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The rapid growth of the early church was the result of not just the well-known ministries of Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Apollos and others, but also the faithful witness of multitudes who played their part in small, anonymous but vitality significant ways. As Acts 8:4 puts it: “the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus.” (Msg). Much as we value our great community, we must never lose sight of our Great Commission. It hasn’t changed, and neither has the way we will fulfil it: these are days for a multitude of ‘ordinary heroes’ to arise and shine – carrying good news wherever we go! We will never reach the lost from our church buildings or gatherings; we’re to GO into all our worlds. It’s urgent, it’s simple and it’s do-able!…

How can the church act as a bridge between God and the world? How can we connect with people who don’t know Him? How do we live free from any guilt about our effectiveness? In this honest and down-to-earth message John McGinley explores these issues, shares everyday stories and offers some simple and powerful approaches to making disciples in the 21st century.

The heart of God is to love the poor, to love the nations and to love the lost, and these three great loves were expressed perfectly in the life and ministry of Jesus. Fulfilling His Great Commission requires us to express the same love and concern, and in this message David Hind tells the story of empowering a city-centre church to do just that. Expressing the love of God will cost us and stretch us, but the Lord is urging us to live a life we can be proud of.

God is a great promise keeper. There are many times in scripture when God promises that if we do certain things then He will respond! In the final few verses of Acts 2 we see that if we will be devoted to Christ by giving ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread and to prayer then God will respond by bringing us into a life full of many great and miraculous things as His kingdom comes here on earth. What a promise!

In Joshua 24 and Exodus 23 we read that God goes ahead of His people. We need to remember that He has a plan for our lives, which means He has a plan for us each and every day. As we follow Him we can be totally confident of victory not matter what challenge or situation we might face.

Luke 10:38-42– In a few short verses, Luke has recorded an important encounter in the lives of two sister, Mary and Martha, friends of Jesus. At first glance Jesus seemed to be scolding Martha for her activity and praising Mary for her lack of it. But a closer look shows us that much more was taking place than at first glance. Mary had stopped to listen to Jesus and found that only one thing was necessary for her that day. Jesus said, “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”Are we prepared to sit at His feet each day, and wait on Him for the one thing that is necessary for us?

On Sunday we celebrated the Lords Table, looking back at the Feast of the Passover (Exodus 14), and how God chose Moses to free His people. God always makes great choices and we should be ever ready, never doubting when He chooses us. We looked at when Jesus went into Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. He knew that it would be the last meal that He would share with His friends, His disciples. Jesus broke bread and shared wine, telling them they were to do this in remembrance of Him. We shared bread and wine and remembered in our hearts just how much Jesus means to us. When He became the ultimate sacrifice, we
were set free from sin and were gifted eternal life.

From the opening chapter of the Bible onwards, it’s clear that God’s design for all He’s formed and created is multiplication, fruitfulness and growth! He has designed and destined us to keep growing – personally and in our churches. In his letters to the Ephesians and Corinthians the apostle Paul shows us how the church grows and how each member is empowered by the Spirit to play their vital part in this, “so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Eph 4:16). If you want your life and church to experience blessing and meaningful growth then this message is for you!…

All of life comes about because of the principal of sowing and reaping. Arne shares with us the power of sowing simple seeds of good words and deeds in day to day life, and encourages us never to neglect small beginnings because the biggest fruit can come from the smallest seed.

Luke and Cindy inspire and challenge, as they share some very practical principles that have helped them in their prayer life.