Talks

On Sunday morning Jools continued our “Rooted” Series and spoke about “Practising the Way of Scripture”.  He explained that the Bible is not just one book but actually a collection of 66 books written over around 1,500 years by many authors, but all of it breathed by God. He removed some of the myths that exist about the bible and reminded us that the Bible is one of the primary ways that we can hear directly from God as well as understanding His Way of living.
He spoke about his own personal experience of seeing himself in the words of Psalm 40.  Encouraging us to allow the Bible to read us, as well as us reading the Bible.
“He said sometimes one verse lived is more transformational than 100 verses memorised!”
He finished by explaining how we can use an ancient method of reading the Bible to draw close to God.
Lectio Divina:
Read just one verse aloud, several times.
Meditate – chew it over and think around it.
Respond – Ask God the question: What do you want me to do with this God?
Resting—Wait patiently and trust God.

Bec Goody encouraged us to see prayer as more than just asking God for things; she described it as learning to be with God so that we become more like Him and partner with Him in the world. (John Mark Comer)

Bec said Jesus prioritised prayer, often withdrawing to spend time with the Father, and reminded us that there is no “perfect” way to pray — the important thing is showing up consistently.
She spoke about four aspects of prayer:

Talking to God
Talking with God
Listening to God, and simply
Being with God.
Bec encouraged us to pray boldly, to bring our honest emotions and laments before God, and to trust that our prayers matter. She also explained that God speaks through the Bible, Circumstances, Desires, and the Prophetic. Finally, Bec challenged us to intentionally spend time with Jesus each day and practice being with God in everyday moments.

Matt started a new series in line with our theme for the year. Having talked about what it means to be PLANTED we’re now looking at how we should be ROOTED. Trees get their strength not from their height, their branches or even their fruit but from their roots.  Healthy Roots = Healthy (and resilient) Trees.
A key verse for this series: “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.  Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him.” (Colossians 2 verse 6)
What does it mean for us to have deep roots in Jesus? That’s the question we aim to answer in this series.
Jesus talked to His disciples using a metaphor of a farmer who grafts branches onto a vine.  He explained (John 15) that He is the Vine and His disciples (now us) are like branches.  The source of our strength and everything we need is Jesus, (The vine)  we need to become fully dependent on Him.  So, “How do we remain connected to the vine?” That’s the other part we aim to answer in this series…. Join us on Sunday for the next part.