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Writing on the biblical account of the Tower of Babel, Derek Kidner says that the various aspects of this story are “timelessly characteristic of the spirit of the world.” This is interesting because the story tends to be so misunderstood. It’s not meant to condemn the building of great cities with their sky scrapers or to spread paranoia over the potential of human technology. Nor is God in opposition to us living together in community with harmony and unity. That’s not what this is about. So, what is the story of the city with its great tower all about? Well, it must be something very significant because it is picked up and carried on in Scripture even figuring prominently in the book of Revelation where we learn of the city of the world called ‘Babylon the Great’ at the climax of human history. Have you ever wondered about the mystery of Babylon?

This Sunday we move from the subject of sin to the subject of judgement, as we consider the story of the great flood and Noah’s ark. (Gen 6-9) We might be tempted to skip over these accounts because they scandalize our minds and our hearts. We struggle to believe these incredible records of things that God has done in the past and we struggle to reconcile them with our concept of what it means for God to be good. But if we aren’t careful to consider them well, as God has given them to us, we may miss out on the greatest of truths - that out of His great love and faithfulness, God provides Himself a refuge for us within Himself even from the storm of judgement that is sure to come.

This Sunday we’re in Genesis chapter 3 – the Fall. The world looks upon this as a fable. To us who believe it, and know it to be true, it is history. And it’s foundational to our faith and to our world view. The doctrine of Sin and the atomic fall-out of the Fall is critical to our understanding of life in this world. More than that, it is critical to an understanding of our own hearts and any hope we have for a solution. As much as we like to talk about forgiveness, we can’t really understand forgiveness without understanding transgression. Nor can we experience forgiveness without acknowledging our sin. So, this is history but not only history. This is our history, and we need to personally own it as our own before there can be any hope of forgiveness and restoration.

We are beginning a new 3-year cycle through the Bible, which puts us this Sunday in Genesis 1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And so, it begins. What does it mean for God to be God? The answer to this question is why we worship Him. We worship the One True God, because He is greater than all. Everything that exists was made, except for God Himself Who is the Maker of all things. So, we worship Him because He is the only One who is worthy to be worshipped. That is the theological/philosophical starting point for life. And if you don’t start there, you will not end up where you need/want to be. But there is something else of gigantean importance we learn about God in Genesis 1 - not only does He exist as the Creator and Sovereign Master of the Universe, but He is good! So, what does it mean to believe in God? Simply that He exists as the Creator? Hardly. “The root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good.” Oswald Chambers These are ‘basic’ Bible truths, but truths with the

This week we are looking at the last two chapters of the book of Revelation. We are concluding the vision John was given as to what our victory is going to look like. Our glorious King will return and usher in a new heaven and a new earth. Yet there is no time frame as to when this is going to happen. Revelation is not a secret code for us to decipher when God is coming again. But it is a vision for us to know that we are to be living a life that matters. This book was written to challenge us and give us hope. So the question is, what are you doing while you are waiting? Are you fulfilling Gods call on your life?

Is the kingdom that you are building, a Kingdom that is worthy? Kingdoms can be built with bricks and wood, and a strong nation can be strengthened by a powerful influence or impactful words. But no other authority in this world can match the power and grace of the timeless kingdom of our Creator and Saviour.

From our earliest days, God has been actively pursuing a personal, communicative relationship with each of us. He may meet each of us on very different roads, but his pursuit is always through the captivating, inviting unveiling of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Would we be willing to decline his invitation? Or would we be glad for his presence on this journey?

What are we waiting for? We spend our lives waiting for the next weekend, the next big thing, or the next transition. We worry if we will have enough money or if our kids will turn out OK. Jesus said “don’t worry”, but how are His people to do that? It is simply an outcome of faith. The 2nd Coming of Jesus is the 2nd most mentioned doctrine in the New Testament. Focusing on it should be therefore a priority for the church and ourselves. Rather than over-speculating on it, we need to know the Scriptures and let the reality of His Coming be like a magnet for our heart. Then hope will overtake worry and we will live more patient, restful and holy lives. What are YOU waiting for?

This Sunday we are looking at the small letter of Jude. This letter might be small but it packs a punch. Jude is calling us to defend our faith against those who deny Christian morality. Jude also encourages us to stand firm in the faith and fight for the truth of the gospel.

Over Coffee, episode 7. Pastor Alex White and summer student Jalen Carter talk about this past Sundays sermon. Also, Alex and Jalen touch on the book they will be reading over the summer, "The New Pastors Handbook" by Jason Helopoulos.

1 Thessalonians 4 - HOPE Are we forgetting why Jesus died for us? It certainly can look that way sometimes, and even feel that way. When we are watching loved ones dying, or feeling defeated in our mundane world, we need to look to our hope! This Sunday we remember the hope we have in and from heaven!

Paul wrote a personal letter to Philemon, to address an important personal matter. It’s the only letter like it in the whole Bible. Paul wrote it under inspiration of the Holy Spirit so it is really a letter from God to Philemon. If God wrote you a letter, what would He say? God has been speaking into your life, especially through the Scriptures, but also through your hopes, the people, and the circumstances of your life. What has He been saying to you all these years?

The dangers we see are not the great dangers. The things that are plain to us, right in front of us, fixating and obsessing us most of the time, the things we worry about and steer well clear of; those things aren’t the great danger. The great dangers in life are often the things we don’t see; the subtler things, the hidden things, the things that surprise us. The great danger is that we allow our hearts, our devotion, our affection, our allegiance, our confidence to be shifted away from a singular devotion to Christ, and what we have in Him; the ‘treasure’ and the ‘riches’ and the ‘inheritance’ that is ours in Christ because of Who He is and what He has done.

Joy in Adversity - Philippians 1:12-30 When we read about Paul singing in prison, we know we don’t often respond to adversity that way. The Apostles believed suffering for Christ was a gift. Do we really believe that? Facing adversity is a journey, and seeing God’s higher purpose in it is the key step to finding joy in it. And what is God’s higher purpose? The Cross of Jesus provides clarity about what God is always up to in the lives of His people. Being reminded and focused on what the Cross promises can bring joy to any adversity.

Storms and shipwrecks are inevitable. Learning to trust God through the difficulty - That is the key!

Paul defends himself and shares the gospel with 3 different rulers, and gets 3 leaders different responses.

Paul said in Acts 23 that the gospel stands on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead. Why does the subject of heaven and hell arouse such strong emotions? Maybe some people think the gospel messengers believe they are somehow better than others and so are deserving of going to heaven. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It’s more likely that the audience feels threatened, because the gospel in a way puts all of us on trial for what we believe. Our initial response is usually to put God on trial. The gospel offers us the hope of Heaven because Jesus died for us. That is the grace-filled plan of God to save us and give us eternal life. The gospel also gives us the warning about Hell for those who will not repent from sin. It is the plot of the devil to keep us from hearing and believing the truth. The greatest spiritual battle ever fought is the one waged for the saving of your soul. Evil has much plotted against you – but remember, God offers you hope.

Welcome to Episode 6 of Over Coffee, this week we take a look at Hebrews 11 and discuss some of the questions we had coming out of this Sunday's message. Did God break his promises to his people? Why did Doug focus on Abraham in his message? Find out whatelse we had to say about this weeks message.

Most of us love to make plans. We plan for summer vacations, road trips and perhaps holidays south. We plan for our careers, our finances and retirement. Our hearts conceive plans for the ideal life, the ideal spouse and having the ideal family life. The only problem with making plans is that we don’t control circumstances, answers, or outcomes. Hmmmm - that’s huge. Scripture says our plans succeed when we commit our way to the Lord. We may weave or calculate our course, but the Lord directs our steps. We make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose prevails. This Sunday we look into Hebrews 11 and the “Heroes of the Faith.” These disciples experienced major upheavals in their lives and plans, just as we all do. What they teach us is that rather than chafing against unforeseen difficulty, we would be wise to Embrace God’s Plan for our lives.

Amazing Grace - everyone knows the song and you’re guaranteed to hear it when there’s a major crisis happening in our world. But do we understand what grace is and what it means practically in our lives? The essence of what grace means is giving. Scripture says, “God so loved the world that He gave…”. Even as Christians we can sometimes miss this or lose sight of it. When we think of giving, we always tend to think about money or things. But what if it’s about so much more than that? What if giving is the very essence of what it means to live as a Christian in the first place?