The season of Advent has begun, as Stephen preaches from Isaiah 64:1-9 pointing us forward to the return of Christ.

Kings and queens come and go, but not King Jesus. King Jesus reigns eternally!
So the question is, does his kingship govern your life?

Is the church a place of staunch resistance to change, or a driving force of innovation?
Regardless of what our various churches may be today, the Bible describes men and women who boldly pursued Spirit-powered, gospel-based innovation. And for the last 2000 years, men and women have transformed the cultures around them by taking the Great Commission as a floor for ministry, not a ceiling.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the character of the God we love and who loves us. This week, Stephen reminded us of the faithfulness of God to us, even when we are faithless.

What is a saint? Should we celebrate saints?
The word has gathered some baggage over the years since it was used in the Bible, and it has gone out of fashion in many evangelical circles. But as we celebrated All Saints day on November 1, Stephen makes the case that it's a word worth redeeming.

Guest Speaker Adrian Lane taught about the incredible gift that it is to have our lives turned around by the gracious love of Jesus, and how we can share that wonderful news with those around us. Jesus never intended us to just be 'caught', but to also go and 'fish for others' with the gospel that saved us.

John is single-minded in how he deals with the theme of 'love' in this pastoral letter. For John, it's quite simple: love one another. Christians ought to prioritise loving each other first and foremost because of the love that we have received from God. If God is love, then his children should inherit that character trait, too, especially, John says, towards other Christians.

What do you mean when you talk about 'life'? Is life a pulse? Is it the ability to survive and thrive? Perhaps it's the ability to contribute to your society? John (and Jesus) think it's more than that... much more! In this four letter word, John and Jesus invite the Christian to rethink everything, and to consider what it might mean to take hold of 'life to to the full' today.

It was God's plan to fill the world with light in Genesis 1. It was God's plan to send Jesus as the light of the world in John 8. And in 1 John 1, John reminds Christians that it is God's plan for Christians to live and walk in that light through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The good news isn't that we should be in the light, but that we can be, that Jesus gives us a way of escaping sin and darkness.