Common Ground Church Sea Point

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God's people are given the wonderful ways of God that lead to human flourishing and God's glory. Today we learn that rules are not opposed to relationship but rather the right rules make relationships work!

Fifty days after Passover the people of God gather at the foot of Mount Sinai. The burning bush has now become a mountain on fire as God comes down and reminds them of what he has done, what he required and what he promises.

Moses received wisdom and insight through Jethro and deploys and structures the people of God according to their gifts for the flourishing of the community. We too must be a people who contribute to the forward movement of God's Kingdom by playing our part and yielding to the good order that God has laid out for his people.

Recorded at the start of the 2020 lockdown, here is a deep dive on the gift of Sabbath by Paul Maughan

The people of Israel are out of Egypt and on the other side of the Red Sea. The highs of worship are followed by the lows of testing, but thankfully God has a rest prepared for them.

Today we reach the moment of the exodus itself as God parts the Red Sea. The big questions coming out of this story are who will you fear and who own's the people of God?

Lee explores the tenth and final plague as the blood of a lamb protects people from a judgement of death. 

Did Pharaoh harden his own heart to God, or did God harden it? Let's explore this question together.

God demands that Pharaoh let His people go out of slavery and unleashes 10 plagues on Egypt as part of His judgement and revelation of Himself.

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We begin a new journey in the book of Exodus as we see how God's people will be drawn out of oppression and slavery and drawn in to deeper relationship with him.

Introducing our next preaching series - Exodus (Interview with Greg Heasley)

Jesus is confronted by a religious group known as the Sadducees about the afterlife and questions around physical resurrection. Jesus reveals to us that this truth is a glorious hope that we have throughout this life!

As Christ-followers we are dual citizens... how do live as citizens of earthly kingdoms like South Africa whilst also being citizens of Heaven. In the midst of political upheaval and tension, Jesus speaks into this...

Jesus tells the Jewish leaders a parable about some tenants who are looking after a vineyard for the owner. We are reminded that we are tenants and stewards and that everything is God's!

Jesus enters Jerusalem, and after visiting the temple the night before, returns to judge it.  Mark also skillfully weaves in the enacted parable of the fig tree that was nice from far but far from nice.  You see Jesus didn't come to improve the Temple system, he came to replace it with Himself.

In this passage Jesus twices asks the question, "What do you want me to do for you?".  How would you answer Jesus?  Let us lean in and look at the different responses of James and John as well as Bartimaeus.

Jesus shocks his disciples by saying that the kingdom includes those with childlike faith but excludes those that trust in their wealth. Link to lottery winners Time magazine article here - https://time.com/4176128/powerball-jackpot-lottery-winners/ 

Jesus reveals to us how hard hearts towards God cause us to push against his designs and plans for human flourishing, especially in the realm of marriage. For a full treatment on the topic of divorce and remarriage please follow this link: http://bit.ly/CGCdivorce