Alexandra Baptist Church

The evidence that God designed the universe, our planet, our environment and the incredible creatures we discover, is overwhelming.

But as humans made in God's image we sometimes become so busy that we don't see the wonder of God's creation all around us.

However, if our eyes are truly opened we will see and be amazed.

A little boy gave his lunch to Jesus who multiplied it by 5,000 times. 

When we commit out resources and service to God, He can multiply it too.

We don't know the hour or the day that Jesus is going to return but we can know the season and we can read some of the signs of His return.

Jesus' rebuke of Peter was because He saw past His growing popularity and the temptation to succumb to wordly success.

Real success is found in serving God. By doing that we store true treasures in heaven, treasures that last.

Jesus threw a wobbly in public? Yep, because He cared that the foreigners, the poor and the marginalised were obstructed from approaching God.

Do we have a blind spot which causes us to overlook people? If so, then maybe we need to ask God to open our eyes.

Jesus' miraculous stilling the storm evoked reverence and holy fear amongst His disciples as they grappled with concept that the incarnate Jesus was far more than a man.

If we approach Jesus as a member of the holy godhead, we too can expect dramatic, divine intervention our own lives.

We need to prepare our hearts to receive the seed of God's word. Not only will we bear fruit but our harvest will include seeds that we have the responsibility to scatter. Not all of the seeds we sow will immediately bear fruit but we should persevere.

Despite being depicted as a "nice guy" throughout the last few centuries, the gospels reveal that Jesus was not afraid to challenge people to repent in order to enter the Kingdom of God and enjoy times of refreshing.

As more and more people turn to AI for friendship and support we need to remember that God has designed us to be part of a human community and the best community is the church, despite its imperfections.

In chapter 4 of the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar recounts how God humbled him. It reminds us that that we should not become arrogant about our accomplishments and realise that our aim should be to humbly serve God with the gifts he has given us.

God calls us to partner with Him in building the kingdom of God here on Earth. One way to do that is to support mission and aid agencies including Arotahi Build, which is a national Baptist initiative to build social housing in Christchurch. Some of the rental income from it will then be used to refurbish hostel accommodation in Bangladesh.

Mary said "Yes" when an angel announced that she was to bear Jesus. As a result of saying "Yes" she witnessed  Jesus first miracle at Cana as well as the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. If we say "Yes" to what God asks us to do  we too, can partner with God in building His kingdom

Jacob's life mirrors ours. We too, try to control our lives and are tempted to lie, manipulate and deceive but we need to be honest as we wrestle with God. And if we are tempted to fall back into sinful patterns of behaviour we need to stop wrestling and cling to God.

Will we stand up to peer pressure and refuse to bend the knee to the idols in our culture?

Tune in to hear Craig and James, two of the Teaching Team at ABC, unpack the final main chapter in the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.  They'll outline how the future promise of eternal life for all who follow Jesus is shaped by the everyday decisions we make to live a life of love.

True  freedom can only be accomplished in love, the love of God and the love of others.

No matter how we have been treated in the past by other people, God sees us as persons of worth, deserving dignity.

Authenticity is being true to your Christian self. You are created by God who desires that you follow His truth.

Often things in our life break down and we need to turn to God admitting that we can't fix things ourselves.

We need to surrender the keys of our live to God, the divine mechanic, who is able to fix us and get us up and running again.

When the church acts as it is supposed to act it is the best expression of a loving, caring community you could ever find. The challenge to us is to work together to be that kind of church.

True love is much more than romantic love.

It is the kind of love which puts others first.