In this message Chris explores the way in which John the Baptist's view of Jesus was transformed.

At the end of our series on 1 Corinthians, Chris summarises the studies so far and answers questions from the congregation.

Chris continues the series in 1 Corinthians 7, as Paul addresses specific questions and situations of the Corinthians.

Chris continues his series in Starting With God by this week looking at God's holiness. There are some passages in the Bible that can be very difficult to understand, some that we may even choose to ignore or turn a blind eye to. But we should not be turning away from the things that we "don't like". God defines holiness, even if we don't understand why things happen, we need to trust that his plan is perfect and put our hope in Jesus who intimately reveal's God's character to us.

Everyone has a favourite painting, whether you're interested in art or not, a picture that you can admire and try to understand the artist's intention. Something that reveals part of their nature. How amazing would it be if you could actually meet with the artist and understand their true character and intention? Paul says in his letter to the Romans that by admiring God's handiwork in nature His eternal power and divine nature are revealed to us, but only when we converse and meet with God do we begin to understand His true nature. Chris speaks on how we should move from simply admiring the world that God has created to being in true relationship with Him, only then will He be fully revealed to us.

Throughout this year we've been thinking about the river of God flowing from the temple in Ezekiel's vision. Well, Pentecost was day 1 of that prophecy coming true. The Spirit came in power on the disciples in the upper room and flowed out through them into the people of Jerusalem. Chris reminds us that we are called to be continually filled with the God's Holy Spirit and let the Spirit flow through us and into our communities today, just as he did all those centuries ago.

As Chris is away this week we have Kevin Burdett bringing God's word to us and he speaks on the Kingdom of God growing in the dark. Just like the seeds that a farmer plants in the ground sometimes it may appear that nothing is happening, however what we fail to see is what is happening underneath the surface. The seed has sprouted, strong roots are developing and when the timing is right the shoots will begin to show. How do we stay close to God in the times where we're waiting for those shoots to appear from the ground?

In first century Judea a cross was not generally something talked about in polite conversation, let alone boasted about. Yet through Jesus' victory Paul says that he (and by extension we) can boast in the achievement of the cross. As we continue our starting with God series Chris examines Jesus' victory, the turning of a symbol of terror and oppression into a symbol of hope and how we can still see God's glory through the cross.

When we make a decision, conscious or unconscious, to not follow God wholeheartedly we can be sent into exile from Him. Not a physical exile like those experienced in the Old Testament but a spiritual exile where it feels like our connection with God is frayed or even totally broken. In the next in our series of Starting With God Chris looks at the symptoms of that spiritual exile and reminds us that the door to God is never closed: we are always given the opportunity to return.

After a short Easter break this week we're back in our series Starting With God. The writer of Ecclesiastes examines the whole of existence in his book and comes to the conclusion that "everything is meaningless". But with one proviso: "everything is meaningless" without God. Chris looks at the dead ends that can occur in our lives if we try to exist without God directing us and how He gently but firmly brings us back to the path to life if we allow Him to.