Counterslip Church

This week we've been reading Solomons' song of songs. In it we find a love story of a man and a women. This week Matt shared how he felt God was inviting us as the man invites the women, into new hope, and how God was speaking over us a new story of love and beauty, transforming our old stories of brokenness and pain.

Each month we've been taking your questions about the sections of the bible that we've been reading and then spending some time talking through some possible answers. This month it was Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Colossians. You can jump through to the questions at these points: (1:28) Job 1:6-7 Who is Satan and why was he there with God? (23:37) Job 1:8 Why would the Lord put Job forw...

This week Matt unpacked how in Peter's letter to the churches he was helping them to see that the very challenging situations they found themselves in were actually part of the very purpose to which God has called them. As those who belong to Jesus we too have this same, sometimes challenging, purpose about which Peter's letter encourages us not to give up.

This week we've been reading the book of Ecclesiastes. Today Matt talked about how Ecclesiastes gives us some insight, from king Solomon, as to the experience we will have of reality if we choose to be king of our own lives rather than letting Jesus reign.

This week Emmanuel shared with us from Colossians looking at how we only find our completion, fulfilment and perfection in Jesus and in no other place. Nothing we can do on our own, and nothing the world can offer us, will bring us wholeness. Only Jesus can satisfy.

This week Matt unpacked the book of proverbs and we saw how the structure of the book, and many features of the text, mirror the story of creation in Genesis one. Proverbs is part of God's continued call for people to come back to, and live in, the beauty of His creation order where we find peace, joy, love and hope.

Each month we've been taking your questions about the sections of the bible that we've been reading and then spending some time talking through some possible answers. This month it was 2 Chronicles, Zechariah, Nehemiah, Job and 1 Timothy. You can jump through to the questions at these points: 1. (1:09) Do these two verse contradict each other with God reasons for who should build the templ...

This week we have been reading through the letter to the Philippians. Today Matt highlighted how obsessed Paul is with Christ Jesus, how he mentions Jesus on almost every line. Paul thinks everything if for Jesus and about Jesus, and Paul challenges the believers in the Philippian church, as his letter challenges us, to make our whole lives about Jesus.

Many people struggle with the book of Job, it really does raise some difficult questions. But today Matt encouraged us to see beyond the questions to, what he believes is the main point of Job, the revelation that Job receives of God and how his response to that revelation is the key to changing everything.

This week Matt shared with us how the gospel message of Jesus is shown in every book of the bible, and how the power of the gospel has been at work in every generation and is still the power today to change lives and bring hope to our world.

This week Heidi took us through the book of Esther looking at how we each have a choice either to live for ourselves and our own gain, or to trust and take part in the bigger unfolding story of God at work in His world.

This week we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. On this weeks podcast we've included a little flavour of the rest of our service as well as Matt's talk from Malachi where we saw the message of the gospel spoken through the prophet Malachi.

This week Matt unpacked the short book of prophecies from the prophet Haggai, looking at how relevant the message of God to His people then is to us now. How in a culture where we are constantly looking to be fulfilled we will only find that fulfilment when we make space in our lives for God.

Each month we've been taking your questions about the sections of the bible that we've been reading and then spending some time talking through some possible answers. This month it was 1&2 Chronicles and James. You can jump through to the questions at these points: (1) 1:17 -  Why, in the church reading plan, do you have us pop dodging around the minor prophets and not reading in order...

This week Emma took us through the letter to Timothy, showing us that the goal underneath everything Paul writes to Timothy is love, which is actually the main theme of the bible over and over and over.

This week we've been reading the books of Ezra & Nehemiah (which were originally all part of one scroll), and today we discovered how Ezra saw what was happening in his day as a new exodus where the God of the exodus was still at work setting people free, drawing them to Himself, speaking life giving hope in to them and establishing them as his people. And we discovered that even today, be...

This week Matt took us through Chapter One of the prophecy of Nahum and we discovered how woven into the text were clues that while this was a prophecy for the people of Nineveh the author always intended it to be a message that spoke the heart of God to all people, everywhere, in every generation, even today.

This week Matt unpacked some of the deeper layers hidden in the story of Jonah that reveal to us God's heart towards the world, and his call to us to be a part of that.

This week Chris took us through the story of Manasseh, which taught us that no matter how bad things get Gods' heart is to reclaim and transform us, and make us right with him again.

Each month we've been taking your questions about the sections of the bible that we've been reading and then spending some time talking through some possible answers. This month it was Hebrews & 2 Kings. You can jump through to the questions at these points: (1:14) Hebrews 2:9 - Hebrews says that Jesus is greater than the angels, what does it mean then that he was made lower than the angels? (...

Toady Emmanuel reminded us that, through faith, we are now the people who are called by "the name" of the LORD. And that means that when we humble ourselves and seek His face He will hear our prayers from heaven and step in and work to save us and heal us.

This week we read through the letter from James to the church and looked at how James puts our faith on trial against the teachings of Jesus, and how He also does it so that we would see our need of Jesus more and more and so press in and abide in Jesus more and more, becoming a better church.

This week Matt explained how the long list of names at the start of 1 Chronicles actually tells a story that would have been such good news to the people that first heard it read aloud and then explained that this same story is still being told to us today, and that we are invited to make this good news story our story as well.

Our world offers us many ways to make ourselves feel whole, and the reality is that most often these things are imperfect and are never really a lasting solution to the deep unease that we all at times feel. The author of the letter to the Hebrews picks up on this idea, but he offers a much better solution and this week Matt explored with us how the letter to the Hebrews might speak to us today ab...

Each month we've been taking your questions about the sections of the bible that we've been reading and then spending some time talking through some possible answers. This month it was 1 Kings, Joel, Zephaniah & Habakkuk. You can jump through to the questions at these points: 1) 1:04 - 1 Kings 14:19 - What is meant by the "book of the annals of the kings of Israel"? 2) 13:24 - 1 Kings 18:40 -...