For Such a Time As This
Knowledge & Understanding
August 20, 2023 • Stephen Russell
God wants us to receive revelation! In fact the word says that He wants us to be continually receiving revelation. To understand the great mysteries of the word, to be empowered and to ultimately become more and more like Him. This morning we look at 5 keys and challenges to attain this goal here are the Five Challenges - that will develop revelation! People, books, experience, observation & thinking and pondering.
This is Us! Pt.4 - The Story of Our Church
August 13, 2023 • David Lyon
In the latest instalment of our THIS IS US series, we take a look at the history of our church over the years. We highlight important moments and events along the way that have shaped our vision and values, helped us establish our foundations, and taken us from two small house groups to a thriving apostolic base and family of churches in the UK and overseas. In it all we honour God for His goodness and faithfulness to everyone who’s been part of our story.
The Cornerstone
August 6, 2023 • Benj Lyon • Ephesians 2:19–22
Towards the end of Ephesians 2 we read some familiar verses that describe Jesus as the cornerstone. In this message we unpack what this means and go through verses 19-22 phrase-by-phrase. We see how Jesus the Cornerstone is placed at the very centre of both the church and our lives individually, providing a strong and stable foundation that everything else can line up to.
The Masterpiece & The Masterplan - Pt.2
June 11, 2023 • Benj Lyon
In part 2 of this message we are introduced to God as the master architect, who has a master plan - for his Kingdom be be extended and established on earth. How does he choose to do this? Through his people, the Church. We therefore learn that God's plan for our lives is never independent of the Church. Actually we can only fully outwork his plan for our life in the context of church, because it's the church that is his master plan. When we realise what the church is (which we find in the book of Ephesians), and who fills it, it stops being something that we attend. It starts to become part of our everyday lives, as we see His Kingdom established.
The Work of The Holy Spirit - Pt.2 'Revealing God's Glory'
June 11, 2023 • Christopher Alton
In Part 1 we looked at the Holy’s Spirit’s work of Sanctification in our lives. In Part 2, we consider how the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to show us who God has made us to be, and what aspects of our personalities are influenced by sin. We also look at what it means for us to be transformed from one degree of glory to another through a growing REVELATION of Jesus (2 Co 3:18), by REFLECTING His image, and REFRACTING His glory through our lives. The key to surrendering to the sanctifying work of the Spirit is VALIDATION and VULNERABILITY – drawing our value and worth from Him, and being willing to let the Holy Spirit strip away sin’s influence on our personalities. What remains is the true person, created and designed by God to individually refract His glorious light – a unique and precious Living Stone!
The Work of The Holy Spirit - Pt.1 'Shaping the Stones'
June 4, 2023 • Christopher Alton
God’s House is built with Living Stones (1 Pe 2:5), each carefully selected and put in place by the Holy Spirit. In Part 1 we consider how the Holy Spirit shapes each stone - that great work of the Spirit in the Sanctification of believers, shaping us into the likeness of Christ (Ro 8:29). We’ll also discuss how our new birth into God’s kingdom, restores God’s original design for His tripartite humanity, by which our spirits are promoted to the driving seat of our lives (the proper seat for righteous decision making!). Through His work of Sanctification, the Spirit helps us to bring our souls and bodies into line with God’s restored special arrangement within us (Ro 12:1-2). In Part 2 we’ll consider what unique aspects of ourselves are preserved, in the process of the Spirit making us more like Jesus, and how they might diversely and richly display God’s glory.
Know Hope, Know Value, Know Power
April 9, 2023 • Phil Chapman
The resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter Sunday is the centrepiece of the Christian message. In this all-age Easter gathering, Phil describes how the resurrection of Jesus allows people with no hope, no value and no power to know hope, know value and know power.
Ephesians
April 23, 2023 • Stephen Russell • Ephesians
Ephesians explains how the Church comes to full spiritual maturity in Christ. It explains the nature and purpose of the church, the body of Christ. Major themes include: Chosen and sealed Saved by grace Unity in the body - that the church is living! The practice of believers, in relation to each other, spiritual gifts, our former life and evil, the Holy Spirit, home life, and work - that we have come into a new family! Ephesians shows that out of the reality of our being seated with Christ flows our walk (how we live this out) and our standing in the face of any spiritual opposition. When we start to see that “reality” our whole life changes. Ephesians speaks of the love story between God and his Church for the last 2000 years, and that story reveals that Christ did not only give himself for the Church, but he also gave various gifts so that the Church would come to a place of maturity and fullness. Paul provides significant teaching on salvation, reconciliation, the nature of God's family, and the Christian identity. Paul's goal for all of this teaching was to encourage and energise believers in their faith.
The Masterpiece & The Masterplan - Pt.1
May 14, 2023 • Benj Lyon
Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are God's 'masterpiece' - the pinnacle of creation, made in the image of God himself, declared to be "very good". But this can sometimes be difficult to hear and believe. There are many lies that we hear about ourselves which are designed to stop us living in our true identity as God's masterpieces. In this message we look at some of those lies and what the Word of God says about us instead.
Humility - A key to Being Spirit Filled
April 2, 2023 • Mike Shuter
God makes it clear in His word how important it is for us to walk humbly with Him. Humility is a virtue that Jesus exemplified. He showed us how to live with a humble mindset and so we explore in this message how to "walk humbly with our God" and how this humility facilitates living full of the Spirit.
Time To Get Off This Planet
March 5, 2023 • Stephen Russell
In Colossians 1:13 we read "For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son". We often talk about "Kingdom", and "the Kingdom of God", but what does it mean and how does it affect us as children of God? The Kingdom of God is the fulfilment of God's will on earth. We know this because Jesus prayed - "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) In other words, it is His will to bring heaven to earth. For all of us we have the ability to get off this planet, to be free from the past, and the issues that so easily pull us off track. We are all ready for launch!
House of The Spirit
March 12, 2023 • Christopher Alton
Being Spirit-filled is fundamental (who we are) and foundational (how we build and grow together) for us as God’s people. The House of the Spirit is being built by the Holy Spirit, using living stones, each of whom He wants to fill with the fulness of Christ. In this message we look at the practical implications of this for us all, and each of us personally, by considering the three main aspects of the ‘fellowship of the Holy Spirit’ (2 Co 13:14) – communion, community, and contribution.