bread church

Having established that all of humanity - Greek, Jewish, Pagan or otherwise - has at its heart the brokenness of sin. Paul then depicts the glorious act of God righting what was wrong. Sin is a cosmic, societal, but also particularly personal problem and it is far more than simply moral performance. In Jesus God becomes the lightening rod of all human sin, and in his body, he gives it what it dese...

It takes courage to be a Canaanite woman who crosses the border of Tyre and Sidon and approach a rabbi to ask for mercy. The story of the Canaanite mother who demonstrates faith in Jesus is a compelling narrative of courage. She believes in the identity and authority of Jesus over demons and disease so she courageously asks him to heal her daughter. When Jesus sees her persistent faith, he does as...

Prophecy is what God wants to say to people. It is not so much about the future as it is the here and now. It is more forth-telling, than it is fire-telling. Jesus not only spoke but acted prophetically. His arrival in Jerusalem, his cleansing of the temple and his cursing of a fig tree were all dramatic prophetic actions packed with meaning. Jesus declared to the people of Jerusalem that he had a...

Jesus spent his whole ministry teaching his disciples and the crowds what it meant to follow him. In those day it was not uncommon to gather around a rabbi’s teaching, but what Jesus taught WAS uncommon. His kingdom doesn’t always sound like the solid ground we want to build our lives on, which is what the Wise and Foolish builder parable at the end of  Sermon on the Mount was supposed to illustra...

The term ‘pastor’ is Latin for poimén (poy-mane') meaning shepherd. The mixed imagery around Shepherds included symbolism for leaders and rulers. Moses is said to have led God’s people out of Egypt “like a flock”. Elsewhere, the Prophet Jeremiah attacks leaders who have mismanaged God’s flock and led the people astray. From writings in the Ancient Near East to Greek epics, shepherds were a common...

The word apostle derives from a greek word simply meaning ’sent out person’. In the first century Roman world it meant more than being a messenger, it connoted authority. An apostle was someone who spoke and acted on behalf of someone with power. As Christians we are all sent out, but those with an apostolic calling are those who tend to spend their lives breaking new ground, or planting churches,...

The word evangelism derives from the greek word Evangelion - Good news. So an evangelist is someone who brings news. Evangelists are not primarily teaching, and they are not primarily prophesying, they are primarily announcing - that’s what you do with news. So if, for instance you tell someone who doesn’t yet believe that they are going to burn in the fiery fires of hell you are not evangelizing,...

The announcement of Jesus’ arrival comes to an unlikely group: the shepherds. This rag-tag group were often looked down on, forgotten, and considered to be far from religious or noble. Yet the greatest announcement in the history of the world comes to them, not to the rich and powerful but to the lowly shepherds. It suggests to us that God hasn’t forgotten the least of us – to him, we are unforget...

When we’re able to strip back the overly-familiar parts of the story of Christmas it reveals the heart of the Christian faith. Something isn’t quite right with us and our world. We’re not always the people we want to be. And we’ve not always treated ourselves, other people and our world as we should. As silly as it may sound, is not our recent entertainment of going ‘full on goblin mode’, at least...

We don’t always do the church calendar thing, but sometimes it does seem to know a thing or two. Advent is all about allow ourselves to enter into the time of waiting that was the Hebrews existence for hundreds and hundreds of years. They know the messiah was coming to be the Prince of Peace, but they weren’t expecting the way he came to do it. We are not promised a peaceful life (ie - a life free...

This is the first Sunday of Advent. This time of year we reflect and celebrate the arrival of Jesus. He came into the world not to judge it but to renew it. The time leading up to his arrival was a dark one characterized by rebellion, injustice and a longing for wholeness. In the mist of this less than ideal scenario we read of Jesus’ coming as the one who brings light into the darkness. He does t...

We’re called to be generous with our money. This week we consider the specific subject of giving money to the church. The New Testament knows nothing of solitary Christianity: to be a Christian is to be the church. It is you and you are it. We cannot escape it (as much as we might like!). So giving to the church is about giving to something we are intrinsically part of. It is a cognitive dissonanc...

Twice a year we dedicate two services to the subject of money and generosity. Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of his ministry was to announce God’s age of favor for humankind. He has come to make us happy. But, in contrast to what culture has often proclaimed, Jesus knows that happiness and wealth are not intrinsically linked. In his parable of the talents, Jesus teaches that all money belong...

Paul’s final call to the Colossians is to stay devoted to prayer. As modeled by Jesus, prayer isn’t a boring religious duty, but a natural outgrowth of love for God. In this talk, we’ll dig into what prayer is, how we need the Spirit to do it, and why it can transform a community. By Nelly D’Alessandro

Our friend and co-founder Alice returned to us from London (not for long, but we’ll take what we can get) to speak about what peace and submission look like in Jesus-centered community. In Paul’s day, power imbalances between husband and wives, slaves and masters and parents and child may have looked a little different to how they do today, but the driving force behind them remain the same; we giv...

The rules of human wisdom lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence, says Paul at the end of Colossians 2. Only Jesus, and what he has done, can solve the problem of your flesh. This weeks talk examines how mystics and aesthetics have, throughout the ages, gone to great lengths to receive more of god, which raises the question, why is it that when we are weakest, we are strong? This one is...

The letter of Colossians was written to a people pulled in many directions by tricksters and gnostics saying the same thing: “You only have half of what you need. You’re half full.” Truthfully, life and the world can often press this same message upon us. Is it true? Its the age-old message that can lead us to fill ourselves with things we need when in reality, Jesus is the antidote for any sense...

Guest speaker and good friend Robin Morrison brought us a fantastic word about having hope and help during times of tumult and transition (hands up anyone who’s NOT in a time of transition right now!) He brings wisdom and insight on how to deal with delays, disappointments and dead-ends with his usual trademark style and grace By Robin Morrison

We’re all called to mature our faith. Paul’s letter is a roadmap to maturity. In his introduction he sets out the foundations for the journey. The starting point is the grace of Jesus (1:2), the supreme authority in life and the universe. The Colossians have truly understood grace (1:6) and so must we. Let us not water it down or compromise it. Because the degree to which become experts in the ful...

Jesus and the powerful. Whilst it is true that Jesus spent the majority of his time with the poor, the downtrodden and the marginalized, it is not true that he was therefore against the powerful, influential or rich. Indeed he welcomes powerful people to himself, receives support from the rich, and those who follow him instruct us to pray for our leaders. What he does stand against though, is all...

Sin is everyone’s favorite word, but i’m not always sure we have the right spin on it. Sin is all the ways in which we’re not orientated towards the loving ways of God’s kingdom. We’re all caught up in those all the time, but ‘obedience’ to his ways changes its meaning entirely when we learn to come back to the love. By Hannah Flint

It’s easy to go to extremes in our beliefs about supernatural evil - some become unhealthily obsessed, whilst others can dismiss its existence entirely. In order to be true to the New Testament we must acknowledge both that the demonic exists, but also that this doesn’t now mean all our problems are the result of demons. In fact demonization tends to be relatively rare. When someone is being deliv...

Jesus’ hometown people would have known him and watched him grow. They had a shared experience of agricultural living under foreign rule so when Jesus makes the announcement of Kingdom, his genté (people) would’ve expected nothing less than special favors and treatment from the local teacher. We’re not immune from this. We may often face temptation to fit Jesus into our designs and cubes as well a...

Jesus and the sick. In order to fully experience the life we are intended for we need all of the fullness of Jesus. That means not just receiving his teaching, not just receiving the consequences of his death and resurrection, but also receiving his power and coming under his lordship. Throughout the gospel of Luke Jesus is shown to have authority over death and disease. Everyone is eligible for h...

Jesus with women: Luke is the New Testament writer with the most references to the role or women in God’s plan of salvation. And when we unpack Jesus' attitude towards and interaction with women in context, we see that he began a revolution for and radical endorsement of the status of women in God’s kingdom. Paul’s assertion that there real are no male or female, for all are one in Christ, is the...