bread church

Do not bear false witness…what does this word actually mean? Who among us never stretches the truth; never avoids upsetting someone unnecessarily with a casual truth-omission, or holds back our honest thoughts and feelings for all the right reasons? In its original context, the ninth commandment was a prohibition against a false word that could cost someone their life, but (just like the rest of t...

There are two ways in which we can miss the heart of God’s commandment against stealing. If we minimize the gravity of stealing, we fail to see that an intrinsic part of what it means to be human is to be given things by God to look after. Stealing from others robs humanity from them, dehumanizing them, and marring God’s image within. This is why all stealing, big and small, is beneath God’s lofty...

Jesus is not interested in outward performative actions. This is the righteousness of the Pharisees, but has little to do with the kingdom of God. Instead Jesus calls his people to a much deeper, more fundamental level of heart righteousness. Lust is the root cause of adultery, and it has no place in those who take their inclusion in the kingdom of God seriously. At its heart, lust is a misdirecte...

“You shall not murder” -- it's not just a good idea, it's the law! In fact, "murder is bad" is one of the few points with which nearly everyone on Earth agrees. On paper, most of us would say that, of the ten, this is the easiest commandment to follow. But, from a biblical perspective, what does it really mean to commit murder?  In the New Testament, Jesus equates murder and anger towards a brothe...

Contrary to what we may have been told, this was never a one-dimensional command to obey our parents. Jesus himself did not always do what His earthly parents expected of Him; and of course, it originally given to adults, not children. Far from being about control or blind loyalty, it must be rooted in the ancient wisdom in the Genesis story, that tells us all it’s necessary to ‘leave’ our parents...

As a culture, we tend to be very good at recreation, but less so re-creation. Sabbath is about the latter. It is the place where God re-orders us in line with his purposes and will. Firstly, this means stopping all our work to reflect and delight. We remember that God is in control, that his plans for the world are good, and that our destination is heaven on earth, where ultimately all pain and su...

To take God’s name in vain is much more than simply using it as a curse word. Blaspheme is a symptom of something bigger. ‘In vain’ means 'to empty.' So, we’re called, not to empty God’s name of its fullness, but rather to fill it with the fullness of God's nature and His work. By His name, God has made Himself known: He revealed Himself to the Israelites as ‘The great I am', the one and only true...

The Second Commandment isn’t just about all the idols we worship -  the ones we make ourselves, and the ones we bow down when we make ANYTHING more important than loving God - but about rediscovering who we truly are. God did not command his people not to make images of Him (which was was radical to a worldview that viewed idols and god-presence as interchangeable) because He’s against beauty or a...

This new series, Jesus and the ten commandments, is a conversation on how Jesus embodies – and helps us to embody – the kind of life we are built for, and the kind of life framed by the Ten Words. Bill starts with a re-framing of the Ten Words – which we mistakenly call Commandments – as more about relationship and reality than about rules and restrictions. When the Ten Words are reduced to rules...

The resurrection is emphatic: Jesus is said to have bodily risen in time and space at a moment in history. The resurrection is neither mythical, nor metaphorical. It happened, and it changed the world forever. To a world lost to wishy washy relativism, Jesus’ victory over death is the most sure absolute anyone can build a life on. And the resurrection is transformational. The victory of God means...

At Jesus’ trial before Pilate, the crowd call for Jesus’ crucifixion and Barabbas’ release. Barabbas represents violent rebellion, in contrast to Jesus’ refusal to defend himself. Whether we like to admit it, there is something in all of us that can find brutal aggression more compelling than the way of Jesus. When this happens it’s like we’re in the crowd crying for Barabbas to be set free. But J...

We’ve made it to Jesus’ point of no return in His journey to the cross; a well-known scene in the garden of Gethsemane, where He will beseech his followers to stay awake and pray with him as He pleads with His Father for another way. The language used builds to a picture of abject horror, and is another picture of human Jesus displaying the holiness of a raw emotional response that we should come...

In Mark 14, Jesus doesn’t directly accuse Judas, but keeps his prediction about the identity of his betrayer ambiguous. Part of the reason is to show that any of his disciples were, and by extension, any of us are, capable. We all have a bit of Judas in us. We can treat Jesus as a commodity, to be discarded when we don’t get what we want from him. And, we all have a bit of Peter, too. Peter is so...

The combined feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread are the most important of all the annual Jewish feasts. They commemorate God’s rescue of the Hebrews from the “plague of the firstborn” during the time of Moses, where God’s people were spared death by applying the blood of lambs upon the doorframes of their homes. The feasts also remember the hasty release and exodus of the Hebrews from their c...

We have reached the passion narrative at the end of Mark’s gospel, which will take us all the way to Easter Sunday. This first event - Jesus’ anointing by the woman - is recorded in all four gospels, and it’s very easy for us to forget quite how remarkable it is, not only that this woman was Jesus’ close friend and follower, but that the gospels recorded this intimate moment at all (women weren’t...

During his week in Jerusalem, Jesus prophecies about two future events: the destruction of the temple and his second coming. Jesus gives detailed signs about when the temple will be destroyed, so his disciples will know to leave Jerusalem beforehand; but about his return, he says no-one, not even he, knows when this will be. What he does make clear is that his return will be glorious, and we as hi...

During Jesus’ life, the subject of revolution was never far away. When he is asked about paying taxes to Caesar, the question behind the question is this: ‘Are you a revolutionary?’ Jesus’ response amazes the crowd. He says both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. No, he is not a revolutionary like any revolutionary before or after. But yes, he is a revolutionary unlike the world has or will ever see. His revolution...

Jesus' confrontation with Israel’s leaders continues to build in Mark, as we reach the parable of the tenants. In it, he likens them to tenant farmers who reject the authority of the vineyard owner (God) and His servants (the prophets), and foreshadows their ultimate rejection of Him, the son. We know that Jesus came to fulfill Israel’s covenant with God - the law and everything that involved - bu...

Concluding the theme of the alpha day away, we look at the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says as Christians we have an obligation to be people of God’s Holy Spirit. This means knowing who he is, what he does and how we can grow in our experience of him. We’re told the Spirit adopts us, frees us, makes us joyful and empowers us. An ongoing experience of all these things is vital to our g...

Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Ev...

Jesus’ first significant acts in Jerusalem are to curse a fig tree and clear the Temple courts. The two are related. Jesus’ intention is not to call the temple sacrificial system to reform, but something more dramatic: to prophesy its destruction. It is no longer fit for purpose. God’s presence will no longer reside in a building, but in the temple of Jesus’ followers’ hearts. And the atoning temp...

Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Ev...

In Mark 11:1-11, Jesus finally arrives into Jerusalem, the place that he has laid out as where he will spend his final days. By riding into town on a donkey, he is not only fulfilling the prophecy laid out to us in Zechariah 9:9, but also is subverting expectations of what it means to be a king. This approach, while completely countercultural then and now, invites Jesus' followers to walk in simil...

Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Ev...

Our beloved treasurer, board member, and spirit-filled friend Casey delivers his first (and final) sermon before he leaves for a new chapter abroad.  Jesus uses whoever is available, regardless if they’re listening, qualified, “ready,” etc. In this farewell word, Casey uses the callings of Samuel and Matthew (in 1 Samuel and Luke respectively) to look back at the last 10 years of bread - where we’...