Episodes

Sunday Jan 19, 2025
Luke 4:14-30 - Christ and The Spirit
Sunday Jan 19, 2025
Sunday Jan 19, 2025
Listen along as we look at week three of our Holy Spirit series.
Luke 4:16-30 - Mike Reading
Aren't you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don't you often hope: 'Maybe this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.' But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death. - Henri Nouwen
Stones into Bread
The Fountain thirsts, the Bread is hungry here
The Light is dark, the Word without a voice.
When darkness speaks it seems so light and clear.
Now He must dare, with us, to make a choice.
In a distended belly’s cruel curve
He feels the famine of the ones who lose
He starves for those whom we have forced to starve
He chooses now for those who cannot choose.
He is the staff and sustenance of life
He lives for all from one Sustaining Word
His love still breaks and pierces like a knife
The stony ground of hearts that never shared,
God gives through Him what Satan never could;
The broken bread that is our only food.
The Kingdoms of this World
‘So here’s the deal and this is what you get:
The penthouse suite with world-commanding views,
The banker’s bonus and the private jet
Control and ownership of all the news
An ‘in’ to that exclusive one percent,
Who know the score, who really run the show
With interest on every penny lent
And sweeteners for cronies in the know.
A straight arrangement between me and you
No hell below or heaven high above
You just admit it, and give me my due
And wake up from this foolish dream of love…’
But Jesus laughed, ‘You are not what you seem.
Love is the waking life, you are the dream.’
On The Pinnacle
‘Temples and Spires are good for looking down from;
You stand above the world on holy heights,
Here on the pinnacle, above the maelstrom,
Among the few, the true, unearthly lights.
Here you can breathe the thin air of perfection
And feel your kinship with the lonely star,
Above the shadow and the pale reflection,
Here you can know for certain who you are.
The world is stalled below, but you could move it
If they could know you as you are up here,
Of course they’ll doubt, but here’s your chance to prove it
Angels will bear you up, so have no fear….’
‘I was not sent to look down from above
It’s fear that sets these tests and proofs, not Love.’
John 14:15-17
John 14:25-26
John 16:7-15
“You can have all the right notions in your head without ever tasting in your heart the realities to which they refer; and a simple Bible reader and sermon hearer who is full of the Holy Spirit will develop a far deeper acquaintance with his God and Savior than a more learned scholar who is content with being theologically correct.” JI Packer

Sunday Jan 12, 2025
Genesis 1:1-2 - The Spirit and Creation
Sunday Jan 12, 2025
Sunday Jan 12, 2025
Listen along as we continue our series on the Holy Spirit.
Notes//Quotes:
Genesis 1:1-2 - Faith Reading
“The Spirit is not the architect, nor is the framework of the cosmos or of the new creation “in him” as is true of the Word in whom all things hold together (Col 1:17). But he is the builder, carrying with him the plans of the Father and the materials purchased by the Son as he builds the sanctuary according to all that he has received…When we begin with the Spirit’s work in creation, the canvas of his operations widens.”
- Michael Horton
These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
- Psalm 104:27-30
“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” - Job 33:4
“The redemptive Spirit is cut off both from bodily life and from the life of nature. It makes people turn away from this world and hope for a better world beyond. They then seek and experience in the Spirit of Christ a power that is different from the divine energy of life which according to Old Testament ideas interpenetrates all the living. The theological textbooks talk about the Holy Spirit in connection with God, faith, the Christian life, the church and prayer, but seldom with the body and nature."
- Jurgen Moltmann
“There is something to the pagan love of nature, even its myths and rituals tied to the changing seasons. However, biblical faith grounds this instinct in a transcendent and triune God who is ever active even in the regularities of nature. What is striking in all of the Old Testament references to creation is the pure naturalness of nature. Nothing in creation is to be worshiped but rather is meant to lead us from the artistry to the Artist.”
- Michael Horton

Sunday Jan 05, 2025
Acts 1:7-11 - The Holy Spirit
Sunday Jan 05, 2025
Sunday Jan 05, 2025
Listen along as we begin our series on the Holy Spirit.
Notes//Quotes:
Acts 1:6-11 - Josh Reading
We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the other Paraclete, is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
“The key affirmations are: (1) The Holy Spirit is God, being called "the Lord" and, together with God the Father and God the Son, being the object of worship and adoration. (2) The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, the Third Person of the Trinity, proceeding from both the person of the Father and the person of the Son. (3) Two major works in which the Holy Spirit (without separation from the Father and the Son) is involved are as the "Giver of life" — creation/re-creation/perfection-and as the one who spoke by prophets— revelation-with particular reference to Scripture, the written Word of the triune God.” —Allison & Kostenberger
“The presupposition is that, far too often, we settle for and suffer "parched lives, in need of renewal and refreshment. Tragically, some believers and churches are skeptical about and even afraid of the presence and work of the Spirit. Their mistrust and dread are often due to poor or absent teaching about the Holy Spirit and/or bizarre experiences with extreme forms of Pentecostalism and/or the Charismatic movement. Such suspicion and trepidation, even when properly held, too often result in a suspicion of rightful experiences of the Spirit. Our pneumatology, with its emphasis on a renewing experience of the Spirit, seeks to prompt believers and churches to move beyond cynicism and fear. Indeed, it affirms, "Without the active presence of the Spirit of God there must be a desperate vacuum at the heart of the Christian life” For believers and churches who find themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum, our doctrine of the Holy Spirit cautions them against overly emphasizing the Spirit's "bold" or "miraculous" manifestations but to expect with joy and thanksgiving the Spirit's "mundane" or "normal" works. From a simple prayer like "Spirit, fill me!" as they tumble out of bed in the morning to their daily reading of Scripture, and from their trust in and obedience to th Spirit-breathed Word of God to going about their work as spouses, singles, parents, educators, small business owners, carpenters, farmers, homemakers, and more, they should be renewed by the spirit in the routines of life.” Allison and Kostenberger

Sunday Dec 29, 2024
2 Corinthians 4:7-18 - Don't Lose Heart
Sunday Dec 29, 2024
Sunday Dec 29, 2024
Listen along as we wrap up our final gathering of 2024.
Notes//Quotes:
2 Cor 4:7-18
Just as wine cannot keep well in silver or gold vessels, but only in the lowliest of vessels—earthen ones—so words of Torah do not keep well in one who considers himself to be the same as silver or gold vessels, but only in one who considers himself the same as the lowliest of vessels—earthen ones. - Rabbinical Commentary on Torah
The Stoic philosopher—and still more the Cynic—prided himself on his indifference to physical and mental suffering, and would often give a recital of what he had been through in order to demonstrate the power of the philosophy to make one able to rise above such purely external and short-term vicissitudes. - David Garland
“Epictetus believed that difficulties (peristaseis) “show what men are.” What they endured exhibited their true grit and moral constancy. For Paul hardships do not disclose what humans are made of but what God’s power is like” - David Garland
“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy. Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.” - Tim Keller

Sunday Dec 29, 2024
Christmas Eve 2024
Sunday Dec 29, 2024
Sunday Dec 29, 2024
Listen along as we reflect on the paradox of Advent.

Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Philippians 4:10-23 - The Good Life
Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Listen along as we wrap up our series in Philippians.
Notes//Quotes:
Phillipians 4:10-23 - Jack
Title: The Good Life
“For the Stoics, self-sufficiency meant becoming independent from all external circumstances and from material goods. As Seneca expressed it, “The happy man is content with his present lot, no matter what it is, and is reconciled to his circumstances” Through discipline and inner strength, individuals could master their own universe. The Stoics’ aim was to become serenely indifferent to anything fate tossed their way.”
- Dean Fleming
“We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”
- Seneca
“Two elements must therefore be rooted out once for all, – the fear of future suffering, and the recollection of past suffering; since the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet.”
- Seneca
“The apostle does not seek detachment from life’s circumstances. Instead he has learned to see his hardships as a part of God’s great drama of salvation… Above all, 4:13 reveals that Paul’s contentment comes not from his own inner resources, but from God. Fee puts it well: “[Paul] uses the language—and outwardly assumes the stance—of Stoic ‘self-sufficiency,’ but radically transforms it into Christ-sufficiency. The net result is that Paul and Seneca, while appearing to be close, are a thousand leagues apart”
- Dean Fleming
“Our disciplines don’t address our deepest longings.”
- Ruth Chou Simons
“Christ in me, not me in a set of different circumstances”
- Elisabeth Elliot

Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Philippians 4:8-9 - Thinking, Practice, Promise
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Listen along as we continue our journey through Philippians.
Notes//Quotes:
Philippians 4:8-9 - Faith
“Who we are and what we do it is fundamentally a function of what we remember” - Joshua Foer
The next two words are more at home in the world of Hellenism than that of the Bible. This first term appears nowhere else in the NT. Nor does it show up on any list of ancient moral virtues. Its usage embraces both what is “lovely” (i.e., “beautiful”) as well as what is “lovable” or attractive to others. Christians are to reflect on what is beautiful and pleasing, both in creation and in the spiritual lives of God’s people - Dean Flemming
“Thought leads to action, and what we open our minds to quickly becomes our master” - T. Deasley
(Rom 12:1-2)
We must model our relationships on Christ, surround our circumstances by prayer, drill our minds in godly thinking, and subject our life to the Word of God. Do this, ‘and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus … and the God of peace will be with you’. If we ignore the calling we must be prepared to forgo the blessings. - Alec Motyer

Sunday Dec 08, 2024
Philippians 4:4-7 - A Politics of Peace
Sunday Dec 08, 2024
Sunday Dec 08, 2024
Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Philippians.
Notes//Quotes:
Phillipians 4:4-7 - Kim (Chris F Preaching)
Perhaps ‘graciousness’ is the best English equivalent; and, in the context here, it is to be the spirit of willingness to yield under trial which will show itself in a refusal to retaliate when attacked. It may have seemed an impossible ideal to the Philippians, but the preceding verse is a reminder that such a quality ‘is the outshining of joy in the Lord’...
-Ralph P. Martin, Tyndale New TestamentMM
Phil. 1:27-28:
Only let your manner of life (politeuomai) be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents...
Phil. 3:20:
But our citizenship (politeuma) is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ...
1 Tim. 2:1-4:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Tim. 3:3:
... not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive...
"The Philippians, living in a garrison town, would be familiar with the sight of the Roman sentry, maintaining his watch. Likewise, comments the apostle, God’s peace will garrison and protect your hearts and your minds."
Ralph Martin
Psalm 8:1-2:
"O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger."
Just as babies cannot appeal or persuade by means of articulate speech or rhetorical eloquence, so God’s enemies are defended against by means of those who are totally dependent on God. Their only defense is to cry out to him in trusting prayers, petitions, and protests.
"The Lord only needs an army of praise-wielding infant warriors to “silence” these enemies! Even the kings and rulers of “the earth” (2:2, 10) will be silenced by children praising him whose majestic name fills “the earth”
-Bruce Waltke

Sunday Dec 01, 2024
Philippians 4:1-3 - An Application and Intervention
Sunday Dec 01, 2024
Sunday Dec 01, 2024
Listen along as Mike Gaston teaches through Philippians 4:1-3.
Notes//Quotes:

Sunday Nov 24, 2024
Philippians 3:12-21 - Gospel Shaped Goals
Sunday Nov 24, 2024
Sunday Nov 24, 2024
Listen along as we continue our series through Philippians.
Notes//Quotes: