Rechurch Teaching Podcast: Recent Episodes
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Teaching from Sunday mornings at Rechurch, a Christian church located in Christchurch, New Zealand. Rechurch meets every Sunday at 9:30AM at Waitakari School.
For this Whanau service, we look at Luke 2:39-52 and consder how a 12 year old Jesus asked questions and listened carefully to the answers. As a result, he grew in wisdom and stature. We talk about ways that we can do the same.
We start out another new series today focusing on some practical ways to follow Jesus. The series name comes from the longer phrase 'may you be covered by the dust of your Rabbi' - which was often said to young men training to become Rabbis ... but what does this have to do with us? Take a listen and find out.
With Saturday being Waitangi day, we look at our country's past and the broken promises that were made. We think about the problems that we still see today which was a direct result of that and we ask, what should we be doing as a church to help fix the future?
We're back for the year from our unplugged series, and straight out the gate into our new series 'Toa Takitini' which can be translated in English to 'Better Together'. We'll be focusing in on 2 Cor 5:18-21 and talking about God's plan of reconciliation for all humankind back to himself, but also his desire to see all of his creation reconciled with each other.
In another Whanau service, Jodi guides us through today's topic - Love. Again we revisit what love is, and how it can often be harder to do than we'd think. We'll be looking through Luke 1:57-80.
We talk about Joy, but more specifically how to choose to be Joyous in circumstances that we wouldn't naturally be happy about. We look into Luke 1:39-56 this week and Bruce sends us out with some practical ways to be full of Joy.
This week we focus on the peace that God brings us through his son Jesus. How only Jesus can heal the divide between us and God. We'll be examining Luke 1:26-38.
We kick off our Advent series as we head into Christmas and look at Luke 1:5-25. We see how the message of the coming Saviour was given to Zechariah and Elizabeth and how their son would be the one to introduce him to the world.
To complete the series, we decided to have a Whanau service and wrap up what we've learned as a whole church. The kids join us as they weren't in the alternate circle Sunday services, wo we re-cover some of the same ground. Readings for this week come from: Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 4:19.
Part of Jesus' mission was to bring all of humanity back together as one, and to see that we're all made in God's image. Today we focus on looking past the things that divide us as our guest speaker Paul Askin talks about his experiences living Life Together in another culture.
This week we review Rechurch's Core Values. While it is good to do this to remind ourselves of them, we also belive that thye are not just a collection of values but a roadmap for growing disciples.
Partnering with World Vision to highlight the plight of the poor and the church's response. This week we took part in the Matthew 25 Challenge. We shared our experience of how we experienced what it's like to live in poverty firsthand by giving up some of freedoms. We also had some time to do things to bless some of our local community support groups.
After working through our discipleship manual in a circle Sunday, we're back together following the way of King Jesus. This week we're looking at missional communites and how the help us grow indiviually in smaller groups, so that the church as a whole can grow. We talk about the importance of not going it alone.
This week we have another whānau service as we continue on with our series 'Te Ara I Ihu Ariki'. Bruce takes us on a trip to discover our mission and realize that we should expect to encounter suffering along the way.
We're back into our first whānau service since the lockdown, we start to think about who we can reach out to within our communities that we interact with each eeek.
Picking up from where we left off last time, we're back in the hall and ready to hear the good news!
We were able to meet in the Fraser's living room and do House Church this Sunday. Bruce tells us how God uses people to prepare the way for his kingdom to come.
The church is a safe place to explore your doubts. God provided eye witnesses who tell the story of what they said. Doubting Thomas gets a bad rap. Jesus doesn't mock him but honors his doubt with evidence.
The church is a safe place to explore your doubts. God provided eye witnesses who tell the story of what they saw. Doubting Thomas gets a bad rap. Jesus doesn't mock him but honors his doubt with evidence.
What do the last words that Jesus spoke from the cross say to us about our Christian faith? How does that impact our lives and what should we do in response?
In our first week of national lockdown we post our first online service. It's this week where the importance of being more like Jesus will be so important to us and our communities. You were made to please and honour God and his Son Jesus. Worship is not about what you do with your body, but whether your heart has been transformed by Jesus.
This week, the world has changed ... and so have we both personally and how we are doing church today, however - the message of God remains the same. You were made for a mission. The Great Commission is "as you go, make disciples". Paul did just that going to many different groups of people. What people has God called you to?
To grow, we have to be connected to the source of life. When we grow, and are pruned, we will bear good fruit. This week Lee takes us through her history as a gardener and how God is the ultimate gardener. She she's her vision of the church she sees as a powerful Kauri tree, teaming with life, both symbiotical and parasitical - yet it is the Kauri which supports both.
God's family is much bigger than you imagine. It includes unexpected people and he's already working in them too. Bruce and Jodi take us through Acts 10 today in a Whanau service to look at one of our core values - Whanaungatanga.
We kick off a new series this week, one on mission, vision and values. We'll be looking at the mission vision and values of the Capital "C" Church as well as our own here at Rechurch. This Sunday is our 10 year Birthday and a chance for us to reflect on where we are now, and where we'd like to be as a church looking forwards at the next 10 years.
This week Paul Askin kindly returns to us to help us along the path of Biculturalism and wraps up our series with some Q&A.
Aiden returns to us this Sunday to give us some insight and practical tips on how to start our on our bicultural journey. He also has some interactive elements to get help us understand the effect our environment has on us.
Aiden kicks off our Stories of Aotearoa series with some history, and an explaination of how we got here. He does a great job of telling us about the good, the bad and the ugly along the way ... though bear in mind this is a big and complex story. What motivated the early missionaries? What did they do to see that mission carried forward?
After a two week back, and a smaller service last week we return to the hall for our first offical service of the year. Last week Bruce talked about James 1:23-24 and expands on it this week. We learn about the real meaning of repentance by following the interactions of Peter with Jesus.
This Sunday, the Sunday before Christmas, Jodi kicks us off with a story about St Nicholas - the Origin of Santa. After that Bruce takes us through the Christmas story, and talks about how we may sometimes forget how wonderful it must have been for those who experienced Christmas first hand, and how Jesus, the redeemer didn't come as who they were expecting.
This week is the final week of What would Jesus buy? There has been a lot to take in, many ways that we could change our behaviours and we may be feeling a little overwhelmed. If that's the case them you won't want to miss this week as Lee wraps up the series and addresses these concerns.
In this week's Whānau service, Lee talks to us about our role as Kaitiakitanga - guardians of God's creation. We talk about some really practical ways to do this, as well as some things to think about.
Lee kicks us off into a new series named 'What would Jesus buy' where she talks about her own journey and the research she has done to inform her decisions when it comes to buying things. Even though the Bible doesn't specifically answer this question, when we think about Jesus' life an character, we can make some pretty strong inferences to what he would likely do in modern society.
This week Adam takes us through the very last part of Ephesians, and looks at Ironman in this last Bingewatch sermon. He looks at how the Armor of God allows us to complete our mission, just as Tony Stark needs his armor.
As it's was Whānau service, Bruce took the lead from his sons, and decided to take a look at Ninjago. We see in this movie that while still chooses to honour his father, even though he is not obeying his evil commands.
Looking at the movie Hancock this week, and reading through Ephesians 5:21-33 we start to see some parallels. We see how Hancock eventually loves Mary enough to give himself up for her. Mary gave up operating in her superhero capacity in order to respect, love and serve her family. What does this say about how we should love our spouses.
Previously, we were ignorant of God's ways, but now we are to imitate God in every way. We'll take a look at Ephesians 5:1-20 and see how we should live in light of the fact that we now understand God's call on our lives.
In this weeks Whānau service we look at Gru amd the transformation he makes and how in our scripture we are asked to do the same thing. We should throw off the old nature and put on the new nature that Jesus offers.
This week we talk about the X-Men and about how they often see their abilities as a curse rather than a blessing. We can be like that too sometimes, but God often uses hard and painful experiences to shape us and make us better.
Bruce dives into Man of Steel today and draws out parallels between Superman and Jesus. God is the source of our power and by his spirit he empowers us to be be able to reach our full potential.
Just as the Avengers had to put aside their differences from the civil war to fight the most important battle in their lives, God calls us to do the same as the Church - to be an example of unity for the whole world to see.
We switch back to the Marvel Universe this week, and look at the division that occurs between Captain America and Iron Man. We see how sometimes we can let other things get in the way of our mission, just like in the case of the Avengers.
Continuing on with our Bingwatch series, we look at the show Gotham. We see that God brought us out of death and darkness and into new life through Jesus and that Jesus return from death makes it possible for all of us to be saved.
This week we take a detour from our bingewatch series and hear from Glen. We hear about his journey with God and how it has lead him to follow his calling with a local organzation - Christians Against Poverty. He tells us about who they are and what they do, as this week we consider how we as a church could be involved with them and serve our local community better.
This week we look at the life of Carol Danvers and see how she becomes Captain Marvel. We follow her life to see that she doesn't get her power from just within herself, but she relies on an external power to help her fight the good fight, as per usual we compare this with our calling and see what it has to do with our lives as modern christians.ß
We kick off the bingewatch series this Fathers' day by looking at Lego Batman. We look at two father figures in the movie, Batman and Alfred and contrast the two father's approaches to adopting Robin.
This Sunday we have the kids in with us and Bruce talks about what it means to be Generous.
There's some pretty scary stuff that we see in movies, but this week Bruce talks about something that is really frightening in movies - real life stories. Bruce talks about a movie that he recently saw named 'Priceless', where a regular man tries to save two sisters from a life of sex trafficking. This man gives up everything to save them, and Bruce parallels this with a parable in the Bible which talks about God's love and how much he gave up for us.
This week asks us some important questions, one of which is how much money is enough for us to be happy. To put things in perspective he also pulls up some interesting, and uncomfortable stats that help us keep grounded in reality.
So if we don't have debt, what then life should be great right? We could be debt free but still living paycheck to paycheck, but then what happens when crisis strikes? Today we talk about having a buffer, something that will help us and other when financial hardship strikes. Today we talk about having wealth, but not letting wealth have us.
This is one of those topics that nobody really likes to talk about, but far too many of us struggle with. But debt is just one of those natural things that we all have to live with right? Well perhaps not - and imagine what we could do if we didn't have to live with it.
This week Bruce takes us on the journey of talking about the thing most people don't like to talk about in Church - money! All churches want your money right? Well not exactly, listen in this week to see why we think that this is a topic that we really need to be talking about. We believe that God owns everything but he trusts us with some of it, so how we choose to use what he's trusted us with matters.
Given that we've looked at why Jesus died and what that meant for us as a human race, how does that change life for us here 2000ish years later? Or should it even change life for us ?
What does God's grace mean for us? If we're good people, read our Bibles and goto church then surely we'd go to heaven right? Today we're looking at the Grace of God, and we'll learn that it's not about what we've done, it's about what God has done.
This week we look at the Resurrection and ask the question: How then should we live in light of that?
This week we look at the Cross, the centerpiece of Christianity and why it is so important for us to understand.
What's the big deal with sin? Everyone sins right ? What's the big deal ? Who does it really hurt anyway and aren't people just being judgemental if they are trying to tell us how to live ? We'll talk about these things today.
What do we mean by "The Good News / Gospel"? What is this Good news and why does it matter to me ? Bruce is seeking to answer these questions this week in the new series Christianity explored.
Has the text of the New Testament been reliably passed down to us? For this family service, Bruce and Jodi enlist the help of some of the kids to investigate whether this is indeed the case or not.
Sharing the reasons you believe in Jesus isn't meant to be hard, but many of us don't know where to start.
If God is all knowing, all powerful and all loving, how could he allow suffering to exist? Dr Bob pays us a visit and unpacks that topic from a logical background and as always, leaves room at the end for some questions.
Bruce ... er I mean Luke takes us on a dective's trip to investigate whether Jesus really did die and rise from the dead. As a detective he is interested in the evidence we have and whether we have enough evidence to make such a bold claim or not.
Is God still relevant in a world where we know so much more about science ? Isn't religion just a way to explain away the mysteries of the natural world ?
Bruce starts us off in the new series 'Why Thinking Matters'. He talks about the field of Apologetics, something that is very close to his heart. It may not be a very common word, but it just means to be able to give a reason for our faith. Listen along and find out Why thinking matters.
To finish up the last sermon in the series, Bruce takes us through our final value - Nga Mea Katoa mo Ihu / Everything for Jesus (aka Worship).
We had another family service, and in this one Lee and Jodi take us through Rongopaitanga or Good News Ambassadors. The church should do a lot of good things for the community, but if that's all there ways to it then we're just another social agency. Lee talks about the special ingredient, the reason for why we do what we do.
This Sunday, Adam takes us through our fourth value at Rechurch - Manaakitanga or service. We had the kids in with us this week so had some activities and discussion along the way. He also connected the attitude of service to the unfortunate recent tragedy here in Christchurch.
This week Bruce talks about the fourth value of Rechurch, Taha Wairua - Spiritually Healthy Followers. What does it mean to be a Spiritually healthy follower or Christ ?
Note: Part of the recording cut out unfortunately. Bruce talks this week about God's plan for the church to be a family for all. Compared to our modern way of life, this seems to be a foreign concept. Jessie talks about his visit to his family's marae, and how he observed the whanau there.
Josh visits from New Life (Albany Park) and offers some encouragement on how we are to achieve God's grand plan - hint it's not from our own strength. Fortunately God provides us with a helper - The Holy Spirit, so we don't need to be dependant on ourselves
This week Adam kicks us off into our new series - We Are Church. We'll be examining the Church as a whole by looking in the book of Acts for inspiration, but we'll be specifically looking at Rechurch's own specific Mission, Vision and Values
Given that we now have an idea of some of the history, and how the implications of the way the crown treated Maori have bought us to the current situation, how as a church do we proceed ? Bruce attempts to answer that question this week.
Following on from Julian last week, Paul talks about how the failings of the treated has shaped society into a place which either intentionally or not is disadvantaging Maori people.
Julian guides us through his story, and also the history of the Maori in the Canterbury Region - Ngāi Tahu
The problem with New Year's Resolutions is that we almost never succed with them. Bruce encourages instead to think about New Year's Revolutions - ideas so radical that they will see us through to completion.
Bruce rounds out the final service in our Unplugged series, and talks about the final spiritual discipline we should practice - serving. First Jodi interview's Karen about her ministry, and how that all began.
Jason continues on the unplugged series with the next spiritual discipline we should practice, praying.
Kicking off the first of our unplugged series, Adam talks about why we should read the Bible.
Hamish gets us into the Christmas spirit and asks us to think about Joseph's role in it. He asks us to think about how well equipped he would have felt to look after the Son of God and how we feel about taking on God's requests for our lives.
Adam rounds out the Christ in Culture series by taking us back through where we have been and lands up on the principles of the Kingdom of God, Truth and Love.
Bruce talks to us today about living peacefully with others, he also talks about Jesus who is the ultimate peacemaker.
Lee decided to broach the simple topic of sexual purity ... not really, but it's a topic that is applicable to all of us in some form. Lee looks at how sexuality is viewed in our society and how God views it.
Bruce asks a panel of Michelle, Karen, Zack and Jason what it means to each of them to be salt and light in this generation. They talk about their personal approaches and gifts, and what it means to be a Kingdom person.
Adam kicks us off with our new series Christ & Culture, which examines what Jesus had to say about the world when he walked it, and also begs the question, what does it mean for us today ? We get really practical this Sunday and focus on three things Christians should be known for - Generosity, Prayer and Fasting.
Bruce recaps the series we've just been through and asks us to think again about oor plan of how we will become the person we want to be.
We have a visit from Dr Bob Robinson, and he gives us a framework on how to listen and answer people's questions effectively.
In the last part of our series Bruce talks about the importance of having a plan. He asks are we who we want to be, and if now, what is our plan to become who we want to be ?
This is Joe's last sermon so he recaps some important times in Rechurch's history and how God has proven to us that he has a plan for us and has stepped in many times along the way.
In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul talks about many people who came before us and lived out their faith, but how hard must that have been for them, some didn't even see the promise fufilled in their lifetime.
Jesus has gone before us and has fixed the problem of sin, but howcome life is still hard for us ?
Joe talks about a part in Hebrews where there is an important distinction between priest having to stand up to do their work while God is able to sit. Seems a little odd, but take a listen to find out why this is so important.
A really big part of the New Covenant is that there was a perfect sacrifice - it was the only sacrifice that could pay for all our debt, once and for all.
Jesus is better, but so is the new system that he has provided, have a listen and see if you think the New Covenant is better than the old one.
Jesus is the a better Priest than all others in the Old Testament, so does that mean that the Old Testament is worthless ? Joe talks about this today.
God gives us a strong and everlasting promise, it's like an anchor that we can pin our hopes to.
Joe poses the question, can a christian lose their salvation ? We take a look at the Bible and see what it has to say.
As christians we need to be regularly in our Bibles. This week the scripture talks about milk vs solid foods and immature christians vs mature christians. We also have a panel who shares tips that helped them.
Joe talks about a courtroom situation and how Jesus acts as our lawyer, as our mediator standing between us and God.
We've talked in the past about protecting our hearts from evil ways, but today Joe talks about another thing that can happen to our hearts ... they can become hardened.
Joe uses the Lion King to talk about how Jesus is better and that we should not be content with the status quo.
We look at some classic depictions of angels in current and past culture and read about God placing us above the angels.
Joe starts us off thinking about our own culture and some things that are different about us then uses that to frame up an introduction to the book of Hebrews ... which is actually a letter.
This week we look at Oceans 8 and how it's the story of someone motivated by revenge. How does this relate to God's story in the Bible ? Have a listen and see.
What should we do when we find ourselves in battle with our enemy and it looks like we are slowly marching towards defeat ? Joe takes us through the movie Darkest hour and talks about other dark hours in the Churches past, and about what we can learn from them.
Joe talks about the Armour of God and uses Gladiator to illustrate the point, but what is the Armour of God and why do we need it ?
Looking at this movie and the concept of a hidden entity behind events, Joe uses this as a springboard to talk about spirirual warefare and the insibile war that we are all in.
Chad talks about evaluating where our hearts lie, and talks about practical advice about how to view our Bible study and prayer life.
Joe talks us through Avengers: Infinity war and the role of Thanos. He likens Thanos to satan, but with one exception...
We were lucky enough to have Mary Jo come and talk to us after the Confident Christianity Conference. She talks about her journey from and Atheist to a Christian, and how Christians didn't look like the ones she had read about in the New Testamant. She talks about how she avoid that same fate and asks us to honestly took at our lives, to make sure we don't make that same mistake.
What does it take to be an incredible family, not just a family, but an incredible one ? Join us today as Joe kicks off the At the Movies service this Sunday, starting with Incredibles 2.
It seems hard to believe that interruptions could be a good thing, as we've learnt they can be devastating or at the very least extremely annoying. Listen to the final part of Joseph's story where we see how God used all the interruptions for the good of his people.
Joe talks about how life doesn't always pan out the way we think it will, and how we can trust that God being our Good Father is always there with us.
We've been told that if we follow the rules, then everything should work out for us right ? Is that always true ? We talk about Joseph and how he was imprisioned for a crime he didn't commit.
Bruce shares his story about dealing with loss in his own life. Death is inevitable so we need to think about how to deal with it when it does enter our lives.
Take a trip back to the 90s and remember an interruption, that being said, we believe that in all situations God will rule any circumstance.
Continuing on from where the Tenebrae service left off, we see what happened three days later, and why the Chrisitan faithe began that weekend.
Our first Tenebrae service (meaning shadow service) which focuses on the pain and disappointment Jesus felt in his final hours on this earth. This is a sombre service where we reflect on who we are and who Jesus was.
Joe talks about what service means for the Christian, the idea of doing most what you do best. God created us all with our own gifts and talents for us to use for his purposes.
What if God was one of us ? Well he was once, if you ever wanted to know what God dwelling with us would be like, then you need to hear this sermon.
What makes a person good ? Would you say that law abiding citizens are good people ? Perhaps you're good if you follow the rules ? Or is it good enough to just look like you do ?
We look at the example of Jesus healing a man, and consider two types of churches in this world, the 'here we are church' and the 'there they are church'.
Seems like an odd thing for God to say to Moses, but it was such a deep and meaningful question. Joe explains why God asked that and why God still asks that question today.
Mark visits from Chicago and spends some time with us. He talks about who he and Dee are and how they started out their church, as well as offers some encourgement.
Joe introduces us to the new series 'Fully devoted' and talks about what that actually means for us this year.
We talk about prayer as well as how and why to do it. This is a different kind of service where we took some time to experiment with different ways of praying.
Today in the Christmas story, we hear about Joseph in particular and how hard things must have been for him.
We focus in on Zechariah and Elizabeth, if it was not exciting enough that they finally get to have a baby, they are also let into some huge news.
This service is a little different. We kept the kids in and really changed up the service format. Feel free to listen along.
Joe talks about how God can heal relationships, and what it's like to be part of God's family.
Joe talks about how we need to be just like the midwives in the show, to be dedicated and servant minded.
Bruce tells us a story from the point of view of one of the characters from the show, he recounts their journey and talks about a book that offers comfort in the midst of chaos.
Joe opens up the new series and talks about how The Patriot can help inspire us and draws parallels with 2nd Timothy.
Beginning with the story 'You are Mine' by Max Lucado, we take a look into Matthew 6 and ask the question, who's money is this anyway ?
Ever thought, if only a had a little bit more money, that would solve my problems ... would it really fix things ? This week Bruce talks about this topic. A fellow Rechurcher (Stephen) talks about his journey.
Ever been given a gift where you'd say - it's the thought that counts ? Ever been given a gift that you couldn't even say that about ? Joe talks about our heart in our giving.
Joe talks about how our perspective can influence our decision making process, particularly when it comes to financial ones.
Joe explains the crytpic series title and begs asks what we serve and what we use. He also sets his new record for longest sermon.
In the final part of the Christian Atheiest series, Joe talks about the hardest part of the Christian life, giving God control of it.
Joe takes us furthur into the Christian Atheiest series about the 'Lukewarm Christian' beginning with a tie in to Father's day with Batman...
This week Joe taks about the Christian Atheist who believes in God but does not fear him.
Joe introduces us to our new series, and talks about the different types of christians you may meet
Continuing on wth the Psalms series, Lee talks about the how we can think about the Psalms a little differently and think about them in our daily lives
Continuing on wth the Psalms series, Nicky talks about the group of Psalms 73 through 89 and about how God helps us grow through hard times
Continuing on wth the Psalms series, Bruce talks about the group of Psalms 73 through 89 and about how God helps us grow through hard times
Continuing on wth the Psalms series, Jerram Watts from Destiny Rescue talks about his ministry and favourite Psalm
Continuing on wth the Psalms series, Hamish Taylor stops by and talks about his favourite Psalm
Kicking off a new series today where people will be speaking about their favourite Psalm from the Bible and what it means so them. Joe is explaining the book of Psalms to us.