King's Church Hastings

The Passover lambs act as a substitute for the firstborn of God’s people. Though they too deserve to receive the final plague, God allows them to kill a lamb in their place. For us, Jesus is the great substitute who ensures our salvation. But also important in the story of the Passover is the need to actively remember this salvation. God gives several ways the Israelites can do this, just as Jesus has for us.

In this preach we see that salvation includes the defeat of Gods enemies which reveals Gods sovereign rule over all. God has authority and victory over Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt, he is far above all claimed rivals. Jesus victory on the cross also demonstrates Gods utter sovereignty over all. He has triumphed over all the powers that seek to oppose him and one day every knee will bow before him.

We see from scripture that God not only sees and hears the cry of His people, but his compassion leads him to action. In Moses, He uses the seemingly weak, to demonstrate his wonders tot he world. The great i am, the unchanging one who made a promise generations before has come to free His people.

Paul Mann talks on Justice and what that looks like from Christian point of view.

Sam Akrasi Speaks on what Baptism is about and what it truly means.

In Matthew 24-25 Jesus teaches about the future. The chapters are complex, but the overall message is clear: One day Jesus will return, judge all people and inaugurate the new age. Jesus doesn’t give his followers a timetable for when this will happen, but rather explains that it could happen at any point and, therefore, we are to live ever ready for his return.

The bible isn’t silent on the subject of parenting. How we use our words is important. We have a responsibility to teach our children, if we don’t - someone else will. Our children shall imitate us so we therefore need to imitate Christ. We correct out of love and through prayer, we can keep on going and trust him with our children’s futures.

throughout the bible we see how Gods people are defined by their ‘calling out on the name of the Lord. Without prayer we have nothing. It is the channel of Gods blessing, it’s the means for repentance and reconciliation, it’s the invitation of the spirit to be poured out on all flesh. As a venue, we want to be characterised by our dependency on God and our willingness to give up our pride and self-sufficiency to see him move in greater power. In our weakness he is strong.

Life is full of decisions, some big and some small. To make good decisions that glorify God we need spiritual wisdom. The Bible tells us that God is eager to give us spiritual wisdom as we ask him and as we walk with him through our lives.

Throughout the bible we see how Gods people are defined by their ‘calling out on the name of the Lord. Without prayer we have nothing. It is the channel of Gods blessing, it’s the means for repentance and reconciliation, it’s the invitation of the spirit to be poured out on all flesh.  As a venue, we want to be characterised by our dependency on God and our willingness to give up our pride and self-sufficiency to see him move in greater power. In our weakness he is strong.

Jon Wales talks on celebrating the role of Dads in society and family but also showing that, that role comes with great responsibility. He also acknowledges that some people haven't experienced what it is to have a Father, but paints an amazing picture of what our Father in heaven is like.

Paul speaks on how as Christians, even through the hardships life throws at us we can still experience inexpressible joy.

Sam Akrasi really dives into the grace of God and what that means. Apologies for the quality of sound.

In Matthew 16 we reach a significant milestone in Matthew’s Gospel. The disciples correctly identify Jesus as the Christ, but they quickly show that they don’t really understand what this means. They have their own ideas of what it means, not God’s ideas. Once Jesus has taught them what his role as the Christ is (to suffer and die) he can then teach the disciples what it is to follow him (to follow him on the path of suffering).

Church leader Paul Mann looks back at some of the things we have to thank God for over the last 12-18 months and outlines plans for a future community action space at the Hastings Centre. You can also check out a short video about the plans at http://kings1066.org/video

Jesus has just faced opposition and rejection from the Jewish authorities and in response to this he tells the crowd the parable of the sower. Within this passage we see the seed of Gods kingdom being planted into peoples hearts, but its not always fruitful. It’s not bad seed, but the soil that can be the problem. Jesus uses this parable to explain how the condition of our hearts affect the fruitfulness of the seed. It comes as a warning and encouragement to us all. We need to cultivate the soil of our hearts in order to be fruitful for God.

Every other faith system is based on the “do” plan (pay alms, go on pilgrimages, work off karma, undergo reincarnations, etc.) to try to somehow earn their way back to God. Christianity is unique. It’s based on the “done” plan – Jesus has done for us on the cross what we cannot do for ourselves: he has paid the death penalty that we deserve for our rebellion and wrongdoing, so we can become reconciled with God. Have we been, and are we living as those who are plugged into the life source of Jesus?

Being a disciple of Jesus meant they got to see and experience first hand the reactions peope had towards him as he proclaimed the message of the kingdom. Now it was their turn! Jesus has given them authority to do so and in Matthew 10:16-42 He gives them advice. In a nutshell, Jesus lets them know that allegiance to Him can mean persecution because when you align yourself to Him, you have to handle the things that aren’t aligned to him and this can make you stand out in the crowd.

Jesus is moved with compassion when he sees the crowds who he describes as “harassed and helpless”. He declares that God has prepared a plentiful harvest to be brought in so asks his disciples to pray for workers to be sent out into the fields. He then commissions the disciples to go and be those who will proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and to demonstrate this with healings and through deliverance.

The crowds had been astonished that Jesus taught with such  authority and now they witnessed his authority in what he did. In this passage we see three different people healed and in each case we see Jesus compassion for those involved. It cumulates in verse 17 where Matthew quotes Isa53v4, ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.’  All this points to who Jesus is and what he came to do. The other thing to mention is that  Jesus marvels at the ‘faith’ of the roman centurion.