Citywide Hobart: Recent Episodes
Citywide Baptist Church
After the most famous prayer in the bible, Jesus turns his attention to the practice of fasting. For most of us, fasting is something we associate with preparing for an operation or else we might have distant memories of fundraising campaigns for World Vision. This week Matt will explore what fasting is and whether it is something that could or should be part of following Jesus in the 21st century and what it might look like to fast in a healthy way.
The sermon notes are here: https://bible.com/events/704218
Jesus was absolutely clear that each one of us finds ourselves in a spiritual battle for our lives that we cannot win in our own strength. Matt will be concluding our mini-series on the Lord's prayer by engaging with Jesus words about temptation, deliverance from evil and forgiveness and how each one of these things is essential if we want to live the whole kind of life for which we are created.
The sermon notes are here:
http://bible.com/events/699863
This week we engage with the second half of the world’s most famous prayer.
After starting by helping his followers understand their relationship with God and encouraging them to bring their needs to Him, Jesus turns his attention to the spiritual battle we all find ourselves in.
Our society would see religious belief as something that robs us of life, Jesus, however, claimed that he had come in order that people might have whole and full lives (John 10:10).
As he draws his lesson about prayer to an end he points his followers to the kinds of things that enable them to live in that freedom.
One of the most famous parts of the bible is known as "the Lord's Prayer" or "Our father". Over the next two weeks, Matt will be working through this short passage of the bible that has had such a big impact. As we look at the Lord's prayer we will be glimpsing the very heart of who Jesus was and what he saw his ministry as being about. The Notes are here: http://bible.com/events/691445
Following Jesus is the absolute heart of what we are about at Citywide Baptist Church, and for that to be true each one of us needs to learn what it means to spend the kind of time with him that allows us to relate to him like the friend and brother He is. Jesus teaches us that we need to learn not to just express our faith in public but that our faith should come out of our times alone with God.
Notes: https://my.bible.com/events/687192
Jesus doesn't avoid talking about money... in fact he specifically focusses on it and challenges the hypocrisy of people who use money to demonstrate their moral superiority to others. This week we are looking at what true generosity looks like and what it asks of us as followers of Christ.
The notes are here: https://www.bible.com/events/682579
This Fathers Day Pastor Dan will be talking about God's unrestricted love for all and sets the example for His children to strive for perfection.
The notes are here http://bible.com/events/680302
We all know and have experienced bullies.
We all know that the way to defeat evil is to for a good person to metaphorically (and sometimes actually) have a bigger gun. We learn this in the backyard battles with siblings and friends, in the school playground and in almost every movie we have ever watched.
So when Jesus advises his followers to respond to a personal injustice by not resisting an evil person he was saying something that had never been said before. It would have seemed as strange in the first century as it does now...
We finish our exploration of the future of our church today by digging deeper into what it means to be an Authentic Community. Pastor Dan and Paul Kerrison will be talking about Life Groups and how things are moving forward
This Sunday Dan is looking at Philippians 1:3-11, joining the Apostle Paul who shares his joy for the adventure with an authentic community who are following Jesus.
Matt is talking about the core practises that shape the church: Follow, Bless and share.
Today we begin an important journey. We will be engaging with the question of what kind of church God is inviting us to become. This is a great Sunday for visitors to get a sense of the heart of our church.
We conclude our exploration of the Meaning of Life through the book of Ecclesiastes, and the answer isn't 42.
In such a complicated world how do you make decisions? Matt is looking at the framework for decision making that Solomon outlines in the second half of chapter 10 and chapter 11 of Ecclesiastes.
These days it seems like no-one knows who to believe. Our social media feeds and universities are full of people who claim to know the truth, yet they are all saying different things. This week Matt will be exploring how we navigate this complicated world we find ourselves in as we continue our journey in Ecclesiastes.
As we learn to listen to God, see injustice and make sense of the world, we know we need to do something. But what? This week Matt will be exploring what it means to engage with people in power in order to bring about change as we engage with Ecclesiastes chapter 8.
Most people experience prayer as talking to God... Matt will be exploring part of Ecclesiastes that seems to indicate we would do better to listen rather than talk. We will begin to ask how that might actually work in practise....
As we re-engage with Ecclesiastes after a detour to celebrate the history of our church, Matt will be exploring the dangers inherent in focussing too much on the the past. As a church we are preparing ourselves to articulate the future God is calling us towards. Ecclesiastes reminds us that our future cannot be stuck in our past.
We increasingly live in a world where it is normal to dehumanize people who are not like us. Matt will be exploring what the result of this way of doing things actually means for us and what the antidote is.
After the deep truths revealed in the first part of Ecclesiastes chapter three, Solomon then takes time to face some of the messy and painful reality that we all face. Matt will be exploring what it means for us to "face the pain".
Matt will be exploring whether there really is any point in being the smartest person in the room.
Today we begin a journey to ask the biggest question of all questions: What is the meaning of life?
Matt will begin the journey by exploring the Nature of the Biblical Wisdom literature and then beginning our Exploration of the big question through the guidance of the book of Ecclesiastes
Pastor Dan has re-recorded the concluding sermon in our money matters series because of technical difficulties. He will be reviewing the bibles teaching on tithing and talking about his own experience of trusting God with finance.
Pastor Matt will be drawing together the themes of the previous five sermons and asking "so what does all this actually mean for us when it comes to our money?"
Changing the world is not difficult... Matt is showing how Generosity makes a radical difference
Matt continues our Money Matters series today, focusing on the question of what we actually own...
Matt will be exploring the assumptions behind our consumerist society and how that has shaped the church in unhelpful ways. The Bible calls us from consumerism to the Kingdom of God and Matt will investigate how that really works.
As we begin our new sermon series, Matt is exploring how important the decisions we make about our money are. We start the series by looking at how Jesus instructed his followers to think about money...
As we celebrate a 10 year journey of wrestling out what it means to be one church in two locations, former pastor Paul Kerrison will unpack some of the ways God has led us as a church family.
Matt is exploring how Easter changes everything and the revolution that was started on that weekend is one that we are invited to live out in our daily lives.
Matt is walking through Jesus's last words from the cross and how they give us a glimpse into the revolutionary nature of what we celebrate today.
The Apostle Paul claims that the cross has the power to transform lives. If this is true we want to understand and be open to the full message of the cross and the ways it transforms lives and the world. Pastor Matt will be exploring what this means for all of us.
The earliest formulated part of the New Testament declared that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures but what does that actually mean? As we prepare for Easter Matt is exploring how the Easter story was the fulfillment of the story of the whole Old Testament.
Today Matt is talking about the paradoxical nature of what it means to step into your story.
NOTE: Audio starts and finishes a little strange but bear with it.
Matt is exploring what it means to move past feeling like a victim of circumstance and become mature on the journey of life.
People are searching hard for happiness - and you have the answer. Today Peter Collins will look at 'Happy' by Pharell Williams.
We are continuing our Summer Sermon Series with David Perkins using Led Zeppelin's hot Stairway to Heaven to reflect on the life of Jacob.
We are continuing our summer sermon series at both campuses by looking at a popular song from different eras of rock and roll. Today it is 'praying' by Kesha
Matt will be kicking off our Summer Sermon Series "God Gave Rock and Roll to you" by looking at his favourite U2 song - 'Grace'
Today we celebrated our 40th anniversary as Citywide Baptist, Mornington.
We decided not to broadcast the celebration, Pastor Matt explains why...
Former pastor David Roffe reflects on where he saw God at work in the Lenah Valley and Citywide Baptist Churches.
This week marks the start of a very special journey for our church family as we hear from former pastor John Morse reflecting on where he saw God at work in the then Eastern Shore Baptist Church. Over the next 12 months we will be celebrating and reflecting the 40th Anniversary of our Mornington Campus, The 70th Anniversary of the Lenah Valley Campus and the 10th Anniversary of both congregations joining together.
This week our journey through Ephesians 4 reaches its culmination. Pastor Matt will be asking what this radical vision that the Apostle Paul had for the church means for us in actuality. How will we grow to become the church Jesus desires us to be?
The church was designed to do life together. But how do we do when we all have our own ideas of what relationship looks like? One of the things that is sure to surface in relationship is anger. We get frustrated, short tempered and even lash out when we handle anger wrong. So how does the church handle anger? As we look at Ephesians chapter 4, Paul is going to reveal how to see anger through Gods eyes and how we might live in the manner worthy of our calling
The Apostle Paul believes that the purpose of church leadership is to help us become mature. This week Matt is exploring what Paul means by maturity and what that understanding asks of us as individuals and collectively as we continue to journey through Ephesians chapter four.
This Sunday we dive into a passage in which Apostle Paul clearly describes both the purpose and the function of leadership in the church… and its quite different to what is normal for most of us. On the basis of Paul’s teaching, Matt will be exploring what it might mean for the different functions of leadership to be fully expressed in our church and also the broader Christian church
We had some technical issues with our video stream so Matt is doing a catch-up for those who missed this second message in our series on what it means to be a Radically Different church.
Recent Research indicates a growing group of people who are done with church but not done with Jesus. The church they are done with is not the church that Paul describes in the book of Ephesians. This week we will be catching a glimpse of the radical vision that Paul had for the church on the basis of what he understood as God’s primary purpose.
Commitment comes at a price, and a willingness to pay that price is not "normal." This week Pastor Matt will be exploring what it means for us to live in a way that actually makes a difference in the world.
Matt explores what it means to truly empower others through the way we live our lives. We live in a self-centered world, but followers of Jesus create a future for others
Matt will be exploring what it means to discover the unique adventure that God has created for each one of us.
Matt will be looking at 'what' is most important in every aspect of our lives, and showing us the what is really a 'who'....
We end Romans where we began: celebrating the fact of God's grace and glory. Given the liberty we have in Jesus, it is crucial that rise to the challenge of living in unity. In this we are blessed and God is glorified.
Roman's encourages us to see that we express love to God when we're inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit, rather than culture. Here we find how to live out our God-gifted identity.
God has always had a plan for humanity, and Paul strives to prove that God "calls people not on the basis of their good or bad works, but according to His divine purpose."
Paul exhorts and frees the Christian to live the kind of life God desires for His children - not in the morally fallen way we once lived, but one that is in step with, and empowered by the Spirit.
Not only is the follower of Jesus "dead to sin," but we're also alive with Him. We have been co-resurrected with Him so that we could be empowered to live an entirely new life.
One of the most powerful words Paul uses to describe the Christians new reality in Jesus and the solution to our problem of sin is the word justified. In Jesus we have been declared "not guilty."
Humanity has a problem; we have deliberately wandered from God's ways. Right! But grace is at play and God's liberating power has been released in us through Jesus.
Paul passionately sets the tone for what is to come by using rich theological and personal language to unveil its theme: grace.
The Spirit effectively produces in those who walk by the Spirit, the very character of God himself.
Living a transformed life is about living a life that shuns anything that would impair our relationship with God
Citywide is committed to scriptural, redemptive, and restorative justice for individuals, communities, the voiceless, and the marginalised.
We are committed, individually and corporately,to reach out with the gospel through building relationships in our own community and beyond.
We take ownership of our actions and behaviours within the structure of the church to be accountable.
We are committed to influencing God's people towards his purposes through spiritually gifted leadership that operates with integrity, wisdom, skill, and accountability.
In Christ we are all equal, there is no distinction between genders, socio-economic status, or race. We have been made again
Hospitality is one of the things we should do because it is an outward expression of our love for others. Hospitality means making people feel welcome.
John 13:1-20 Deuteronomy 10:19 Leviticus 19:34 Matthew 5:43-44 Matthew 25:40 Romans 13:8 Luke 10:27 Hebrews 13:1 Matthew 25:35 Romans 12:13
As believers we are called friends of God, we are committed to cultivating a rich relationship with Him.
Just as Jesus came to serve; our attitudes must be the same. We use our time, talents, abilities, and resources to serve God, each other, and the wider community.
We are a people that desire to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives and we embrace His power and giftings; and seek His wisdom and direction to fulfill God's purposes.
Our values define who we are as people, and as a church. Our values impact and guide who we are. They guide our action and behavior. They are a powerful declaration of who we are and what we do.
Jesus, in His humanity, needed not only the fellowship of the Father but also the companionship and emotional support of His disciples.
What does it look like to love a person whose hostility threatens? Jesus teaches us to love our enemies.
the fact Jesus knows what hurts the human heart shows itself in His relationships with people as recorded in the Gospels - the broken hearted Mary Magdalen, the adulterous woman fearing for her life, the Samaritan woman with a history of failed relationships, parents with sick children. these speak of Jesus' compassion and capacity to empathise and move into desperate circumstances
We can forget the past and focus on the future. We are God's people called to be His followers and work towards what God has planned for our future. Honour the past, learn from it and press into God's purposes for the future
when we believe in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit does not just empower to do certain things, but indwells and fills us.
We do not know the date and time of Christ. Will we be asleep when Christ Comes? are we prepared to wait for Christ.
Jesus understood who he was and what His purpose was. he demonstrated this ministry. Jesus in His humanity gives Himself completely over to every opportunity to those who feel "inglorious" and gives them glory and lays on them grace and mercy in order to allow them to live in the way God wants them to live
We are created in the image of God. He created us a little lower than the angels. God is number 1, We are number 2 and Satan is a distant number 3
The world is going mad for super heroes. Why are we so fascinated by super heroes. We need to ensure that we do not bow to anyone but God
We live in an instant world. We want instant results, success and fame. We don't always see the hard work that goes behind peoples success. Do we get sucked into the desire for instant success as Christians. Do we want instant growth and maturity as Christians, or do we develop our walk with Jesus through daily interaction with Him. Things of substance and worth are developed over time
Sinners like being around Jesus and they long for His company despite the fact, in a most unsettling way, Jesus exposed their failures.
As Christians and good stewards, how seriously should we look after the world and environment around us. God created the world and saw that it was good. If the God we follow thinks the world is good, then we should think the same and treat it with respect. We need to ensure that we don't go to opposite extremes with nature
If salvation was a video game, it would be a free game waiting on the shelf for us to pick up. God has thrown in some redeem codes to keep us wanting to play on
We identify with Jesus, His life and mission, which are now ours. Jesus is to fight against evil and to come against temptation
No matter how long we have walked with Jesus, we still need to be confronted by Him. when confronted by Jesus, something changes in our lives. Christ is gracious and compassionate to us. If we know Jesus, we are His followers.
Empowering strength from God. Be strong in the Lord. It is not our strength which sustains, it is the power of God through the Holy Spirit
God is a God of work and he has given us work to do on the earth and for his kingdom. We can worship, love and honour God in our work.
First of all, the church is a worshiping community, and the key to their worship is the presence of the Holy spirity
There is no one way to communicate to People. God uses all methods to share His word. we need the right tools to do the right job effectively, communication is no different. We need to know the right way, right language, right illustrations to communicate. Think about who we are interacting with as we share the gospel
Paul asked the Ephesian believers to recognise that he had a revelation from God which disclosed God's plan in Jesus. This plan is not only for the Ephesians but impacts history and the world.
As Paul talks about the gift of the promised Holy Spirit, it becomes obvious that the early church received itself understanding and sense of purpose through Him. Like us, the Holy Spirit becomes our identity marker
How to build our lives on a foundation which will never fall when storms come into our lives
When we want to live for Christ, it is life filled with joy. It is not burdensome. Life with Christ is done with a profound love for Him. Individuals have an identity and future which comes in and through Jesus
The way which God has made the us and blesses us continually is done through the Church (the body of Christ). We are the church of God regardless of how the world perceives us. We need to show the world what the Church is. We have the hope through the future of the church. We need to show the victory of Christ in the world
Paul was told by God that he needed to speak out the truth. We too, also need to be willing to speak out
Psalm 23 is one of the most well loved and known parts of the Bible. Even though we may be familiar with it, we may not be conscious of the fullness of the Lord as the Shepherd of the Psalm.