The Story - 1 Kings 12 - 16: United we stand, divided we fall. The English version of the phrase is first attributed to John Dickinson – one of the founding fathers of the U.S. He used it in his pre-Revolutionary War anthem The Liberty Song, as part of a campaign to unite the various new states as one nation. From what we’ve seen on the news in recent months, it seems that our neighbours to the south may want to dust off that old song when their 45th President is sworn into office next Friday. We also see the truth of those words in this weekend’s chapter of The Story. Against all odds, Israel has risen from the ashes to become a middle eastern superpower under David and Solomon. But when we turn the page we discover a train wreck. Israel is divided into two much smaller, much weaker nations. What happened? How did everything go off the rails is such a short time? And what does God want to say to us through this crucial hinge point in Israel’s history? Join us this weekend for Chapter 14 of The Story.

The Story - 1 Kings 1-8; 10-11; 2 Chron 5-7; Prov 1-3; 6; 20-21: As we continue to make our way through the pages of The Story of God and his people we meet Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba. King Solomon steps onto the scene at a time of peace and security in the land of Israel. Gifted with God’s wisdom and blessing he leads the Kingdom into a season of unprecedented prosperity. At the peak of it all, the glorious presence of the LORD comes to dwell among His people in the Temple that Solomon built. Yet as we turn the last page we are met with a surprise: this chapter does not end as we might expect. This weekend, let’s listen to the story of Solomon and discover together what it has to say about our own stories as walk with God in this New Year.

Christmas 2016 - Happy New Year!: Many people come to a new year and make resolutions or set goals that will move them towards some form of transformation in their life. Whether or not you set resolutions, New Years is a great time to reflect and refocus on where you have been and where you are going. This Sunday we will be considering different intertwining pathways that we can journey on to experience transformation in our lives. We will be exploring Jesus' prayer in John 17 and observe the pathways that he suggests we would follow in 2017 to experience life transformation, individually and collectively as a church.

Christmas 2016: Turn on your radio … walk through a mall and you’re almost guaranteed to hear, “It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” Most of us, sing along with a strong degree of affirmation. Christmas is filled with food, gifts, lights, food, family, time off, food, services, friends … did I mention food?!?! But as great as those things are … they pale in comparison to the greatest gift ever given: the gift of Emmanuel. The truth that God is with us is staggering if we stop to think about it – so can I ask you to take time to reflect? It is the most wonderful time of year. Wishing you a very merry Christmas and God's best blessings in the New Year.

The Story - Matthew 2: Most of us put up a nativity scene in our home during the Christmas season. There are thousands of variations but the characters are pretty much the same - a few shepherds, some sheep, 3 Magi bearing gifts, a couple of cows or camels, and of course Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus. What’s not to like? These things reminds us of the beautiful story of that first Christmas. There is one problem, however. These little figurines don’t tell the whole story. In fact, there is a dark side to Christmas that we don’t like to talk about. One of the main characters is missing - a villain lurking in the shadows. His name is King Herod. And though he is absent from our fireplace hearth, he is very much present in Matthew’s narrative.

The Story: Hopes and fears. Most of us have a boatload of both. It's just that the fears seem to win the day at times. This year's Christmas production gives us a brilliant window into both in the lives of Mary and Joseph as they try to navigate the journey of immaculate conception and all its implications! I'm pretty sure that fear threatened to win the day but there was just something incredibly powerful about that angelic visitation that fueled their hope. It's a beautiful reminder of the sacred story of Christmas and the only thing that would make it better would be if you were able to be here with a friend! Come and allow your hope to be deepened as your understanding of the first Christmas comes alive. --- Pastor Ian

The Story - 2 Sam 11-12; 18-19; 1 Chronicles 22; 29; Psalms 23; 32; 51;: David and Bathsheba and … Advent?? I can hardly wait to hear how I’m going to merge these two stories together! This weekend we get to focus in on two of the greatest Kings ever to live and both of them were born in Bethlehem! It’s chapter 12 of The Story and we’ll spend some time visiting David’s amazing story with all its glory and struggle and we’ll find great hope for our stories.

The Story - 1 Sam 16-18; 24; 31; 2 Sam 6; 22; 1 Chronicles 17; Psalm 59;: It's perhaps the best known story from the bible … David and Goliath. It was certainly David's defining moment in his pursuit of God in his life. But for David, it wasn't a battle between a man and a giant, it was a battle between a God-focus and a giant-focus. We all face our own giants in life … at home, work, school, in life. David certainly saw Goliath – he was pretty hard to miss I guess! But more than that, he knew, saw, believed and trusted in an amazing God. We need David's story because giants lurk in our neighbourhoods; giants like fear and fatigue, rejection and rage, loneliness and lust, regret and remorse. We must face them … but from David's life we discover that we never have to face them alone!

The Story - 1 Sam 1-4; 8-13; 15;: Choices shape destinies ... always have and always will. We dive back into The Story this weekend with a radical twist in the life of the emerging nation of Israel. They decided they wanted to be like everyone else and asked for a King. It was a choice that completely altered their destiny. With the US elections behind us - there's no shortage of talk about the impact of a leader. We'll take a higher road this weekend but it will be a fascinating conversation on the impact of choices.

The Story - Chapter 9 of The Story, or Ruth 1-4, 1 Peter 1: Suffering. It comes to us all. So often it blindsides us. When life's toughest trials come, what do you do? How do you connect with God during these tough moments/seasons? Dr. Martin Sanders will tackle this issue from 1 Peter 1 and from his personal life.