How do we balance our lives between expectation and reality? Is balance even possible? Guest speaker Sidhara De Mel looks back to the story of Eve, and shows that if we stop trying to live our lives as a balancing act, and start living in the purpose God created us for, then we can live our lives to the full.

How would you feel if all your dreams came true? Why does success sometimes feel empty? Carey Nieuwhof spoke at the Impact Leadership Conference, and in the evening session shared thoughts and lessons from his own life and from the life of King Solomon on how we can find meaning in the dreams and success in our own lives.

Not many of us consider ourselves to be leaders, because we tend to have a narrow definition of what it means to be a leader. As followers of Jesus, we are all called to be leaders of others, and to lead people to Christ. So we need to ask ourselves two questions: where is God calling me to lead, and what does being a kingdom leader look like for me?

None of us like to wait. And for Christians, waiting for God to fulfil a promise can be very frustrating. In the Old Testament, Abram and David had to wait decades for God to fulfil their promises. Guest Speaker James Aiton explains that in the waiting for the promise to come to fruition, we shouldn’t be idle. God is using that time to prepare us so we are ready and able to fulfil His promise.

The trouble with Jesus is he tells us not worry about everyday life - things like food, fashion and the future - but it’s all we seem to do. How can we win over worry?

Jesus isn’t always who we think he is. We may think we know Him, but we need to continue to learn more about Him so that the full measure of His glory and majesty can be revealed to us. Beau explores three aspects of Jesus’ character, and how they will help us grow in our relationship with Him.

Jesus called his disciples to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow him. These non-negotiable demands of discipleship lead us to complete trust in Jesus and whole-hearted obedience to Jesus. This is the path to abundant and everlasting life.

It is easy for us to want revenge for things that are done to us; to want to hurt those who hurt us. In His life, Jesus said some really counter-cultural things, and one of those things is ‘love your enemies’. He teaches us that this is more than just tolerating those who mistreat us, or being kind to those who try to ruin our lives. So how do we love our enemies?

New beginnings are often accompanied by celebration and the new life we receive in Christ is no different. There is a sign, symbol, ceremony and celebration that accompanies the receiving of resurrection life in Christ and it marks a defining moment in the journey of faith.