Through an array of stories and scriptures, Robin shares how God can be trusted to care about the little things and hold us through the big things - freeing us to be generous with our lives and with what we have.

Libby shares, using both scripture and personal experience, the great value in giving and receiving. The outcomes of being blessed by God to be a blessing.

Tony shares that the practice of Generosity comes out of willing hearts - those who love God and seek to imitate Him.

We asked the question this Easter, 'what are you looking for?' In this sermon, Tina suggests an answer centred around this verse in John: "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17: 3 NIV)

How would you describe your 'knowing' of God? Factual? Relational? Moving towards 'union' with him?

After listening to Tina's sermon, allow 5-10 mins to sit in the quiet, stilling your mind and heart, and ask God to draw you into a deeper knowing of him, so that you, like the old man in the church Tina talks about, might one day be able to say "I look at Him, and He looks at me, and we are happy."

This message looks at Injuries and Enemies in Mathew 5:38 – 48, but it also spends some time looking at our practice of prayer, and how Mathew 5 turned the assumptions of the day upside down, so that the glittering wealthy people were no longer in charge of God’s kingdom here on earth, but now the poor in spirit were being touched by God through Jesus. Based on this, how do we respond when we are injured and how do we pray for our enemies? How does living and loving with a big heart like God’s work out in practice.

In this message, Rod Edwards unpacks Jesus’ teachings on anger. He comments that these teachings point us to values and principles, as opposed to the letter of the law, and how much easier it is just to have a black and white checklist than to have to ponder our more hidden motivations and emotions. God, however, is interested in the heart. And in our hearts we can murder. We can murder when anger is long-lived, nursed and brooded on, fed on and festering (“orginesthai”) - it can ruin families and relationships. Anger is also dangerous when it insults and demeans, when it assumes superiority and sees others as less than us (“raca”). And anger is like murder when it attacks the moral integrity of people and belittles them, it destroys others’ reputations and integrity (“moros”). These types of anger are so serious they are like killing people, according to Jesus.

Of course, anger is a normal, human emotion. Even Jesus got angry. But his anger was righteous, prophetic, a calling out of evil, aimed at giving life to people. Anger is a common emotion, but it easily goes wrong. So Rod invites us to ponder some good actions to take in the face of rising anger: don’t hide from it, do something constructive about it, respond with gentleness, extend grace to others, and check ourselves as well. Breaking a cycle of anger can take time and practice, but taking a deep breath, turning our hearts to God in prayer when we feel anger rising is a great way to start.

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts..” Hebrews 3:15

'Welcome to Life!' - as found in the kingdom of heaven (or heavens or skies or air), the space where God's purposes reside and are carried out. This kingdom has come near in the person and way of Jesus, and is open to all, not just those who seem 'blessed' by our culture’s standards. In fact those who seem more 'blessed' according to our culture are less likely to experience life in the kingdom according to Jesus, and those in hard places often have special access to it. Living side by side with others in God's kingdom has some messy realities, just look at the twelve disciples and the early church. But community is part of God’s plan for us, to grow us towards the real, lasting "life to the full" Jesus' promises.

Tina Teope (Discipleship Pastor), Libby Hunt (Community Pastor) and Hannah Plews (Children and Families Pastor) share their heart and vision for MCC 2025.