The Living Church: Prayer

Luke 18:1-14

We continue in our sermon series this week on The Living Church, considering what it means to live as God's people in the world, and how we are to do it together as the body of Christ. What are the qualities of a church that is alive?  This Sunday we'll be looking at two of Jesus's parables as we consider prayer and it's importance in the life of the church. 

Powered by RedCircle

The Living Church: God's Word

2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5

We continue in our sermon series this week on The Living Church, considering what it means to live as God's people in the world, and how we are to do it together as the body of Christ. What are the qualities of a church that is alive?  This Sunday we'll be considering the importance of God's Word in the life of the church, both hearing and proclaiming it. 

Powered by RedCircle

The Living Church: Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16

We continue in our sermon series this week on The Living Church, considering what it means to live as God's people in the world, and how we are to do it together as the body of Christ. What are the qualities of a church that is alive?  This Sunday we will consider the way God uses his Church to influence the world around us. What does it mean to be "salt and light" as he describes us in the Sermon on the Mount? 

Powered by RedCircle

Marks of a Healthy Church

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

How do we know if we have a healthy church? What factors nurture a healthy church? What kinds of things happen when a church is spiritually healthy? We’ll discover answers to these questions when we explore the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. 

This week we welcome to the pulpit Mike Tilley. A long time staff member with Cru, Mike now serves as Pastor Emeritus and elder at Lake Baldwin Church in Orlando, Florida, USA and as pastor at large for International Christian Community (ICC) Eurasia.

Powered by RedCircle

The Living Church - Gospel Centered Conduct in Difficult Days

Philippians 1:27-30

We live in challenging times marked by spiritual and moral rebellion and confusion that appear to threaten the church. The church at Philippi lived in similar times, and Paul’s instruction to them points us to what we as a local church need to conduct ourselves consistently with the gospel. 

Powered by RedCircle

The Living Church: Giving

Matthew 6:19-21, 24
2 Corinthians 9:6-15


We continue in our sermon series this week on The Living Church, considering what it means to live as God's people in the world, and how we are to do it together as the body of Christ.  What are the qualities of a church that is alive?  This week we are talking about giving and the importance of being generous in our lives together.  

In the sermon on 25 September, the Lausanne Covenant was mentioned as being an important statement on the priority of evangelism in the Church.  It is a good resource and worth reading and studying.  You can find it at this link - https://lausanne.org/content/covenant/lausanne-covenant#languages (it is available in different languages at the top of the page).

Powered by RedCircle

The Living Church: Evangelism

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

 

We continue in our sermon series this week on The Living Church, considering what it means to live as God's people in the world, and how we are to do it together as the body of Christ. What are the qualities of a church that is alive?  This week we are talking about evangelism - sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  .

Powered by RedCircle

The Living Church: Worship

Psalm 96

Revelation 7:9-11

Last Sunday we began a new sermon series for the autumn - The Living Church. Throughout the series we will be considering what it means to live as God's people in the world, and how we are to do it together as the body of Christ. What are the qualities of a church that is alive?   

This week we will talk about our main task as God's people - Worship.

Powered by RedCircle

The Living Church: A People for God's Possession

1 Peter 2:4-10

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series for the autumn - The Living Church. Throughout the series we will be considering what it means to live as God's people in the world, and how we are to do it together as the body of Christ. What are the qualities of a church that is alive?   We will start by looking at God's vision for his people found throughout scripture as we seek to better understand our unique identity and calling as God's people.

Powered by RedCircle

The Life of David: The Lord Looks at the Heart - David's Last Song

2 Samuel 22

This week we wrap up our series on the life of David looking at 2 Samuel 22 (which also appears as Psalm 18) in which David looks back over his life, with all of its ups and downs, and offers back to God in a prayer of thanksgiving and praise.

Powered by RedCircle

The Life of David: The Lord Looks at the Heart - King David, Fallen and Restored

2 Samuel 13-20

The sin in David's life eventually catches up to him, with dire consequences for his family and all of Israel. David's life gives us the opportunity to consider sin's destructive nature, which points us back to the one who took our sin upon himself.

Powered by RedCircle

Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5-2:2

 

What does a “real Christian” look like? You can find all kinds of answers to that question. This text tells us that one of the first ways genuine faith in Christ shows itself in our lives is in our response to who God is. This in turn changes our relationships with others and our posture toward sin.

Powered by RedCircle

The Lord has Taken Away Your Sin - You Are Not Going to Die

2 Samuel 11 and 12, Psalms 51 

In the story we’re studying together this Sunday, we learn of David’s catastrophic personal moral failure. We learn of how he does a terrible thing, tries to cover it up by doing more terrible things, and how he is caught. We see Nathan rebuke David, and we see David respond and repent. Throughout this passage we will take time to consider how we can engage in behaviors and habits that can help lead us to spiritual health. We'll discuss how we can invite a community of people, or a person to speak into our lives and help us stay on the road that leads to God’s kingdom. And finally, how through Christ Jesus' life, his sacrificial death and his resurrection, we can experience God's love and grace.

Powered by RedCircle

Uprooting Lust

Matthew 5:27-30

Lust is misplaced desire that runs rampant through the world, ruining relationships and dehumanizing people in its wake. In this message we learn from Jesus the Master how to not only avoid lust, but address its source.

We welcome Ian Martin to the pulpit again this week for part two of his sermon series on healing for the causes of relational breakdown. A good friend of ICP, Ian currently serves as the Lead Pastor of New Covenant Christian Community Church in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania in the USA. Previously Ian and his wife Celina worked at ICP in various ministries including Youth Praha, and they continue to return each year to run Third Culture Kamp. We are glad to have them back with us.

Powered by RedCircle

How to Repair Relationships

Matthew 5:17-26

Jesus taught us that relationships are the reason we exist. But how do we live out that idea in a world where relationships are so broken? In this, the first of two Sundays with Ian Martin, we will learn from Jesus the Master about two essential tools to uproot the sources of relational breakdown.

Ian Martin currently serves as the Lead Pastor of New Covenant Christian Community Church in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania in the USA. Previously Ian and his wife Celina worked at ICP in various ministries including Youth Praha, and they continue to return each year to run Third Culture Kamp. We are glad to have them back with us.

Powered by RedCircle

The Life of David: The Lord Looks at the Heart - A House that Stands Forever

2 Samuel 7

After he becomes king, David has grand ambitions to honor God with a temple. But David's plans are not in line with the Lord's, and God makes known his own ideas about building a house instead. 

Powered by RedCircle

From Everlasting to Everlasting

Psalm 103

As we continue to look at King David this summer, we pause from the events of his life to look at one of his Psalms.  David was a poet, a musician.  He loved to write songs in praise of the Lord.  In reading Psalm 103, not only are we given a picture of David's heart for God, but of God's heart for his people and his steadfast love for us.

Powered by RedCircle

The Gentleness of Jesus

Matthew 12:18-21

When our troubles or failures overwhelm us, or when our hearts grow faint, we might question God’s love and goodness. Our text proclaims the amazing goodness of Jesus in his gentleness – both in his response to his opponents and his attitude toward broken and discouraged people. His gentleness is a balm to our souls. 

Powered by RedCircle

God's Mercy in Unexpected Places

Numbers 14:26-35 

We often think that in the Old Testament we only see God's judgment, but in this passage we also see that "God is rich in mercy." We to receive God's mercy, but more than that we receive God's grace through Jesus. 

Powered by RedCircle

The Life of David: The Lord Looks at the Heart - The Royal Priest

2 Samuel 6:1-19

After he becomes king of Judah and Israel, one of David's first priorities is to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. David knows that it is God's presence and work among them that will allow Israel to prosper, and one of his main roles as king is to lead them in their worship of him. What David believed, and what he wanted Israel to know, it that God's activity in our lives isn't just reserved to "sacred" moments or celebrations, and worship isn't reserved to weekly service. God is present in all of life, and we can worship him at all times. 

Powered by RedCircle