GodFirst Church Fourways: Recent Episodes
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What is the gospel? It may seem like a basic question that has very little top do with race. But that couldn't be further from the truth. For many people the gospel is a message about their personal renewal through justification by faith. That is the gospel. But what if it was more than this? What if your personal renewal was part of the renewal of all things? Whatever you believe about the gospel is so important. Because as is the seed of the gospel that you believe, so is the tree, and as is the tree so will be its fruit.
Does our approach to difficult topics like race matter? In this talk we explore the question how should we talk about race. So, often its not what we say but the way that we say it. And its hard to overstate the role of a mature approach to talking about race. Galatians 2 records a conversation between two leaders. And its teaches us that having the right attitude towards race is almost just as important as having the right content.
In this final installment in our Spiritual Warfare series we consider the Sword of the Spirit. This is an offensive piece of armor and absolute important for taking new ground.
We all face attack in our minds. That's why we need a helmet of salivation. in this installment we explore how to protect our minds with God's armor so that you can stand firm!
One of many things that happen when we become teenagers is that we begin to become aware of our imperfections. We try to cover these with clothes, friends, and fads. When we get older the coverings change to jobs and networks. But in the gospel we are given a breastplate of righteousness to cover us. In this message we explore this unique armor that we need for the fight.
There are some extreme jobs out there. Some people are game rangers who work with lions and hippos. Others fly helicopters are planes at dizzying heights. But somehow there's a way to normalize risk when you do something enough times. In this message Don who works for Go.Live.Dare shares about how we normalize risk when we step out and share the gospel.
Ephesians 6 tells us that we have an enemy who's trying to get us out of tune with God's truth. So, it's a no coincidence that the belt of truth is the first bit of armor that we're told to equip. In this message we explore what exactly the belt of truth is and how to use it.
Ignorance is bliss. Or so they say. But every time you get into a fight ignorant about your enemy will will result in pain & loss. Ephesians 6.10-13 describes an enemy that could be behind much of your pain and loss. And it gives us counter measures for the enemies schemes. Subscribe and join us as we explore these strategies over the next six week.
The story about the boy who sacrificed his loaves and fishes for the feeding of the five thousand is powerful. We don't always know just how significant our perceived small sacrifices can go. But in the hands of the Saviour even things that appear small can make a big difference.
Discipleship is a Bible word used to describe what following Jesus looks like. In one sense we're all disciples. We are all following something or someone. But in this message we explore what it looks like to follow Jesus.
Everyone has their own mental picture of what a saviour should look like. What's yours? For many their picture of Jesus has been distorted. And we can even reject the real Jesus because of a distorted portrait. In this message from Luke 24 two people have their distorted picture rectified by Jesus.
We all worship something or someone. And worship is an incredibly powerful exercise. But what is it and what does true worship of God do to our souls? In this message we explore how worship always gets a reaction from God, how it requires resistance from us and how it produces reverence.
The Bible uses the name "Christians" only 3 times. But it calls Christians "disciples" (or apprentices) 269 times. What this means is that Christianity is about being an apprentice. Its about following in a way that makes us more like the Lord Jesus. How do we do this? What does following Jesus actually mean? And how can we improve on areas of our spiritual formation that we are struggling in?
The stories where Jesus encounters Zacchaeus is fascinating. It challenges any belief that anyone could be beyond God transformative grace. And it shows us how to never stop being wowed by grace. For anyone who feels slightly estranged from God this encounter will help draw them back to amazing grace.
Do you ever fear running out of ...? Whatever you filled in the blanks we all have some area of resource constraint in our lives. In this encounter a couple ran out of wine which symbolizes life and joy. But Jesus was not only able to stop them from running out of wine, it was all pointing to something much deeper. So, in this message we explore how to not run out with Jesus.
For many people following Jesus means losing friends and family. How do you deal with this? While following Jesus always requires giving something up it also entails receiving promises. One of these promises is that anyone who follows Jesus will get a new family. And throughout the Bible there's a link between the nuclear family and the family of God. And this link has four implications that we will explore in this message.
What happens when we die? The Lord Jesus holds out a message of hope in life after death. And this message is very different from other views. In this message we explore the uniqueness of the Easter message.
Why do we do things that we don't really want to do? And what can be done about this? In this message Nicky helps us understand ourselves and our salvation.
In this message we explore John 3 and how to be born again. There is new life available for all through Jesus Christ.
Sometimes changing our focus is the key to spotting a new way to proceed. Romans 5 calls us to seeing things from a different angle. Instead of being sin conscious or law conscious we are called to being Christ conscious.
Jesus had a lot to say about money. Even though money is a material currency, how we treat it has spiritual implications. That's why living a generous life is a spiritual discipline. In this message we explore how to think about our money.
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Being committed to Christian community is like a coal that stays in the fire. We burn brightest for Christ when we are with others who love the Lord. In this message we explore the power of community as a spiritual discipline.
One of the greatest sources of joy is living out the adventure that God has planned for your life. Serving the one who made us with the gifts he has given to us is so life giving. So, in this message from Matthew 25 we explore how to serve the king as we await his return.
The practice of meditating on Scripture can be a life changing habit. In this message we explore how reading with practice, precision and persistence makes you prosper.
It's interesting that the Lord Jesus spent a lot of time drawing away from the crowds to be alone with the Father. We don't often think about the spiritual impact of solitude. in this message we explore the power of being alone with God.
Exhausted? Unable to rest? Disconnected? All of these signs of busy sickness can be remedied. The ancient wisdom of the Bible is to remember the Sabbath. This instalment will help busy people find rest and reconnection.
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that's very powerful. In this message we unpack why and how to fast for the greatest effectiveness.
How can we know God's plan for our lives? Sometimes God might even be working according to his plan and we may not be familiar with the ways in which he works. At the start of this year, as you're making plans, consider what God's plans may be for you. This message is about how to figure out what God's plans are for your life. His plans will add so much value, meaning and joy to your life. Live this year on purpose, in your purpose!
How can we distinguish God's from our will? In this talk we get some helpful insights into how prayer helps us know God's will.
Our church had the joy of setting apart leaders this week. So the talk is about strong leadership!
In this message we learn about how to fight for joy. There are examples in the Bible and in contemporary life of joyful people. They have much to teach us.
Are you feeling stretched? In this message on Mark 3.1-5 we learn about a man who was stretched beyond his normal limits. God may be at work in your life bringing healing. Don't hide from him, but trust him and stretch!
Growth in the gospel leads to conflict resolution and unity. In our world it seems that we're growing more and more divided and we find it hard to agree on anything. But the gospel helps us to grow in faith and maturity that makes it easier for us to resolve differences and strand united.
The story of Hannah shows us how to surrender our deepest longings and shame to God. It takes us deeper into a life of surrender. This message is all about how to bring, give, and release your heart to God.
We are all bound to go through storms in life. And very often when things do go wrong we blame ourselves or assume that God is against us. There are however some helpful principles in Mark 4 about navigating storms that would suggest that God is not against us in the storm. He is the storm calmer who uses the storms of life to develop our faith.
We all face challenges in life that feel like giants. It could be a health giant, financial, or relational. Or it may be something that you feel that you would like to change in your sphere of influence. This message on 1 Samuel 17 is all about how it does not take size and strength to slay your giants. There's a giant slaying faith that can help you to slay your giants.
The problem of evil and suffering is perhaps one of the biggest objections to a God who claims to be all good and all powerful. For many this is not a mere intellectual objection. You may have experienced real suffering. So, how do we process this?
One of the biggest objections to Christianity in the Global South is that it's a white mans religion. And if land was taken in the name of Christianity and people were oppressed, how can it be trusted? This is an objection that deserves attention. And in this message we explore a response.
Are there many roads to heaven? Is it arrogant to claim that Jesus Christ is the only way? Is it equally boastful to claim absolute knowledge and boldly proclaim that there is not one exclusive way? This message deals with the claim that Jesus made in John 14 to be the only way to God.
Have you ever wondered what God is doing on the earth right now? The gospel gives expression to what God is doing. But precisely because the gospel is wonderfully comprehensive, it is also often misunderstood. This message on Mark 1.15 is all about the good news of the holistic nature of the gospel and its implication for your life.
Have you ever wondered what God is doing on the earth right now? The gospel gives expression to what God is doing. But precisely because the gospel is wonderfully comprehensive, it is also often misunderstood. This message on Mark 1.15 is all about the good news of the holistic nature of the gospel and its implication for your life.
It's not what we go through that determines where we end up but how we process what we go through. In this message on Acts 27 we look at how people made it through a storm. They lost their boat, but not their lives. We too can get to the other side if we are able to calm the storm inside of us and travel with faith.
How do we close the gap between our current normal and the new adventurous normal that we long for? This message from Acts 26 explores how to find spiritual enthusiasm and how to keep it. So, this is for anyone who is looking for faith but has questions and for those who feel like they've lost some of the closeness that they once had.
Diversity is trending. But even though there's great beauty in diversity, deep diversity is also very challenging to maintain. And that's why we need to be clear why we need to keep on fighting for it.
In this message we look at one of the most famous conversion stories of all time. An incredible change from one of the unlikely candidates is a message of hope for change for all of us.
The Holy Spirit is the real deal because he is the real help that produces real change. In this message we get to watch this unfold in two lives that are such a contrast. Barnabas decided to be filled with the Spirit. Ananias didn't.
Have you ever wanted one of those cool before and after pictures? Well, in Christ we're promised that transformation. In this inspirational message on Acts 2 we look at how we can be renewed.
Many people don't need a lecture on what they should be doing. They need power to do it. And the promise of the Holy Spirit is exactly how we get that power. This message is about what the Holy Spirit does in our lives and how we can get filled with more power and joy!
We live from the inside out. And our lives are always pulled in the direction of our strongest emotions. So how do you deal with anxiety and worry? In this message from Matthew 6 we get practical help on how to lift the weights of worry that we all carry. You can win the war against anxiety. Here's how.
The Bible calls us to look at the birds to learn how God relates to us. In this message from Matthew 23.37 Jesus talks about how he longs to gather us beneath his wings. This is about where to find shelter and protection and the way that he will patiently call us to himself.
If it wasn't for Easter Sunday our faith would be in vain. But we do not simply espouse dead doctrines and go through the motions. We have one who was victorious over the grave. Death has been defeated. Jesus is alive and well and he continues to do what he always has!
The Lord Jesus Christ spoke about his death in parable; 'unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds' (John 12:24-26). And that's exactly what we celebrate on Good Friday. This message is about how the death of the seed produces life in you and me.
Jesus often taught through parables explaining what his kingdom was like. One of the hallmarks of his ministry was that he was gracious. In this talk we look at some of his most well known parables in Luke 15 about how grace finds us when we are lost.
Listening is vital for any relationship but its a bit of an art. Its no different when it comes to God. Jesus says that how we listen to God will determine how we grow. This talk is all about the art of listening from the parable of the Sower in Mark 4.
How do you stay spiritually and emotionally healthy? In this message Andrew Butterworth who leads G1 East Rand answers this question.
We are often discouraged to associate leadership with weakness. And yet all leaders have times of discouragement and weakness. In fact, weakness might even be a prerequisite for healthy leaders.
Leadership is not just about things that we do, but it's about our character. We can so often build great things with our leadership gifts and then tear it down with our character. In this session we learn about how develop godly character for leadership longevity.
Leaders are called to bear fruit. This biblical metaphor of fruitfulness is instructive for leadership. How do we bear fruit as leaders?
Good communication is not only vital to leadership but any relationship. Knowing how to give feedback to a friend that you're concerned about or a child that you need to correct is vital. So, this message is all about how to communicate with compassionate honesty. Both are needed to avoid ruinous empathy, obnoxious aggression and manipulative insincerity.
In many ways we're all leaders. You may need to lead a younger sibling, teach a class, or help a friend. But the most important person to lead, and often the hardest person to lead, is yourself. In this pilot preach on leadership we explore four ways to improve self-leadership.
We all want more adventure and real life. But how do we close the gap between the life that we're living and the unlived life within? Jesus says that if we lose our lives for him we will find life.
So many of the greatest TV Shows of all times were all about community. Think Cheers, Friends, Fresh Prince or Generations. Irrespective of culture or history humans seem to crave relationships and community. Why is that and how can we satisfy that desire?
There's a journey for you to travel in 2023. But any worthwhile destination will have hurdles that require faith to overcome. This inspirational message from Judges 6 is about how you can overcome the hurdles of fear, comparison, and doubt and complete your faith journey!
At the start to a new year its so helpful to set goal. The message today is about how important faith goals are in taking new ground. Whatever the year holds for you, even if its chaotic, we can conquer external frontiers if we first conquer the internal frontier of faith.
Light shines in darkness. And it doesn't matter how much darkness there is, darkness can never overcome light. And Christmas is about how Jesus came and light powerfully broke through the darkness of our world. Whatever the darkness we're up against our Christmas hope is that there is one who calls himself the Light of the world and promises that whoever follows him will never walk in darkness.
It's so fascinating that prayer is something we need to learn. Almost everyone prayers, for most of their lives and yet prayer is something that we can get better at. This message is all about the teaching of Jesus on prayer to his disciples who had been praying their whole lives but sensed that something was missing.
Prayer is great. But nothing truly great is easy. In this talk from Ephesians 3 Nicky unpacks why something as great as prayer is sometimes quite difficult.
Most of the leadership books seem to prioritize IQ, EQ, strategy or culture. But the Bible seems to suggest that the most important thing for good leadership is consistent reliance on Jesus. This inspirational message unpacks what this type of leadership looks like.
In this message, Neil shares his personal journey of trials and suffering, how they led to his depression, and how he has found the strength to persevere against all odds.
In a fallen world we all face anxiety and have to learn to rest in the care of a sovereign God. This is part 2 of It Is Well With My Soul.
It's mental wellness month & our focus for the next three weeks will be on how to overcome trauma, anxiety & depression. In this first part of the series we look at how to identify the signs of unhealed trauma. It affects us physically, psychologically, socially & spiritually. But just like a physical wound, our heart wounds can receive proper care, & can heal. Please do enjoy this teaching from 1 Kings 19 on healing from trauma.
We continue with our series on words and communication. And because we've just celebrated Heritage Day this message is titled 'The Word That Unites'. It's amazing that we are left with a story in Galatians 2 about a chief Christian leader who struggled to work towards unity. This honest and reassuring story helps us to know that we are all works in progress. But it also challenges us with the gospel; accepted people accept people.
Have you ever found yourself saying something that you regret? Sometimes the consequences are mild but sometimes they're more severe. In this series on communication we explore the power and healing of our words.
Faith & work Part 6. For more info about Godfirst Church please visit www.g1fourways.co.za
The gospel shapes our work by moving away from exploitative paradigms into ethical and even redemptive ones. This is vital for anyone in the workplace seeking to live out their faith. In this message from Romans 12:1-2 we learn how to renew our minds for workplace worship.
We are made to work because we're made in the image of a working God. But sometimes work can become an idol. This message is all about how to find our identity in God and not in our work.
God created work as a core part of humanity and experts estimate that we will spend a third of our lives working. What if we get to the end of our lives only to realise all our work was pointless? In this second part of the Faith and work series, we explore when work becomes pointless and how to find true meaning in our work.
Have you ever had jobs that felt arbitrary, or boring? Do you ever wonder if your work really matters? Or do you love your job so much that you struggle to rest? This message is all about how faith gives meaning and balance to work. You may be surprised to find out the ways that God works through our work.
What makes people truly happy? This week we engage with what Jesus suggests as 8 ways to be happier. Enjoy this message from Ryan.
It’s awesome to think that God takes great delight in us! This morning we reflected on His nature, how He sees us and how much joy we can have in knowing our Saviour!
Today we kicked off our new serious HAPPY; The secret to indestructible joy. What can we learn from the life of Jesus, and how to find true joy and happiness that is unshakeable? Enjoy Part 1 of the series as Ryan unpacks this topic.
Tithing is an ancient & rich spiritual discipline. But what's it really about? In this message the meaning & nature of tithing is explored.
In a practical world, faith can sometimes seem rather impractical. But living for God is the most practical thing that we can do because it’s how we end up running with the horses. There’s no good life without the God life, no hope without the Hope Giver and no transformation without the Redeemer. So, this series finale is all about radical faith and how it seems impractical, requires fuel and stays expectant.
We all have crowds in different shapes and forms that influence us. Whether it's family, corporations, friends, or lifestyle groups these crowds shape us. There is nothing wrong with being in a crowd, it’s doing everything that the crowd does that’s the problem. And sometimes running with horses requires that we don’t shuffle with the crowds! This is about getting off the bleaches of your life into the game. It’s about leading, breaking from the herd, and making a break from crowd-conditioned dysfunctions.
We all want to be the type of person that isn’t fazed too much by what other people think or even by our own failures. So often being too self-conscious can stop us from life at its best. In this message, we looked at the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness and how to finish what we have been called to.
What does life at its best look like for you? There’s so much that stops us from living a truly good life. In the life of Jeremiah, we have a case study of someone who learned to live a good life. He didn’t have it easy and had to resist much pressure to become a fully developed human living a meaningful life. This seven-week series will help us learn from someone who learned to run with the horses instead of following the crowds.
Ryan closes off our Grace series with a message titled Extravagant Grace, focusing on the parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15.
‘But by the grace of God I am what I am'. These words are a clues that suggest that grace shows us our true self. Grace has transforming power. But grace is not a thing - it's a person Jesus Christ. How does Grace change our lives? And how do we live this out?
There's no guarantee of having a trouble free life. But the amazing comfort that God gives us is one of sufficient grace for every trial. In this talk we learn about what to do when God doesn't remove your 'thorn in the flesh' and how to access grace and power.
The bible has some great things to say about Sex. Brett shares an encouraging word about the topic, as written by the Apostle Paul to the Church in Corinth.
What is your mission for marriage? What is your purpose for marriage? AJ addresses these questions as well as others in this really encouraging message.
Nicky continues in our Relatable Series, with a message from Proverbs 31 about the power of trust to set you free. This is seen in our relationships, but most perfectly through the submission of our lives to the authority of God.
Ryan kicks off Part 1 of our Relatable Series - a series on Love, Sex, Singleness, and everything in between - with an encouraging message about Marriage and breaking some of the common myths.
This weeks message is from Adam Edward Bull - a great friend of ours and one of the leaders at Godfirst Jozi East. Whether you're looking in at the Christian faith or have been following Jesus for many years; may this message encourage you to see that the Gospel is enough for every part of life and in every situation, circumstance, or season that we may find ourselves in.
God is renewing everything through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in this preach, Ryan shares an encouraging message about what this looks like in the context of renewal in our City.
In this message, Ryan hones in on the topic of Community, why it's so important for us as Christ-followers, and the valuable role that community plays within the wider context of our faith. We hope that you enjoy this encouraging message.
The gospel is a message about the renewal of all things through Jesus Christ, including the renewal of individuals. In today's message, Ryan unpacks what this means for us as Christ-followers and how we, as a local Church, will be prioritising personal growth this year in order for us to mature in our faith and become more confident about sharing the gospel wherever God places us.