Liberti Church Carrara Sermons: Recent Episodes
Adam Ramsey
We are a gospel-centred family of churches, who worship joyfully, grow together, and live sent. This podcast features weekly messages from Liberti Carrara. Podcasts are also available for other Liberti churches. For more info, visit www.liberti.church
Fulfil Your Ministry #4 - Devoted
Adam Ramsey - 2nd August 2026
Acts 2:42-47
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Fulfil Your Ministry #3 - Onward
Adam Ramsey - 26th July 2026
Philippians 3:12-16
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Fulfil Your Ministry #2 - Build One Another Up
Adam Ramsey - 17th July 2026
Ephesians 4:11-16
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Fulfil Your Ministry #1 - Together (Your Gifts are for More than You)
Adam Ramsey - 12th July 2026
1 Corinthians 12
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #11 - Fulfil Your Ministry
Adam Ramsey - 5th July 2026
Colossians 4:7-18
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #10 - Devoted to Prayer and Mission
Adam Mesaric - 28th June 2026
Colossians 4:2-6
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #9 - Christ-Centred Worship, Christ-Centred Relationships
Adam Ramsey - 21st June 2026
Colossians 3:16-4:1
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #8 - Gospel Culture in the Church
Adam Ramsey - 14th June 2026
Colossians 3:12-17
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #7 - Be What Grace Has Made You
Adam Ramsey - 7th June 2026
Colossians 3:1-11
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #6 - Freedom in Christ
Adam Mesaric - 29th May 2026
Colossians 2:16-23
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #5 - The Fullness of Christ
Lee Murray - 24th May 2026
Colossians 2:6-15
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #4 - Jesus-Exalting, Spirit-Energized Ministry
Adam Mesaric - 17th May 2026
Colossians 1:21-2:5
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #3 - Jesus is a Bigger Deal than You Think
Adam Ramsey - 10th May 2026
Colossians 1:15-20
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Jesus Above All: Colossians #2 - Four Life-Changing Prayers (Wisdom, Fruitfulness, Power, Gratitude)
Adam Ramsey - 3rd May 2026
Colossians 1:9-14
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How Christianity Makes Sense of our World #5 - Science
Dan Paterson -29th March 2026
Genesis 1
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How Christianity Makes Sense of our World #4 - Good and Evil
Ps. Adam Ramsey -22nd March 2026
Galatians 3:26-4:7
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Week #4 - Freed People - Gospel Doctrine, Gospel Culture (Two Hills We Die On)
Ps. Adam Ramsey -21st July 2024
John 13:34-35
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“The Sermon on the Mount engenders dreams of a better world...I have found my mind wrestling with its problems and my heart set on fire by the nobility of its ideals...It is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed…it is his own description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do.” - John Stott
“What conquered the ancient world was this joy, this gladness, this verve, this indestructible quality in the life of these people, and this is the greatest need in the world today.” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
God has a design in mind for how He wants local churches to look. The spiritual leadership of the church will never be perfect, but they are to be examples in faithfulness, discipline, and Christlikeness that the rest of the church can follow.
Titus gives us an inside look as to how the reality of God’s grace shapes life in God’s family. The gospel is of central importance for growing in godliness, facing hard times with hope, and living faithfully and fruitfully in the rhythms of every day life.
We live in a time where sex is both undervalued (sex is nothing) and overvalued (sex is everything). Proverbs teaches that sex is a good gift from God that we should not treat as something that is a common thing or ultimate thing, but as a gift that is holy. There is sexual wisdom that leads to life, and there is sexual folly that leads to death.
What is a true friend? In a world that is getting lonelier, how do we make friends…and stay friends? Again and again, the Bible shows us that the true wealth of our lives is measured by the quality of our relationships. In Jesus, we have a friend who not only shows us what friendship looks like, but who invites us into friendship with God.
God is both infinitely wise and infinitely happy. Wisdom leads us into fullness of life, by leading us into the fullness of God.
More precious than riches, power, popularity or success, is wisdom. To know wisdom is to understand how God has designed life to work, and to live in line with that. It means to let God beGod in your daily experience -- so that with Him and in Him -- you’ll be able to face anything
Advent. It’s a season where we enter into a time of waiting and anticipation. Like God’s people in the Old Testament awaiting the coming of the Saviour, Christians today look forward with the same anticipation to Christ’s return. In the midst of uncertain times, Christians have a living hope, because God is faithful to His promises.
Psalm 1 shows us that true and lasting happiness is attainable in this life. This happiness is deeply rooted in the delighting of God’s Word and the righteousness that Jesus provides through His death and resurrection.
Submission is a muscle that every single Christian on planet earth is called to flex. Jesus has a design in mind for those entrusted with leadership, and it is not that of cattle-ranchers driving a herd from the back, but shepherds leading their flock by example from the front. When humility flavours both the way elders lead and the way Christians follow within a local church, we get a foretaste of our eternal future.
The local church is not a spiritual event to attend, but a community of ‘sent-people’ to belong to. Every Christian has a story to tell and a space to invite others into. When we remember that once we were strangers to God, and through Jesus we’ve been given a seat at the table, we begin to open up our lives and live on God’s mission with courage, warmth, and good news to tell.
The Apostle Paul shows us that a Spirit-led church is one marked by relational gentleness and financial generosity. Because Jesus bore the ultimate burden of our sin on the cross; we, by the Spirit’s power can embrace our responsibility to bear one another’s burdens.
Right thinking about Jesus (gospel-doctrine), should lead our churches into a right experience together of Jesus (gospel-culture). In John 13:34-35, Jesus connects the believability of our message with the beauty of our relationships. The presence of biblical non-negotiables in a church — like love, humility, and patience — will either validate the message of the gospel or vandalise it.
We are a church that is passionately committed to the centrality of Jesus, in every part of our lives. The truth of the gospel is really good news and is the message through which Jesus has promised to liberate and transform people’s hearts. The Bible is a wonderful gift for us, but it is not about us. It is all about Jesus, and therefore, so are we.
In a culture nervous about any commitment that extends beyond commitment to one’s self, gospel partnership is a strategic counter-cultural step that cultivates genuine discipleship and devotion to Jesus, that becomes a living apologetic of the gospel’s beauty to an unbelieving world. In this week’s message, we explore how a gospel partner is anyone who genuinely confesses that Jesus is Lord, and participates in their life of a local church that follows Him together.
All of history is moving toward a day, where every people group will have been reached with the gospel (Rev 7:9). We have been included in a mission that will not fail. And every local church has a part to play in partnering with the global church, to reach those who have yet to be reached.
What God gives to us, is never just for us. Esther gives us a model for how God’s people are to steward power, wealth, and influence - using these not for themselves, but the flourishing of others.
Forgiveness is the gospel on display in our relationships. Receiving the grace of God is never something we graduate from, but something we grow deeper in.
Haman spent his life grabbing after applause and power, only to discover that the staircase of self-glory led not to a throne, but a gallows. At the climax of the story of Esther, we see that one of the bedrock principles of the entire universe is this: pride leads to destruction and humility leads to life.
What do we need to know when we are struggling to make sense of life? That God is in control, God is not behind schedule, and God gives grace to the humble. We can begin to rest when we realize that we don’t need to know the future, if we know the heart of the One who does.
What are you living for? Who are you listening to? As we see Esther's plan and Haman's plan begin to unravel, we also see that the answer to these two questions shape the trajectory of our lives.
Mordecai is a long way from home, in more ways than one. Esther is beautiful yet broken, and has something to hide. Compromise is everywhere and everyone has got problems. But no one is beyond the reach of God’s transforming grace. In this way, Esther helps us to see ourselves; we’re all compromised by our own sin and victimised by the sins of others. And just like Esther, God is not done with us yet!
We live in a world where power is misused and flaunted. Oftentimes, God seems hidden to us. It can be difficult to trace His plan when life dishes up unexpected twists and trials. But God’s hiddenness does not mean His absence. The Book of Esther invites us into a story where things aren’t always what they seem. A story of “coincidences” that are actually providential setups for great reversals. There is a King who rules over every earthly king & power. And when we cannot make sense of our circumstances, we learn to trust in His promises.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 | Some things are so fundamental, so obvious, that we can often overlook them. In this series, we explore some of the fundamental realities of Christianity, by ‘stating the obvious’ of what happens when God’s people gather in worship to Him.
Hebrews 10:24-25 | Some things are so fundamental, so obvious, that we can often overlook them. In this series, we explore some of the fundamental realities of Christianity, by ‘stating the obvious’ of what happens when God’s people gather in worship to Him.
Romans 8:29-31 | How can we live with blazing confidence and die with unwavering assurance? By knowing, that from first to last, salvation is God's work and His plan will not fail.
Romans 8:23-27 | Christians have the assurance that what God has begun in our present, He promises to perfect in our future. In the meantime, we live in the midst of tension; longing for the fulfillment of the promise. But God does not leave us alone; He gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can know a sure hope in our waiting and a strong help in our praying.
Romans 8:18-22 | Christianity dignifies us by being honest about the reality of suffering in this world, while at the same time giving us the most helpful & hopeful resources for facing dark days with courage. Acknowledging both our present pain, while having our eyes set on a future glory, gives us a new perspective. As C.S. Lewis said, “They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”
Romans 8:14-17 | Real Christianity is deeply and intensely relational. In Christ, we are no longer slaves to fear and sin; we have been adopted into God's family. We're no longer on the sidelines; we've been brought near and given a part to play in God's great story of redemption.
Romans 8:9-11 | Real Christianity goes way beyond religion or self-improvement; it is a life now marked by supernatural power as the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives. We get a taste now in this life, of the resurrection power that is still yet to come. For every person who belongs to Jesus, we have a wonderful promise: a secure eternal future with a renewed body, in a renewed creation, in the presence of God!
Romans 8:3-4 | One of the highest privileges and experiences of the gospel, is assurance. What the Law of God was unable to do, and what our flesh was unable to achieve, God has done for us through Jesus in our place and the Spirit in our lives. Now, we have a brand new walk. As John Bunyan writes, “To run and work the law commands, yet gives me neither feet or hands; But better news the gospel brings: it bids me fly, and gives me wings.”
Romans 8:1-2 | What if God really has given His people certainties, that make us invincible to every demonic accusation, every disappointing circumstance, & every despairing thought? What if our hearts could know real peace, even as we live in a world that is falling to pieces? For the believer, waking up every morning into Romans 8 reminds us we have a new verdict (no longer condemned!), a new location (in Christ), and a new defining reality (freedom), that gives us the power to face anything.
Ephesians 5:22-33 | RELATIONSHIPS | Marriage was designed by God to be an image of the greatest love ever known - the love Jesus has for us, the church. This section of Ephesians calls husbands and wives to love one another by following the example of Christ; experiencing both great sacrifice and great joy in the process.
Please note: This video from the 2018 Acts 29 Conference in Gold Coast, Australia has been provided with permission from Acts 29 Network. For more information, visit www.acts29.com.
Ephesians 5:15-21 | HOLINESS | We would all like to see ourselves change for the better -- but when we try, we quickly find that changing ourselves in any fundamental way is impossible. The Holy Spirit alone is capable of changing us, but this requires us to give everything we are over to Jesus. No area of your life will be improved by holding it back from Jesus… and no area of your life will be worsened by flooding it with the presence of the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:1-14 | HOLINESS | When it comes to living a life set apart to God in the midst of our sin-fractured world, Paul has three things to say: remember your adoption into God's family, walk in love, and walk in the light.
Ephesians 4:25-32 | HOLINESS | In this section of Ephesians, Paul describes how conflict in the church can be handled in a loving and constructive manner, or how it can lead to devastation. What does it look like for your pride to be set aside when real offense and anger arises? How can we love one another even though we will inevitably sin against each other?
Ephesians 4:17-24 | HOLINESS | As Christians we are called to live a renewed and transformed life. Paul calls Christians to both: leave our dark-minded and deceived past, and to assume a new life of righteousness and holiness in God. This change is not something we accomplish by our own strength or determination, but through a renewing work of the Spirit that gradually conforms us to the image of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-16 | THE CHURCH | A healthy church is one with leaders who equip God’s people, with God’s Word, for God’s work. And in turn, God’s people together give themselves to outward-facing lives of ministry and service. A church growing in maturity is building itself up with every member’s gifts, deepening in sound doctrine, and speaking gospel-truths to one another that are laced with love.
Ephesians 4:1-10 | THE CHURCH | Self-importance, self-righteousness, and forcefulness have no place among the God’s people. A church that truly believes the soaring doctrines of grace, will be unmistakably marked by a culture of graciousness. Here, the Apostle Paul shows us that a healthy church is one where humility, gentleness, and patience with one another is normal; where unity in Christ is treasured; and where God’s people partner together in using their gifts to build one another up and glorify God.
Ephesians 3:14-21 | THE CHURCH | The well-known prayer in this passage from Paul, shows us what authentic, theologically-robust, deeply experiential Christianity looks like. Paul prays that the Church would be strengthened with power, that we would know the immeasurable love of Christ, and that we’d be filled with all the fullness of God. Paul wants us to know that God’s capacity to give goes far beyond our capacity to ask, and knowing this will radically changes the way we pray!
Ephesians 3:1-13 | THE CHURCH | The grace of God is not merely the entry point into the Christian life; it is the limitless fuel of the Christian life! Every part of our lives now orbits around the incredible news of what Jesus has done for us. And when the Church has this message of God’s grace on repeat, she becomes a message of grace — a living sermon — for the entire world to see.
Ephesians 2:19-22 | THE CHURCH | To be a Christian means not only being saved from something (sin and hell), but into something. And that diverse, beautiful, often-messy, global people of God is called, ‘the Church.’ What is the Church? And what should the Church look like? Paul gives us three metaphors to help us understand this reality: (1) In Christ, we are fellow-citizens; (2) In Christ, we are family, (3) In Christ, we are a holy temple, the dwelling place of God.
Ephesians 2:11-18 | SALVATION | We have all experienced the devastating effects of division and hostility that plague our world. But apart from Christ, an even larger division stands between us and God. The good news is that Jesus has abolished this wall of division, giving all who believe in him access to God. As Christians, we are called to display this peace and oneness that Jesus has made possible.
Ephesians 2:1-10 | SALVATION | We were dead, but God has made us alive. We all once walked the course of this world, but God has given us a new course. We all once lived in the passions of the flesh, but God has given us a new purpose. We were all once children of wrath, but God has made us his workmanship. Remembering all this should cause us all to rejoice in God’s amazing grace.
Ephesians 1:15-23 | SALVATION | After unpacking some of the richest truths in all of Scripture, Paul begins to pray that Holy Spirit would “open the eyes of our hearts” to more deeply grasp the grace of God and more deeply know the God of grace. As he does, we see that the prayers of Paul were marked by thanking God, asking God, and praising God.
Ephesians #3 - Our Already/Not Yet Inheritance Ephesians 1:11-14 | Throughout Scripture there are tensions. In Christ, our salvation is an ‘already’ reality with a fullness that is still yet to come. God is completely sovereign in salvation and we have a genuine responsibility in which we are called to repent, believe, pray, obey, and share the gospel with the entire world. These tensions were never meant to be resolved, but embraced. And when we do, our lives will be marked by a greater sense of assurance, humility, and boldness as we live “to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians 1:3-10 | SALVATION | In Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul takes us on a figurative tour to the summit of Mt. Salvation. On the way, we learn that our situation is far worse than we realised, and that God’s sovereign grace is far greater than we could ever imagine. This glorious reality - that salvation is all of God - not only calls forth our rejoicing, but fuels our boldness on God’s mission.
Ephesians 1:1-2 | SALVATION | Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus has been described as “pound for pound, one of the most influential documents ever written.” The book of Ephesians covers many different practical topics and questions that are common to humanity, but can be summarised with three words: life in Christ. It is when we know who we truly are in Christ, that leads to knowing how to live in Christ.
Philippians 1:27-30 | The Church reveals that our good news is true news, when it walks forward in God-glorifying togetherness, boldness, and gratefulness.
Acts 17:16-34 | David Foster Wallace wrote that, “There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.” As Paul addresses the Areopagus he is fuelled by a holy indignation toward the Athenian idolatry, yet delivers the message of the gospel with a harmonious blend of tenderness and truth. As we examine the model of Paul we can consider our own sense of provocation toward an idolatrous world and how we ought to respond compassionately & intelligibly as ministers of the good news.
Acts 17:1-15 | Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible does not call Christians to blind faith. Rather, our faith is to be based on the evidence of Jesus’ life, fulfilled prophecies, and tempered by personal testimonies of life-change in other believers. What would our world look like if we examined what we are taught against the true source of truth? How would it both challenge and grow your faith?
Acts 16:16-40 | Experiencing injustice for the sake of the gospel can be difficult to handle. While we cannot always control what happens to us, we can control how we respond. This week we see the gospel reaching out to people at very different places in their life - one is out of control; another is losing control. Through it all, it becomes clear that God is in control, and He secures safe passage for the gospel in the city of Philippi.
Acts 16:6-15 | In light of God’s sovereignty, Paul and Silas rejected any form of Christian passivity. They’d received their marching orders in the Great Commission and their lives were marked by prayerful, deliberate intentionality. After ending up in Philippi, a wealthy woman named Lydia becomes the first Christian in that city. As the Lord opened her heart to receive Christ, she opened her home to receive the disciples. Intentionality and hospitality are indispensable to God’s mission through our lives.
Acts 15:35-16:5 | Wherever there is relationship, there is potential for conflict. Paul and Barnabas have a falling out over John Mark, and end up parting ways, forming two missionary teams instead of one. Rather than taking sides, we can learn a lesson from both. Paul (and later Timothy) teach us that to follow Jesus faithfully means to embrace sacrifice. Barnabas teaches us to see others through the eyes of hope. Both are essential to fruitfulness on God’s mission.
Acts 15:1-35 | The early church had arrived at theological crossroads: “Are we made right with God through faith in Jesus and His work, or faith in Jesus plus our works?” The Jerusalem Council declared that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone. In light of the gospel, we are to eliminate any obstacle to people turning to God, and use our freedom in Christ to serve one another. We can know that the gospel has moved from our heads to our hearts, when beauty shows up in the way we treat one another.
This world seems to have so much to offer, yet it is only temporary. Where then will we find true riches? If all else will fade away, we must look to what is eternal. This passage in Luke reveals that our only hope of eternal significance lies in Jesus.
Acts 14:20-28 | The gospel is not just for our salvation, but also to sustain and strengthen us in the trials of life. In Acts 14 we see a model of strengthening and encouraging work that is comprised of gospel-shaped discipleship, God-centered prayer, and grace-filled stories.
Acts 14:1-20 | As the gospel continues to spread, Paul and Barnabas engage the surrounding pagan cultures with boldness, missional humility, and perseverance. When the gospel is preached, some will get saved and some will get mad. Christians should not be shocked by either response. It is only when we no longer need the acceptance of this world, that we’ll be able to truly serve it and speak prophetically into it
Ruth 4:1-22 | The story of Ruth reaches its finale as Boaz finds a way to redeem Ruth and restore the family name of Naomi. Emptiness turns to fullness, bitterness turns to sweetness, death is replaced with life! In God’s hands, our setbacks become setups for God to display His glory. Nothing will be wasted. He is weaving every trial and triumph together into a beautiful tapestry of redemption for those who love Him.
Ruth 3:1-18 | Every one has anxieties and fears about the future. Who will we spend it with? How will we be provided for? These same concerns drive Naomi to make a risky plan and Ruth to make a bold move toward Boaz. Will he respond with indifference? Immorality? No, Boaz responds with grace and gives us a glimpse into the heart of God.
-- Apologies for the poor audio quality on this recording, we will be back to normal next week --
Ruth 2:1-23 | The world will know that our good news, is true news, when beauty shows up in the way we treat one another. Through the undeserved kindness of a man named Boaz, Ruth experiences the grace, tenderness, and provision of God. In the same way, the gospel radically transforms both our vision of humanity and our hope for the future. When our hope is anchored in Him, not only will we endure the inevitable storms that come our way...we'll be empowered to live lives of risk-taking love.
Ruth 1:6-22 | Pain and loss have a way of bringing to the surface what's truly inside us. And oftentimes, like Naomi, our response to life not going our way is we become blinded by bitterness. But when we cannot trace God's hand in our circumstances, we must learn to trust His heart. Dark days will not last forever; He brings forth beauty from our brokenness.
Ruth 1:1-6 | No matter who we are, all of us will experience crisis and suffering at some point in our lives. How can we prepare? How do we suffer well? It all comes down to how big our vision is of God.
What wearies us and lays heavy on our hearts, is our driving compulsion to prove that we matter. It is here, at the point of our restlessness and anxiety that Jesus calls to us, "Come to Me..." In this passage Jesus gives us an invitation, a condition, a promise, and a new way of life, so that the rest of God may become a reality in our busy lives
John 20:1-31 | Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Because Jesus really is risen, we have good news to celebrate, good news to tell, good news that’s true, and good news that brings life.
Mark 15:6-15 | In the most famously rigged yet sovereignly ordained trial in history, Jesus stands in front of three audiences before the verdict is announced: Pilate, the crowd, and a murderer named Barabbas. And in each of these three, we get a deeper glimpse of not only ourselves, but what it means when Christians say, “Jesus took my place.”
John 18:28-38 | The two issues that come up as Jesus stands trial before Pontius Pilate, are the very issues that our culture in the 21st century still has a complicated relationship with today: authority and truth. The Bible sets forth Christ as King and Christ as Truth. And like Pilate, every single one of us will need to make a decision about Jesus.
Matthew 26:36-46 | Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane is both instructive and inspiring. We see him stand firm through trial as his disciples falter and fail. Through his actions, we learn to pray to be prepared for temptation, persist through pain, and to be submissive with confidence before our Father.
Mark 14:12-31 | The Passover meal was of immense significance for Jesus and the disciples. During the “last supper” Passover meal, Jesus revealed to his disciples that the Passover story they grew up with was ultimately pointing to himself; and that only through him, the true Passover lamb, we can be saved.
The Christian race involves a call to freedom through repentance, and a call to endurance through Spirit-empowered obedience, as we look away from ourselves to the finished work of Jesus.
Romans 8:1-17 | What does it look like to live with the energy of the Holy Spirit rather than the energy of the flesh? The Spirit-empowered life is to know that in Christ we are no longer condemned, but accepted; no longer dead, but alive; and no longer slaves, but adopted into the family of God.
1 Cor. 14:1-25 | The Holy Spirit sovereignly gives every single child of God spiritual gifts, for the advance of the gospel and the building up of the Body of Christ. In this message we explore the gifts of prophecy and speaking in tongues, along what the Bible has to say about the use of these gifts in the Church today.
1 Cor. 12 | The Holy Spirit sovereignly gives every single child of God spiritual gifts, for the advance of the gospel and the building up of the Body of Christ.
Galatians 5:25-26 | The Spirit-led life can be summed up in two short yet explosive words: "Yes, Lord." To walk with the Spirit, is the moment-by-moment practice of saying "yes" to His Word and guidance over our own. Because we belong to Christ, we no longer need to grab after self-importance or chase after sinful desires. We have been set free. And the evidence to a watching world, is in the radical new way in which we treat one another.
Galatians 5:16-24 | Experiencing growth in the Christian life doesn’t come without its opposition. The old self, while being dealt a mortal wound, won’t go down quietly. The good news is, as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can expect to see victory in this battle that produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
Acts 1:4-8, Eph 5:13-15 | To be filled with the Holy Spirit is the experience of personal revival, that overflows into gospel boldness. The good news for every believer is that God does not want your strength to carry out His mission. He wants to give you His.
John 3:1-16 | Christianity is pure miracle from beginning to end. No one enters the kingdom of God on their own merits. Jesus was clear, “You must be born again.” The Bible calls this gift of new life regeneration. Regeneration is an explosion of God’s sovereign grace within, that washes us clean, makes us alive, and turns our eyes to Jesus.
Christmas can be a wonderful time, yet it can also be a difficult time. Where can we look to for hope for a better future this Christmas season? Isaiah 9:6 speaks of a coming Saviour who will bring light into our dark world. Each week we will explore one title of the coming Saviour, “Wonderful Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Christmas can be a wonderful time, yet it can also be a difficult time. Where can we look to for hope for a better future this Christmas season? Isaiah 9:6 speaks of a coming Saviour who will bring light into our dark world. Each week we will explore one title of the coming Saviour, “Wonderful Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Christmas can be a wonderful time, yet it can also be a difficult time. Where can we look to for hope for a better future this Christmas season? Isaiah 9:6 speaks of a coming Saviour who will bring light into our dark world. Each week we will explore one title of the coming Saviour, “Wonderful Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Luke 15:11-32 | In the story of the prodigal son, we see a reflection of our waywardness and God's grace-filled reconciliation. Whichever son best represents our hearts, we must look to God's response to the lost soul - being ready to run to him and see him redeemed. Who has God set in your life to pursue?
1 Peter 1:13-16 | To be holy means to be wholly God’s. The pursuit of holiness goes deeper than merely avoiding that which corrupts our character; it includes pursuing that which most satisfies our hearts. Holiness does not rob us of anything - except the sin which seeks to rob us of everything. To pursue holiness is to pursue joy.
Proverbs 1, 8 | "Take my instruction instead of silver, and my knowledge instead of gold. I am better than jewels, all that you may desire cannot compare to me. I have insight. I have strength. I love those who who love me, and all seek me diligently find me. Whoever finds me, finds life."
Yours in Christ,
Wisdom (Proverbs 8:10, 11, 14, 35)
Daniel 6:1-28 | On both sides of biblical faith are the ditches of fatalism and presumption. Fatalism says, “What will be, will be.” Presumption says, “What I say, will be.” But true faith says, “I trust God, whatever may be.” Daniel, now an old man in his final years, shows us what it looks like to trust God publicly and prayerfully, even under the shadow of life’s most difficult trials.
Daniel 5:1-31 | Just like Belshazzar, the story of humanity has been one of feasting on the edge of the grave. The writing is on the wall and the divine verdict is in: we have been numbered, weighed on God’s scale and found wanting, and are divided. It is here, at the point of despair, that the gospel breaks in with incredible news about what God has done to balance the scales.
Daniel 4:28-37 | The human appetite for glory is as destructive as it is seductive. Nebuchadnezzar discovered what so many others have throughout Scripture and history: that those who exalt themselves destroy themselves. Our hunger for glory will never be satisfied, until like Nebuchadnezzar, we learn to treasure the glory of God above all else.
Daniel 4:1-27 | King Nebuchadnezzar has another frightening dream, and calls on Daniel to provide an interpretation. The dream shows him that he must either renounce his self-righteousness and control to God, or be cut down like the great tree in his dream. Like King Nebuchadnezzar, we are given a warning of judgement coming our way. The good news is we are also given a way out, by heeding God’s warning and returning to His ways.
Daniel 3:1-30 | In this world Christians can be sure of two things: 1) They will have many fiery trials; 2) God will meet them in the fire. A gospel-shaped people have been given the power to love the world, without bowing to it.
Daniel 2:24-49 | Daniel lived in the kingdom of the world, but he lived for a different King. Brought before a raging Nebuchadnezzar, God gives Daniel insight into both the king’s dream as well as its meaning and prophecies in advance the next four global empires as well as the coming of Christ. The wise men of the kingdom are spared execution, Daniel is promoted, and Nebuchadnezzar confesses, “Truly your God, is God of gods.” History shows us that kingdoms will rise and fall, but even the mightiest empires, rulers, and voices in our world amount to little more than broken sandcastles on the pages of God’s story. God’s kingdom is the only one that will endure, and it is growing, advancing, and filling the entire earth. Everybody is building somebody’s kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream confronts each of us with a question: am I living for a kingdom that is fading away, or the Kingdom that will last forever?
Daniel 2:1-24 | The story opens with a King plagued by nightmares and unable to sleep. Who will bring rest to a restless mind? Where worldly wisdom falls short, Godly revelation comes through. Through Daniel, God revealed a heavenly dream that made sense of King Nebuchadnezzar’s worldly nightmare. One of humanity’s greatest concerns is insecurity that one day our lives will come crumbling down. Into this dilemma comes a revelation of God’s goodness that is ultimately revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the clearest revelation of God who ministers into our deepest anxieties and insecurities. The good news is that Jesus is the revelation the world has been looking for.
Daniel 1:1-21 | Daniel and his friends faced a seemingly impossible situation. Removed from their homeland and taken away as captives to Babylon, they now find themselves facing a powerful combination of isolation, indoctrination, seduction, and oppression. Babylon was dedicated to eradicating any remembrance of their true homeland, their true identity, and the true God. And yet in the midst of the most hostile city in the world, Daniel and his friends thrived. Like Daniel, believers today can thrive in cultural exile when we remember that God is in control and that God is with us. When we remember that God is in control, we grow in humility. When we remember that God is with us, we grow in courage. If we are to bless our surrounding culture without bowing to it, God’s people need both.
Prayer is the vehicle God has sovereignly chosen to accomplish His purposes in this world. It is human weakness, leaning on the strength of the Infinite. Pray with us, that God’s Word would continue to speed ahead and be glorified. Pray that we would not lose heart, as we run the long race with our eyes on the prize. Pray that Jesus would direct our hearts and continually redirect our eyes to the steadfast love of God. At the end of it all God's Word will triumph. Knowing this, God's people can charge forward in prayerful, joyful participation.
Ours is a day of great anxiousness. From global unrest, to the rise of terrorism, to the powerful way in which platforms like smart-phones and social media have changed the way we connect, combined with a hundred smaller daily pressures normal to life in this world...there are plenty of reasons to be anxious. How do believer's fight for joy, while living in the cultural smog of anxiety? From Genesis to Revelation, at the heart of the gospel are two life-changing, anxiety-destroying words: God provides. God's people were never meant to carry the weight of worry, but to cast it at the feet of a loving Father. For the Christian, every single anxiety the Enemy shoots at their heart, God calls them to use as kindling in the bonfire of prayer.
Jesus talked more about the reality of hell than everyone else in Scripture…combined. While it is true that God is love, it is also true that ‘love’ is not all that God is. God is also holy. And just. Heaven and hell are the results of both His love and His justice. Throughout scripture, we also see that God sends no one to hell against their will. As C.S. Lewis observed, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’” It is against this dark backdrop, that the gospel of God’s love toward us in Jesus Christ shines brilliantly. Jesus endured the hell of being forsaken by God on the cross, so that all who trust in Him would never have to.
We live in a world with contested gender theories and sexual ideologies, and the issue surrounding homosexuality has been followed by a shadow of confusion of controversy. Navigating a way forward to best understand our sexuality is a daunting challenge. However, with the unchanging nature of God’s word and the truth of the gospel, we find hope and encouragement. Jesus brings a word confronting religious hypocrisy while also extending forgiveness and pardon to those suffering from sexual sin. Through a new identity in Christ and the help of the local church, those with same-sex attraction can find fulfilment and sufficiency, to live faithfully for Christ and attest to his redemptive work through the gospel.
We live in a cultural context that often blinds us from our daily need for Jesus. Both materialism and morality can give the illusion of being fulfilled by "the good life"; yet both fall woefully short in the presence of Jesus. He makes clear that these things block us from entering the kingdom. Jesus came to give us something far more satisfying and beautiful than "the good life"; He came to give eternal life and fullness of life to all who would humbly receive it.
The reality of suffering and evil has scraped and shaped every single one of us. Each of us has shaken our head at the state of the world and wondered, “Why, God?” And yet the problem of suffering and evil is not unique to Christianity; it demands an explanation from every worldview and religion. In this message we see that not only does Christianity give the best explanation of why there is suffering and evil, but that Christ alone gives the resources we most deeply need in order to face them without despair. While we are not always clearly shown the answer to our individual questions of ‘why?’ when suffering invades our lives, God does give to all who trust in Jesus a ‘what’, a ‘who’, and a ‘when.’
We all start things that we don’t end up being able to finish. But does God? Since the Bible makes clear over and over that “salvation is of the Lord,” the question is better framed, ‘Can Jesus lose a Christian?’ In response to this, God's people are given a wonderful promise: to the degree that Jesus is secure in the grip of the Father, the Christian is secure in the grip of the Son. So while it is true that only those persevere to the end will be saved, it is also true that God’s grace will preserve every genuine believer to the end. What God starts, He finishes.
Christians are to love those both inside and outside the household of faith, but we are called to a higher standard when caring for our Christian brothers and sisters. In Galatians 6, Christians are told to restore one another from sin and bear one another’s burdens. This cannot be done in isolation, but rather in community, under and according to the bible’s teaching. We do this because Christ has carried our burden for us and freed us to delightfully care for others through his strength.
Acts 13:13-52 | In Acts 13, Paul's first sermon demonstrates God's sovereign initiative in Salvation from Abraham all the way to Christ; to whom the Old Testament continually points. As Paul preaches the gospel of grace he urges his audience to continue in the grace of God. While the Jews initially seemed pleased in hearing Paul's presentation of the gospel, they became jealous as they saw multitudes of gentiles responding to the grace of God. As we consider the reviling response of the Jewish audience, we are invited to reflect on our own response to the gospel and to consider what may be hindering us from continuing in God's grace.
Acts 13:1-12 | Faithful mission means living with gospel-intentionality in our normal daily rhythms, while trusting God’s sovereign timing for gospel-opportunities. As Barnabas and Saul are sent out to preach good news across the Roman Empire, they collide with both great opportunities and great opposition. A dramatic encounter with a demonic sorcerer named Elymas ends with a Spirit-filled Saul preaching God’s Word, a blind and defeated Elymas, and the most powerful Roman official in the region becoming a follower of Jesus. As we learn to trust God’s timing and treasure the Holy Spirit, we will find that God can accomplish more through us in one day of Spirit-filled activity than we can in 10,000 lifetimes of self-reliant striving.
Acts 12:1-19 | In the face of imprisonment, the death of a fellow Apostle and an imminent execution of his own, the Apostle Peter displays a Holy Spirit empowered composure fuelled by a hope in the unshakeable promises of God. Through this passage we see the church model earnest prayer for their persecuted leaders. The reality of our faith is revealed in the presence of trials and suffering. When we know that our lives are held by Christ, we learn to trust in His goodness regardless of any outcome.
Acts 11:19-30 | As the gospel continues to spread, revival breaks out in the city of Antioch! It was here that the disciples were first labeled “Christians” (meaning, “little Christ’s”). They were filled with the Holy Spirit, captivated by the message of the gospel, and the surrounding city saw in them an otherworldly quality of life. While they were a spiritually young church, they were also a devoted church. Antioch gives us a picture of a healthy church that is devoted to God’s mission, led by servant-leaders, committed to God’s Word, and radically generous with their wealth and possessions.
Acts 10:44-11:18 | Bono famously (and rightly) quipped, “Religion is what happens when the Spirit has left the building.” There are few parts of biblical Christianity more misunderstood and yet more vital for our daily lives than the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force to be wielded or a genie to be conjured. He is the Sovereign God, who delights in putting the spotlight onto Jesus, and leading us into repentance and faith as the normal rhythms of the Christian life.
Acts 10:36-43 | In Peter’s sermon to Cornelius and his household, Jesus is preached as a great saviour! Like Peter, every single Christian has a story to tell of what Jesus has done historically (the gospel!) and what Jesus has done for them personally (your testimony!). But Peter also proclaims Jesus as a great and just judge. The only event in history that answers the ultimate questions of evil, justice, love, and forgiveness is the cross of Jesus Christ. Not only is Jesus the judge we need to make sense of the evil around us; He is the only Judge who left His bench and was judged for the evil inside of us.
Acts 10:1-36 | Heaven will not be middle-class white people singing in English (thank God). The multitudes around the throne will be a diverse, global, family of men and women from every tribe and language and culture of the earth, with the name of Jesus on their lips! Yet in order for the good news to penetrate the Gentile world, some walls were going to have to supernaturally come down in the hearts of the early Jewish Christians. In Acts 10, we see the collision of two very different worlds – Jew and Gentile – being confronted with the gospel and being made one in Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria declares the main theme of all the “Solas”- that God has done all the work of faith, grace, Christ, and Scripture - so all glory is due to him, not us. He has chosen and blessed us, not because of anything we have done, but because of who He is. As we come to understand God’s unconditional love for us, we are moved to obedience, worship, and evangelism out of a thankful heart.
In contrast to our culture of religious pluralism, Christianity holds to the exclusive claim that Salvation is found in Christ Alone. The reformers contended that the person and work of Jesus was both necessary for salvation, and sufficient for our sanctification. Sadly, we are often tempted to add to the finished work of Jesus. The truth is that Jesus + Nothing = Everything; and Jesus + anything else... ruins everything.
On what are you leaning the weight of your life? To possess saving faith means that the weight and hope of our lives has been transferred off of ourselves, and onto Jesus alone. The great Reformer Martin Luther said that this doctrine – justification by faith alone – is the article by which the Church stands or falls. To be saved by grace alone ‘through faith alone’ means salvation cannot be earned or worked for; only received as a gift by shifting the weight of our lives onto the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross, for all who trust in Him.
Grace is sheer gift. To say that we are saved by ‘grace alone’ is to admit the humbling reality that God owes us nothing (except just punishment for sin), and yet in Christ lavishes the undeserving with the immeasurable riches of His kindness! Not because of anything admirable about us or any good work done by us, but because of Jesus’ work on the cross for us. It can never be earned, only received as a gift.
Is the Bible a book that people wrote about God, or a book that God wrote through people? In this message, we look at why the Bible alone stands as trustworthy, sufficient, and authoritative for all of life. The Holy Scriptures are not man’s speculation about God, but God’s revelation about Himself. While there are many books that may inform us, only God’s Word has the power to transform us. Our prayer is that we would choose to build our lives, each day, upon the Word of God.
In the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, Jesus shows us that heaven is not a reward for the deserving or a trophy for the moral-achievers. The Christian life, from beginning to end, is one of undeserved grace. Only when we get our eyes off what we think God owes us and onto what He has given us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, will our lives overflow with gratitude instead of being bound by entitlement.
God's delight in saving people is infinitely greater than our delight in being saved. Far from being a cosmic killjoy, Jesus shows us in Luke 15 that the He is seeking, saving, rejoicing God who compassionately draws near to both rebels and rule-keepers. True freedom and happiness will not be found in 'having more' or 'doing better,' but in the security of the Father's embrace.
Forgiveness is nothing less than the gospel on display in our relationships. It cannot be earned, only given as a gift. Only when we see the enormity of our debt before God that Jesus absorbed for us on the cross, will we find the power to live free from bitterness and unforgiveness when others sin against us.
Jesus' return will come suddenly and unexpected, so we should be found ready. According to this parable, being ready means being profitable with the work of advancing the gospel. Each person has this privilege of seeking to maximise the master’s assets where one day we may hear those sweet words, “Well done good and faithful servant”.
The kingdom of heaven is so valuable that losing everything in this world to have it would be a joyful exchange. However we often find ourselves undervaluing the kingdom and its ways. When we see the value of the kingdom, we are positioned to experience that value through joy-filled sacrifice. We long for the kingdom to come and partake of the most costly bargain on offer.
Jesus often taught through practical stories that gave glimpses into what the kingdom of God is like. Earthly kingdoms come and go by the force of the sword. Yet the kingdom of God continues to advance subversively, gradually, and globally through the sowing of seeds. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable that helps us see the four different ways people will respond to the Word of God.
Generosity has marked the people of God for centuries and we bear the image of a generous God. Our approach to wealth and finances is: love them the most, need them the least, and give them away most freely. When we recognise that God has richly provided all things for us to enjoy, we are then free to share those provisions with others for their enjoyment. With our eyes on God, our hands ready at the pocket, and our hearts aimed at heaven, we will be a generous people.
God is a sending God, and Christians are a sent people. Mission is not a program of the church; the Church is the product of God’s mission! When you have assurance that is born of God’s sovereignty, boldness that is born of God’s presence, and compassion that is born of God’s grace toward you, then you have everything you need to live creatively and fruitfully on God’s mission.
The good news is that when Jesus saves us, he doesn't save us to isolation but rather to a family. In this context of new community, we begin to grow more like Christ. We become what we behold, and together we continue to look at God's grace and goodness to transform us into his image. It's only in community that blind-spots are joyfully exposed and the beauty of the gospel is expressed.
What we most deeply desire and what calls forth our strongest loves, reveals what we worship. Because we’ve been liberated through Jesus’ death and resurrection, our entire reality is essentially an unrelenting ‘thank-you’ to God for what He has given us through the gospel. Our speaking, our singing, our praying, our giving, and our serving are all acts of joy-fueled worship. The more deeply the gospel sinks into our hearts, the more joyfully worship comes out!
We want to be known as a church that is centred on the gospel in everything we do. The gospel is not good advice about how to live, but the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. Only this sin destroying, affection-transforming message of the cross has the power to transform hearts and fuel God’s people to live fruitfully on His mission.
Marriage is a glorious oneness between one man and one woman, ordained by God with a glorious design, to proclaim a glorious gospel. It is when husbands lead with sacrificial love and wives respond with affectionate respect, that Christian marriages become a living sermon to the world.
While the Bible doesn’t speak directly to our modern phenomena called ‘dating’, it is far from silent when it comes to romantic relationships. The direction of dating – marriage – needs to inform how we approach dating today. This will take the form of being distinct from the world, walking in integrity, holiness and community.
The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself. A neighbour is not just those we share a fence with, but those with whom we share office desks, footpaths, shopping aisles, and streets. In the second greatest commandment we are called to love others with the same passion, energy, and commitment as we show to ourselves.
What is a true friend? Our friends are one of the most powerful shaping influences on our lives. In fact, over and over the Bible shows us that the true wealth of our lives is measured by the quality of our relationships. It is when we understand that Jesus endured the cross to restore us into friendship with God, that we will begin to become the kind of friends to others that we ourselves desire to have.
If Jesus is God, then He must be treasured above all else. And yet, if Jesus is God–in–the–flesh, He can be trusted above anyone else. He is not disconnected from our humanity. He is not a stranger to our suffering. He is near. This is the miracle of Christmas: Jesus is God with us.
Everyone is looking for salvation somewhere. Everyone is building their identity on something. To be a Christian, is to live in the freedom of no longer being defined by our best day or our worst, what we do or what we've done, what we've achieved or what we have. Christmas is the celebration of the Almighty God coming into human history in the person of Jesus Christ to adopt us into His family. To restore us to our true identity: children of God. To know God as 'Father.' As Aloysius of Gonzaga said, "It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world!”
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” The more we feel the weight of the darkness in our world and in our hearts, the more we will rejoice in the life and light that Jesus shines into the darkness. This is the hope that we have this Christmas Season.
Reading the Word is not an optional additive for the Christian, it must be the cause of our delight! We see in Psalm 1 that the blessed life is found in delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night; not to empty the mind, but to fill it with God’s truths. The Rhythm of dwelling in God’s Word is critical for understanding what Jesus has already accomplished for us.
The New Testament knows nothing of a ‘personal-Christianity’ that is not also a ‘participational-Christianity.’ While Jesus saves His people from sin, He also saves us into His family. The shared life of God’s people under God’s Word serves as an assault on our self-centredness, a guard against sin’s deceitfulness, a fuel for the long haul, and a demonstration of the gospel.
Christians are a ‘sent’ people. Jesus did not give His followers a ‘Great Suggestion,’ but the Great Commission. Gossiping the gospel and making disciples are the normal rhythms of life for every local church and every follower of Jesus. Because God is a missionary-God, His people share in His missionary-nature.
Generosity is the normal, worshipful overflow of people who have received the grace of God. To the degree we see Christ losing His life for us, money and possessions will lose their grip on our hearts. When the gospel informs our worldview, our attitude changes from “What can I spare?” to “What will it take?”
Jesus modelled a pattern of life where he withdrew from the noise of the crowds, to be alone with His Father. The rhythms of silence and solitude are essential to living fruitfully as a Christian. Solitude is not merely being alone; it is being alone with God. Silence is not merely the absence of speaking; it is listening to God. In our frenetic, busy world we need to heed God’s gracious invitation to be still, and know that He is God.
The weekly worship gathering is a gift to the local church. God’s people are called to gather together in worship of Him. In this regular rhythm we enter the story of the gospel as we are captured by God’s mighty works and marvellous worth. As we rehearse the gospel regularly and personally, we find that our affections and actions are reformed into the image of Christ. This is a rhythm our souls need in order to weather the rival liturgies we are exposed to weekly. Worship really matters. It’s about ascribing worth to God; it’s a whole life posture towards glorifying God as utmost in our life. If we don’t get worship right, we slip into sin and idolatry.
While most of us know that fasting is in the bible, not many of us know if Christians should practice it today. Throughout the Old and New testament we find that fasting was a common practice among God’s people. While fasting is not commanded in the New Testament, it is expected, based on Jesus' words in Matthew. Through fasting we seek intimacy with him, humility before him, and eager expectation for his return. Fasting helps us overcome our self-dependence and love of comfort as we learn that our food is to do the will of God.
Right now at this present moment, every single Christian is as close to God as they want to be. God has given His people rhythms of grace (also known as spiritual disciplines), through which they grow in holiness, strengthen their faith, and deepen their joy in Him. God has called His people to a life of prayer, where they enjoy His presence and receive His power. Through Jesus, we have the Father’s ear. And He loves to hear our voice.
Self-righteousness is an enemy of the gospel and compassionate mission. While self-righteousness isolates us into comfortable religious ghettos, compassion propels us toward the mess and brokenness of our world. As the story of Jonah comes to an intriguing close, we see God’s surprising grace visit both the rebellious and the religious alike. We will only ever enjoy God and become compassionate like Him, to the extent we remember His compassion toward us through Jesus.
Jonah might potentially be the worst missionary in history. Yet he finally (and reluctantly) surrenders to God’s call, and an entire city experiences revival. Christians are not called to live safe, but to live sent. To be effective witnesses in our own generation, we need to hold two truths in tension: 1) Salvation belongs to the Lord, and 2) God will accomplish His plan through the participation of His people.
Jonah is the story of a merciful God to a merciless man. Chapter 2 is marked less by comedy and more by humility. Jonah’s experience in the water brings him to the end of himself, and it’s in this dilemma that he calls out to God for deliverance. We learn that God’s grace not only humbles us but also rescues us, as it brings us low in order to lift us up.
Jonah is the story of a merciful God to a merciless man; a tale of God’s surprising grace on the backdrop of a rather amusing story. We find our anti-hero Jonah not only running from God but also from his calling. Throughout the comedy that we read in Jonah 1, we find that Jonah is in fact reading us; revealing in us the ways that we withhold mercy from others. God not only deals with the wickedness out there, but also within us, and He does this with His relentless pursuing grace.
In times of prosperity, God’s people often are tempted toward spiritual apathy. And spiritual apathy often ends in spiritual adultery. God turns the life of Hosea into a living parable to show us His side of the story when it comes to the ugliness of our sin and the relentlessness of His love. At it’s essence, the story of Hosea shows us that Christianity is not primarily about our pursuit of God, but God’s pursuit of us through Jesus Christ.
While Samson might be best known for his strength, he was fatally flawed in many ways. His path was to become a judge and deliver Israel, yet he often found himself drifting off track. He found love in all the wrong places, often being led by his heart instead of the Lord; and his life culminated with a final act of sacrifice to avenge the Philistines. It turns out that Samson’s greatest strength also proved to be his greatest weakness. This story invites us to see God’s faithfulness to a flawed person, and a word of caution for us to remain on track.
In the life of Joshua, we see remarkable courage for God and trust in God, both of which were grounded in God’s promises to be with him. In the presence of God we discover how small we truly are, as well as the strength we most deeply need. Jesus is not our co-pilot. He is our Captain. And He is with us.
God loves to accomplish His perfect work, through imperfect people who put their trust in Him. In the story of Joseph we meet a man who was able to persevere through hardships, disappointments, and injustices, because he knew God was with him; despite what his circumstances said. Suffering is never wanted, but it doesn’t have to be wasted. How differently would you approach life, if you knew with absolute certainty that God was right in the middle of the mess with you, providentially leveraging every trial for your good?
The church was afforded a brief moment of peace with the conversion of Saul. Rather than coasting through this time, they continued to walk in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. The relative peace we experience today often leads to fearing the wrong things and looking for comfort in the wrong places. Our response is to learn to walk in the fear of the Lord and lean into the comfort of the Spirit. By God’s grace we will not only see the church built up but also built out, edified and multiplied.
Full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Stephen became the first in a long list of faithful men and women who suffered the loss of their own lives for proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord. Biblically and historically, opposition for the sake of the gospel is normal Christianity. And yet even in times and seasons of tremendous persecution, the message of God’s love in Christ continues to advance across the world. As the early church father Tertullian famously said, “Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust…the oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.”
In one of the most radical stories of transformation in Scripture, Jesus reveals Himself to a man named Saul; a highly educated religious leader and a fierce enemy of God people. Saul goes from being a persecutor of God’s people to a bold preacher of Jesus. Jesus uses Saul (who became known as Paul) as a monument of God’s sovereignty in salvation; that no one is so lost or broken that they are beyond the reach of God’s saving love.
In the middle of a full-scale revival in Samaria, the Holy Spirit led Phillip out into the wilderness to open God’s Word with a high-ranking official from Ethiopia. Through this encounter, the gospel leaks out of Samaria and spreads to the end of the earth, just like Jesus promised. God’s people are called to get going with the gospel, be open to the Spirit’s leading, and live grounded in God’s Word.
Emil Brunner famously wrote, “The church exists by mission, as fire exists by burning.” Every single one of God’s adopted sons and daughters have inherited the same missionary DNA that exists in the heart of God. The church is not a weekly event to attend, but a movement of ordinary people who gossip the gospel and live lives of compassion to bring glory to God and joy to their cities.
A healthy church is one that goes deep in God’s Word and wide with God’s love. As the early church increased in number, they also began to experience some of the inevitable growing pains that come with caring for more people. Yet in the midst of internal conflict and external opposition, they made sure that God’s Word remained central and that serving one another was normal. The result? As people heard the gospel and saw the sweetness of Christian love on display, the Word of God continued to spread!
Charles Spurgeon once quipped, “If you find the perfect church, don’t go there….you’ll ruin it!” At the end of Acts 4 we see a church experiencing unprecedented unity and radical generosity, but it isn’t long before sin creeps in. Both God’s grace and God’s holiness are dramatically put on display. It is only when we see the heights of God’s holiness and the depths of our sinfulness, that we will ever begin to understand the magnitude of God’s love.
When suffering knocks on our door, a theology of “let go and let God” ultimately leads to fatalism and passivity. Rather than a “let go” theology, Christians need a “go to” theology. Because God is a loving Father, we ‘go to’ Him in our trials. Because Jesus has adopted us into His family, we ‘go to’ one another with our burdens. Instead of trite cliches, the gospel empowers us to give others our tears, our shoulders, and ourselves in vulnerability.
Is your happiness grounded in your circumstances and achievement, or in a steadfast relationship with Christ? Like a fish out of water cannot improve its quality of life with things, our happiness cannot be complete without the foundation of the love of Christ. Only by dying to ourselves and living in Christ can we experience fullness of happiness and joy.
Whether it’s from a pop-star, an Internet meme, or a Disney movie, “Follow your heart” has become the narrative of our culture. But there’s a problem; our heart is a liar. Throughout Scripture, we are instead called to test our hearts, guard our hearts, and to follow Jesus with every part of our hearts.
How powerful are our words? Can we ‘declare’ prosperity into existence? Can faith guarantee us a life free from suffering? In this message, we examine some of the claims of the ‘prosperity gospel’ and how they fall woefully short of the Christianity found throughout the New Testament. The victorious Christian life is ultimately not one of perfect health, wealth and ease where God grants our every wish; but a life of deepening satisfaction, holiness, and trust in Jesus, whose grace is sufficient to meet our every need.
There is perhaps no more misquoted verse in the Bible than Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” In this message, we look at three wrong ways Christians go about judging, as well as the right way Christians are called to navigate these tricky waters without becoming hypocrites. As John Stott beautifully sums up, “The command to ‘judge not’ is not a requirement to be blind, but a plea to be generous.”
In this week’s message we take a deeper look at what may be Jesus’ most scandalous set of claims – that he is God, he is the only way to God, and he is truth. This leaves to decide whether Jesus is a liar, lunatic, or truly Lord.
A theology of God that lacks intimacy with God is both worthless and powerless. In the same way a branch draws its life from the vine, Jesus calls us to make our home in him and find our strength in him. Every person who belongs to Christ will bear fruit as they unmistakably experience the presence of God, the power of God, and the pruning of God in their lives
If Jesus is the light and hope of the world, this changes everything about the way His followers live and what fuels their existence. Christians are not stars generating their own light, but moons that reflect the light of the sun. To the extent our faces are turned toward Jesus, we will mirror His light in a sin-darkened world.
The centrepiece of Christianity is the claim, “Christ is risen!” As the Apostle Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” In this message we explore the historical evidence for the resurrection and the profound implications this has upon our lives. The resurrection of Jesus was the funeral of death!
What makes your life worth living? What defines your life? Every single person is seeking satisfaction one way or another. We all want our lives to have meaning. Yet in John 6, Jesus addresses the deeper issues that underlie many of our questions by exposing our broken motives, our broken definition of life, and ultimately pointing us to the one place we can find the satisfaction our hearts long for. Jesus promises, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Like the relationship between a faithful shepherd and his flock, Jesus is claiming that His authority is higher than we thought, that His compassion is deeper than we could imagine, and that He alone is the Protector in whom our hearts can rest secure.
There are millions of doors that lead to death. There is only one door that leads to life. And Jesus makes the audacious claim, “I am the door.” Jesus leaves no room for us to approach him as merely a good moral teacher. He is either a liar, a complete lunatic, or he really is Lord and God as he claimed. Join us as we explore what sets Jesus apart from every other person who has ever walked the earth.
The one weapon Paul mentions in Ephesians 6 for the Christian to make war on sin with, is ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ God has given us his Word not only for us to deepen our joy in Him, but to use as a weapon against temptation and sin that seeks to destroy that joy. Christians are to see themselves as soldiers who know their weapon, use their weapon, and fight in God’s strength. Listen in as Pastor Adam teaches on how to approach the Bible and prayer as foundations of the Christian life.
For Christians, salvation is a past, present, and future reality. We have been saved from sin’s penalty, we are being saved from sin’s power, and one day we will be saved from sin’s presence. Knowing this – that the totality of our salvation is the work of God – gives us perseverance and a living hope in the face of life’s trials.
The shield of faith is not only a defensive weapon but also offensive. It serves to protect us from Satan’s flaming darts, and allows us to move forward together on God’s mission.
We live in a culture that seeks to justify itself by progress, power, presentation of self, and possession. Ultimately it says “You are what you’ve done.” Contrary to our culture, the Christian places their identity in Jesus and what He has done for us on a cross. We now stand firm in Jesus’ finished work for us by putting on The Breastplate of Righteousness. We are being clothed with His righteousness and called to walk righteously by standing firm against our enemy and to stand firm on mission.
Faith is a fight and life is war. We live on a spiritual battlefield with a real enemy who is an expert in lies, deception, and destruction. And so God has given us the truth of the gospel that we are to fasten on like a belt. It is one thing to possess the truth, but it is quite another to be possessed by the truth. As Jesus promised, the truth will set us free.
Peace with one another. Peace through life’s difficulties. Peace with God. We can spend our whole life searching for true peace, but we’ll never find it until we look in the manger. The wonderful message that Christians celebrate at Christmas is this: God came into our mess.
It is possible to have everything in the world, and still be empty. In Christ, we can know an otherworldly contentment because both the highs and the lows of this life have lost their defining power over our lives. To the degree that Jesus is our treasure, money and possessions lose their grip on our hearts and instead become tools to be used for God’s glory.
George Whitefield once prayed, “God give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst.” The Christianity found throughout the New Testament is one that is marked by a holy intensity and singular focus. In Christ, we are no longer defined by yesterday’s failures or victories. We now live in this world as citizens of the world to come, pressing onward toward our true home.
One of the greatest enemies of the gospel and our joy is religion. While religion hands out good advice, the gospel announces good news. Religion says, “Get to work!” but the gospel declares, “It is finished!” As it turns out, righteousness (or right-standing before God) is not a goal to be attained by trusting in our works, but a gift to be received by trusting in Jesus’ work for us. Captivated by the grace of God, Paul traded everything on his impressive religious resume for one word: Jesus.
One of the more difficult relationships to navigate in Scripture is the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. Yet as Charles Spurgeon once remarked, “One does not need to reconcile friends.” Because God is sovereign, we should be humble. Because we are held responsible for our choices, we should be actively living for God’s glory and the good of those around us. Only the gospel can change an entitled heart that grumbles about what it deserves from others, into a grateful one that dreams about it can give for others.
Like the Good Samaritan, when we live our life with margin to be interrupted – God gives us opportunity to get our heads up, look away from ourselves, & serve others with joy. Because Jesus is the true Good Samaritan who came down our road when we were broken by our sin, we can compassionately move towards the mess and brokenness in the lives of those around us.
Humility is the fiercest and shyest of all Christian virtues. It fiercely tears apart our ego, and yet the moment we talk about it or believe we have attained it; it flies away. In Philippians 2, we see that humility grows in our lives as we look away from ourselves, look outward toward others, and look upward to Jesus Christ as our Example and Rescuer. No other religion would say that their god is humble, yet Jesus chose to be emptied of His rights so that we may be filled with His love.
What is the essence of your life? Defining our lives by things that can be taken away from us, is like building a skyscraper on a frozen lake. Yet in the gospel we have a definition of life that empowers us to be fruitful in life and fearless in death. Christians can face anything, because the love of Christ is better than life and cannot be stolen by death.
There are few things that demonstrate the otherworldliness of Christianity, like the way Christians face difficulty and disappointment in our sin-fractured world. While we await and long for the day when Jesus wipes away every tear, Philippians 1 shows us that both the joy of faith and the pain of suffering are normal parts of the Christian experience. Paul had a definition of life and trust in God’s sovereignty that enabled him to experience joy, purpose, and hope in the midst of suffering.
Living a fruitful life is not the way into God’s love; it is the evidence that God’s love has made its way into you. Those who belong to Jesus will gradually and inevitably see the fruit of Christlikeness growing in their lives. It’s a process, but it’s also a promise.
One of the qualities that makes a Christian truly otherworldly is gratitude in the midst of discomfort. In a generation that is marked by entitlement, a thankful person is a powerful and subversive witness. Entitled people can never win because they always think they are owed something more. Grateful people can never lose, because they see everything in their life as a gift of God’s grace.
The book of Philippians is a letter from Paul – writing from prison – about the otherworldliness of Christian joy. We are all pursuing happiness in one way or another. Yet while our society is more technologically advanced and socially connected than any other to come before it, we are also more lonely, depressed, and unhappy than we’ve ever been. As C.S Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” Those who belong to Jesus can know the fullness of joy, because they have not attached their joy to their ever-changing circumstances, but to the security of His love.
We often try to make Jesus our “co-pilot”; second in command of our lives. But this isn’t how the Bible describes our relationship with Jesus. The reality is that our relationship with Jesus dictates all others. Even when we see God’s amazing direction and power displayed, we are often reluctant to submit to his guidance when it comes to personally living what he has called us to. We only experience the fullness of God when we are intimate with God, obedient to God, and have a correct fear of God.
If you think marriage will automatically fix issues in your relationship, think again. Marriage is not only the end of singleness; it is the beginning of a marathon. An enduring marriage is one that is built on the grace of God where both husband and wife love one another coherently, encourage one another continually, and repent to one another quickly. Fighting in marriage is inevitable, but fighting for a healthy marriage is essential.
What qualities should a woman look for in a potential husband, and a man look for in a potential wife? “Just follow your heart” makes for a great line in a Disney movie or a Grammy Awards acceptance speech, but in real life it usually ends in disaster. Fortunately God has not left us in the dark. Rather than blindly following our heart into relational pain, He gives his people certain qualities to look for in a potential husband or wife, as well as cultivate in themselves in light of the gospel. Don’t follow your heart, follow Jesus with all your heart.
Like a faulty vending machine that never delivers on its promise, the dating paradigm in Western culture is broken. Rather than conforming to the broken pattern of ‘hook-up, shack-up, break-up, repeat,’ Christian singles are called to be a counter-culture; a people who pursue relationships that demonstrate the gospel and display God’s will for human flourishing in the midst of a relationally-fractured world.
When we take our relational cues from culture instead of Scripture, the result is always brokenness. But what exactly is love? Is it just an elusive feeling that we fall into and fall out of? Jesus shows us that true love is a verb. It is the opposite of self-seeking; to love is to sacrifice oneself for the good of the other. And the greatest example of love, is Christ.
The power and grace of the Gospel unifies the church to live for God on His mission. In Acts, we see the members of the early church transformed by the Gospel in all aspects of their lives. Today, the overflow of the joy the Gospel continues to produce unity and generosity in the church.
In this lifetime, Christians should not be surprised by opposition. To follow in the footsteps of the Saviour, is to walk towards a Cross. Yet as the thermometer of cultural hostility towards the early church increased, so too did the courage of Jesus’ disciples. They had seen a resurrection. They had heard a powerful promise. And they kept preaching Jesus.
Repentance is an about-face, an ongoing war, and carries with it the promise of 'times of refreshing.' God's calls to stop running from Him and run to Him instead, is a call of love and mercy. Though our sin is great, the eraser of Christ's sacrificial love is infinitely greater!
The purpose of a sign is to point to something beyond itself and foreshadow what is to come. In Acts 3 we see the miraculous healing of a lame man that Peter uses to point people to Jesus. In this message, we also explore some of the common questions surrounding signs and wonders like, “Do miracles and healing still happen today? Does God promise to heal everyone in this lifetime? How should we approach supernatural healing and the miraculous?”
Eugene Peterson wrote, “The church is a colony of heaven in a country of death.” God’s people are marked by an attractive otherworldliness in their priorities. They are devoted to God’s presence, God’s mission, God’s people and God’s Word…all because of the gospel. In this message, Pastor Adam shares four prayers from Acts 2 for the future of Liberti Church.
Because the early church had been captivated by the gospel, their lives overflowed with devotion. They were deeply devoted to God’s Word, to one another, to God’s presence, and to prayer. This new community of believers were marked by an otherworldly gladness and generosity that turned their world upside down. Are you dating your church or are you devoted to her?
At the centre of both Scripture and history stands Jesus Christ. Only the gospel provides us with the transcendent story that each of us deeply longs for, and the transformational power that each of us deeply needs.
Torches are not made for the daytime, but for the dark. So are God’s people. At Pentecost we see the Holy Spirit come upon the early church with power, for the purpose of spreading the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. In this sermon, we take some time to look at the big questions around speaking in tongues, along with the bigger purpose of God’s people fulfilling the Great Commission.
When it comes to making big decisions in life, how do you know what God's will is? In Acts, we are given wisdom and a warning. We are to come under God's Word, come into wise community, come towards God in prayer, and trust God and get going!
Life between the promise and Pentecost can be disorienting. Yet it is in the ‘white space’ between the paragraphs of our lives that God does some of His best work. Our power for God’s mission, is found in prayer. Jesus is a King who does not sit on a throne of gold, but on a throne of grace.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is experiential, continual, noticeable, and powerful. God doesn’t want your strength; He wants to give you His.
The local church is not an event to attend, but a community of people to belong to. Throughout history, God’s people have been captivated by the message of the gospel, and liberated into the mission of God.