bread church

By breadReligion & Spirituality Christianity

bread church episodes

January 25, 2024 ALPHA - Week 1: Who are you? What are you for?
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
30 min
January 25, 2024 Alpha (Winter 2024) WEEK 1: Who are you? What are you for?
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.
30 min
January 22, 2024 Moses: Knowing when to be still and when to act.
We were delighted to welcome guest speaker Bill Dogetrom to speak and
continue our series on Moses and the marks of a great leader. Bill brings
all his years of experience to help unpack the famous episode of God
delivering the Israelites across the Red Sea. Moses learns there are times
when we need to be still in prayer, and others when when we need to move
forward prayerfully. When we are grounded in God through prayer we can be a
non-anxious presence when all around is chaos. And we’ll know when it’s
time to stay still, and when it’s time to go.
By Bill Dogterom
39 min
January 15, 2024 Moses: Learn from our failures.
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
41 min
January 08, 2024 Moses: Believe God is in control and know that you matter.
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
39 min
December 18, 2023 Advent: Unexpected news (Raul's farewell).
Advent invites us to anticipate God’s activity. This is the most evident in
the birth announcement to Mary. She welcomes God’s unexpected news and
shows us what it is like to have your expectations re-ordered around the
joy and wonder of Jesus.
By Raul Sandoval
43 min
December 17, 2023 Advent: Unexpected News (Raul's Farewell)
Advent invites us to anticipate God’s activity. This is the most evident in
the birth announcement to Mary. She welcomes God’s unexpected news and
shows us what it is like to have your expectations re-ordered around the
joy and wonder of Jesus.
By Raul Sandoval
43 min
December 11, 2023 Advent: A Very bread Christmas service.
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.
By Ed Flint
16 min
December 10, 2023 Advent: A Very Bread Christmas Service
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.
16 min
December 04, 2023 Advent: Through the eyes of Joseph.
In this talk, we look at the nativity story through the eyes of Joseph -
the quiet, faithful carpenter, and adoptive parent of Jesus Christ. Even in
the version that tells his side, Joseph functions like a “minor character”.
He’s low on the call sheet. He sings in the ensemble. He’s an extra. He,
very literally, has no lines. Yet Joseph never tries to take glory. He has
all of the power, and still, everything he does shows kindness, humility,
and obedience to God. Joseph goes to bed one night and meets with an angel
in his dreams, telling him that the baby to be born is not only a
supernatural work of the Spirit, but will be known as Immanuel, God with
us. In revealing this to him, God shows that he is not only Immanuel, God
with the world, but he is also Immanuel, God with Joseph. Immanuel is God
seeing us, knowing us, and then meeting us exactly where we are. Not where
we appear to be, not where we want to be, but where we are, with what we
need.
By Tavia Grubbs
31 min