It was Pentecost Sunday, it was Baptism and Confirmation Sunday, and it was in the midst of a really challenging season for many people in our parish. So Dave opened Scripture to show how the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost fills God's people with power to endure in, and through, every season, even the difficult ones.

Stephen opens God's Word to look at the various places where the gifts are described in Scripture, and what our church could look like if we discovered, understood, and used the gifts we've been given for the glory of God.

To understand what we are to do with a gift, it often helps to understand who it was that gave us the gift. By calling them 'the gifts of the Spirit', we are not left in the dark about who gave them or why they were given to us. Dave shared that our gifts are given in alignment with the character and mission of the Holy Spirit, which helps us de-mystify how we are to receive and use these spiritual gifts.

In our context, to begin a series on the gifts of the Spirit with the gifts of the Spirit would be to assume too much. So Dave brought us right the way back to address a common blindspot in the Western Church: the spiritual world. When we ignore the spiritual world, we miss out on so much of the context of Scripture in both testaments, and we miss a key aspect of the gospel.

In John's third and final letter, he encourages the faithful Gaius to cultivate truth within a church that is being starved of it. It's a short letter, but builds on from what was said in the previous two letters. Dave shares about how we must be cultivating truth in our own lives if we are to see it established in our church, which is something we can all contribute towards.

One of the ways we know that truth matters is because deception is a thing. Untruths masquerading as truth for the intention of leading people astray. In the letter of 2 John, John is warning the early church to be discerning. He wants them to recognise false teaching, refuse false teachers, and to remain walking in the truth of Jesus.

The Apostle John is writing these letters to bring clarity and encouragement to churches under the threat of false teachings about Jesus. He gives them a brief set of tests that will not only help them discern the truth in their leaders, but also within their own hearts.

The Way of the King has some low lows - Jesus was brutally tortured and crucified - but his way doesn't end there. The path that Jesus was on powerfully continued, with God raising him from death, defeating sin and death and suffering, and continuing on to glory. We will all experience God's glory, but as it was on Resurrection Sunday, you'll either experience it with fear, or with a fear that gives way to joy, the difference is in who you believe Jesus to be.

In Matthew 26 we read about the emotional few days leading upt o Christ's death. The way Matthew writes these events seems to leave us asking the question, "Is Christ enough for us?". And that's the question Dave posed to us, whether we are satisfied with Christ if he is all we receive, or whether we want to include other things as part of the deal.

Things are starting to heat up in Matthew 21-25, as the gap between those who believe Jesus might be the Messiah, and those who want him dead, widens. Stephen preaches from Sorell about the importance of who we say Jesus is, as we await his return.