Expectations are funny things. They can be good, bad, set by you or placed onto you, reasonable or unreasonable. And we will all have expectations, but many of us don’t realise that we’re playing the Expectation Game until our expectations aren’t met.

— Speaker: Laura Hancock

Have you ever seen a conflict resolved by yelling, fighting, attacking, defending, or manipulating? In human conflict, emotions are almost always high. Ever tried to convince someone of anything when they are emotional (and you are emotional)? It doesn’t work!! What does work however, is humility. The truth is that we have way more in common than we have that divides us.

—Speaker: Keith Spurgin - Pastor, New Hope Church, Texas.

Playing the shame game creates a rising dichotomy for us in our relationships. We long for more loving, loyal and connected relationships, yet we can be quick to diminish those very same people, shoving them down for errors they make and elevating ourselves in moral superiority.

— Speaker: Gareth Blount

In this episode of the Lifecentral Podcast, Andy sits down with Allison Evans and Sam Hughes as they share their own personal strategies for coping with the chaos that comes at Christmas time.

No matter where we may find ourselves in life, we are always looking around thinking, "Why don’t I have as much as they have? Why don’t I have the opportunities; he talent; the looks?" Comparison is so subtle because it is almost always internal. And it may be one of the greatest tools that can derail us...

— Speaker: Jayne Sargeant

Competition and games can be fun and healthy, but one area of life should be off limits - Relationships. However, there is a game we can all play that is competitive but it’s where everybody wins - The Honour Game.

— Speaker: Lead Pastor, Leon Evans

Working together to break the cycle of poverty. Child sponsorship with Compassion is an opportunity to provide a child not just with the necessities of life but also access to a programme of educational and spiritual resources to shape a better future.

—Speaker: Luke Gratton

Are we clinging onto things, people or patterns of life that we know we should be free from? Have we made ourselves comfortable in a culture that is alien to the life that God has called us to live? It isn’t that God is hidden and can only be found now. It is that He can only be found when our hearts are inclined to look for Him, and that inclination itself is a gift from God!

— Speaker: Stuart Blount

With the Christmas season just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to invite friends and family to your church’s events. But how do you make those invitations meaningful? In this episode of the Lifecentral Church Podcast, Andy chats with Rachel Payne and Steve Gates as they share their personal experiences of inviting—and being invited—to church at Christmas.

Baptisms October 2024. There’s lots of wisdom that is about in our general language and culture, but how much of it can we actually shape our lives around? What’s your life built on? And is it sustainable? Is it strong enough? Today, people are choosing to build their lives on Jesus. It’s a decision that shapes every part of their lives. And it’s the same message Jesus gave when he talked about building on rock versus sand.

—Speaker: Andy Hancock.