The Street Church

Our Senior Pastor, Simon Gill, interviews Open Doors advocate Gunilla Jensen about Open Doors' work and how the church in the West can stand with our persecuted brothers and sisters around the globe.

One says he will, and doesn't; the other says he won't, but then does. It's a tale of two sons, two commitments and two different outcomes - but what was the shocking message Jesus had for his listeners with this parable?

Would you sell everything you have to buy a single pearl? What about a piece of land? What was Jesus getting at in these two brief parables?

In part two of our Parables series, we look at a fairly unknown parable in the book of Ezekiel about eagles and vines, and where people place their trust.

We kick off our Parables series by looking at how the prophet Nathan used a parable to confront King David with his own sin. This is the power of the parable - to shock, to get under our skin, and reveal what is hidden. In this Parables series, we'll look at parables and how they act as a picture, a mirror, a window, and a door.

John finishes his letter with encouragement for the Church to know they have eternal life - and that eternal life is knowing Jesus, which we can experience now and will then enjoy forevermore.

Our love as followers of Jesus flows from being infinitely loved by our heavenly Father. This is the source of our love and enables us to love as our Father desires us.

John draws his readers' attention to the Holy Spirit - the one who is in and is greater than the evil one who is in the world. John urges Christians to be discerning of spirits, because not every spiritual thing draws people to the truth and the light.

To be God's child is to love sacrificially - to love how God loved us: by sending his only Son to die for us. John urges Christians to let their faith be proved by their love, and to let our love be shown in radical generosity.

John has called his readers his 'dear children', and he now reveals a marvellous truth - the incredible love that God has lavished on believers, that they get to be called the children of God! John invites Christians to marvel at their adoption into God's family and to ensure their actions reflect the character of their heavenly Father.