The importance of rest is instituted in the very first verses of the Bible. After six days of creation, God rests. We, as people made in his image, are called to rest like him. Sabbath is more than just a day off each week. Sabbath means to stop, rest - but also to delight in creation, worship God and receive from him. A regular weekly rhythm of rest is essential for us to live as the images of God we were created to be.
By Ed Flint
The goal of any church is to build the kingdom of God. And that can best be done when we work together as a team. What it means to be part of a team is demonstrated brilliantly by Barnabas in the book of Acts. Barnabas was a wonderful encourager. And we can be too. Encouragement dispels fear, promotes grace, releases potential and restores the fallen. Bread has had some excellent encouragers down the years. Let’s continue! The more we receive the encouragement of God, whose spirit is the Great Encourager, the more we will be empowered to encourage one another.
By Ed Flint
Easter is about hope: the sure, concrete, touchable hope that is found in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It’s a hope based in his power (he swallows up death forever) and based in his kindness (he wipes every tear from all faces). Easter declares Jesus as Lord of all, which sets us free from having to bear the burden of being our own lord. His lordship sets us free to worship and surrender and be made alive by his power and in his kindness.
By Ed Flint
Our beliefs govern our behavior. Paul confronts Peter who has stopped believing in the fullness of the grace of Jesus. As a result, his behavior has become divisive and hypocritical. Paul reminds him and us of the truths of the gospel. When we believe the correct thing about God, ourselves, and the world, godly behavior will follow. We become people not bound by the law, but free to live lives of faith and of the Spirit.
By Ed Flint
Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Everyone is welcome. Catch up on each week’s talk here.
There is no more important word for a Christian than the word ‘grace’. It is the beginning, middle and end of the Christian life. Its vital importance is seen in how passionately Paul responds to the Galatians who have had the gospel of grace polluted with gracelessness. We are all susceptible to doing something similar. So let us have the same no-holds-barred response of Paul. We should take no prisoners in our battle to hold the shocking grace of Jesus, in all his unconditional love, unconditional forgiveness, and unconditional rescue of us, at the very heart of our lives.
By Ed Flint
Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Everyone is welcome. Catch up on each week’s talk here.
In this final talk on Moses, we look at how Moses passes leadership on to his successor Joshua. We, like Moses, are called to do all we can to help the next generation of leaders emerge, and to do all we can to help them succeed. And, like Joshua, we’re called to develop both our gifts and character so that we can best step up into leadership when the opportunity and God’s call come. The challenge for all of us is like Moses - to find younger leaders we can invest in; and like Joshua - be the sort of person more mature leaders want to develop. The kingdom of God is, fundamentally a kingdom of people. So when our attitude is, ‘How can I best develop my gifts to serve others, whilst working to help others thrive so they can best serve too?’ God’s kingdom grows.
By Ed Flint
Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Everyone is welcome. Catch up on each week’s talk here.
Moses risks everything to pursue God’s presence. Even though God promises to deliver his people, to protect them from their enemies, and to bring blessing, that God’s presence won’t go with them is not enough for Moses. This never-ending desire for more of God is at the heart of what it is to be a leader. We follow Moses in this by admitting where we’ve lost God’s presence and doing everything we can to regain it. The reward is nothing less than the felt experience of God’s goodness.
By Ed Flint
Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Everyone is welcome. Catch up on each week’s talk here.
Alpha is a six week course exploring the big questions of life. It’s for anyone interested in discussing spirituality, god and the christian faith, in a non-judgmental open-minded context. Each week there’s a great meal, a short talk, and discussion in small groups. People who come to the course are from lots of different backgrounds - no faith, other faiths, brought up christian, and agnostic. Everyone is welcome. Catch up on each week’s talk here
Great leaders learn from failure. Moses fails both by the world’s standards - he gives up all the riches of Egyptian royalty to be with his downtrodden people; and, he fails by God’s standards - he takes God’s justice into his own hands and operates from his flesh, murdering an Egyptian. Both failures lead him to the desert. But it’s in the desert that God does his redemption. It’s in Moses’ isolation that God works wonderful things for good. The same is true for us. Our desert experiences are often the time God teaches us and develops us in ways we could never experience normally. And his promise is never to leave us there.
By Ed Flint
One of the things the world is most in need of is great leadership. So, how can we know what godly leadership looks like, and how can we grow as leaders? Moses is one of the greatest leaders in the Bible. In his birth story we see the foundations on which great leaders stand. They know that, despite the turmoil of the world, God is good and God is in control. When you truly believe this you see that you’re no accident, there is a purpose and calling to your life; you won’t be surprised by what might happen, because nothing is a surprise to God; and you’ll know that in the end everything will work out well because Jesus has defeated all that might come against you. It’s these foundations that enable us to grow into godly leaders who impact and influence our environment for Jesus and his kingdom.
By Ed Flint
How are you coping? Culture tells us that life is what we make it. It’s down to us. And yet, Christianity says we’re not designed for self-realization, so the pressure to be someone or do something has lead to a crisis of identity. At Christmas, God says something different. Life is what He makes it. And in Jesus, God comes close to us - to tell us who we are, what we’re for, and to share himself with us. When we let the one true living God in, all our questions of identity and purpose find their resolution in him. We know who we are. And we know what we’re for.
In the final section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he thanks them for their generosity in supporting him financially. However he is at pains to show he’s more appreciative of the friendship and partnership in the gospel that their generosity reveals than he is with the money they have given. This is because, in God’s kingdom, people are more important than things. The gospel is more important than money. To have our priorities correctly aligned like this requires learning to be content in all circumstances. In particular it requires contentment in relation to money. We live free from the enslaving power of money when learn to treat it as Jesus taught - something not to be worshipped, nor fled from, but to be mastered and held lightly. Generosity, discipline and learning to give money away is one of the best ways to set ourselves free. At the end of this talk we consider why and how all of us, as integral parts of the church, can financially support the work of bread.
By Ed Flint
As a population we are becoming more and more anxious. We live in one of the most opportunity-rich nations on earth, and yet we worry more and more. In this context Paul’s command to not be anxious about anything seems particularly stark. And yet Paul has such a depth of relationship with Jesus that he knows this isn’t an anxiety free life is not a pipe dream. In Jesus we access to a peace that is so profound that it washes away every worry. The question is: do we want to let Jesus into the source of our anxieties?
By Ed Flint
Whilst the Philippian church is clearly doing very well - they are Paul’s ‘joy and crown’ - there is nevertheless some unresolved conflict within their ranks. Conflict is not necessarily a sign of dysfunction. In fact, biblical churches are marked not by an absence of conflict - it is inevitable - but by the presence of a deep desire to reconcile. Conflict exists because whilst the church is full of redeemed, Spirit-filled people, we still exhibit traits of our fallen nature. We always have a choice between living in one of two kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness which brings slander and unforgiveness and division and hate, or Jesus’ kingdom, which is marked by peace. Let us be a church that chooses the latter. And let us be people insistent on resolving conflict healthily, graciously, biblically, and regularly.
By Ed Flint
Paul warns against valuing things which squeeze Jesus out as being our supreme value. Culture puts a high value on success, money, fame, intelligence and beauty amongst other things. Religion values outward performance and empty tradition. From time to time we need to reevaluate our values. Our faith can slide into performance. Our hearts are always susceptible to going after culture’s values. Paul calls us to worship the living God as a safeguard and antidote to these. It’s in the presence of Jesus that we see him for who he is again. And here, we can both die to that which robs us of life, and be resurrected to the life of fullness that Jesus promises.
By. Ed Flint
Paul is able to rejoice in the most difficult circumstances. He’s a great example for us: He is certain that God’s purposes for the world will win out nevertheless and despite these trials (the Gospel is preached in and outside the prison); He recognizes that God’s purposes for his own life will win out through these trials (God is using them to deepen Paul’s experience of salvation); and He has one singular focus: ‘to live is Christ’. So career, family, relationships whilst important, if threatened, will not derail him. When we follow him in establishing our lives on these three foundations, we can live in peace and with joy even in the toughest of times.
By Ed Flint
