Messy Church
“St Andrew’s Church is made up of people. People who are indeed interlocked together in Christ. And, because the church is people, church can often be messy. It’s never as neat and as ideal as we’d like it to be. We’d like things to run in perfect harmony, but they seldom do. Despite the clear teaching of Scripture and the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, church is sometimes…often less than ideal. This new series looks at the book of 1 Corinthians and discovers how God can do amazing things even in a ‘Messy Church’ like ours.”
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God’s Gifted People
Paul is writing to a thriving yet messy church about gifts God has given them and how they are to use them in public services as well as their personal walks of faith. After listing nine different gifts in chapter 12, in chapter 13 Paul emphasises the importance of operating the gifts on the basis of Love. Having established the principle of Love, he continues to encourage the church to desire Prophecy for its many benefits to the church in the context of public worship. What is Prophecy? Why Prophecy? Is it a ‘better’ gift? What is the challenge to us today? 1 Corinthians 14: 1-12
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Marriage Matters
This talk is about the choices we make in our relationships with one another and our relationships with God. It looks at Paul’s response to the issues raised by the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 7:1-14 regarding marriage, divorce, and singleness.
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All You Need is Love
Does the perfect church even exist? The perfect church is not a church without problems, or with people that pretend to be perfect.The perfect church is one where imperfect people choose to journey together in love. We need to go back to the important things… we need to go back to our first love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
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Power in Weakness
When Jesus walked this earth he demonstrated a way of living that looked to the world to be worthless and weak, but in fact what flowed out of Jesus was full of a power that transformed lives and ultimately nations. Today, the church in the west is declining; yet around the rest of the world the church is growing at the fastest rate it has ever grown. In this talk Simon looks at the reasons behind why some parts of the church are growing and others declining. 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
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Loving Confrontation in a Messy Church
Today we look at how do we tackle loving confrontation in a messy church. What happens when people go off the rails in ongoing, sinful and destructive behaviour, particularly those who are in a position of leadership. How do we help people to mature in faith with loving confrontation and yet still show unconditional love at the same time? 1 Corinthians 5v1-13
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Prepared to Look Foolish
According to the apostle Paul, the cross of Christ is foolishness to the world, but to those who believe it is both a powerful message and God’s wisdom on display. In this talk we look at why you’ll never find God through human logic, and how the gospel impacts our lives when we follow Christ (1 Corinthians 1v18-31)
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How to Avoid Division
Division and disunity is the topic of the season in light of Brexit. Paul pleads with the Corinthians to be united because unity lies at the heart of the power of the Triune God of love. By living the example of self sacrificial love demonstrated in the Cross we can create a church of unity despite our different tastes, perspectives, cultures and passions. 1 Corinthians 1v10-17.
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A Holy Mess
When we look at the Bible, we understand that the church is not a building or a steeple. It’s people. People who are indeed interlocked together in Christ. And, because the church is people, church can often be messy. It’s never as neat and as ideal as we’d like it to be. We’d like things to run in perfect harmony, but they seldom do. In this introduction to our new series ‘Messy Church’, Simon explains why healthy churches really are messy and how we can live in the midst of a ‘Holy Mess’. 1 Corinthians 1v1-9