Journey of a Thousand Steps

Arguably, two topics we have most failed to educate young people in schools about are money and sex - how to manage personal finances and how to prepare for, choose and sow into a life partnership. This is also true in the Church! Whilst people have often received condemning (or even controlling) messaging around sex outside of marriage and tithing to the Church, many followers of Jesus feel ill-e...

What has been your experience of monastic life? Does it extend further than watching The Sound of Music? Perhaps your experience of brothers, nuns or priests in religious schools or communities has been negative? Perhaps very positive? In today's final topic in our 'God is Good For You' series, we considered the gift of monasticism to the Church and world, and its biblical basis. Drawing from Reve...

One of the greatest human triumphs is the decision to try again after failure, or love again after heartbreak. These decisions are the essence of how we renew after setbacks, both as individuals and as the Church. This Sunday, we continued our 'God is Good for You' series with a focus on how God guides us to rebuild, by turning hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36.24-32). Drawing from...

Have you ever experienced what it is to rejoice on your worst day, or through your darkest year? If not, you are missing out! This week we practiced what it is to live the defiant, rebellious lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus. As Paul described in Philippians 4.4, we choose to praise and rejoice in all circumstances, because we know that whatever is happening today is not the end of our story. We c...

Have you noticed that theology and religious history have been largely removed from school and university subject offerings? One of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century has been the relegation of theological study to personal interest or private religious observance. Science is, today, seen to be the sole pathway to continuous social improvement, whilst religion is a lightweight topic that i...

One of the reasons the early Church grew so rapidly was because it was an ATTRACTIVE community to join. It was uniquely inclusive of different racial groups, campaigned against slavery, and elevated slaves and women to leadership roles that had always been reserved for men. The early Church radically rejected polygamy, infanticide and sex slavery, teaching men to be faithful to and respectful towa...

What moments do you look back on in your life and think, “That was worth it!” We can be in a bit of a jam sometimes. We can completely avoid hard things that we wish we did, or we might work hard at something but aren’t really sure why or if its really worth it. In today’s passage, Paul finishes off his letter of advice to Timothy by encouraging him to “fight the good fight of the faith.” He shows...

Have you ever known any Christians who, over time, seem to become less and less 'normal'? This might be the effect of an unhealthy relationship with religion. When people become more interested in debating finer points of doctrine than being a friend, abstaining from perfectly healthy forms of enjoyment of life, obsessively attending church to the point of having no time for anything else, or stac...

We live in a world where people, at best, have no idea what a church leader or priest does, and at worst, wouldn't trust this kind of leadership. In Paul's first letter to young Timothy, a leader in the early church in Ephesus, he reminds us that to be a leader of faith, as a priest, elder, deacon or lay leader, is both hard work and truly beautiful. When we allow a culture to emerge that lowers t...

This week we continued our teaching series on 1 Timothy with an exploration of one of the most controversial texts in the Bible - chapter 2. Paul writes to Timothy with advice about how men and women should behave and relate to each other in the early Ephesian church. This is one of the key texts that is referenced to support the theological position that God designed women to be subordinate to me...

Have you ever been in a church that spoke unlovingly in the name of 'truth'? Have you ever been in a church that felt it was loving to avoid parts of scripture that are countercultural or difficult to understand? Today we started a new teaching series, looking at Paul's advice to the young leader, Timothy, in Ephesus. Timothy was leading a community divided about how to understand the scriptures,...

What is your greatest vulnerability at the moment? Is it a biological struggle with a habit or addiction? Is it a psychological struggle to stop behaviours you don't like, but that you still, somehow, seem to go back to? Is it a vulnerability to being harmed by a relationship or group who are being unkind to you? We all experience these vulnerabilities, just as our nation is feeling the push of wa...

The Cross sits at at the center of the Christian faith, and is a symbol at the front of most churches. What is your understanding of why this is? The cross is uncomfortable, unsanitised. It tells us that there is both victory and suffering in this faith. This is not a religion that is easily made-up or ready to 'sell.' Sure, it gets distorted - many congregations either overplay personal suffering...

Have you ever ended a relationship that you really wanted to work? Or thought about it? This week we visited the boldness of God and of Moses in their interactions with one another, in the aftermath of the people's unfaithfulness at Mt Sinai. God is seriously contemplating separation. The covenant has been broken and God is deeply hurt. Our guest preacher, Julia Pope, drew out this uncomfortable,...

Today we talked about marriage in ancient Israel. Marriage can be a painful and sensitive topic for us in the Church today, because our ideals have often been weaponised to exclude people. However, we can't sideline the centrality of marriage as a symbol of God's love in the scriptures. So, we seek to understand it. As Israel entered into a covenant relationship with God, they stepped through four...

What do you do when you feel under threat or depleted? Do you find yourself withdrawing, arguing or freezing up - unable to lead or make decisions? Throughout the Exodus teaching series, we have seen Moses and the Israelites respond in all three of these ways whilst under pressure. In Exodus 17.1-17, as they fear for their survival they consider giving up and going back to slavery. They start to a...

Have you ever made a brave decision to leave behind an old way of living, a toxic relationship or workplace, or even an unsafe homeland, only to find the new way of life harder at first? This Sunday we learned about the first month in Israel's history after leaving Egpyt. Their celebration and elation was quickly followed by doubt, hardship and grumbling. Exodus 16 reminds us that when we get free...

Why do Christians speak of drinking the Blood and eating the Body of Christ? In this week's teaching from Exodus 12.1-13 we revisited the history of terms like "blood of the lamb," "redemption price" and the significance of "firstborn sons" in ancient times. We saw that Jesus chose the Passover meal to inaugurate a new covenant, where he became the firstborn son who paid the redemption price that...

It is natural for us to ask why God allows suffering, but do we really want the answer? The story of Israel's exodus from Egypt to freedom reveals the reality of slavery and idolatory at the core of all human destruction - of the ecosystem and social wellbeing. In the account in Exodus 7-10 we watch the order that God has given to the world, physically and spiritually, reverse thorugh ten plagues...

Have you ever felt you were too old, too young, too inexperienced, not reputable enough or not psychologically strong enough to pursue your dreams? If yes, you are in good company. This week we read the story of Moses being called into leadership at the age of eighty, as he encountered God at Mount Sinai. He had been living in Midian as a shepherd for forty years and his life in Egypt was well beh...

Sometimes we have good reasons to feel afraid, as Moses' mother and sister did at the very beginning of his life. This Sunday we celebrated three Confirmations and launched a new teaching series on the book of Exodus. As we consider the beginnings of Moses' story in Exodus 1.17-2.14, in the bulrushes, we see God at work in a dangerous situation, caused by an evil political regime. Moses' protectio...

A critical skill that we need in our personal lives and for the church to be healthy, is knowing how to share our faith with people in our lives who don't currently share it. We all have people we deeply love, in our families, friendship circles and workplaces, who do not share our faith. Many Christians today are journeying with a husband or wife who is not involved in church. How are we meant to...

How do you know who your person is? Who is the right friend, companion or life partner? Today we explored Paul's advice to the early church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 7.25-40). He presented a view that was as countercultural then, as it is now, that though marriage is a good gift, it is better to be single. Though he was speaking to a specific an audience who lived in an unsafe context, which is ha...

We want to be a church that helps people find financial freedom and lean into the adventures God is calling them into. Jesus came that we could have fullness of life (John 10.10). This means not having an empty bank account, or, a full account that comes with a spiritually bankrupt life. This Sunday we spent time considering how to revise and prayerfully plan a personal budget for 2026, that inves...

How do you feel about the word 'purity'? The Church often has a reputation for nurturing unhealthy attitudes towards sexuality or natural human desires, or perhaps trying to 'cleanse us' of things that aren't dirty. Whilst we don't want to and were never meant to burden people with shame, today we were reminded by Paul's advice to a young church leader, Timothy, that the Church is called to be cle...