Sermons@Kingsley

The celebration of the Lent is an ancient Christian tradition, but not a personal tradition for many of us. In this message we look at the way Jesus set himself to travel to Jerusalem as a place He must go through on His journey back to Heaven. In a similar way at the beginning of Lent we set ourselves to travel through a season of self-sacrifice as we move toward Resurrection Sunday. The sacrifice does not have any merit except if it is part of what we must go through for the sake of God's eternal purpose for us. Exploring what Luke 9 describes next about our call to follow Jesus sets the tone for how we embrace this journey. When it comes to the things that matter most, easier is not often better. Lent challenges us to count the cost of following Jesus so we may truly receive the blessings of life in Him.

As Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples He challenged them to love one another in the same way that He loved them. That's a big call, especially given what He was about to do! In this message Mike explores the priority of love and the way that it's put into practice in a local church. We are challenged to think about what that will look like for us this year and how we'll stay on track pursuing the Greatest Commandment.

Why do people sometimes do amazing & wonderful things but at other times do terrible things? Why do we look back over 2024 & celebrate great contributions to human flourishing while also seeing wars drag on and other tragedies? The opening stories of the Bible describe both the origins and outcomes of good and evil; and describe for us what it means to choose between them. We learn 5 simple principles that can help us have a fantastic 2025 as we make the better choice to embrace the goodness of God.

Isaiah 7 contains the incredible promise that God would send a child who would be “God With Us”. Matthew's gospel confirms that this is the heart of the Christmas story: God made His home with us, so that we could find our home in Him. God gave more information to Isaiah about what this “God with us” would be like.  In Isaiah 9:6 we're told He would be: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.  This December we are unpacking each of these names to see how Jesus fulfils God's promises in every way. In this message we tune into what it means to not just recognise Jesus as a wonderful counsellor, but to come home to Him as our Wonderful Counsellor.  Our response doesn't change who He is, but it does change the impact He makes on our lives and in the lives of others through us!

As we finish our study in Galatians we once again marvel at the free gift of God's grace that we receive through faith in Jesus. As he closes the letter Paul tells us that what really counts – our salvation in Jesus – also really costs. The gift is not free. Jesus gave His life so we might have life. Paul himself bore the marks on his body that proclaimed the price he paid to be a messenger of the good news to others. The gift which is free to us came at a cost to others! That leaves us with two vital questions: 1) will we receive the new life that has been purchased for us; and 2) will we count the cost so that others might receive this gift too?

The letter to the Galatians was written to guard the salvation that had come to the people of Galatia through the gospel.  The message of Jesus was under attack by false teachers and many Christians in Galatia hadn't even realised!  Some of them were being fooled into following Old Testament laws that were only ever intended to prepare the people of Israel to receive their Messiah – laws which had no power to save them, only to frustrate them. The same is true of every other ‘law' that we are used to operating by.  Most churches in our culture haven't been fooled into operating by Old Testament laws, but we are operating under the rules of 21st century western capitalism!  Our temptation is to become fixated with growing churches instead of making disciples, which means churches are competing for market share and Christians move from church to church based on the quality of experience being offered. Galatians 6 brings us back to the reality that we reap what we sow.  In our case, giving in to the law of the market economy means training Christians to be consumers instead of disciples, robbing them of the salvation that Jesus brings in our everyday experience of life and stealing the witness of the Church.  God calls us to repent just as strongly as He called the Christians and the false teachers in Galatia to!

After arguing powerfully for the gospel of Grace against a religion of works, Paul now applies his message very practically in the lives of his readers. He contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit and calls us to the better path of keeping in step with the Spirit. Mike reminds us of what we've seen in the letter – that the works of our flesh can sometimes look like lawless self-indulgence and it can also look like legalistic self-righteousness. But the way of the Spirit is to trust in the finished work of Jesus and all that He has accomplished for us; and to express that faith in obedience that is not possible in our own strength but is possible through the Spirit's power. The Holy Spirit moves Paul to explain this very practically as his letter draws to a close, showing what this looks like not only in our individual lives, but in the way that we need each other's help to keep in step with the Spirit.

The Apostle Paul finishes his defence of the good news that we don't have a list of laws to live up to, we have a new identity to live out of. This new identity is ours by God's grace alone and is received through faith in Jesus Christ, not by any effort of our own. Having argued for the gospel from their personal experience, Scripture, history, reason and their relationship with Paul; the closing argument is an analogy from the life of Abraham and his two wives. It's a powerful illustration of what it means to be children of Promise. Placing our faith in God to fulfil all His promises is the only way for us to have true fellowship with God and each other, for us to live in freedom from sin and law and finally, for our lives to bear good fruit – fruit that we cannot produce by our own efforts.

In his letter to the Galatians Paul is fighting a threat to the fellowship that Galatian Christians have with God and with each other; the freedom they have to live the life that Christ has given them; and the fruitfulness that comes as a result of God's life welling up in us and overflowing through us. In chapter 3 Paul argues from the personal experience of the Galatians, the testimony of the Scriptures and the voice of reason to prove that we are made right with God and each other by grace alone which is received by faith alone in Christ alone. Our fellowship with God and each other could never be accomplished by following the Old Testament law or through anything else that depends on human merit. This challenges the way we so often see and treat God, ourselves and other people. What would it mean to live this truth out in community today?

In our last 2 messages from the book of Galatians we've seen Paul rebuke Peter (2:11-14) and then the Galatians (3:1-5) for going back to obedience to the laws of Moses. Is this such a bad thing? According to Paul, absolutely! In between these rebukes (2:15-21) Paul sums up the message of this whole letter. In clarifying the purpose of the law he helps us to understand the doctrine of sin, which is essential for us to understand if we are to appreciate the value of our Saviour. This message is far more than a correction for a group of people who were struggling to transition from Judaism to Christianity. It's a message for every human being who needs to understand the root of our common problem and the source of our common hope.

The Galatian churches had fallen into a critical error by adding obedience to the mosaic law as an essential component of the Christian life. Paul explains why this is such a grave mistake and recalls how it has been dealt with elsewhere in chapters 1 & 2. In chapters 3 & 4 he goes on to present 6 arguments to convince the Galatians that they have made a foolish choice in turning away from a salvation that is by faith alone in Christ alone. The first of these arguments is a personal one. He reminds them of their own experience of salvation. He takes them back to the wonderful news of Christ's death and resurrection and the priceless gift of the Holy Spirit who they received when they placed their trust in Christ. Why would we turn away from such a wonderful gift of grace and start placing conditions on God's acceptance of us and on our acceptance of one another that are based on our worthiness instead of on Christ's?

As we celebrate Father's Day we take some time to think about God's design for Dads who make a difference in their families, churches and communities. Australian research published by the Fathering Project illustrates that all fathers are making a difference – it's the type of difference they're making that counts! We look at the top 5 risks for children with disengaged or dysfunctional dads to understand the importance of not neglecting our God-given roles; but also to encourage us that we're probably making more of a positive difference than we realise! We also rejoice in God's plan for community which means there's always father-figures who can help us grow as Dads as well as providing fathering support for children.

1 Timothy 6:18-19 describes a blessed life, where we are free to use what God has given us to overflow with good works, being generous and willing to share. This is not only a blessing in this life but it lays a great foundation for the life to come where God will reward every act of faith. These verses describe what we are free for, but not what we are free from. That came in verse 17, which also revealed what it is that frees us. In this message we spend some time exploring the power of the two “don'ts” and the one “do” of 1 Timothy 6:17. We examine how tempting it is to look for our identity and security in wealth, but how liberating it is when we find our identity and security in God. We conclude by recognising that religious leaders and institutions have not always done well in this area. The Bible is very realistic about that, so we take care to notice the way Paul addresses Timothy's motives before his message and recognise that leaders and institutions need to be especially careful about the love of money that can pierce them with many griefs.

Guest speaker Peter Warren challenges us from the story of Moses in Exodus 3 & 4 about how we respond to God's call.

The Church is amazing when it functions the way God designed it to, but as long as there are people in it there's going to be dysfunction too! Hebrews 12:1-2 gives us that great picture of running the race of faith with our eyes on Jesus; and urges us to get rid of the things that hinder us and the sins that trip us up so we can run that race. But how do we do that? We take a closer look at Paul's approach when his fellow Apostle Peter got caught up in dysfunction and tripped up others in the process. It's a really helpful model for those times when we can either be part of the problem or part of the solution!

Whenever we cross from our own culture into another one there's sure to be some challenges. After sharing some of his own experiences in unfamiliar cultures, Mike takes a look at the challenges the Early Church faced as the gospel spread beyond Jewish communities into Gentile regions. The hostility many Jews of the time felt toward Gentiles was deeply rooted in centuries of oppression. It caused the Jews of Jesus' hometown to become furious with Him when He foretold the blessings that God wanted to bestow on Gentiles through the Messiah. When Jews and Gentiles were united through faith in Christ a new community began to take shape. Galatians 2 tells the story of how even the Apostles Peter and Paul, who were completely united in the gospel, came to be at odds while trying to navigate the new territory of how Jews and Gentiles come together as followers of Jesus. It's a great lesson in discerning how our culture of origin is shaping our obedience to Christ; it highlights the subtle danger of “acceptable” sins – those sins that don't seem wrong because we all do them; and it demonstrates how we work this out in robust, loving community.

As Christians, what do we do with the fact that life doesn't always feel fair? As we continue to look at the letter to the Galatians, we pause in Paul's account of his own story to think about whether God was fair to the people that Paul mistreated before he met Jesus.   Why should a person who behaved so terribly become a leader in the Church while others (like Stephen) suffered for doing what was right?  This raises thoughts and feelings that we experience in life too. God in His wisdom has shown us in His word what to do when we are feeling that way.  The stories of both Stephen and Paul demonstrate the same truth: God doesn't treat all His children the same way, but He always treats all of them with perfect love and generous goodness.  We discover a simple way of looking at our circumstances that helps us to see God's perspective and to trust in His goodness. God isn't fair, He is good – and that's a whole lot better than fair!

As Paul writes to defend the good news about Jesus he must address the issue of trustworthiness. Why should the Galatians listen to him instead of to the false teachers who have come along more recently? As he begins to address this question Paul reminds us of what he was like before he met Jesus, back in the days when he was known as Saul. As we follow that story through Acts 7 to 9 we see an account of violent, hateful behaviour that caused a huge amount of suffering to others. How did Saul – a highly devoted student of God's laws – end up doing these things? What can we learn about the trajectory of our own lives so that we don't find ourselves behaving in ways we never wanted to behave?

The letter to the Galatians is one of God's gifts to us in the way that it both promotes and protects the true Gospel – the good news that Jesus entrusted to His Apostles. As we unpack the first 10 verses we encounter a masterful summary of the gospel message; a passionate plea to the Galatians to not turn away from God by accepting a different gospel; and a resounding rebuke to those who are corrupting the Gospel of Grace by teaching that our salvation relies on our obedience. This is not just splitting theological hairs! Obedience always follows salvation, but we must never make salvation conditional on our obedience. That's a false gospel that is robbed of its power to save completely, because our obedience is never complete! Paul will expand this theme over the course of the letter, but in his introduction this one resounding point is made: we are saved by Grace, and grace alone.

Everyone has rules they live by. How are yours working for you? As we begin a series in the book of Galatians we look at the purpose and story of the letter to discover a Christian community grappling with what life as followers of Jesus should look like. The Bible paints a beautiful picture of what restored relationship with God and others looks and feels like, but so often there are spoken and unspoken rules for living that can trip us up. Being aware of what those rules are and how they fit with the good news of Jesus is vital if we are going to be free to live a fruitful Christian life.

The book of Acts tells the story of how the first Christians lived on mission. Their lives had a purpose – to witness to Jesus as Saviour and Lord from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the Earth. They followed the example of Jesus in trusting the Father's plans and relying on the Spirit's power. We explore what it means to trust the Father's plans and rely on the Spirit's power as we live for Jesus today, learning from the practices and experiences of the early Church to guide us.

On Pentecost Sunday we listen to the story of the birth of the Church in Acts 2. It's an amazing story as we the Holy Spirit bringing new life to people just like Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about in John 3. We reflect on the New Testament's assertion that the way that God started the Church is also the way He sustains the Church. We rely on the Spirit to do in, through and around us what only God can do. The question for us is whether or not we are willing to believe and receive.

Guest speaker Carl Carmody from Challenge Newspaper shares with us about the priority of prayer in evangelism… and everything else for that matter!

Psalm 40 is a wonderful song of thanksgiving as David reflects on what God has done to bring him out of a pit of despair. To get more insight into what David was feeling before his deliverance we tune into Psalms 38 & 39 which describe that in more detail. While our stories might be different, most of us know what it's like to feel stuck, recognising our own mistakes and their consequences and being surrounded by people who either don't know how to help or are taking the opportunity to have a go at us. As David comes out of that by God's grace he celebrates that his story can also be a blessing to others if he's brave enough to share it and if they are humble enough to learn from it. That's the kind of community that we want to build too.

After celebrating a child dedication earlier in our service, we take a look at Psalm 78 which reflects on the spiritual journey of Israel from the generations since their exodus from Egypt. The psalm has much to teach us about how we can help each successive generation to know God and walk in His ways. It describes the blessings that are experienced when that happens as well as the burdens that come from forgetting God's works and His ways. With ANZAC Day approaching we take some time to reflect on the history of our nation and the world around us from God's point of view – just as Asaph does in Psalm 78. We challenge ourselves to remember and pass on those critical lessons which are so important in navigating the challenges our world currently faces. We remind ourselves that the same principles apply in our communities and families. We all have stories that we are part of, which formed us and shape how we are also forming others. Will we take the time to seek God's perspective on our history so that we might step into the future with full confidence in God and obedience to Him?

On Palm Sunday we retrace Jesus' journey from Jericho to Jerusalem with Luke's gospel as our guide. Luke is very careful to describe both the physical and spiritual journey Jesus took with His disciples and the crowds who flocked to Jerusalem on that day. The crowds were full of anticipation of what would happen when the Messiah rode into Jerusalem as the prophet Zechariah foretold. Their enthusiasm scandalised some of the religious leaders travelling with them, just as it would scandalise the Temple authorities when they arrived. Yet Jesus would not let the crowds be silenced. God wanted it to be clear who was arriving in Jerusalem that day. In this message we explore the reason why Jesus chose to arrive publicly on this occasion and why our decision about what we do with Jesus is the most important decision we will ever make.

In the gospels we hear Jesus call His followers to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (eg: Lk 9:51, 14:23-24). As He shows us what that actually looks like, we realise that none of us is capable of doing it! That's exactly the point Paul makes in the letter to the Galatians as he addresses those people who are trying to impose Jewish law on Gentile believers. He clearly sees the danger in moving away from complete dependence on Jesus to save us – not only from the penalty of sin but from its power in our lives. In correcting this dangerous error he uses the example of Peter – a fellow champion of Gentile inclusion and the person God used to lead the early Church to discover and live by these truths (see Acts 10-11). But even Peter had the opposite effect on people when he was controlled by fear rather than the Holy Spirit. Whenever we are controlled by anything other than the Holy Spirit we drift into sin. However when we choose to die to ourselves to live for God we find that He is able to produce a love for God and others that becomes more and more courageous and complete with each faith-fuelled step we take.

After celebrating a baptism and as we prepare to celebrate communion, we take some time to reflect on what Galatians 2:20 teaches us about the life we have through faith in Jesus. It's not a once-and-done experience, but a continual dying to self so that we might find our life in Christ.

After showing his readers how we can be sure that we're ready to meet Jesus, Jude gives us pastoral wisdom to equip us to help others to ready to meet Him too. In this message we unpack Jude 22-23 and discover some rich symbolism from Zechariah 3 that Jude draws on to help us understand the beauty of the gospel and how we can apply it to ourselves and those we long to share eternity with. It protects us from being condemned ourselves as well as from becoming the accusers of others. It amazes us with the limitless grace and patience of God whose capacity to forgive and restore is beyond measure. It reassures us that no-one is beyond God's reach to save and encourages us to keep holding out the word of life.

As we read through the New Testament we find the Apostles regularly urging Christians to live with eternity in mind. In this message we tune into Jude's letter to churches which had been infiltrated by false teachers. As he warns of God's judgement upon them he contrasts this with the confidence we have by remaining in God's love; and the instructions he gives us for how to do that practically are worth taking to heart.

Communion is a significant part of our weekly church gatherings, but there are many different traditions and understandings that surround it. In this message we take a look at the way the Gospels record the Last Supper and Jesus' institution of communion. We then explore the experience of the Early Church through the book of Acts and the Epistles to build a picture of how communion was celebrated by the first followers of Jesus. We discover that the new covenant that is symbolised by the bread and the cup was always closely linked to the new command to love one another the way Jesus has loved us. What will that mean for the way we celebrate communion today?

What is the relationship between my natural family – whatever that might look like – and the family of believers that God connects me to in the Church? Family is God's design. We learn a lot about how to live together as a church family from our natural families and vice versa. However if we're not clear about what our each of our families really need from us we can hurt them rather than help them. We take a look at how the Apostle Paul advises Timothy to pastor his church family in Ephesus for some timeless principles and timely application in our situation today. No family is perfect – natural or church. By God's grace we keep growing to reflect the beauty of God and His design for us.

In the conclusion to our series on Hebrews 10:24, we take a look at how the Apostle Paul carefully considers his dear friends in Philippi as he writes to them to “provoke [them] to love and good deeds”. His prayer for them in chapter one is a beautiful expression of that goal. As he continues his letter he addresses some points of tension they are experiencing – opposition from outside the church and division inside it. Like the Philippians, most of us have people around us who try to pull us away from Jesus at times; and many of us have people who are following Jesus with us, but just struggling to get along as we do that. The way we deal with each type of tension is actually quite different, so we need to be very clear about what kind of tension we're experiencing in order to choose the best response to it.

As we ask God to show us how we can grow together in 2024, we take a look at Romans 15:5-7. It's a beautiful conclusion to a section of the letter to Christians in Rome where Paul is helping them to understand what it means to live in harmony when we don't think and act the same. We learn about what harmony is and what it isn't, which is just as important! We're also challenged to rely on God to do His part while we commit to doing ours, which is to welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us.

Having thought together about the power of healthy or rotten words last week, we turn our focus to two types of speaking that are essential for our growth: Challenge and Celebration. They're like two wings on an airplane – if they're not in balance we won't fly straight! We look at the story of Jesus' conversation with Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7 to see how Jesus uses both celebration and challenge to help people grow in love and good works. In contrast, Simon's behaviour showed some rotten ways that people often celebrate and challenge. It's a great opportunity for us to look at our own lives and what we do together, to notice where we don't line up with Jesus and to ask for His help to do things differently in 2024.

In January we're doing what Hebrews 10:24 asks us to do… we're thinking about how we can provoke each other to love and good works. What an awesome privilege and responsibility – to be sent by God to help other followers of Jesus to grow in His love and to do the good works He's planned for us to do! We begin with the challenge of Ephesians 4:29 to never allow our words be rotten, but only to say what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, for their benefit. Adults Worksheet Kids Worksheet

The virgin birth is sung about and spoken about a lot at Christmas, but does anyone believe that stuff anymore? It seems to defy belief, and the reasons for the story to have been invented by Mary or later followers of Jesus seem quite credible… at first glance! In this message we explore 3 common objections to the story of the virgin birth and the historical evidence that gives us confidence in the story of Jesus as the Bible records it. It wasn't an improvised story from someone who found herself in a tough spot or an invention of people eager to promote a heroic figure; it's the faithfully recorded actions of an unfathomable God who loves us enough to become one of us; so that we might become one with Him.

Many of our Christmas Carols do a great job of celebrating deep truths of Scripture. The song “Joy to the World” is no exception! We look at some phrases from verse 3 that describe how Jesus makes His blessings flow as far as the curse is found. After exploring what the curse is and how it affects our lives we tune into not only how Jesus causes His blessings to flow, but what we can do to receive them in our daily experience of life. We allow Galatians 5 to show us how good it is when we let the life of Christ flow in and through us.

In Matthew 11 Jesus makes a little statement that many Christians today find great comfort and hope in. For His first hearers, it was explosive! Even today, Jewish Rabbis continue to refine the “Yoke of the Commandments” that every Jew must accept. Male Orthodox Jews wear hats as a visual symbol of this commitment. Jesus invited his Jewish listeners who were “weary and heavy laden” to come to Him and take His yoke upon themselves. It was a clear indication that Jesus was not just another Rabbi among Rabbi's. He was claiming to be The Rabbi, inviting people to trade in their loyalties to other teachers and come follow Him instead. As He did this, He completely changed how we relate to God's laws. Instead of relying on teachers to tell us what God expects us to do; Jesus invites us to come walk alongside Him as He accomplishes every good purpose God has on our behalf. That's how we find rest for our souls. It's how we are made right with God. It all rests on Jesus!

Not only was Jesus' path to becoming a Rabbi not the usual way things were done, but the way He called and trained disciples collided with some strongly held customs too! In this message we look at 3 things Jesus actually affirmed about the way his culture understood discipleship to work, then we explore ways He transformed discipleship by correcting the culture. As we look at these things we can't help but notice the way Jesus also both affirms and corrects our understandings of what it means to follow Him. If we want to receive the blessings of following Him and to have the Kingdom impact He's called us to have, we'll need to tune in to what He has to say and ask for the help we need to do something about it!

This is the first message in a series exploring what meant for Jesus to be a Jewish Rabbi in the first century. As we get to know the path to becoming a Rabbi we'll get more insight into what we read in the gospels and understanding about what the path Jesus calls each of us to walk as we follow Him. Most of all, we'll see that Jesus is different to any other rabbi, teacher, leader or anyone else! He really is the way, the truth and the life!

After reading “With You All The Way” by Max Lucado, we take some time to think further about what it means to clearly hear God's voice guiding us in our journey through life by exploring the first 16 verses of Psalm 119.

Ephesians 6:4 has a concise challenge to Fathers: don't exasperate your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. This is the essential task of fathers… but not just of fathers! In this message Mike highlights something that was obvious to first century readers and obvious to anyone who steps back to look at the context of the verse – this is a team effort! We explore some of those team dynamics and also take time to unpack what that task can actually look like in the context of our lives today.

Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount powerfully challenges us to choose our Master. We'll either serve God or money (which basically means the stuff of this world). For those with faith to see, it's actually a no-contest when it comes to which is the better master! God offers us eternal treasures that we can begin to receive right now and will never come to the end of enjoying.  The stuff of this world is – in contrast – fragile, limited and demanding. What we think will satisfy us is actually robbing us of the things that matter most. It's only when the stuff of this world becomes our servant rather than our master that we can find real enjoyment in it. Mathew 19 and Luke 19 tell the stories of two men whose lives illustrate the truth of what Jesus said in His message to the crowds. Ironically, it was the guy who people thought was much closer to God who ended up walking away when his true master was revealed. The guy who traded in his old master for a new one gives us all hope for joyful transformation when our treasure is in the right place.

What's Stewardship of your Tribe all about? We needed a word starting with “T” to go with Treasure, Talents and Time! By “Tribe” we just mean the people that God has chosen to bless you with and make you a blessing to. It's not everyone, only God has that kind of capacity! So how do we figure out who we're supposed to take responsibility for as wise stewards of the grace of God? Who are the people we are particularly called to serve in love? We turn to a conversation Jesus had on this topic in Luke 10 to find out!

The word “talented” comes from the parable Jesus told in Matthew 25:24-30. As we think about what it means to be faithful with the talents God has entrusted to us we take a look back at the life of William Wilberforce and the role John Newton played in his life. As we think of William's great purpose of abolishing slavery in the British Empire and John's vital guidance and encouragement to him; we see a glimpse of what God can do through us in the world and for each other as we trust in His equipping and calling.

In this message we look at the gift of time. Many of us feel like we're time-poor, but what does the Bible tell us about the time God gives and what it's for? Allowing God to speak to us about this will ease the burdens we so often carry and give us the joy of seeing our time used in life-giving ways.

Church Discipline sounds very heavy, but it's actually what brothers and sisters in Christ are willing to do for each other to stop sin from messing up their lives and their church family! Stepping into conflict instead of running in the other direction is hard for most of us, but as we see from 1 Corinthians 6, it's something that God calls us into for very good reason. It's a big responsibility and we're not going to be good at it right away, but if we really love God and people it's something that we'll give ourselves to and grow in.

What is the role of the Church in reconciling people to God and each other? In this message we explore the task God gave the Church as being ambassadors of reconciliation; and we briefly look at three peacemaking practices that Christians offer each other and the world around us.

Note: before watching this message it would be worth watching the story of Betty Bigombe at: https://www.usip.org/public-education-new/betty-bigombe-building-peace-uganda We all know what it's like to feel unheard. Hopefully we also know what it's like to be listened to really well. As we think about the difference good listening makes in our lives we allow God's Word to speak to us about some of the reasons we don't always listen to others the way we'd like to be listened to ourselves; and we think through a practical way of asking wise questions and listening well. When we do this we have a wonderful opportunity to draw closer to others in knowing and living by the truth of God.

In our series we've discovered that genuine reconciliation happens when people are drawn together in the truth. But it's one thing to know the truth, it's another thing to be able to apply it skillfully to life – that's called wisdom. Truth leads to right belief; Wisdom to right behaviour. In this message we take a look at the big idea of the book of Proverbs, which is all about building a community of wisdom. We start with 2 proverbs that seem to say the opposite thing, leaving us no wiser about what to do in that situation! But as we look deeper, we discover the life-changing power of wise words when we are fully dependent on the source of Wisdom.