Shepherds of God's Flock

Shepherds of God's Flock
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As Peter writes to believers to encourage them to stand firm in their faith despite persecution, he turns to give specific attention to the Elders of these congregations. He knows that people need shepherds, especially when they are suffering. This message examines the concise but powerful guidance Peter gives to Elders, advice which is helpful to anyone in spiritual leadership.

The Tackle

 
The Tackle

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1 Peter 4:12-19

The closer someone follows Jesus, the more at odds they are with the values of the rest of the world. Because the world is corrupted & imperfect, because most people follow their own desires, the clash of values between the world & the disciple can cause pain & suffering. It’s true that sometimes God allows pain for our own correction, but often a disciple will be attacked for living righteously. This proves that you’re doing the right thing, and that you’re being noticed for it.

In sport, they only tackle the guy with the ball.

Taking Hold of God's Best for Your Life
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We follow up from last week's message which showed us that instead of pursuing elusive personal goals that revolve around the stuff of this life, real contentment and real life is found in Jesus and pursuing closeness with Him. Godliness with contentment is great gain. This week we reaffirm that truth and talk about the role of the Church in helping people move toward godliness. We also discuss the secret to godliness, which is not to try become more like God in our own strength (an impossible task) but to draw close to the One who is able to transform us as we offer our lives to Him.

Your Best Next Year

 
Your Best Next Year
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In the last message for 2012 we are invited to consider what a great next year would look like. Then, after imagining our ideal 2013, we explore 1 Timothy 6:3-21 to see how our own desires stack up against what God describes as being 'great gain' - godliness with contentment. We discover that we are often impacted to a much greater degree than we realise by the values of our culture, and many of us are chasing the same things that Jesus said "the pagans run after", wondering why we do not experience the contentment and joy that we long for. We are encouraged to make a better choice in 2013 - to show the truth that real life is only found in Jesus by pursuing intimacy with Him as our life's greatest ambition and source of our deepest joy.

 

God Breaks His Silence

God Breaks His Silence

In the time of the prophet Malachi God answered people who struggled with the question of why He is seemingly silent while evil people prosper and the prayers of the righteous go unanswered. At that time God promised to come and make things right. This coming would be preceded by a messenger - Elijah the prophet - who would prepare the people to receive Him. 400 years passed and if anything things have gotten worse. Where is God? Why do the evil still prosper and the righteous still struggle? Suddenly God broke His silence in dramatic fashion. Luke 1:5-25 describes for us the way God remained true to all His promises and teaches us to put our faith in God who can do anything and will always remember His people. He continues to act not in our time but in His perfect time for His good purposes.

How to Have a Christ Centred Christmas

 
How To Have a Christ Centred Christmas

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In this message we take a brief look at the top 4 Christmas stresses identified by a recent UK poll. In contrast, we take a look at 4 responses to Christ that we see demonstrated by each of the characters described in Luke chapter 2. We find that celebrating Christmas the way our society does it can be enormously stressful and leave us dissatisfied despite all we've invested. However if we learn from the example of the first people to experience Christmas, we find it can fills our lives with joy, peace and hope that is infectious. What kind of Christmas will you choose, and how will you protect it from the influence of a society determined to kick Christ out of Christmas?

The Many Faces of Jesus

The Many Faces of Jesus

 
When Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah he was expressing a truth that had been revealed to him by God. However soon after as Jesus was explaining how He would fulfill His mission to save the world it was Peter who tried to correct Jesus, thinking He had it all wrong? Peter's understanding of who Jesus is was not yet complete. He had an idea of Jesus as the conquering King, God's anointed leader, but he had no grasp of the suffering Servant, God's appointed saviour. Similarly to Peter, we can have ideas about Jesus that do not embrace all of who He is. In fact, we can turn our ideas of Jesus into an idol rather than knowing and serving Him in truth. If we want to experience the abundant life only found in Jesus - if we want to bear good spiritual fruit and be confident of eternal life in Him - we must believe in the real Jesus, not a lesser Jesus or an alternative Jesus.