City Church Sheffield Podcast

This psalm helps us to walk with God through pain and to encourage others to do the same. There are four stages: weeping, worshipping, waiting and witnessing, and we mustn't move too quickly to the next stage.

Suffering comes in a variety of forms, but we can still praise God because it does not overwhelm us, and God is at work in the midst of difficulties.

We are a people who are blessed because we are those who fear the Lord and walk in obedience to him.

What are the dry bone areas in our individual lives, our church and our community? God brought the dry bones together and then breathed life into them.

We bear fruit by concentrating not on the fruit itself but on putting our roots down in God. We are created finite and need to focus on what God wants us to do rather than trying to pour our lives into everything. Then we can avoid our work being in vain.

Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we can always find joy in what God has done, and wait patiently for what he is yet to do. The Psalmist gives us a lesson from farming.

There was a big problem with the old covenant - it couldn't deal with sin or make us perfect. But there were better promises of a new covenant which deals with our hearts. Because of this it is blatantly pointless to fall back on our own efforts or put our trust in things that can be shaken. Only Jesus is secure and that's where our hope must be.

We can be secure in the face of uncertainties because the Lord surrounds his people, because he sets a limit on the wicked and because he answers our prayers.

We are unable to save ourselves; God needs to intervene. We can praise the Lord because he has intervened and saved us, and we can never undo what he has done.

We are called to wait on God as a servant waits on his master, watching for an instruction before doing as he says. In the ordinariness of life we can get impatient, but we shouldn't be giving instructions to God.

In teaching us how he personally dealt with worry, Jesus tells us three things to not do, three thing to do, and three thing God does.

The main point of what is being said in Hebrews is that we do have a high priest who meets our needs. Jesus is the one who is pointed to throughout Scripture. He has come to earth, lived a perfect life, offered the sacrifice of himself once and for all, and meets all our needs, so that we can now come to God.

David was excited to go to the house of God, not because he had to or because he was looking for a good time, but because he was passionate about the purposes and presence of God, and wanted God's name to be glorified.

When Jesus and the early church needed help, they prayed to God, they relied on Scripture and they sought fellowship with one another.

As God's people we are on pilgrimage, walking with God and with one another. Being God's people means that we are a singing people, a devoted people and a repentant people.

Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek, one who is not only a priest but also a king, one who is greater even than Abraham. His priesthood does not depend on the Law of Moses, but he comes as a new type of priest to introduce a new hope by which we draw close to God.

The disciples had gone back to work, but the risen Jesus meets us in the mundane. He restores and reinstates us when we fail him, as he did for Peter.

Living in the light of the resurrection does not mean that we won't experience loss or setbacks, but the resurrection is central. Like Mary, we could be living with grief, but Jesus speaks our name; like the disciples, we could be living with fear, but Jesus pronounces peace not condemnation; or like Thomas we could be living with doubt, but Jesus pronounces blessings on those who believe without...

Every member of the church is given a spiritual gift. All are included and all are needed. We can show our love for one another by using our gifts to encourage, bless and build up others.

In difficult and challenging times we can know that God is still at work and that he still loves us.

The resurrection of Jesus is rooted in history, grounded in Scripture and confirmed in experience.

Bartimaeus lived in darkness, but when he heard that Jesus was in the crowd, he ignored the discouraging voices around him and seized the moment making a specific request. He then responded by following Jesus. We too can come to Jesus for physical and spiritual healing. Nothing is impossible for God.

We are not following after the supernatural, but following Jesus. However, when we follow Jesus we can expect the supernatural.

God's grace has brought salvation. If we accept it, we are saved, and we will be saved when he comes again; and while we wait, his grace teaches us to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.

We can learn from a person (Abraham) who patiently persevered and believed the promise from a powerful promise maker. This promise is an anchor for our soul, and we can press on because we have a picture of Jesus our perfect priest.