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Jesus, the clearer of the temple.

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Jesus, the clearer of the temple.

Jesus’ first significant acts in Jerusalem are to curse a fig tree and clear the Temple courts. The two are related. Jesus’ intention is not to call the temple sacrificial system to reform, but something more dramatic: to prophesy its destruction. It is no longer fit for purpose. God’s presence will no longer reside in a building, but in the temple of Jesus’ followers’ hearts. And the atoning temple sacrifice will be once and for all replaced by Jesus’ bodily sacrifice on the cross.

In light of this, all attempts to save ourselves or our world at the altar's culture offers are futile. But when we receive the gift of God's presence at the core of our very beings, achieved for us by Jesus at the cross, we are enabled and empowered to live out the lives that offer real salvation to us and our communities. This is how Jesus saves the world.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the humble king.

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Jesus, the humble king.

In Mark 11:1-11, Jesus finally arrives into Jerusalem, the place that he has laid out as where he will spend his final days. By riding into town on a donkey, he is not only fulfilling the prophecy laid out to us in Zechariah 9:9, but also is subverting expectations of what it means to be a king. This approach, while completely countercultural then and now, invites Jesus' followers to walk in similarly humble footsteps.

Jesus is building with us a KIN-dom relationship -- where we become partners alongside him and continue the work that Jesus started. Through this passage, he demonstrates to us what can happen when we allow God to move, when we involve others in our lives, and when we admit that maybe we don't know best. Jesus' humility is an invitation to us to embrace the gifts we have not for our own glory or satisfaction, but for the good of others. 

By Rebekah Covington

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Are you ready? You're up.

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Are you ready? You're up.

Our beloved treasurer, board member, and spirit-filled friend Casey delivers his first (and final) sermon before he leaves for a new chapter abroad. 

Jesus uses whoever is available, regardless if they’re listening, qualified, “ready,” etc. In this farewell word, Casey uses the callings of Samuel and Matthew (in 1 Samuel and Luke respectively) to look back at the last 10 years of bread - where we’ve come from, and where we’re headed.

As Casey departs, we’re left with a challenge - what might this community look like, in 2025 and beyond, if we take the words of Jesus, to follow Him, seriously? Who will be called, and to what, if we truly open ourselves up to the power of the holy spirit?

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Jesus, the one who calls.

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Jesus, the one who calls.

Jesus steps down from his mountaintop experience of glory into the chaos of scribes, crowd, demonic oppression, and most importantly, the other disciples’ failure to represent Him in their battle with evil. They have not remembered what they have been taught. They have not been able to manage without him, and it shows us (and it showed Jesus) quite how far they still have to go, in their journey as His disciples. 

Commentators call this section of Mark’s gospel ‘a study of discipleship,' and as we continue to follow Him in our response to great need in our city, this passage could not be more timely. In it, we see Jesus' call be undermined as ours will always be too; we see Jesus' authentic frustration about that, and yet His doubling-down in commitment to His mission; and we see how it is that He keeps going to fulfill what He has been called to.

For any of us asking ‘where do we go from here,’ let’s look again at Jesus' example, and let Him remind us what it looks like to follow Him.

By Hannah Flint

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Jesus: the glory of God.

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Jesus: the glory of God.

The transfiguration is a rare moment of respite and balm for both the disciples, and Jesus, in the middle of the struggles of ministry. Despite the teaching, the healing, the deliverance and the miracles, Jesus is still opposed, threatened and misunderstood. Even his closest friends don’t really get it. And soon, he will make it to Jerusalem where suffering and execution await.

But here, on the mountain, Jesus is glorified. It is a moment of glory and wonder: the cloud of God’s presence enveloping all who witness it. It must have been wonderful to experience! If Jesus needed such a moment of respite from the brokenness of the world, how much more do we?

This week in Los Angeles has been a terrible reminder of the chaos of our world. But, thanks to Jesus, his glory and the presence of God is available to us all the time. This talk is a call to worship the divine Son of God and enter into his presence. Especially in times of trouble, there is no better place for us to be. In his presence, we are transformed - our motives, our prayers, our thoughts, and our desires are all aligned with his - and we are best able to be his people to a world in need.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the Christ.

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Jesus, the Christ.

As we kick off the new year, we continue our series in Mark’s gospel. For many, this time of year is about making new resolutions. Jesus, though, comes to bring something greater than anything human resolve will ever accomplish. He knows our fundamental need is not a material one, but a spiritual one. So, he warns that whilst we may gain the whole world through our human endeavors, we can still lose our soul. Only he can achieve for us the life free from the power of sin that we so fundamentally need. And, he bids us give our whole self to him, so we can rise with him to the fullness of a life, no longer controlled by sin, which we most crave.

So, let us make this our one resolution for this, and every coming year: to be people who give up themselves to Jesus, to take up our cross and follow. This is where real life is to be found.

By Ed Flint

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Advent 2024: Glory.

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Advent 2024: Glory.

This week, we take a closer look at one of the most well-known parts of the Christmas story: the angels appearing to the shepherds. Who were the shepherds, and how can we relate to them? What is God’s glory, how is it used throughout the Bible, and how can we live Into our identity as image (glory)-bearers of God?

By Tavia Grubbs

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Advent 2024: the scandalous love of God.

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Advent 2024: the scandalous love of God.

As Mary and Joseph participated in the unique miracle of Jesus' birth, they experienced deep blessing mixed with profound personal sacrifice. But, they willingly accepted the certain risk of scandal and rejection in order that God's loving purposes for the world might be perfectly fulfilled in Jesus.

Texts: Luke 1:26-45; Matthew 1:18-25

By Keith Beebe

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Advent 2024: Christmas Joy.

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Advent 2024: Christmas Joy.

For as long as our history is traceable, we homo sapiens have been progressing, and by all accounts we’re set to hit warp speed on all that with the dawn of AI. But the Christian joy that is celebrated at Christmas is not about progress, it’s about a different kind of rescue altogether.

The wisdom of God stands totally outside of all our ideas of progress and advancement (which we’d be fools to put too much faith in, if we look lack in earnest at our past) What Jesus came to do was to set us right on a cosmic level - forever, and completely. And what the spirit is here for, is our daily access to Him, while we wait for the life we were always made for.

By Hannah Flint

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Jesus, deliverer from distress.

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Jesus, deliverer from distress.

There is an epidemic of anxiety in the west. 50 million people in US have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. The number is rising. In today’s talk we find the disciples in distress. Something they experience whenever they are, or feel, separated from Jesus. This is something we will all experience. Whenever we’re dislocated from Jesus, our anxiety will rise, because we’re made for closeness to him. But Jesus meets his disciples in all his power. He is the lord of glory - the great I am. He displays his authority over all evil by trampling on the waves of the deep. And his compassion and closeness is seen as he gets into the boat with his troubled disciples. And as soon as he does so he alleviates all their fear.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, revolutionary shepherd.

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Jesus, revolutionary shepherd.

Who is leading you?

Jesus sees the crowd in Galilee as sheep without a shepherd. But rather than be the revolutionary zealot leader the people want him to be, he reveals a different kind of leadership. He is the servant God who gives his life up for the sake of others. And in word and deed, he alone is the bread of life who brings satisfaction to the human condition.

We’re called to let him, the revolutionary shepherd, lead all aspects of our life. Not least our finances. As we launch our end of year giving campaign, we’re calling the church to let him be lord over our money, to invest in his kingdom, and to be vulnerable with our finances, allowing him to be our source of all security and protection.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, power for good.

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Jesus, power for good.

In a rare moment when Jesus does not appear in the gospel, Mark tells the story of Herod’s beheading of John the Baptist.

Herod’s story is a cautionary one about the misery that comes when someone devotes their life to the pursuit of earthly power. Where Herod’s power destroys, Jesus’ power, exemplified in the life of John, by contrast, creates, redeems and sets free. It’s his power that we are made for and we find it by dying to our broken versions of power and rising with him in his mighty strength.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, scandalously lowly.

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Jesus, scandalously lowly.

This might be as good a moment as ever to be reminded of the type of power Jesus came to display. God of all creation, gave everything up, to live among the poor and downtrodden, and face the offense that this wrought. Jesus' lowly statues was an offense to everyone - to the elites, the priest, and in our passage, his hometown.

And his answer in Mark 6? To send out the disciples in his power; to get close to people, to free them from evil, heal their sick and preach the good news. There is no clearer way to see the kingdom Heaven, than in the moments we see worldly power fail so spectacularly. So, whatever it is we feel about what’s happening on world stages, let us not fail to worship Jesus today.

By Hannah Flint

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Jesus, powerful kindness.

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Jesus, powerful kindness.

Power over disease. Power over demons. Power over death. What would a power like that feel like? Is it scary? Is it intimidating? Is it comforting? Is it kind?

In this talk, we zoom into two miracles given to seemingly opposite people, and find out that they have more in common than meets the eye. Along the way we’ll see how the power of Jesus and the kindness of Jesus are intertwined, and how Jesus meets us in the midst of our circumstance, if we open our hearts to him.

By Tavia Grubbs

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Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath.

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Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus declares himself Lord of the Sabbath. This is less about him arguing over Sabbath law, and more about him establishing his Lordship over everything, including that which we most hold dear.

This is confrontational and necessarily requires his hearers, as well as us, to consider where our hearts have wandered to other gods. When we’re confronted like this we have a choice: we can react defensively, with avoidance, or rejection. Or we can choose to humble ourselves and receive his Lordship over our lives - to do so is to experience not enslavement but freedom, life not death. His offer is of Sabbath rest for all of us - reconnection to God, and life as it was alway intended.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the forgiver of sins.

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Jesus, the forgiver of sins.

Jesus first encounters opposition to his ministry when he begins to proclaim the forgiveness of sin.

Things get confrontational when Jesus refuses to be limited to the surface issues of our lives. Declaring himself as the one who forgives sin means not only equating himself with God, but tells us we have a fundamental problem which only He can solve.

Often our requests to Jesus reveal that we only really want him to scratch the surface issues of our lives. But Jesus is primarily fixated on the state of our hearts. If we let him, he will transform our hearts to be ones after his own. This is where lasting peace, joy, praise, and freedom is to be found.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the inaugurator of the Kingdom.

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Jesus, the inaugurator of the Kingdom.

Jesus’ first public pronouncement concerns the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is God’s just rule over the universe where all pain and evil cease and joy and peace abound. The Kingdom has come because Jesus, the King, has come. So entrance into the Kingdom is available to all who follow him. Its markers are evil banished, the sick healed, and the authority of Jesus revealed.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the prophesied one.

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Jesus, the prophesied one.

Jesus doesn’t enter the world in a vacuum, he’s the long awaited Messiah. But he’s more than a human deliverer. He’s the divine Son of God.

This intro to the series is an invitation to expand our view of who Jesus is, and a challenge where we’ve restricted who we’re willing to let him to be.

By Ed Flint

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Sabbatical Reflections: Resting, in spite of…

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Sabbatical Reflections: Resting, in spite of…

The command to rest was written into God’s rhythm for life on earth, and was an instruction given to his people from the very beginning.

Jesus demonstrated his human need for rest (including quiet time alone, and down-time with His disciples) with prolific frequency.

So, what can we learn from that? That he’d got it all done in time for chilling? Or that he knew how badly he needed quiet time with His father in order to sustain him in his mission. If we look at the OG rest Psalm (23), we see that the green pastures and still waters of heavenly rest aren’t actually promised as relief from life’s woes, but are to be found right in the midst of them.

By Hannah Flint

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Sabbatical Reflections: Living with limits.

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Sabbatical Reflections: Living with limits.

Part of maturing as a Christian is learning to identify and live within the limits God places on our lives. There are limits to our capacity, our resources, our gifting and our calling. When we push beyond the boundaries of where God would have us we end up causing ourselves and others pain, and harming our relationship with him. We do this inevitably when we reject God’s lordship of our lives and choose to become arbiters of our own destiny. Jesus calls us back to himself. He loves us too much to see us hurt ourselves by stretching ourselves too thin. We can trust his limits to enable us to thrive.

By Ed Flint