The book of Judges tells the gritty story of humanity’s tendency to trust in ourselves instead of God, and to do what is right in our own eyes. But as God’s people descend into a downward spiral, God’s love for them goes deeper still. God raised up a series of leaders called judges to rescue his people, and bring them back to him. Because no matter how far we fall, or how dark things get, God’s relentless love and scandalous grace will always have the final say!

This week, Rob Collis preaches from Judges 8 as we finish looking at the life of Gideon, and how he fell. Gideon was the chosen one, who was called by God to step up to the spotlight: to rescue God’s people from oppression, and to lead them into a spiritual renewal. But for all his courage and potential – in the end, it all came crashing down – as he lost sight of the God who called him, and got trapped in a snare of his own making.

The book of Judges tells the gritty story of humanity’s tendency to trust in ourselves instead of God, and to do what is right in our own eyes. But as God’s people descend into a downward spiral, God’s love for them goes deeper still. God raised up a series of leaders called judges to rescue his people, and bring them back to him. Because no matter how far we fall, or how dark things get, God’s relentless love and scandalous grace will always have the final say!

This week, Rob Collis preaches from Judges 6.11-35 and introduces us to the story of Gideon. Gideon was called by God, completely out of the blue, to step up to the spotlight in order to rescue God’s people from oppression, and to lead them into a spiritual renewal. But Gideon could not have felt more unprepared or unqualified – even if he tried. But Gideon’s story shows us that God does not call the qualified; he qualifies those he calls.

The book of Judges tells the gritty story of humanity’s tendency to trust in ourselves instead of God, and to do what is right in our own eyes. But as God’s people descend into a downward spiral, God’s love for them goes deeper still. God raised up a series of leaders called judges to rescue his people, and bring them back to him. Because no matter how far we fall, or how dark things get, God’s relentless love and scandalous grace will always have the final say!

This week, Rob Collis looks at the story of Ehud in Judges 3.12-30. Ehud’s story is one of those tales you would tell around the fire – after you’ve all had a good meal, and the day’s drawing to an end – and you’re rehashing old memories from the past. Ehud was the unlikely hero God raised up in the face of an unexpected threat. Ehud rescued God’s people in a way that no one saw coming. And it became the kind of tale that would have everyone clutching their stomachs in laughter.

1 Corinthians 13 may be one of the most popular passages in the Bible. It’s poetic exploration of love has captured the hearts and minds of people all throughout history, and has become a common reading at weddings. But because it’s so familiar to us, we may have lost sight of what it really means. This passage is not meant to be about the sentimentality of love, but about growing up in our faith.

This week, we are excited to welcome Willie Shain-Ross, who helps us to hear past the familiarity of this passage, so that we can hear it the way its first listeners heard it 2000 years ago: not as a piece of beautiful poetry, but as a stinging rebuke, inviting us into following Jesus according to a more excellent way. As Willie unpacks Paul’s exploration of God’s love, he shows us the harsh reality of love, the humbling experience of love, and the heavenly aim of love.

The book of Exodus tells the story of how God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt, and sought to lead them into the Promised Land. After only three days of freedom, as they journeyed to their new home, they began to grumble and complain – and started to doubt whether God was really with them.

This week Rob Collis preaches from Exodus 15.22-27 & Exodus 17.1-7. As he unpacks these two accounts, their similarities reveal something deeper at work than simply their need for water: God’s people have stopped trusting him. Which raises the question: How does God respond to us when we stop trusting in his goodness?

The book of Judges tells the gritty story of humanity’s tendency to trust in ourselves instead of God, and to do what is right in our own eyes. But as God’s people descend into a downward spiral, God’s love for them goes deeper still. God raised up a series of leaders called judges to rescue his people, and bring them back to him. Because no matter how far we fall, or how dark things get, God’s relentless love and scandalous grace will always have the final say!

This week Rob Collis looks at the story of Othniel, as he preaches from Judges 3.1-11. Othniel is someone we don’t talk about very much in the church – and the Bible doesn’t really tell us very much about him. But the book of Judges presents him as the ideal judge, against whom all the others will be compared – as God raised him up to rescue his people, and lead them from forgetting who God is to coming alive in him.

This week as Rob Collis preaches from Judges 2, he explores three of the running themes which run throughout the book of Judges: covenant, idolatry, and deliverance – and he shows us that Judges is the story about the mystery of God working in broken places.

The book of Judges tells the gritty story of humanity’s tendency to trust in ourselves instead of God, and to do what is right in our own eyes. But as God’s people descend into a downward spiral, God’s love for them goes deeper still. God raised up a series of leaders called judges to rescue his people, and bring them back to him. Because no matter how far we fall, or how dark things get, God’s relentless love and scandalous grace will always have the final say!

This week as Rob Collis preaches from Judges 2, he explores three of the running themes which run throughout the book of Judges: covenant, idolatry, and deliverance – and he shows us that Judges is the story about the mystery of God working in broken places.

The book of Judges tells the gritty story of humanity’s tendency to trust in ourselves instead of God, and to do what is right in our own eyes. But as God’s people descend into a downward spiral, God’s love for them goes deeper still. God raised up a series of leaders called judges to rescue his people, and bring them back to him. Because no matter how far we fall, or how dark things get, God’s relentless love and scandalous grace will always have the final say!

This week, Rob Collis begins our new series by looking at Judges 1. As he examines Israel’s conquest and corruption, he shows us why it’s important that we read all of the Scriptures carefully, and understand how Jesus has called us to live in this world. Because Jesus has called us to trust him and follow him – which invites the question: Where is Jesus asking us to trust him today?

The story of Lazarus is all about people saying, “God, help!” and the ways Jesus shows up to respond to their prayer. And when Jesus shows up, he doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly the way we expect or imagine: When we call out to him, he invites us to take our eyes off of ourselves, and to fix them on him, as we trust in his goodness and what it is he is intending to do.

The story of Lazarus is all about people saying, “God, help!” and the ways Jesus shows up to respond to their prayer. And when Jesus shows up, he doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly the way we expect or imagine: When we call out to him, he invites us to take our eyes off of ourselves, and to fix them on him, as we trust in his goodness and what it is he is intending to do.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from John 11.38-53. As we bring this series to a close, Jesus is going to do more than anyone could have ever begun to ask or think or imagine, as he invites us to see and behold his glory.

This week, we were pleased to welcome Sean Love from St. John's Richmond, who preached from Matthew 1.1-17. There are a number of places in the Bible where we read long lists of names – and if we're honest with ourselves, they're very easy to skim past. But Sean points out that the first account in the Bible about the ministry and work of Jesus starts off with one of these long lists. And when we dig a little deeper into who all these people are, we discover how God has been patiently and deliberately at work throughout history to write one big, magnificent story!

The story of Lazarus is all about people saying, “God, help!” and the ways Jesus shows up to respond to their prayer. And when Jesus shows up, he doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly the way we expect or imagine: When we call out to him, he invites us to take our eyes off of ourselves, and to fix them on him, as we trust in his goodness and what it is he is intending to do.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from John 11.28-37. As Mary continues to weep and mourn for her brother Lazarus, her sister Martha comes to tell her that Jesus has come, and he’s calling for her. When she hears this, immediately she rises to meet with him, and in his presence she falls to his feet and weeps. And as Jesus picks up Mary’s broken heart in his hands, he bursts into tears, too. In this sermon, Rob invites us to consider how Jesus calls to Mary, and what happens when he cries.

The story of Lazarus is all about people saying, “God, help!” and the ways Jesus shows up to respond to their prayer. And when Jesus shows up, he doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly the way we expect or imagine: When we call out to him, he invites us to take our eyes off of ourselves, and to fix them on him, as we trust in his goodness and what it is he is intending to do.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from John 11.17-27. When we cry out to God for help, we want him to reply immediately! But that’s not always how he works. In our passage this week, Jesus has showed up, but he isn’t rushing to perform a miracle. So as we look at this interaction Jesus has with Martha, the sister of Lazarus, we’re going to try and see what it is he’s revealing to us about himself.

Three times a year, God’s people used to travel to Jerusalem. It was a pilgrimage to come before the temple, and to be in the presence of God. And on their journeys, they would sing and repeat psalms to each other. These songs would rehearse and remember how God had met them over the years, and how he had been faithful towards them. And as they journeyed together, they would remember all the ways God had met them along the way.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from Psalm 126, and invites us to focus on the journey that this Psalm points us to. Along the way, he explores three questions: (1) What is the Journey? (2) Where is the Journey? and (3) When is the Journey?

The story of Lazarus is all about people saying, “God, help!” and the ways Jesus shows up to respond to their prayer. And when Jesus shows up, he doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly the way we expect or imagine: When we call out to him, he invites us to take our eyes off of ourselves, and to fix them on him, as we trust in his goodness and what it is he is intending to do.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from Luke 16.19-31, where Jesus tells a parable about a man named Lazarus. As we explore this parable together, we see that Jesus is asking us a question: What are you really living for? Are we living for ourselves, or are we living for God?

The story of Lazarus is all about people saying, “God, help!” and the ways Jesus shows up to respond to their prayer. And when Jesus shows up, he doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly the way we expect or imagine: When we call out to him, he invites us to take our eyes off of ourselves, and to fix them on him, as we trust in his goodness and what it is he is intending to do.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from John 11.1-16. As he begins unpacking the story of Lazarus, shows us that underneath it all, Jesus is actually asking us a question. As people cry out to him for help, and as his disciples hear what Jesus plans to do, Jesus is asking us a question that gets to the very heart of it all. The question is this: Will you trust me?

When Jesus calls us to follow him, he doesn’t strong-arm us into believing a certain way. Instead, he exhorts and invites us to join him in his ongoing work of reconciling all things to himself. As we follow in his ways, we can’t keep on living our lives as though nothing has changed. Jesus intends for us to become his faithful witnesses in the world around us: seeing where he is already at work, and helping point him out to the people around us.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from Acts 8.26-31, which is an instance in the Bible where someone walks up to a random stranger, and starts telling them about Jesus. But when we look closer, we discover he’s just joining a conversation that God’s already been having. Because at the end of the day, God’s the one who’s drawing us to himself – and he invites us to be a part of it.

When Jesus calls us to follow him, he doesn’t strong-arm us into believing a certain way. Instead, he exhorts and invites us to join him in his ongoing work of reconciling all things to himself. As we follow in his ways, we can’t keep on living our lives as though nothing has changed. Jesus intends for us to become his faithful witnesses in the world around us: seeing where he is already at work, and helping point him out to the people around us.

This week, Rob Collis preaches from Acts 8.26-31, which is an instance in the Bible where someone walks up to a random stranger, and starts telling them about Jesus. But when we look closer, we discover he’s just joining a conversation that God’s already been having. Because at the end of the day, God’s the one who’s drawing us to himself – and he invites us to be a part of it.

When Jesus calls us to follow him, he doesn’t strong-arm us into believing a certain way. Instead, he exhorts and invites us to join him in his ongoing work of reconciling all things to himself. As we follow in his ways, we can’t keep on living our lives as though nothing has changed. Jesus intends for us to become his faithful witnesses in the world around us: seeing where he is already at work, and helping point him out to the people around us.

More often than not, when people learn about Jesus in the Bible, it’s in the context of an existing relationship with someone they know. This week, Rob Collis preaches from John 1.35-51. In this passage, we see three common relationships people have in life: relationships with mentors, family, and friends – and we see how Jesus comes into those spaces, and enters our relationships to encounter us and the people we already know.  

When Jesus calls us to follow him, he doesn’t strong-arm us into believing a certain way. Instead, he exhorts and invites us to join him in his ongoing work of reconciling all things to himself. As we follow in his ways, we can’t keep on living our lives as though nothing has changed. Jesus intends for us to become his faithful witnesses in the world around us: seeing where he is already at work, and helping point him out to the people around us.

This week, we are pleased to welcome Sarah Jeung, from the Artizo Institute, who preaches from Acts 10.1-48. In this pivotal moment in the Book of Acts, we see how Peter is led by the Holy Spirit to cross over the normal boundaries of his society, in order to become a faithful witness to the expanding kingdom of God.

When Jesus calls us to follow him, he doesn’t strong-arm us into believing a certain way. Instead, he exhorts and invites us to join him in his ongoing work of reconciling all things to himself. As we follow in his ways, we can’t keep on living our lives as though nothing has changed. Jesus intends for us to become his faithful witnesses in the world around us: seeing where he is already at work, and helping point him out to the people around us.

This week, Rob preaches from Luke 10.1-12, where Jesus gives his followers an approach for how to be his faithful witnesses. Jesus reframes our perspective of how he is at work in the world around us, and invites us to join in on the conversations he’s already having with the people we meet in our daily lives.