ASCEND Church Perth

This message invites us into the rest of Psalm 23 by learning to stop trying to be the shepherd of our own lives.

We often want the benefits of having a Shepherd - green pastures, still waters, restored souls, and a safe path - without being willing to humble ourselves and surrender control. Control feels like peace, yet it is usually rooted in fear and is ultimately an illusion.

In this message, Ps. Olivia carefully unpacks the first half of Psalm 23, showing how the Lord leads us into rest, and draws especially near in the moments when we need Him most.

Jesus, Our Shepherd King: Finding Rest in Surrendering Control
Ascend Church | 15 November 2026

As we head into a season of extending ourselves in faith, we need to be equipped to speak words of life.

God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence, and because we are made in His image and invited to co-labour with Him, our words also carry real creative power. 

If you are struggling with negativity that leaves you anxious, empty, or depressed, words that tear down your marriage or the people around you, speaking unbelief that limits breakthrough, difficulty taming your tongue, or the need for fresh strength to encourage and build up others, this message from Ps. Ian will encourage you greatly.

Our words are tools to create life around us and advance the kingdom as we align them with God’s purposes and speak His word over our families and one another.

Speaking Words of Life
Ascend Church | 8 November 2026

This week we finish our four-week series through Jonah, concluding with one of the big ideas of the entire book: God doesn't just want a people who obey like robots; He desires a people who share His heart of mercy, compassion, and love.

Jonah is angry that God spares Nineveh. He can quote verses about God’s heart of mercy and compassion, yet himself delights in destruction for Israel’s enemies. What does Jonah’s response reveal about a heart that has received mercy but refuses to extend it?

In this message, Ps Jason exposes the three mission-hindering issues that can remain at work in any of us. If you’ve ever quietly thought someone was too far gone to bother sharing Christ with, held back because it might be awkward or cost you socially, chosen comfort over praying for and investing in lost friends, or realised your heart does not actually long for others to experience the mercy you’ve received, this message will challenge and encourage you.

God is still asking the question left hanging at the end of Jonah: "Will you join Me in feeling what I feel for those living in spiritual darkness?"

The God Who Desires to Share His Heart
Jonah Series (Part 4 of 4)
Ascend Church | 1 November 2026

This week we continue our four-part journey through the book of Jonah. The key takeaway of Chapter 3: Before we can truly value the good news of God’s mercy, we must first understand the bad news of His right to judge.

Using the response of Nineveh in Jonah 3, Ps Jason carefully unpacks why eternal judgment is a foundational doctrine, how a man-centred gospel produces only worldly sorrow, and why a God-centred gospel leads to genuine repentance.

If you are struggling to grasp how a loving God can also be just, wrestling with residual condemnation or a casual attitude toward the day of judgment, finding it hard to feel the weight of what Christ has already borne for you, or wondering how to lovingly warn others of what is to come, this message will both challenge and encourage you.

The God Who Has the Right to Judge (But Who Desires to Show Mercy)
Jonah Series (Part 3 of 4)
Ascend Church | 25 October 2026

This week we continue our four-week journey through the book of Jonah, looking at the God who sovereignly works even through our sin and rebellion and brings us to the place of surrender.

Jonah has been running from God’s call to Nineveh. Thrown overboard in the storm, he is swallowed by a great fish. From the belly of the fish—the lowest place he could go—he finally prays. What does true surrender look like, and how does God use even painful discipline to bring us there? In this message, Ps Jason carefully walks through Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2, showing the five clear signs of a heart that has truly surrendered to God.

If you’re struggling with pride or self-reliance, feeling distant from God and not wanting to pray, lacking hunger for His Word, holding onto subtle idols of control, or wondering if you’ve gone too far for God to hear you, this message will encourage you greatly.

Salvation belongs to the Lord. When we cry out in our distress and throw ourselves on His grace, the God who hears and rescues meets us and lifts us up.

The God Who Hears and Rescues (In Response to Our Surrender)
Jonah Series (Part 2 of 4)
Ascend Church | 18 October 2026

Today we began a new four-week series through the book of Jonah, walking through one chapter each week and letting the Scripture itself teach us.

Jonah is given a clear call to go to Nineveh and announce judgment, but he runs in the opposite direction. Is it fear, or something deeper? And when God hurls a violent storm that threatens to break the ship apart, what does that reveal about the God who refuses to let His purposes be thwarted?

In this message, Ps Jason carefully unpacks Jonah 1, showing that God has the power to orchestrate the circumstances of our lives to humble our hearts and bring us into alignment with His will. If you’ve been putting off something God has asked you to do, convinced your plan is better than His, or weighed down by regrets from your past, this message will challenge and encourage you.

The sooner we align our will with God’s, the better off we will be. God can turn even our past sins and mistakes into something good, and His purposes always prevail.

The God Who Always Gets His Way
Jonah Series (Part 1 of 4)
Ascend Church | 11 October 2026

People across the world are longing for peace but not finding it. Anxiety is on the rise, and a settled heart for most feels just out of reach. This message names a better home: shalom, the peace of God that is not subject to our circumstances.

Colossians 3:15 calls us to let the peace of God rule in our hearts, and Philippians 4:7 says that peace guards us like a soldier. So why do we still feel so unsettled? Nikita carefully names the enemies of peace - fear, perfectionism, and sin - and shows how each one pulls body, soul, and spirit out of step. Fear multiplies what we dread. Perfectionism turns life into perfect-or-failure and stalls us in procrastination. Sin, a departure from God’s design, removes the peace of God.

If you are anxious, driven by high expectations, putting things off because nothing feels good enough, carrying guilt, struggling to surrender, neglecting Scripture or rest, or noticing that gratitude has quietly drained away, this message will help you find the way back home.

Shalom is not a feeling we have to manufacture. It is the home that God has offered us.

Shalom is Your Home
Ascend Church | 4 October 2026

There's only two things we can take with us into eternity - the people we lead to Jesus and the Word that we have stored up in our hearts. That's all that will really matter in the end. so don't let the temporary things of whatever season you're in distract you from the eternal things of your life.

True discipleship is not a program we finish, but a way of life with Jesus. It is relationship with God, with God's people, and with lost people.

True Discipleship is Relationship
Ascend Church | 20 September 2026

Life in God's Kingdom, means a life of purpose. God reveals our part in His purpose by putting dreams in our hearts. In this message, special guest Ps Darren Bonnell challenges us to see the expansive God-ordained vision that He has for our lives, prepare for exponential influence, and position ourselves to walk into all that God has for us as a church.