Redlands Christian Church

Bible Text: Genesis 39Preacher: Jono DeenickThe Bible tells us multiple times, in various ways that God is 'with us'. This is a great comfort, and yet it's probably also been a point of doubt and uncertainty at times. What does it mean that God is with us? What does it mean particularly when things seem to be going wrong? In our passage today we see both things in Joseph's life. We...

Bible Text: Genesis 38Preacher: Phil PoppingThis chapter in Genesis feels like something you could write a TV drama about. Death threats, cunning plans, double crossings, extreme reactions, and sexual misbehaviour fill the story. It feels like a classic case of ‘you couldn’t make this up if you tried’. But sadly, this isn’t made up, this is real human behaviour. Why is this in the bible and what a...

Bible Text: Genesis 37Preacher: Jono DeenickThis week we begin a new series in the book of Genesis working our way through the events of Joseph and his families lives. It doesn't make for pretty reading. As with the rest of the Bible, these key figures in the history of Israel are presented realistically, without glossing over their failures. Humanly speaking the whole thing should be a disast...

Bible Text: Luke 7:1-17Preacher: Phil PoppingSuffering is all around us. We all know people who suffer deeply and we experience times of pain. Do we have an indifferent God? Does he care? What does it look like when Jesus meets with suffering people?

Bible Text: Matthew 11:1-19Preacher: Phil PoppingMaybe you think of the Jesus from movies – a handsome man with piercing eyes and long hair. Maybe you think of wise Jesus or harmless Jesus or irrelevant Jesus. But what if Jesus isn’t what you expect at all? What if there’s a reason 2 billion people follow him?

Bible Text: Psalm 89Preacher: Mark MeenksPsalm 89 is a maskil (a psalm of reflection) written in the midst of pain. This message invites us to pause, and look at hardship through the lens of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. When life doesn’t make sense, we’re reminded that God is still at work, forming us through the waiting, the questions, and the tears.

Bible Text: Matthew 18 : 21-35Preacher: Juhan KloosterOne of the easiest teachings to understand, yet hardest to apply to our lives ,is the teaching on forgiveness. In our passage Jesus tells a simple yet powerful parable that helps us understand God’s kingdom value of forgiveness. In this amazing story we see God’s mercy and his righteous justice hand in hand. We deeply desire a ruler who holds i...

Bible Text: Titus 3:3-8Preacher: Jono DeenickWhen Paul wrote to Titus, he wasn't writing to someone new to gospel truth. Titus had worked alongside Paul as they went from town to town proclaiming the gospel and planting churches. And yet Paul takes precious space in this letter to remind Titus of the wonderful truth of the gospel. As we stop and hear this morning of the work God has done in pe...

Bible Text: Daniel 9:1-3, 17-23Preacher: Phil PoppingHave you ever given up on prayer, or felt like it doesn't do anything? Some things we pray for with confidence, sure that God will answer us - other things we pray resigned to the 'fact' that God won't do anything. We can feel as though God CAN answer prayer, but probably won't. What does prayer do? Does God change his mind o...

Guest Preacher: Troy Smalley Proverbs 31:25 - 28 Church is about worshipping and honouring God, so what does that have to do with Mothers Day? In the Bible however, the image of a mother is used to teach us God's care for us, It is used to describe the Church as nurturing God's people, and its a reality specially symbolised in women, as both men and women represent different aspects of our...

Bible Text: Acts 14:8-18Preacher: Juhan KloosterAll through Acts we see Jesus growing His church as His Kingdom message advances from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. In today’s passage we see Paul and Barnabas continue their first missionary journey to the Greeks and gentiles in the Roman empire. As they enter the city of Lystra, God’s power is displayed mightily and the w...

Bible Text: 1 Corinthians 15Preacher: Phil PoppingBefore the last few verses of Mark we read that, "The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20". How can it be that some parts of the bible are unreliable? Does that mean we can't trust any of it? How can we know that the bible is trustworthy? How can we have confidence in it at all?

Bible Text: Mark 16:1-8Preacher: Jono DeenickRight at the beginning of Mark's gospel he tells us that he is writing 'the good news about Jesus the Messiah the son of God.' Today we examine the last, but essential piece of that good news, the resurrection of Jesus. Mark doesn't really tell us why this is such good news but he wants us to be sure it happened. Because he knows that th...

Bible Text: Mark 15:1-39Preacher: Phil PoppingGood Friday is good because our King died for us. Good Friday is good because we are dressed in the robes of the King. Good Friday is good because through the King, we lose our sin and gain a loving father. Come celebrate together.

Bible Text: Mark 11:1-11Preacher: Jono DeenickThis week we consider Marks account of what we normally call Jesus' triumphal entry. That is the day he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people roared their praise and excitement. For, here was their King! We know that excitement was short lived however and as we witness Jesus orchestrate and participate in this we see Him for the glorious K...

Bible Text: Mark 9: 30-50Preacher: Jono DeenickWe take a step back in the gospel of Mark this week and again see Jesus predicting his own death. Again the disciples misunderstand and even begin to argue about which one of them is the greatest. And so Jesus begins to teach them about kingdom ambition. Not an ambition for personal gain and advancement, but of service in Jesus' name.

Bible Text: Mark 14:1-11Preacher: Ben RingAs Jono mentioned last week, taking up our cross means replacing our earthly desires for the glory of Christ and the salvation of others. The focus of this week’s message will be our response to the glory of Jesus. Throughout the story of Mark 14, we see that there are various ways to respond to the glory of Jesus – each of them leading to some kind of was...

Bible Text: Mark 8 : 27 - 38Preacher: Jono DeenickThis week we come to a pivotal point in Mark's record of Jesus' life. For the first time one of his disciples acknowledges Him as the long awaited Messiah. But what sort of Messiah is He? What will that mean? And what will it mean for those who follow Jesus? Not what they, or perhaps we, hoped for, but something far, far better.

Bible Text: Mark 6 : 45 - 56Preacher: Phil PoppingI never thought I'd be nervous about anyone or anything called Alfred - it seems like such a harmless name, but maybe that's changed a little this week. Here in Mark the disciples encounter a storm on a lake that 'tortures' them. They spot Jesus walking on the water, and for some reason is about to walk past them. Would Jesus abando...

Bible Text: Mark 5:1-24Preacher: Jono DeenickThis week we again see Jesus perform some incredible miracles and release people from awful suffering. In the midst of that we see people pleading with Jesus for help. Pleading probably isn't something you've done a lot of and yet as we see people plead with Jesus and Him respond, we learn wonderful things out Him and our relationship with Him.

Bible Text: Mark 4:1-20Preacher: Phil PoppingMost of us will have heard the story of the sower a number of times. There are the four types of soil, there are rocks and weeds and birds, and crops that die and crops that multiply. The key idea though, is ‘hearing’. What does it mean to truly hear? How can we know we have?

Bible Text: Mark 3:20-35Preacher: Jono Deenick As we track through the first few chapters of Mark's gospel we see Jesus growing in popularity as heals many people and casts out demons. When we get to our passage however, we have a bit of a strange turn. Some rejected Jesus, some outright said he was empowered by Satan, some close to him thought he was mad. This may seem strange, but how would...

Bible Text: Mark 2:1-17Preacher: Phil PoppingSometimes we read the bible and feel the weight of sin or the anger of God. Sometimes we read about forgiveness and mercy. Some sermons seem to be serious and filled with a sense of brokenness, others are joyful and filled with hope. How are we supposed to feel about sin and forgiveness? How does Jesus react to sin and ‘the sinner’?

Bible Text: Mark 1:1-13 Preacher: Jono Deenick This week we begin a series through the gospel of Mark. Or as Mark himself calls it, the gospel of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. We won't cover every passage in Mark but our prayer is that as we take time to consider Jesus and His ministry we will time and again delight in Him as our 'good news'. This week we will see this gospel in s...

Bible Text: Psalm 90 Preacher: Phil Popping Have you always wanted a glad and joyful life? What about a life that has a lasting impact and legacy? The Psalms speak to so many different life circumstances. So far, we've looked at lament, wonder, and wisdom, and this week we find a psalm that encourages perspective - a perspective that will help us live life well and impactfully.