bread church

By breadReligion & Spirituality Christianity

bread church episodes

January 05 Taste and see that the Lord is good.
As we head into 2026, let us consider a simple invitation from Psalm 34:
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
From Genesis to Revelation, the scriptures demonstrate God inviting us to
receive his wonderful love in tangible, authentic, and embodied ways.
Through Jesus, the hard work has been completed, and our job is to receive
from him. What gets in the way of us “tasting and seeing” the goodness of
God? Let us run (with abandon) into the perfect Arms of love as a community
this year.
By Nelly D’Alessandro
0 min
December 22, 2025 Advent: a weary world rejoices.
As Advent draws to a close, we reflect on the phrase, the thrill of hope, a
weary world rejoices. We're reminded daily of the weariness of our world,
but what was going on when Jesus was born? Why was the ancient world so
weary?
In this talk, we dive into what was happening politically and culturally
for the people of Jesus' time, explore what we get wrong about the
Nativity, and how by reframing our understanding of Luke 2, we can better
understand the Hope that Jesus brings. Because hope does not belong to a
select few: it's for everyone.
By Rebekah Covington
27 min
December 18, 2025 Advent 2025: Prince of Peace.
Christmas declares ‘Glory to God and on earth, peace’. Peace, which is more
than just an absence of conflict, but rather everything being right and
good with the world, is what God intends for his world. But we know all too
well how peace-less the world can be: there’s a lack of peace globally, in
our communities, and in our own hearts and minds.
This is because the lasting peace Jesus promises is always dependent on
him. And without him, we can never experience the peace He brings. But when
we embrace Him as the center of our universe, our community, our personal
lives, he does what no-one else can do. He destroys the peacelessness that
afflicts us, and re-creates us so that we have peace with God, other people
and ourselves. This is the message of Christmas!
By Ed Flint
22 min
December 08, 2025 Bread end of year giving.
1 Timothy 6:3-19⁠
Every December, we launch our End of Year Giving Campaign. In this talk, we
consider how, as followers of Jesus, we are called to treat money. Paul
writes to Timothy with instruction to three groups of people: those who
have lost sight of Jesus and who are solely interested in financial gain;
those who are materially poor; and those who are wealthy. And, in this
context, he exhorts Timothy, and all three groups, to refrain from being
distracted.
Our focus is not the love of money, but to take hold of the kingdom of God.
It is only here where we are freed from the power money can exert over us
to become the generous givers we have been made to be. There is no better
use of the resources we have been given than to give them away for the sake
of the Kingdom of God.
By Ed Flint
52 min
December 02, 2025 Jesus wins by losing.
Isaiah 52:13-15; Isaiah 53:1-12
As we wrap up this short series on Isaiah (a fitting moment to enter
Advent), we come to Isaiah 53—the Suffering Servant—arguably the text that
shaped the early church’s understanding of Jesus’ death and resurrection
more than any other. It gives us the clearest Old Testament picture of what
Jesus came to do and why it matters for real life.
But it’s not a pretty picture: this is a God who heals by taking the
brutality of all human sin and pain on Himself. We ask how this song might
shape the way we understand our own suffering, and how it calls us toward
compassion and mission in our city.
By Hannah Flint
34 min
November 24, 2025 Jesus comforts those in distress.
Isaiah 40:1-11
The Bible never promises us a stress-free life. Indeed, we’re regularly
told that, as Christians, we can expect suffering. However we can also
always expect God to be our great comforter whatever we face. His comfort
is so extraordinarily powerful that even when circumstances are at their
most dire, we are lifted up, drawn closer and enlivened in our faith.
God comforts us by his nature, his word, and through the comfort of his
people. Isaiah prophesies about God’s comfort coming to his people in
distress. In Jesus, and by his Spirit, that same comfort is available to us
now and always.
By Ed Flint
39 min
November 17, 2025 Jesus gives you a home.
Isaiah 35 offers a vision of hope and home to God’s people in exile,
hundreds of years prior to Jesus. It poetically speaks of the wildness of
God’s compassionate mercy and his surprising power.
From this passage we can see a theme that extends far forward as well, that
Jesus has come to give us a forever home that is secure. And because of his
love and power—even in the driest, most hopeless places—songs of joy and
gladness can spring up in our lives.
As he made a desert road for the exiles from Judah, so he has made a road
home for us in the midst of our pain and wilderness-seasons.
By Nelly D’Alessandro
36 min
November 10, 2025 Jesus restores what you’ve lost.
Isaiah 11:1-10
Isaiah prophesies the kingdom of Judah’s downfall at the hands of the
Assyrians. The people of God are like a tree felled to a stump. But all is
not lost. From that stump, the remnant of Israel, God’s Messiah will come,
and he will restore all that has been lost.
On a personal level, we all suffer loss to various degrees. Sometimes we’re
responsible, other times we’re not. Jesus, our Messiah, full of God’s
spirit, comes to restore all that has been lost: our place in creation, our
relationship with God, and our mission to the world.
By Ed Flint
39 min
November 03, 2025 Jesus dispels darkness.
Isaiah 9:1-7⁠
Jesus is the prince of peace, the prince of shalom. Shalom is more than
just an absence of conflict. It is everything being made complete and
right. In our world, we can be very aware of the darkness. The news is
often filled with it. And we have darkness closer to home; in our family
relationships as well as in our own personal lives, too.
Jesus has come to dispel all darkness and bring an end to all conflict. But
He can only do as much as we let Him have access to in our lives. The more
we’re able to let our old selves die, and resurrect with Him, the more
peace rules our lives and enables us to bring Jesus’ shalom to a world in
need.
By Ed Flint
49 min
October 20, 2025 Devoted to growth.
The early church grew at a phenomenal rate. Churches are supposed to grow.
This is because God’s will is that every single person know him and be part
of his community of love. So, a church that refuses to grow is outside the
will of God.
Growth is always the work of God. We’re simply called to participate in
what he’s already doing. He builds the waves, our job is to ride them for
as long as we’re able. The way we do that is the way the first Christians
did it: they were witnessed what Jesus had done in their lives, and they
were empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so.
We’re called to witness and be empowered, to be empowered and to witness.
When we all do this, the potential for the growth of Jesus’ church is
exponential!
By Ed Flint
38 min