be sure that we’re ready to meet Jesus, Jude gives us pastoral wisdom to equip us to help others to ready to meet Him too. In this message we unpack Jude 22-23 and discover some rich symbolism from Zechariah 3 that Jude draws on to help us understand the beauty of the gospel and how we can apply it to ourselves and those we long to share eternity with. It protects us from being condemned ourselves as well as from becoming the accusers of others. It amazes us with the limitless grace and patience of God whose capacity to forgive and restore is beyond measure ..read more

As we read through the New Testament we find the Apostles regularly urging Christians to live with eternity in mind. In this message we tune into Jude’s letter to churches which had been infiltrated by false teachers. As he warns of God’s judgement upon them he contrasts this with the confidence we have by remaining in God’s love; and the instructions he gives us for how to do that practically are worth taking to heart ..read more

Communion is a significant part of our weekly church gatherings, but there are many different traditions and understandings that surround it. In this message we take a look at the way the Gospels record the Last Supper and Jesus’ institution of communion. We then explore the experience of the Early Church through the book of Acts and the Epistles to build a picture of how communion was celebrated by the first followers of Jesus. We discover that the new covenant that is symbolised by the bread and the cup was always closely linked to the new command to love one another the way Jesus has loved ..read more

What is the relationship between my natural family – whatever that might look like – and the family of believers that God connects me to in the Church? Family is God’s design. We learn a lot about how to live together as a church family from our natural families and vice versa. However if we’re not clear about what our each of our families really need from us we can hurt them rather than help them. We take a look at how the Apostle Paul advises Timothy to pastor his church family in Ephesus for some timeless principles and timely application in our situation today. No family is perfect – natur ..read more