The Living Room

Send us Fan Mail Today we look at the importance of advent and particularly the way that God chose to reconnect with the world. It's classically unorthodox and far from glamorous - there's so much we learn about God when we take the time to think about this. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail The world is strange at the moment. It can be hard to keep moving forward but we can find hope in this time. As we reflect on the words of the carol 'Oh Holy night', the thrill of hope arrives in the person of Jesus - today we look at how we can cling on to that hope when the world is feeling pretty weary. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail As we continue to be curious and pursue God, we can sometimes find we make new discoveries that challenge some of what we've previously been told. What do we do with that clash? - It's hard to move forward if we just choose to ignore those dilemmas. Today we look at the importance of unlearning and how, by choosing to unlearn some things that we may have acquired, we mak...

Send us Fan Mail When we look at the life of Jesus, He was the kind of character who would consistently stand up for the outcast and the marginalised. That's not always that easy to do, but He calls us to do the same. One of the greatest stoppers to us actually doing this is the fear of what other people think. Today we look at this whole topic and challenge ourselves to be brave and not be h...

Send us Fan Mail Jill Rowe from Oasis Trust shares some thoughts with us around the importance of inclusion. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail What do you do when you've had change in the way that you think but others aren't quite in the same place as you? It can be a pretty isolating place, but it's important that we learn how to sit alongside people but also know when it's time to move on from things that may be holding us back. That's our discussion today. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail It's easy to assume that God most reveals himself in successes and achievements, but when we read the sermon on the mount, we see a real challenge to this concept. That passage suggests that God is most close to the people that suffer and go through hardship... if that's the case then we need to realise that, when we step in to love and support those people, we may be th...

Send us Fan Mail Today we take some time to look back over the last year of the Living Room and pull out some ideas of what God has been teaching us over that time. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail Being free to ask question is essential in enable us to feel free to grow. Today we look at the importance of curiosity and the positive impact that it can have on our connection to God. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail We grow up on a set of beliefs that help orient us in the way to live our lives. As we grow, we can find that our desire to love people, the way we want to live our lives, can sometimes cause a conflict with our belief system. Which one do we follow? Our belief system or our ethic of love. Today we take a bit of time to think about this issue. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail We've spent a few weeks thinking about curiosity and the importance of questioning. A key question for us to consider is this: Is there any room for change in the way you think about God? That's what we're talking about today. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail When we read through the bible, the image of God that we see in the old testament can at times be tricky to reconcile with the image of Jesus and the image that He presents of God. Today we spend some time thinking about how we see God. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail We can often assume that suffering and struggle will be the greatest challenge to our connect with God but that might not be the case. When the honeymoon is over and the dust has settled, apathy can have a real negative impact on our pursuit of God and connection to Him. Today we talk about that challenge and look at how we can avoid falling in to that trap. Feel free to listen in...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of who we are. Go back to those moments that help us connect with ourselves and with God. Today we take a look at the importance of doing this and  the strength it can give us to truly be ourselves. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail What is at the core of us has a chance to provide a firm foundation for our identity. Today we look back over the various layers, how they can dominate who we are and how, when given the chance, God can shape all of these elements and help us to become the best we can be. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail The way we were raised, the things we were told and the people that surrounded us; they all play a huge role in shaping the person that we become. Today we look at the importance of what we learn as we grow, the need for us to be confident to question what we may have been told and how we can learn to walk with God as we move forward. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail So many things can happen in our lives that leave a scar. These can be incredibly painful times to go through and it can often be difficult to see where God was in the process. If we can cling on to God through these times then the scars that we bare become a reminder that we survived, that we came through it and that God was with us. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail When we make mistakes or get caught up in negative habits, we can find that we get wrapped up in things that hinder our us and restrict our ability to move forward or grow. If we can invite God into this stuff, as difficult as it may be to process, we can find hope that life doesn't have to be this way and experience freedom. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail So many things happen in our life that shape our character. When we initially connect with people, our character is often visible to those we meet. Today we look at the elements that impact our character and the importance of inviting God to shape and mould us to be more like Jesus. Feel free to listen in.

Send us Fan Mail Our second layer of Identity is based around the things that we are passionate about and skilled in. People will quickly notice these elements of our identity and that will ultimately lead to opportunities to develop connections and relationships. The challenge with passion and skills is that they can easily become the most important thing to us and, as a result, we can sometimes...

Send us Fan Mail The first thing that people see about us are our preferences. Our likes, dislikes, tastes and styles are what we present in that first contact with people. We can often find ourselves playing down the value of these elements and falling into the trap of comparing what we have and who we are with what we see in the lives of others. Today we take a look at the those challenges, the...

Send us Fan Mail 'Discipleship is becoming who Jesus would be, if He was you' - this is a statement that we focus on in the Living Room, but in order to work towards that, we need to understand who we are. Today marks the beginning of our re-worked series on identity. helping us see all of the layers that contribute to the person that we are. The overall aim is to understand ourselves be...

Send us Fan Mail We've been looking at how choosing to love affects our approach to people. Today we tie all of this together by looking at how we live this out on a day-to-day basis. Feel free to listen in x

Send us Fan Mail The idea of being welcoming to all is pretty common practice in most churches. That's the way it should be, all should be welcomed in and loved. We need to acknowledge that there is a huge difference between welcome and acceptance. If we really want to emulate Jesus and be love to all that we meet then we have to make sure all people feel accepted. That's what we're...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes it can be hard to know how we should respond or deal with certain situations. What if someone thinks differently to me? What if they have different values or behaviours? How do I respond in a way that remains true to who God wants me to be? Today we look at how choosing to love will always win. Feel free to listen in.