Trinity Chippenham

The Bible is The Story - the story of a giving God whose giving nature spilled over in creation, and then, in the face of rebellion and hatred, gave again. Human's rebel, and God does not reboot everything, but instead gives the Promise of the Seed - the One who would come and conquer death, pay for sin, and win the hearts of many back to God. This is part 1, the Promise.

Is God's love and mercy to undeserving sinners true? Or is it too good to be true? Mike points us to the story of the Lost Sons in Luke 15 for an answer.

Fraser Kay, pastor of North Swindon Baptist Church, spoke to Trinity Chippenham from 2 Corinthians 4 on the subject of leadership.

Paul gives a clear list of qualifications for those who should be recognised officially as leaders in the church. As we move toward recognising our own leadership, what are we to make of these qualification lists?

What do church leaders do? Church leadership is not about "lording it over," "getting things your own way," "getting rich," or even "doing the work of ministry." Church leaders are shepherds who lay down their lives as they feed, lead, care, protect and equip.

Why does the local church need leadership? Titus 1:10-16 gives insight into the dangers from which a leadership protect a local church. Leadership is given for the gospel and for the faithful.

The environment that allows for a community of authenticity is one saturated in the grace of Christ. How can we be part of creating a community of grace? In Colossians 3 we have the source - our gaze on Christ, and our union with Christ, and we also have the description of Christlike grace that will make the church community harmonious. Love, patience, forgiveness, the peace of Christ and the word of Christ. A grace-filled community is a safe place to be authentic.

"Investing time to build healthy relationships characterised by authenticity and grace." This week we zero in on authenticity. How can we, as fallen creatures, ever grow in authentic relationships? Peter took us to John 13 to see how in Christ we are able to have our security and identity anchored outside of the room we are in, and therefore be free to give ourselves away to others. Next week, we finish the story by looking at grace.

It is the Holy Spirit who takes a group of people and changes it into a supernatural community. What does he do? How do we engage with that? Ron takes us to Ephesians 5:15-21 to continue our series...

It is possible to socially engineer groups of people, but only God can create a supernatural community - one marked by His love, grace, forgiveness and authenticity. In this message we launch a brief values series by looking briefly at 1John 4, followed by the astonishing passage of Jeremiah 3