Have Australians lost the ability to lament? The Aussie culture has so many wonderful aspects to it, but staring truth in the face and lamenting our actions, or the grieving the sad state of a situation, isn't one of them. This Israelites, however, didn't seem to have this problem, with 59/150 psalms falling into the category 'lament'.

It's easy to think that in this day and age we understand how to praise God. In fact, maybe we're praising God better than any time in history! But Psalm 8, and other psalms in the Praise genre, stand as a powerful corrective to some of our modern praise practices and understandings.

Kings, queens, and rulers come and go, rise and fall. This is good news for those living under bad rulers, and shot of reality for those enjoying good governance. But God's people have never put their faith in earthly power structures, not even the best ones. God's people put their faith not in kings, but in the King of kings.

The author of this anonymous psalm has incredible confidence and trust in God. But at first glance, the confidence perhaps seems a bit misplaced, or at least exaggerated. Will God really not allow you to strike your foot against a stone if you trust him? Dave shares how we can interpret these tricky passages in a way that proves consistent, and enables us to trust God and his Word more deeply.

Psalm 30 is a reminder to us that God's people have always been thankful people. But their gratitude doesn't just come from mountain-top experiences, or from their circumstances, King David's gratitude came from the nearness and goodness of God.

Often the Church can expect an emotional reaction from our world when we hold up the baby in the manger as 'the hope of the world', and we are disappointed when we don't get it. But maybe it's because we haven't been telling the whole Christmas story. So this Christmas Dave tells the whole story, so we can all 'come and adore him'.

Christmas is a busy season for lots of people. It can be a chaotic finish to a year that often sees people collapse over the finish line. But is that the way of Jesus? Is that the life that Jesus calls us to? Dave looks at what lessons we can learn from Exodus about the pace of life that disciples of Jesus should be marked by.

Some of us are very good at preparing for different things: building a house, going camping, running a marathon, or planting a garden. But how many of us are prepared for Jesus to return? This week Dave preached on how we prepare for meeting a holy and loving God, and how the requirements are different for Christians and non-Christians.

Ben Allen from East Coast Anglican was our guest speaker this week, preaching from 2 Corinthians 4:7-5:10, encouraging us to live for Jesus by fixing our eyes on the invisible work that God is doing in us and through us.