From the beginning, the first Christians celebrated the Lord’s Supper together. The spiritual significance of the meal is past, present and future.

When we take communion we are acknowledging the once and for all work of Jesus’ death in history; we experience his Spirit feeding us, grafting us to him, as well as to one another in the present; and we are reassured of Jesus’ return and the hopeful expectation of heaven. Communion is as integral to our faith now as it was then, and the more we devote ourselves to it, the more we open ourselves to the transformative work of the Spirit.

By Ed Flint

This week, we’re in part two of our new series, Devoted—a short walk through a few, but very important, verses in Acts 2 about what the very first Christians gave themselves to.

Fellowship. It’s a word that might seem pretty blandly church-ish, but Luke has something far richer in mind: koinonia, the shared life that flows from belonging to the Triune God. We explore how this fellowship is different to, and more than, other kinds of community, how it’s shaped by Christ’s self-giving love, and how it calls us to a deeper kind of commitment to one another here and now. It’s a lofty vision, but a heavenly invitation all the same!

By Hannah Flint

Kicking off our ‘Devoted’ series from Acts, we consider what it means to be devoted to the apostles' teaching.

At Pentecost, 3000 were cut to the heart by the message of the gospel. But their faith did not remain solely in the realm of the emotional. They did not disdain their intellect, but devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.

We do the same - neither prioritizing our emotions nor our minds. Anti-intellectualism is in fact incompatible with the fullness of the Spirit, for the simple fact that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. So, we seek out Godly, intelligent teaching and we submit to being teachable.

But we don’t allow devotion to the apostle’s teaching to be an end in itself. Rather it is the means by which the Spirit flows through us to bring the Kingdom of God to our world.

By Ed Flint

It’s a regular rhythm for us at bread to share stories of how Jesus is meeting us in real time in our lives.

Today we’ll hear from five people in our community as they testify to the ways the voice of God is meeting them in each of their unique journeys.

Throughout this short exploration of the book of Jonah, we have been confronted with the radical – and uncomfortable - nature of God as being full of compassion. If we are on the receiving end, it is quite lovely! But when we are charged to proclaim that mercy to others – at least some of whom we would prefer not be given the opportunity to hear it lest they repent! – it is a different story.

In a world in which we are weaponized against one another, Jonah calls us, in spite of himself, to learn compassion from God – and especially towards those we think, perhaps accurately, least deserving of it. If we are going to be at all useful in partnering with God to save the world, it is a lesson needing to be learned.

By Bill Dogterom

As we dive into Jonah chapter 3, we find a reluctant prophet carrying a very short message to his enemies in Nineveh.

In this talk, we explore a few questions together: What does it mean for us that the whole capital city of such a brutal empire responded so spectacularly to God’s invitation (even to include the animals!)? What’s with all the mourning clothes and ashes? And what does “repentance” even mean, for our context? What is the Spirit of God inviting us to, and how can we join him?

By Nelly D'Alessandro