GOD CLOSE AT HAND is another theme that runs through the Gospel of John.

In today's message, Pastor Sean shares on the beautiful truth that God is never far away from any one of us - God Close at Hand.

He discusses examples from the Gospel of John - Nathanael, the Samaritan Woman, and the Man born blind.

Nathanael - Jesus saw him under the fig tree and commended him for his faith. Jesus demonstrated that He was aware of Nathanael before they had been introduced by Philip. Jesus sought out Philip who in turn sought out Nathanael. Jesus was reaching out to both of them.

The Samaritan Woman at the well was the first evangelist. When she encountered Jesus, she recognised Him as a prophet, and then quickly spread the word to her village after He revealed that He was the anticipated Messiah. Jesus demonstrated that He knew the intimate details of her life and cared for her. He had sought her out at the well that day.

The Man born blind was among many on the street the day Jesus and he met, yet Jesus noticed him and cared about his situation. When the Pharisees rejected the man's testimony of his healing and had him thrown out of the synagogue, Jesus sought him out.

In each of these cases, Jesus sought out the individuals. He does the same in our lives. Other religions offer ways to seek out God, but God is really seeking the hearts of men.

To listen to this message, please click the play button above, or download the podcast to your device.  We pray you are challenged and blessed by today's episode.

Love One Another is one of the major themes in the Gospel of John and his Epistles. In this episode Pastor Sean discusses this theme.

What does it mean to love one another? Hear a story from Nelson Mandela's life that is a perfect example of what love really looks like. His example is something that should be seen every day in the lives of Christians across the globe.

From 6:09 in this episode, learn why the Church is quite often unable to effectively reach people for the Gospel. Learn also what the Church needs to stop doing to be effective in loving people.

In 1 John 3, the apostle speaks on the importance of loving one another. The Gospel is all about restoring broken relationships, firstly with God and secondly with other people. The Gospel is the only effective way for people to be healed to allow them to effectively love the way God intends us to.

From 9:00 hear about the legacy that love can leave behind and the impact it can have now and into the future.

From 9:30 Pastor Sean shares what love does not look like. He uses Cain and Abel as an example and shares the factors in Cain's life that led to his poor decisions and the disastrous outcome.

Learn why love is a choice. Christ was the ultimate example of love by the choice He made to take our punishment upon Himself. Love is an action, a verb. It has more to do with acting than feeling. Love does not demand. Love is about giving, it does not have any fine print, it just seeks the benefit of another.

From 13:18 in the episode, learn about what John the Apostle thought about being a Christian and love. The two are one. To John, you cannot be a Christian and not love.

To hear the complete episode, click the play button above, or download it to your device.

We pray you are challenged and blessed by this week's message.

Love One Another is one of the major themes in the Gospel of John and his Epistles. In this episode Pastor Sean discusses this theme. - What does it mean to love one another? Hear a story from Nelson Mandela's life that is a perfect example of what lo...

"Do You Love Me?" This is the question Jesus asked Peter three times. In this episode, in our Gospel of John Series, Pastor Sean discusses how Jesus is still asking this question today. He is asking each of His followers, "Do you Love Me?

"Do You Love Me?" This is the question Jesus asked Peter three times. In this episode, in our Gospel of John Series, Pastor Sean discusses how Jesus is still asking this question today. He is asking each of His followers, "Do you Love Me?" Learn what the meaning is behind His question is.

In today's episode we learn from the final chapter in John's Gospel. Peter is a very confident individual, but at this time he is devastated by his earlier denial of Christ. But, Jesus sees more in Peter. Jesus also sees that there are things in Peter's life that he needs to surrender, that he needs to let go.

After Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas, He revealed Himself to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. Peter had decided to go fishing. He thought he had it altogether, but now he knows that isn't true. He had been trying to control God, to control Jesus. Pastor Sean shares how at times we can all try to do this - to put parameters around God. Peter has come to the point where he realises that he has no control around what has happened and decides to go back to what he knows, something we all sometimes do in order to regroup. Peter decides to "Go Fishing", and the other disciples go with him.

And what happened...  They caught nothing. When we try to do things in our own strength - quite often we catch nothing. We need to rely on Christ for everything. He is our beginning and our end.

From 7:25 in the episode we are reminded about what Jesus said to the Churches in the Book of Revelation. They had left their first love. It is easy to do things, get involved in programs and be busy. But, that is not what Jesus asks of us.

From 8:15 Pastor Sean shares what is actually going on when God asks us a question. When God questions us, it opens an opportunity for us. Listen to the podcast to hear the full message.

We hope you enjoy listening to and are challenged by this episode.

For more information on The Rock Christian Church, please visit our Who Are We page.

Today's message - My Lord and My God - is taken from the Gospel of John, Chapter 20. In this chapter, the Apostle John takes time to describe in detail what happened at the tomb of Jesus on Resurrection Sunday. -

Today's message - My Lord and My God - is taken from the Gospel of John, Chapter 20. In this chapter, the Apostle John takes time to describe in detail what happened at the tomb of Jesus on Resurrection Sunday.

Pastor Sean Wood opens this episode with an analogy drawn from the movie Forrest Gump.

History tells us that the tomb is empty - that fact has implications for all of us. The evidence compels us to come to a conclusion. Who is Jesus? The Son of God - He rose from the dead.

The events covered in this chapter, highlight the fact that Mary Magdalene was one of the two women who went to the tomb. Two of the disciples also visited. Mary didn't realise the truth of what had happened - that Jesus had risen, but John did.

Pastor Sean discusses the lengths it would have taken for human hands to remove the body of Christ, and why that wasn't possible given the circumstances. When Jesus speaks Mary's name, she recognises her Lord and the fact that He has risen on the third day just as He said He would.

The women brought their spices to the tomb and left their expectations at home. Pastor Sean shares how we need to be people who leave our "spices" at home. We need to live with expectation in the knowledge that Jesus is alive!

Pastor Sean goes on to explain that just as Mary initially did not recognise her Lord in the garden, so we also don't always recognise Him when we come into His presence.

At 14:10 in the episode, we are reminded that Jesus referred to the disciples as "His brothers", not His disciples, not His servants, but "His brothers". Jesus tells Mary that He is ascending to "My Father, and your Father, My God and your God. This is Jesus inviting us into intimate relationship with God the Father as His sons and daughters.

To listen to this message, click the play button or download this podcast episode. Access the entire Gospel of John Series here.

We pray you are blessed as you do.

Criminal or King, the title of today's message, is taken from Chapter 10 of the Gospel of John.

In his Gospel, John focuses a lot on the word "believe". Pastor Sean explains what believe really means in this episode.

Chapter 10, covers the sentencing, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ. Pontius Pilate really doesn't know what to do with Jesus. His hope is that flogging Him will be enough, but the Jews aren't satisfied with that and cry out for His death. Pastor Sean discusses how the very people who were crying out for the death of Jesus, were the same ones crying out Hosanna as He entered the city just a few days before. He also points out the lesson we can learn from this.

The High Priests make the claim that Jesus "made Himself the Son of God". This made Pilate even more afraid. When Pilate asks Jesus "where are you from?", he is really asking Jesus - "Who are you?". Jesus did not answer him.

Pilate claims that he has the authority to speak life or death over Jesus', but Jesus puts him straight about real authority, and that authority is His. Jesus stood before Pilate because He chose to. It was God's plan for Jesus to suffer crucifixion and death in the place of humanity to give us the opportunity to have relationship with God.

Pilate had a sign made for the cross which said: "King of the Jews". The Jews refuted this, but Pilate would not change his decision. Pastor Sean goes into more detail about this in the episode.

We also learn what was in the thinking of the High Priests that caused them to make the decisions they did and say the things they said. They were focused on the physical not the spiritual. But, there were two men in this story who did not follow this pattern and who recognised who Jesus really was, and caused them to take extraordinary action.

Pastor Sean, in this message, shares how the story and message in this Chapter of John poses a question each of us need to answer, and once we have answered, the consequences of our answer - Criminal or King?

Criminal or King, the title of today's message, is taken from Chapter 10 of the Gospel of John.

In his Gospel, John focuses a lot on the word "believe". Pastor Sean explains what believe really means in this episode.

Chapter 10, covers the sentencing, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ. Pontius Pilate really doesn't know what to do with Jesus. His hope is that flogging Him will be enough, but the Jews aren't satisfied with that and cry out for His death. Pastor Sean discusses how the very people who were crying out for the death of Jesus, were the same ones crying out Hosanna as He entered the city just a few days before. He also points out the lesson we can learn from this.

The High Priests make the claim that Jesus "made Himself the Son of God". This made Pilate even more afraid. When Pilate asks Jesus "where are you from?", he is really asking Jesus - "Who are you?". Jesus did not answer him.

Pilate claims that he has the authority to speak life or death over Jesus', but Jesus puts him straight about real authority, and that authority is His. Jesus stood before Pilate because He chose to. It was God's plan for Jesus to suffer crucifixion and death in the place of humanity to give us the opportunity to have relationship with God.

Pilate had a sign made for the cross which said: "King of the Jews". The Jews refuted this, but Pilate would not change his decision. Pastor Sean goes into more detail about this in the episode.

We also learn what was in the thinking of the High Priests that caused them to make the decisions they did and say the things they said. They were focused on the physical not the spiritual. But, there were two men in this story who did not follow this pattern and who recognised who Jesus really was, and caused them to take extraordinary action.

Pastor Sean, in this message, shares how the story and message in this Chapter of John poses a question each of us need to answer, and once we have answered, the consequences of our answer - Criminal or King?

In this episode - What is Truth - we continue our series on the Gospel of John. - In John 18, Pontius Pilate asked Jesus this question, but he walked away before Jesus could answer him. Today, people will tell you that there is no such thing as truth....