Service Recordings

We have been designed by God to live our lives in relationship with him, experiencing his peace, hope, joy and love. Oftentimes, life seems a far cry from this and we find ourselves succumbing to fear, worry and stress. God loves us so much that he decided to do something about this once and for all – he came to be with us and to show us how to live life to the full – even in the midst of our mess.

Trust can be a rare commodity these days. Some people think the only thing they can really trust is themselves and even that is unstable ground. Our happiness is dependant upon being able to trust, but who and what can we trust? The answer is clear when we come into relationship with God through Jesus. Amid all the false promises and noise of this world we need to be reminded that we can trust Jesus. It’s a reminder we need daily if not for our heads then especially for our hearts.

God's love has always been for the world. Every human being has been the target of his compassion and grace. It is for this reason that Jesus has entered our world through a particular people and their history, the Jews. His love is not generic. It is grounded in real human experience, even if that human experience is alienated from God by its own darkness. But he has come as the world’s Saviour. The world's gift and the world’s only hope. Why? Because God has engraved us into the palm of his hands.

Peter talks about Christmas, guinea pigs and the vulnerability of Christmas. Apologies for the audio drop out at the start.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent; the season before Christmas when we prepare for the celebration of God became a human being. In doing so God not only changed the course of history but His very self. This advent we will be focusing on the promise of Jesus coming way back in Israel’s History in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied at a difficult time for the people of God. He spoke judgement and mercy and lifted their eyes to focus on the one sent from God to rescue. Isaiah says “the bruised reed he will not break and the smouldering wick he won’t snuff out”. Now that a promise we all need.

"How you doing?" is a simple question that can open up a big can of worms.

Everyday, people live out their lives the best way they know how, but is there a common destination that can make the difference to every traveler?

Today the church will joyfully celebrate the sacrament of baptism. It’s a wonderful time of worship where God initiates people into His church and reminds us all of God’s amazing grace. We will be baptising children, people from Australia and from overseas: a beautiful picture of the universal love of Jesus Christ who saves through his gospel. The condition of baptism is trust but its not blind trust. It is trust in a God who has already proven himself to be a good, good Father.

For many Christians the return of Christ is an embarrassing doctrine. It seem all too unreal and impractical. However, in three places the Apostle Paul tells his readers “I don’t want you to uninformed”. Firstly, about spiritual gifts, then about his suffering for the gospel and finally about the return of Christ. On the last matter he tells the church to encourage each other with the promise of Christ’s return. He is clearly not ashamed of what God has revealed. God is coming again and far from being an embarrassment this is the ultimate encouragement. Let’s not be shy in encouraging one another with the good news of Christ’s return.