This weekend at Living Temple Christian Church Tugun, church member Carl asked the question "what does it mean to be a Christian?" and took us on a journey through the bible to answer it. Exploring this simple question provided us with a lot to think about and some easy to understand doctrine and theology of what it means to follow Jesus in a simple yet powerful way. 

A helpful sermon for those exploring faith and mature Christians alike. 

What path are you on? Are you feeling weary? 

This Sunday at Tugun Jess pulled apart Galatians 6:7-10 and gave some really practical insights to Christian living. 

Listen to Andy Sawden’s sermon on John 15 at Living Temple Christian Church Tugun as he unpacks Jesus’ teaching on the true Vine, abiding in Christ, and bearing spiritual fruit through a deeper relationship with God.

Celebrate Mother’s Day with an inspiring message from Pastor Jess Quak at Living Temple Christian Church. This heartfelt sermon explores faith, family, strength, and God’s love through the lens of motherhood, encouraging and equipping people in every season of life.

In this message, Ash Morrison returns to the foundation of the Christian life — loving God and loving people. Drawing from Jesus' greatest commandments in Matthew 22 and John 13, Ash unpacks what agape love actually looks like in everyday life using 1 Corinthians 13 as a guide. From patience and kindness, to keeping no record of wrongs, to persevering with the hardest people in our lives, Paul's famous passage is far more than a wedding reading — it's a practical picture of what a life shaped by love can look like.

Ash also challenges us to check our hearts regularly, because it's easy to drift from doing things out of love into doing them out of obligation, pride, or routine without even realising it's happened. Whether you're a brand new believer wondering what comes next, or someone who's been walking with God for years, this message is a reminder that everything we do as Christians must be built on this foundation — and that the good news is we don't have to produce this kind of love on our own. Jesus doesn't just model perfect agape love, he fills us with it.

If you’ve ever wanted to help someone find Jesus but felt stuck between overthinking and awkward pressure, we get it. We’re chasing something simpler and more courageous: loving one person at a time with the kind of clarity that comes from actually hearing God, not just guessing our way forward.

We walk through five practical, biblical ways people hear from God: an audible voice, Scripture that comes alive with personal direction, visions that correct and lead, mentoring and discipleship that refines what we’re missing, and the inner leading of the Holy Spirit that guides timing and next steps. Along the way we talk about why “God told me” needs humility, how Scripture anchors spiritual discernment, and how healthy Christian community keeps us grounded while we grow.

We also bring it back to real life. Who is the person you’re praying for right now? What would change if you asked God to guide you toward them like a straight line to the prize, and then gave you the courage to act with love, patience, and good timing?

If this helps you, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share it with a friend who’s trying to discern God’s voice, and leave a review to help more people find the show. What’s the most common way you sense God leading you today?

Jess Quak preaches at Living Temple Christian Church, unpacking Acts 16 and the many ways God uses ordinary moments to advance His mission.

This message reframes how we read the Bible, showing the difference between what Scripture commands (prescriptive) and what it describes (descriptive). Through Paul and Silas’ wild journey — from casting out a spirit to being beaten, imprisoned, worshipping, and seeing a jailer saved — Jess highlights how discipleship doesn’t follow a single formula.

Instead, it requires discernment, a surrendered attitude, and a willingness to see every moment — even interruptions, discomfort, or brokenness — as part of God’s mission.

Main themes:
The Great Commission in everyday life
Reading the Bible as meditation literature
Prescriptive vs descriptive Scripture
Discernment in mission
When distractions are actually the mission
Attitude in hardship
God using brokenness
Reaching people in everyday moments
God pursuing the one

Bible passage: Acts 16 (NIV)

Speaker: Jess Quak
Church: Living Temple Christian Church
Location: Gold Coast / Tweed region

Chapters
00:00 Living Temple rhythm: God, one another, the world, discipleship
01:08 How to approach Scripture personally
02:00 The Great Commission (Matthew 28)
02:25 The Bible as meditation literature
03:07 Prescriptive vs descriptive Scripture
04:21 What Acts shows about making disciples
05:15 A narrow view of evangelism (Olympics story)
07:00 Many ways God reaches people
08:00 Context of Acts 16 and Paul’s mission
09:34 The Macedonian call
09:59 Lydia and the first church in the West
10:23 The slave girl and spiritual encounter
11:17 Arrest, marketplace, and Roman culture
12:27 Beaten and imprisoned
13:27 Worship in prison
14:23 Earthquake and chains breaking
14:49 The jailer’s response
15:13 Salvation of the household
16:08 Paul reveals Roman citizenship
18:12 Key insight: discernment in mission
19:07 Distractions vs mission
20:42 Prophetic awareness and responding to God
21:27 Attitude can advance or hinder mission
22:05 God using brokenness as witness
24:14 Sharing faith in everyday moments
25:41 God goes after the one
26:40 Living with mission in every sphere

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Jess Quak teaches from Acts 16 on discernment, mission, and how God uses everyday moments, brokenness, and attitude to reach people.

Dave Quak preaches at Living Temple Christian Church from Matthew 13, exploring Jesus’ parable of the sower and what it means to live with other people in mind.

Rather than carrying the pressure to “save everyone”, Dave unpacks the simple call to sow seeds of faith, love, kindness, prayer, care, and gospel hope — one person at a time.

This message looks at the four soils Jesus describes: the path, the rocky ground, the thorns, and the good soil. It also explores spiritual warfare, discipleship, depth, worry, wealth, fruitfulness, and the call for everyday Christians to partner with God in seeing lives changed.

Main themes:
Living with others in mind
Sharing Jesus one person at a time
The parable of the sower
Spiritual warfare and prayer
Discipleship and deep roots
The worries of life and deceitfulness of wealth
Fruitfulness and multiplication

Bible passage: Matthew 13:1–23 NIV

Speaker: Dave Quak
Church: Living Temple Christian Church
Location: Gold Coast / Tweed region

Chapters
00:00 Living with other people in mind
02:27 Jesus teaches with agricultural language
03:31 Matthew 13 and the parable of the sower
04:49 Seed on the path
05:39 Seed on rocky ground
06:41 Seed among thorns
07:11 Seed on good soil
08:18 What the seed represents
09:44 Jesus explains the parable
10:28 When the enemy steals the seed
11:27 Spiritual warfare and prayer
13:20 Faith without deep roots
14:43 Discipleship and going deeper
15:31 A personal story of faith, addiction, and falling away
18:02 The seed choked by worries and wealth
19:30 Freedom from worry and the deceitfulness of wealth
21:15 The fruitful life
22:10 Partnering with God

SEO Meta Description
Dave Quak preaches from Matthew 13 at Living Temple Christian Church on the parable of the sower, evangelism, discipleship, and fruitful faith.

In this message, Dave Quak unpacks a simple but powerful vision for evangelism and discipleship at Living Temple Christian Church: one person at a time.

Looking at Matthew 18:12–14, Dave shows how the heart of God is not just for crowds, but for the one. This message explores why reaching and discipling people one at a time is biblical, practical, joyful, and something the whole church can be part of together.

Rather than putting all the pressure on a few people, this sermon calls every believer to play their part — through friendship, prayer, hospitality, encouragement, invitation, and everyday faithfulness. It is a vision for church life where people are not just counted, but genuinely loved, embraced, and discipled.

Scripture: Matthew 18:12–14

Speaker: Dave Quak
 Church: Living Temple Christian Church

What this message covers:

•  The Great Commission and the “how” of discipleship 
•  Why Jesus cares deeply about the one 
•  A practical model of church-based evangelism 
•  How every person in the church can play a part 
•  Why going after the lost is an act of worship 
•  Trusting God to save while we faithfully love and invite 

This is a message for anyone wanting to see people come to know Jesus in a real, relational, and lasting way.

Jess Quak preaches from the book of Ruth and shows how God works through ordinary people in ordinary moments.

Set during the time of the judges, Ruth is not a flashy story of kings, battles, or public miracles. It is the story of grief, loyalty, generosity, quiet obedience, and the hidden faithfulness of God. Through Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, we see that God is still at work even when life feels small, painful, or unnoticed.

This message explores how easy it is to compare ourselves to impressive people and assume our own lives do not matter. But Ruth reminds us that God often does His deepest work through everyday faithfulness. Small acts of obedience, generosity, and love can carry extraordinary kingdom impact.

Jess also unpacks the wider biblical context of Ruth, the role of Boaz as kinsman-redeemer, and the powerful ending of the story, where this ordinary family line leads to King David and ultimately to Jesus.

If your life feels ordinary, unseen, or stretched thin, this sermon is a reminder that God is present in the everyday and uses faithful people in ways bigger than they realise.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and International Women’s Day mention
 01:06 Why we compare ourselves to extraordinary people
 02:50 The danger of putting people on pedestals
 04:14 God uses ordinary people
 05:40 Ruth in the context of Judges
 09:06 The cycle of Israel’s sin and deliverance
 11:30 Reading the story of Ruth
 12:02 Naomi’s loss and return to Bethlehem
 15:30 Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi
 16:30 God’s fingerprints all through the story
 17:20 Ruth meets Boaz
 20:20 Boaz’s generosity changes everything
 21:20 Ordinary obedience with extraordinary impact
 22:07 A personal story about a simple act of kindness
 23:40 Leaving margin for generosity
 25:19 Generosity with time, money, and attention
 28:22 Naomi’s hope and the kinsman-redeemer
 30:09 Ruth approaches Boaz
 31:16 Boaz acts with integrity
 31:44 Ruth, Boaz, and the birth of Obed
 32:34 From Ruth to David to Jesus
 33:14 The Spirit of God in everyday life
 34:03 Final encouragement and call to worship