Revelation Church Manchester

On 6th March we went to Pursuit 2022, a students, 20s & 30s day conference for Grace Connection Churches. Duncan spoke in the first session about this being a season of returning to living our lives abiding in Jesus.

Colossians 1.13-14. At the cross, Jesus becomes our Passover lamb. As we continue our series exploring the meaning of The Crucifixion, Jem unpacks for us how Jesus' blood on the wooden cross opens up a doorway for us to escape slavery in the Kingdom of darkness. 

1 Corinthians 1.17-25. The cross of Jesus Christ has layer upon layer of beauty and depth for us to explore, and over five weeks we will be exploring it from a number of different angles. But, paradoxically, we find the beauty in the cross by seeing the horror of the cross. In this first message, we see what made the crucifixion a uniquely godless place, and yet is the place where encounter Jesus...

Mark 10.46-52. What are you putting your faith in? Bartimaeus was living in poverty and uncertainty, yet Martin shows us how he is an example to follow in choosing to put our faith in Jesus.

John 12.1-8 Mary interrupts a social gathering to pour out her devotion & worship to Jesus in the most extravagant way. As we have our second week to give to our offering, Duncan looks at how we are invited to bring an extravagant & costly offering to the feet of Jesus.

Exodus 35 & 36. In Part 1 of two Sundays on giving as we approach our offering for the year, we looked at the people of Israel taking up an offering for the Tabernacle. In it Duncan showed us how from the very beginning, God has not been interested in extracting as much money as he can from us, but wants to move our hearts to give us each faith to give. 

Isaiah 54.2-3. 2022 is a year for us to continue to strengthen and stretch. For Vision Sunday, Duncan reflects on what God has been doing - particularly in the last 4/5 months - and how we seem to be in a particular time of God-given momentum. As we lift our heads, this is a time for us to step out in faith together to continue to strengthen as we allow God to stretch us out and enlarge the place...

Philippians 4.10-23. What if we didn't have to settle for anything less than true contentment? At the end of his letter to the Philippians, Paul wants to underline to the Philippian church that genuine contentment is available to any person in any season, and wants to help them continue to draw near to Jesus in order to live all of life in contentment.

Philippians 4.4-9. Our world is desperate to find peace. While it can seem so elusive, Duncan showed us how God gives us a promise of peace that will guard our hearts and our minds, and some really practical steps to follow to make it a reality in our lives.  

Philippians 4.1-3. As the final chapter of the book opens up, Matt shows us how a heavenly perspective gives us wisdom in our relationships and helps empower us for mission.

Philippians 3.12-21. As Paul continues in Chapter 3, he wants us to grasp that the 'surpassing worth' of Christ is a prize we can increasingly get hold of and enjoy as we fix our eyes on the things of heaven and live our lives in light of eternity. As we enter a new year, here is motivation for living for Christ in 2022!

Luke 1.26-38 As we draw closer to Christmas, Rhian opens up Mary's response of reflection and rejoicing when she hears of how God wants to use her in his plan for salvation. 

For Paul, life was all about pursuing Christ. At the beginning of Chapter 3, we see why he thought Jesus was worth it by outlining the danger the Philippians faced, the solution to that danger, and the prize of Christ that could be theirs.

Philippians 2.19-30. In this passage, Paul's intention is clear: he holds up two examples of all he's been teaching and is saying to the Philippian church, "Be like these men". We look at Timothy and Epaphroditus and consider what Christian greatness really looks like, and finish by following Paul's example and publicly honouring two people in our church family.

Luke 15.11-24. We all know family is important, but why does it resonate with us so deeply? In Luke 15, we look at one of Jesus' best-loved stories, what it tells us about family and how it includes an invitation for everyone to come and experience the fullness of family life. 

Philippians 2.5-11 From encouraging the Philippians to humility, Paul proceeds into a stunning revelation of the self-sacrifice of Christ. Robin takes us through this famous passage to show the cost of Jesus' life and death, and encourage us to be captivated by his majesty and glory, just as Paul himself was. 

Shortage and lack might fill our headlines at the moment. On Baptism Sunday we looked at a moment in Jesus' life where he was confronted with a shortage, but used it to show point to the abundance of life he has come to invite us into.

Paul asks 12 disciples in Ephesus an intriguing question - did they receive the Holy Spirit when they believed? As Duncan opens up the question, we see it tells us so much of what we can expect expect of experiencing the Holy Spirit and life in the Holy Spirit.

As Paul encourages the Philippian church to stand firm in the gospel, our friend and guest speaker Derek Tidball encourages us to do the same. To be a church united in the gospel, and known for what we are for rather than what we are against.

Philippians 1.12-26. Paul longs for the Philippian church to know progress & joy in the gospel, so shares the powerful and unexpected ways he is seeing it advance - in people around him, and in his own life as he becomes more and more devoted to the person of Jesus Christ.    Note: Sorry, we missed the first 5 minutes of this recording. The intro explained the themes of 'Progress & Joy' in this pa...

Philippians 1.3-11 As Paul celebrates the partnership he has with the Philippians in this passage, we look at how essential gospel partnerships are for us to find community, joy and to know the heart of Jesus. 

As we begin our Philippians: Life Pursuing Jesus series, we hear how Paul's central idea as he writes to the church in Philippi is that he wants them to imitate him in giving everything to live lives pursuing Jesus above all things. 

Jem takes us into Jesus' encounter with a leper. Rejected by society, considered unclean and unworthy, he comes and kneels before a rabbi. We see how Jesus responds by doing the unthinkable and impossible to transform this man, at great cost to himself.

The passage at the end of Colossians 1 might have once been a hymn and it's easy to see how, it is rich with deep descriptions of Jesus and so worth taking some time to dwell in! In a one-off message Duncan talks us through the passage, enjoying the wonders of Jesus all over again!

In a one-off message Martin brings us through story after story in the Bible demonstrating that in every situation, God is setting things up for him to receive maximum glory, and us to receive maximum good.