City Church Sheffield Podcast

We can trust that God can heal supernaturally, but we shouldn't rest our hope on this as he doesn't always heal. Jesus doesn't want to satisfy our desire to see miracles for their own sake. But we can always take Jesus at his word.

Jesus is the Saviour of the world because the world needs a saviour. We need food for energy, but Jesus is fueled and energised by doing the will of his Father. In initiating a conversation with a Samaritan woman, Jesus breaks down barriers. If we try to pretend to be better than we really are then we don't appreciate how good Jesus is.

Jesus is not on a par with John the Baptist, but he is the Word made flesh. John is not jealous of Jesus but is pleased that his own disciples are leaving him to follow Jesus. John has an important role as the Best Man at the wedding, but it is not the Best Man's role to end up with the bride at the end of the day.

Jesus won't fit into Nicodemus' existing system as a Pharisee - instead, he tells Nicodemus that he needs a new start. Nicodemus may have had just one conversation with Jesus yet he became a disciple. What can God do with just one conversation?

Jesus demonstrates his divinity by clearing the courts, by architectural arguments and by obvious omniscience. The animals in the temple courts were being sold at inflated prices and were taking up the only space where gentiles were allowed to worship God. The real temple is Jesus' body, the place where God dwells, and this is why he has authority.

Jesus attended social events. He wants to be involved in the whole of our lives, whether good or bad. He knew that his first miracle would start the ball rolling and that it would lead inevitably to Calvary, and perhaps this is why he doesn't want to be pressurised by his mother. Running out of wine would have been a social embarrassment, but Jesus takes away the shame of the host, just as he takes away the shame of us all.

John the Baptist is like a sign-post. He has great humility and points away from himself to Jesus. Jesus is the one who takes away the sin of the world. It doesn't bother John that his disciples leave him to follow Jesus. Jesus doesn't point to anyone - he is the one to be followed, and the invitation today is to come and know him.

John's prologue is like a movie trailer. John is setting the scene, beginning with the fact that Jesus is God. He introduces characters, starting with John the Baptist, whose aim was to glorify Jesus.

Our call is to build the Church. God is calling for fresh passion for the local church. He wants things to get messy.

Proverbs is a leadership book, a probability book and a thinking book. The wise person will listen to advice. We should use our understanding but not lean on it. To acknowledge God is to submit to his ways.

God initiated and accomplished salvation all by himself. How persuaded are we that the gospel is true? Can people encounter God through City Church Sheffield?

Like the two disciples on the Emmaus Road, we need clarity on who Jesus was and what he has done. Jesus proves who he is from the Old Testament - he's not just a prophet but the Mighty God, God With Us, whose suffering was prophesied. Nothing went wrong with God's plan - the cross was part of the plan.

Rejoicing doesn't mean always feeling joyful, but tuning in to what is really there. Paul rejoices even though he's in prison, because Christ is being preached, because the Philippians are like-minded and because they're in Christ.

It is good to praise the Lord - it benefits us and causes us to flourish, as it is what we are designed for. Praising God gladdens the heart and stretches the mind. It is good to consider what God has done.

We live between pre-covid times and post-covid times, and in-between times can be difficult. But we can draw near to God because God is with us and he is faithful.

God was faithful to Abraham throughout Abraham's life and, like Jesus, he lived a life of service. In being buried in the Promised Land Abraham trusted God's promise to give the land to his descendents, and we can look back and see how God was faithful after Abraham's death.

Abraham makes plans for Isaac in line with the promises he received from God and has been living with. The first thing his servant does on arriving at his destination is to pray. Isaac's love for Rebecca reflects Christ's love for the church.

Abraham mourned the death of Sarah. It is appropriate to grieve. Like Abraham and Sarah, we are aliens in the world who do not really belong anywhere. We are citizens of heaven - it is important to remember where we're from and where we're headed.

Unbelievers may think this passage shows a cruel God, but they are missing the bigger picture. Abraham may not have been angry with God, but he would have experienced emotional turmoil, and yet he obeyed God. It was God who miraculously gave Isaac to Abraham in the first place. God did not withhold his only Son. Isaac lived because a ram died in his place; we live because the Lamb of God died in our place.

Abimelech saw that God was with Abraham. God is with us too, so let's let our light shine, showing love and kindness to those around us, being open with one another and dealing with conflict well.

God makes specific promises to individuals. God provides for us whether we are like Hagar and Ishmael who have reached the end of their resources or whether we are like Abraham who is distressed for others. Abraham entrusts Ishmael's life to God, just as he later entrusts Isaac's life to God.

Jesus is transfigured as he prays. Moses and Elijah, both men of prayer, represent the Law and the Prophets, the whole of the Old Testament, and they discuss Jesus' departure, the cross, the fulfilment of all God's promises. Peter had an old way of thinking, but the Father tells him and us to listen to Jesus. We are also being transfigured into his likeness.

God speaks because he wants to relate to us, not because we've earned this but because of his grace. He fulfils what he says, even with flawed human beings. And God makes us laugh - we can revel in our weakness because it shows God's strength and power.

Abraham has huge promises from God, but his driving force is fear. Fear can make us do things that we shouldn't do, and not do the thing that we should do.

We can look at Lot's life and think "Why did God save him?" But if we do that then we also need to ask "Why did God save me?" It was because of his grace and love. We need to live by faith rather than fear, and live God's way rather than the ways of the world.

We might be shocked at what the men of Sodom wanted to do and what Lot suggested doing and even what God is prepared to do. But we should take this passage as a warning and example of what God will do when he ultimately destroys the wicked. There are different ways of responding - like Lot's sons-in-law, who saw judgement as a joke, or like Lot, who hesitated when urged to escape, or like Lot's wife, who looks back. We have a chance to repent and escape judgment, but that this opportunity will end.

Like Abraham, as chosen people we can have a relationship with God. We can see Abraham's heart for the strangers, the alien, the lost and the outsider, and we can see the mighty sovereignty and graciousness of God, and so we can trust him as Lord of all.

Abraham's seed is the one through whom the nations will be blessed. This is not Isaac or the people of Israel but Christ. God's promises will be fulfilled at the appointed time.

God's covenant is a binding and contractual promise between God and Abraham. There are many blessings promised to Abraham, and all Abrham has to do is to walk with God faithfully and blamelessly and to circumcise all males. Abraham's ultimate response is obedience. Physical circumcision is no longer required but circumcision of our hearts is required.

Abraham and Sarah got tired of waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled and tried to take control. They began to focus on themselves, they stopped caring for others, such as Hagar. But God cared for her, and unlike Abraham and Sarah, calls her by her name.

Abraham believed God, not just as a cold hard fact but in a personal relational sense. Like Abraham, we can trust God when we can't see the way out of our situation and are tempted to try to find our own way out. We are considered righteous by God's grace through faith, not through our works or our efforts.

It can sometimes look as if worldly powers are king, but the Bible says that we reign in life. Abraham recognised Melchizedek as greater than he himself was, and Melchizedek points to Jesus. Jesus is king. We say that with our mouths, but is he really king over our lives? Do we really submit our entire lives to him?

The women physically looked up and saw the stone was rolled away. We can figuratively look up and see Jesus. We are all searching for different things, but the women were searching for Jesus. What are we chasing after?

How do we get back on track with God? By repenting and putting God first, by being willing to make hard decisions rather than drifting when we meet with challenges and by walking by faith like Abraham, rather than walking by sight like Lot.

Jesus is the good shepherd. Biblical shepherds led their sheep from the front, and knew each one by name, and the sheep knew his voice. We are invited to come and feed. Good shepherds lead by example, protect the flock, encourage the whole church to be a shepherding community, anoint with oil, and lay down their lives for the sheep.

Abraham and Sarah saw famine and there were hard decisions to be made, but they also saw the grace and sovereignty of God. Living in God's promises doesn't make us immune to hardship, and the grace and sovereignty of God doesn't mean we are free from sin and bad choices. God's grace can come through very strange means - it sees the vulnerable and covers over all sins.

We are encouraged to exalt and elevate God, to humble ourselves by seeking his will not our own, and to pray for a renewed spirit within us.

We are called to be fishers of men, ambassadors of Christ who attract people to him by letting his light shine through us in their midst.

We need to learn how to lament. We can do this by using our own words or by using some of the lament psalms that have been given us to help us pray. We need to make a deliberate decision to turn to the Lord, bring our complaint to him, make definite clear requests, and choose to trust him.

Like Abraham, we must face the facts - the facts make us more aware of our need for God. Yet we should continue to believe God, so let's look up and be strengthened in our faith.

God delights in restoring those who have wandered away. We should be a people of real concern, who care for those wandering from the truth; a people of real discretion in confronting them; and a people of real zeal for bringing them back.

James encourages us to pray. He tells us to pray for ourselves and for one another, and the sick are to call for the elders to pray for them. We are to come to God in faith, in repentance, in honesty and in humility.

We should be trustworthy at all times, and therefore have no need to take oaths. If we feel the need to take oaths then it suggests that our word cannot be trusted otherwise.

Some of us may have been excluded for being Christians, whilst others may have experienced more intense suffering. James calls us to be patient, but he is not insensitive to suffering, nor is he telling us to be inactive. To cope with suffering, we need to learn how to lament. Our ultimate hope is the return of Jesus.

We should not put our trust or find our security in possessions. We should be rich towards God, and generous with our wealth. We should not be complicit in oppressing the poor by our shopping habits. God is not against us having money, but wants us to use wealth for his glory and his kingdom.

We are told to love one another, bear with one another and accept one another because God has first loved, accepted and forgiven us. Do we know that we are loved, accepted and forgiven by God every moment?

Because God came as both Jesus (Saviour) and Immanuel (God with us) we can know him and be saved from our sins.

Join us as we look at why, despite all the restrictions and changes, Christmas can never really be cancelled. To see the full Carol Service please go to: https://youtu.be/OwoV8BnRLRg.

God is in control, and Jesus relied totally on God. James isn't telling us not to plan ahead, but warning us against the arrogance of thinking we are lord of our own lives. If we don't know God then we can know him today. If we do know God then we can trust him today.

If we focus on other people's faults, we don't keep our eyes on what we should be doing. We shouldn't judge others because when we do, we are looking in the wrong place with a wrong attitude, we are putting ourselves above the law, and we damage church unity. We should deal with our own faults, loving others instead of judging, and remembering that it's up to God to judge.