The church in western culture has very little understanding of a theology of suffering. This is quite surprising considering our Lord and Saviour was crucified on a cross and calls His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. The Apostle Paul knew all too well what it meant to suffer and makes comments like “I take pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions and in distresses, for Christ’s sake” (2 Cor 12:10). This message looks at the reality that many suffer through the circumstances of life without ever seeing the healing they desperately need. This stirs in the believer the hardest of questions. Where is God in suffering? As the church we need a theology that helps answer these deeper questions. I invite you on this journey to discover something more profound than simple answers. Come and experience the fullness of Christ in the mystery of suffering.

Loving our neighbour is not always easy. Loving our enemies is the next level, and biblically we don’t get an “out” on this! Today, we continue our series on prayer, by looking at a portion of the Beatitudes where Jesus confronts our often-selective process in who we spend time praying for. We don’t have to agree with people to bless them. We are called to love even our enemies- those we disagree with or even those who have deeply betrayed us and used us! Let’s dive into a conversation about judgment, hate, race, gender and even ageism by studying the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. The power of blessing others is uniquely Christ centred value, that releases divine reaping! We gain His heart, and they gain a witness of love! Nothing is more powerful. It’s time to deal with some old things to become the new thing in the earth – one body, dedicated to kindness. In the famous words of Anna Voskamp:“If Jesus can dip from the same bowl as Judas, we can share the same table - the same space- with anyone - with grace!”

Jesus calls us to follow Him, but what does that actually look like? It looks like following the lamb who was slain to the cross. Jesus won the greatest victory over His enemies by defeating them on the cross. That was us. He defeated us on the cross. It was our sin He defeated. We were once enemies of God but are now beloved sons and daughters called to follow Him. Now it’s our turn to love our enemies and in doing so we love like He loved. He is worthy

Throughout the Bible God is described as an abundant God! His character is to be abundant. In this message Serena Gallagher unpacks God’s nature of abundance in His willingness to answer prayer, and uses the confronting stories of Luke 8:26-56 to illustrate there is no place where God can not be the answer to even the most trying of our needs.

We live in the busiest time in the history of the world. We have more access to information than any other generation and are constantly bombarded with it. Mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and burnout are all on the rise. How do we as followers of Jesus show the world a better way? Silence. To spend our silence on the Lord is to sever every other distraction. To be with Him just resting in the fact that He is near refreshes our soul. There are so many voices demanding our attention yet there’s only voice we need to hear. Come and spend some silence with the Lord; His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Our lives are of series of miracles. Honestly, if it wasn’t for God’s grace, we would all be dead! Most of us can count at least 5 miracles of His hand, but lots of us can count 100s if not 1000s! The more we live in our bodies, fight battles, drive cars, dodge hectic situations, the more we realise we are protected by an unusual grace. If we then go on to think of the miracle power of God that manifests in and through the healing of the sick, the provision of finance (always a miracle), then we start to acknowledge an aspect of God’s nature, that is SO worthy of praise! Fasten your spiritual seat belt and let’s dive into the life of miracles that is opened up when we pray! We are all learning how to access His grace in this area, and it’s time to keep learning as disciples of faith, hope and love. We were made for the miraculous and the extraordinary! Lets press in together!

(this message was originally given at our Father’s Heart Prophetic School)

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Our message today is all about maturing into a unique version of you! There is so much emulation and copy in our society because we often look for models to look up to but can end up not quite being ourselves. True maturity is being yourself not someone else! Further to that, Christian maturity looks like becoming more like Jesus. Many prophetic people have strong personality features like being black and white. We look at how to manage that and stay away from being kooky! Maturity as prophetic people takes community and kindness. In short it looks like the Father’s love, moving from the head to the heart, learning to host His glory, growing in discernment and obedience and ultimately it manifests as being an open heaven in whatever way God would desire! It’s time to mature in love through His grace and for His glory. Be you, and be powerfully activated in your growth and maturity so your life is filled with joy and fulfillment!

Mark 11:11-26. In this story Jesus acts out a real life parable. The parable of the fruitless fig becomes a lesson/ metaphor about the tables we put up that stop people coming to Jesus. The temple is to be a house of prayer for the nations, but something is stopping the nations coming to God. The temple is filled with tables that are getting in the way. Jesus has come to remove the things we put in the way of the nations coming to know the Father. In this story the tables are doubt, unbelief, lack of faith and unforgiveness. What tables is Jesus calling you to address in your life to help the next generation come to Him. God calls us to speak to those mountains and throw them in sea.

This week we study the Biblical phrase “praying in the Spirit”, and both the idea of going deeper in the experience of the Spirit, as well as how to get there! Paul’s reference to this in Jude 20 says: “But you, my delightfully loved friends, constantly and progressively build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith by praying every moment in the Spirit”. There are several references to being in the Spirit in the New Testament. As we learn to step in deeper into His presence, we find that we encounter heavenly realities, see explosions of the gifts, of miracles and of grace. One of the ways that Paul encourages us to move deeper into the Spirit is by praying in tongues. This exceptional gift is for the body to be edified and blessed. We often don’t know how to pray, or what to do, but the answer lies in praying and getting immersed into a cloud of His glorious love and goodness. It’s then, we become absorbed in His being - we become focused, intentional, clear, and full of hope. Beloved, go to prayer, get in the Spirit, and even get caught up in the Spirit! Don’t resist, but instead go after the Spirit with all your heart. There is so much more awaiting us all!

In Luke 11 Jesus was approached by the disciples and asked “Lord, teach us to pray!” Jesus of course responded by teaching the Lord’s Prayer as it is commonly called. The focus of this message is on the concept of our relationship to prayer life. If we want to grow we must be willing to learn – to listen, to grow and to mature. We must be willing to walk with Him and learn how to release His authority. There is a great example of this type of discipling from Jesus in Mark 9, where the disciples were not able to cast out the deaf and mute Spirit. Jesus taught them that this type of Spirit comes out only through prayer and fasting. The real question is are you signed up to learn? Are you signed up to grow in the school of prayer? Have you let go of your life and given the Lord permission to be a radical prayer person who contends for breakthrough? The Kingdom is valuable to the degree that we participate in this most Holy School of prayer and fasting!