Jeremiah 31:27-34 • 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 • Luke 18:1-8

Māmari reflects on Colin McCahon's painting Storm Warning, karakia, and prayer/inoi.

We hear a lot about the cost of discipleship, and rightly so.  Following Jesus is about taking up our crosses to follow.  But, is it all about cost?  In this sermon, Matthew reflects on both the costs and the treasure, the joy and the reward.  And he notes that Pascal's Wager rather withers under the promise of eternal life.

Psalm 139

Tim explores what the Kingdom looks like in the practice of hospitality.  What is hospitality, and what isn't it?  And what about hospitality is conducive to the spread of the good news?

Tim references a John Mark Comer sermon that explores some of these issues really well - see https://bridgetown.church/teaching/preaching-the-gospel/part-3-practice-hospitality/

Year C, Ordinary 22

Luke 7.1, 7-14

Tim McKenzie ditches his weather forecasting career to ask what it means that Jesus came to bring division, not peace.  The readings were the lectionary readings for the day:

Isaiah 5.1-7

Galatians 6

Luke 12.32-40

Sam Jackson wraps up our Galatians series by asking us if we really are carrying one another's burdens, and encouraging us with the reminder that God specialises in using broken vessels.

In Galatians 4, Paul explores the idea of captivity to the "elemental principles/powers of the world".  For some, that's captivity to the Law.  For others, it's captivity to "gods who are not gods".  In either case, Paul urges the Galatian converts to stay free.  What might that mean for 21st Century people?

In our 3rd installment of the Galatians series, Matthew Bartlett explains why the cross is the way past cultural imperialism.  And why Paul is therefore so adamant that converts to the Jesus movement aren't obliged to follow Torah.  .

Galatians 3.1-14

With help from Fleming Rutledge and Lamin Sanneh.

Galatians 2, with Māmari Stephens

Galatians is Paul's loudest, fiercest, most polemical letter.  Rev. Dr. Tim McKenzie gives us a short overview of the letter, and highlights three things to look out for as we read it.

Earlier in the service, we had watched the most excellent Bible Project overview of Galatians, and Tim refers to that a couple of times in the sermon. 

Tim McKenzie opens the Why Be a Christian series by sketching four stories that people live by, out of the many available.  Why do these  stories appeal to people?  And how do they stack up against the Christian story, the truest story of all?

Note: this sermon was rerecorded after the fact, as the original recording failed

Romans 1.1-6