In this episode, we delve into the teachings of Jesus from Matthew 6:19-24, exploring the profound message about what true treasure is, which in turn creates the upside down economics of the Kingdom of God.

Initially preached at C3 North Perth as part of our 'This Strange Life' series, this particular recording was re-recorded at my home. 

We delve into Jesus' often overlooked angle to the Gospel - that Jesus is teacher. Drawing wisdom from the Gospel of Matthew, we compare the teachings explore their implications against the backdrop of religious and political backgrounds of His time, and also the modern belief that a meaningful life can be achieved through wellness practices, morality, and self-awareness without a genuine commitment to God.

Finally, this episode presents a helpful creed that encapsulates the essence of the gospel, and if you want to follow along with that, then read from here: 

We as a people, believe in God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the Father, who out of love, alongside the Son and Spirit, created the Heavens and the Earth.

We believe in Jesus the Son, who was predestined to rule among us,

Conceived of the the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary,

Who followed in God’s ways and invited all into God’s ways.

In whose Kingdom, decisive victory was in suffering under Pontious Pilate.

He was crucified, died, and descended into death,

Yet, this victory was truly made known three days later when He rose again from the dead, trampling sin and death,

He is now seated at the right hand of the Father and will come from there to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son and, with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. Who moves across the Earth,

Dwells covenantally with believers,

And mediates Christ’s presence.

Who enables God’s growth, guidance, and gifts.

Whose power is made known in signs and wonders,

And is moving all things unto Christ’s New Creation.

We believe in the Holy catholic Church,

Called to be shaped by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Family to one another,

Who together seek to know God and make Him known,

Resist evil,

Live simple and communal lives,

Make peace,

And Wisely love their neighbours.

Turn their heads towards the poor,

Seek the common good in Jesus-shaped ways,

And confess to each other when there is failure to live in such ways, offering grace and spurring each other on.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins,

The resurrection from the dead,

And the life and the world of the age to come.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

What does it mean to "deny yourself and take up your cross"? against the backdrop of both avoiding burnout, and looking after oneself (AKA Self-care)? This is what is spoken about today, in conversation with Joel Seneque. 

Joel (along with his wife Michala) are the pastors at C3 North Perth, which is an urban church just on the outskirts of Perth in Maylands, WA. Speaking personally, this is my church community- and I think it is wonderful. To find out more about C3 North Perth, feel free to check them out at https://www.c3northperth.com.au/

What do we mean by the word "worship"? What is worship's relationship to the rest of life, how we orientate ourselves, and how we grow in union with God and with each other? We discuss this (and so much more, from revival, to spiritual formation, to the very nature of congregational worship) in what is another conversational episode with none other than Mwati Tembo. 

Mwati is a young worship leader who has served in her local church for a few years. Mwati holds a Bachelor of Theology and is involved in different spheres of ministry inside and outside of the Church. With gifts in leadership, writing, and teaching, Mwati is also the founder of The Global Pursuit, a creative project for those in pursuit of a life of purpose. Through the many ways that God uses her to serve others, Mwati is especially passionate about followers of Jesus submitting their lives as a form of worship unto God, and cares deeply about the Church leading the next generation in true and proper discipleship. 

To find out more, check out the links below...! 

The Global Pursuit: 

Mwati: https://www.instagram.com/mwati_tembo/

What the heck is meant by the words “Gospel”, “Kingdom of God”,  “Repent”, “Believe”, and “Follow”? It might not be what you think...

And seeing these words in a new light might be the very thing that expands our view of the Christian faith beyond the I-got-my-ticket-to-heaven type of faith. 

So enjoy me as I do a bit of a long-but-fun riff on these words. 

Today it is just me speaking, yet sharing a story/fictional conversation dipping our toes into the water of all things the end. 

On this month’s episode of Deeper and Wider we are talking all things beatitudes with internationally recognized specialist in practical Christian spirituality, Mark Scandrette. Mark is the founding director the ReIMAGINE Center for Living Wisdom, where he leads an annual series of retreats, workshops and projects designed to help participants apply spiritual wisdom to everyday life. His multidisciplinary studies in applied psychology, family health and theology have shaped his approach to learning and transformation. A sought after voice for creative, radical and embodied faith practices, he frequently speaks at universities, churches and conferences nationally and internationally and also serves as adjunct faculty in the doctoral program at Fuller Theological Seminary.

His most recent books include The Ninefold Path of Jesus (which, by the way, is THE book on the beatitudes), also three other book including FREE, Practicing the Way of Jesus, and Belonging and Becoming: Creating A Thriving Family Culture. Mark lives with his wife Lisa and their three young adult children in an old Victorian in San Francisco’s Mission District. He loves walking city streets and discovering beauty in unexpected places. He is passionately engaged in sustainability practices and efforts to create safe neighborhoods for all people.

To find out more about the workshops that we spoke about today in the episode, head over to head on over to reimagine.org, go to the learning labs tab, and register your interest to be part of that. To learn more on Mark himself, he can be found at his website  www.markscandrette.com. 

On this more conversational episode, me and Matt Nash range from speaking about the simple life of C.S Lewis, to the celebrityism of the western church, to dreaming together about how we might move forward unto being the community of the people of God in these times we find ourselves in. 

Apologetics. For some people, the word evokes in the imagination people having rich dialogue about the big questions of life, faith, church, philosophy, and many more topics pertaining to God, in a good natured dialogue of wrestling with honest questions. But for some, the word evokes in the imagination people having petty arguments about God’s existence, getting angry, not listening to those friends with sincere questions of faith, and having debates around secondary questions like how old the Earth is. So my question is this: is apologetics inherently bad? Are there ways of doing apologetics that avoid pettiness and getting into a ‘us vs them’ posture? We’ll be exploring this and a range of other things with Justin Brierley.

Justin has been working in radio, podcasting and video for almost two decades. He hosts the Unbelievable? radio show and podcast on Premier Christian Radio, as well as the Ask NT Wright Anything podcast. He is Theology and Apologetics Editor for Premier Christian Radio and occasionally contributes to other shows and podcasts from the London-based station. Justin was also editor of Premier Christianity magazine from 2014-2018, for which he continues to contribute articles. Justin's first book 'Unbelievable? Why, after ten years of talking with atheists, I'm still a Christian' (SPCK) was published in 2017. 

To find out more about Justin, find more about him at http://justinbrierley.com or search him up on socials.