We live in culture that foolishly overvalues and undervalues both sex and beauty. If we want to relate to sex and beauty rightly we must have our hearts captured by Christ - as our Ultimate Beauty.
Receiving God's grace - Luke 1:26-56
This well known story of the Christmas narrative and the angel coming to shows us thatwhen we like Mary receive God’s grace with humility, that we are able to then respond to God’s grace with joy!
Standing Firm in Christ - Ephesians 6:14-24
Spiritually speaking, every Christian is in Christ, and they stand firm in the spiritual battle, by putting on their protective armour - the truth of who they are in Christ - and by taking up prayer and God's Word - their attacking weapons in the battle.
Spiritual Warfare - Ephesians 6:10-13
In this talk we see who we fight - the Devil and his demons - what we fight - the Devil's evil schemes - and how we fight - by putting on the armour of God, which represents the great truths of the gospel.
Gospel Shaped Homes and Workplaces - Ephesians 6:1-9
A person of integrity is someone who allows the the truth of the gospel to permeate and shape every part of their life. In this passage we particularly explore how the gospel shapes the relationships between children and parents, and masters (employers) and slaves (employees).
Thriving Marriages - Ephesians 5:21-33
Our community are constantly feelings the effects of broken marriages and families. We are left with the question: what is it that will enable marriages to not only survive, but thrive? In this passage we see that our marriages will thrive when husbands and wives seek to live in line with God’s design for marriage with their eyes fixed on Jesus.
Walking the walk - Ephesians 5:1-20
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reminds us that Christians have been chosen, forgiven and adopted by God. We did nothing to earn this, but as his children we’re called to imitate him. That means living radically different lives, living – or ‘walking’ - the way Christ did. In the realm of sex, this means being pure with ‘not even a hint’ of sexual immorality either outwardly or in our thought lives. The antidote to immorality is thankfulness. In how we relate to the darkness of the world around us it means living distinctive lives which expose the darkness: not seeking to please other people but to please God. And in the realm of daily life we’re to live wisely: not surrendering our powers of judgement to alcohol, but joyfully submitting instead to the controlling influence of God’s Holy Spirit.
Real Change - Ephesians 4:17-32
All of us want to change. We struggle with the gap between who we actually are, and who we want to be. In this passage we see that if this change is going to happen we need to see three things - first, the reality of our old lives - second, the vision for our new lives - and third, how we can change from our old lives to our new lives, by putting off the lies that shaped our old life, and putting on the truth that should shape our new life.