Fight, flight, or freeze? We pick up the story in Esther 4 with Mordecai and Esther in danger and with a lot to fear. They each have a different response. Life often takes unexpected turns and when troubles come and fear rises, what's your natural response? Do you fight, run, or just freeze not knowing what to do? In those times how can you find the courage to step forward and be part of God's bigger plans?

City Bible Church, NZ

Esther | Part 3

Have you ever yelled this - either just in your head, or out loud to the universe? Sometimes it so feels like God has forgotten about us when we are in a hard or difficult place feeling totally overwhelmed, lost or confused.  Is God on vacation or just having a good sleep in and has actually forgotten about you? Or is something much deeper and more powerful happening. 

Esther| Part 2

What is God's love dependent on? Humans are pretty fickle. We seem to fall in and out of love - or at least in and out of 'like' - with people all the time. Is God like this? Does He love us more when we are being 'good' and less when we are being bad? We are starting a 6 week series looking at the book of Esther today, and in there we see a clear message about God's love. 

Esther | Part 1

Some of us love to care for others, while some of us - ha - just don’t. The story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10) is a great example of the gift of Mercy. To care for someone suffering so deeply and completely, shows the love of Jesus through the beautiful gift of Mercy. 

Gifted | Mercy

I’ve spent the week digging into 1 Corinthians 14 and the gifts of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. I have found this hard study to do as although Paul is very clear in this chapter, it is very counter cultural to who we are as a church at present. On Sunday I simply unpacked this chapter and discussing what these gifts mean as Paul has explained them. Whoa.

Gift | Gift of Tongues

When did you last see the mighty power of God? I know our relationship with Christ is based on faith, but sometimes we need to see the clear mighty power of God displayed. A mighty power that we cannot dismiss or explain away. A mighty power that will greatly strengthen our faith. 

Spiritual Gifts | Healings and Miracles

If you love to start new ministries that bless people, love encouraging people and building them up (especially leaders), and if you love to teach people how to follow Jesus more deeply, you might have the gift of Apostleship.

Gifted | Apostleship

I know it sounds wild, but we are ALL invited to be God’s hands and feet in the world. God has gifted us in diverse and creative ways. He loves Christians to enjoy each others gifts and invites us to work together. Christian life in action is about the “WE”, not the me! Firstly the "WE" is God in us, secondly the "WE" is Christians working and encouraging each other.

Spiritual Gifts | Evangelism and Missionary

What would you rather be? Knowledgeable, wise, or discerning? Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is the Holy Spirit distributes these gifts to people in the church as He sees the need. It is amazing that He may give one of these gifts to bless the other awesome people in your community. Yah! The bad news is -ha- there is no bad news, as these gifts are amazingly powerful. 

Spiritual Gifts | Wisdom, Knowledge, and Discernment

Jesus said that He came to give life to the full, some translations use the word 'abundance'... I get the full bit but not so much the abundance, and I don't think my definition of 'full' is what He was promising.  Our calendars are jam packed, our schedules are full, but my soul can often feel empty. Something is wrong with this reality, but what? We are going to talk about 'life with God' and discuss some of the things that get in the way of that. 

Life in God

Single or Married. The point is how can I best serve God? The church over the last few hundred years has almost implied you have to be married with kids to be a real Christian. Last time I checked, Jesus wasn’t married. Oh, and neither was Paul when he was racing around planting churches and writing the Bible. What does the Bible say about being single? Is it ok, is it awesome, or does it all depend on the calling God has on your life...

Gifted | Gift of Singleness

This week’s gift has a title that may not belong to you. However, maybe just maybe it is something that you could be doing and being much more aware of. We need more of these people in the world and in our church. Jesus is the ultimate.

Gifted | Pastor and Shepherd

All of us have a mother. Some of us have the most amazing mother ever, some of us have a mum who did the best she could given the situation she was in.  On Sunday we wanted to celebrate the awesome mothers and mother figures in our lives. 

Mother's Are Awesome

We've all heard the saying "it's better to give than to receive." For some people, it's not just "better" it's the best thing ever! The gift we will be exploring this week is like paying it forward. It's like being a funnel through which God's blessing and resources flow to those in need and to accomplish His work - the more the better! But spotting those with this gift is hard to do ... they love to live in the shadows and keep their gift a secret. 

Spiritual Gifts | Giving

This Sunday we are taking a look at the deeply needed and often neglected gift of voluntary poverty. Yup, you read that correctly! So join us as we unpack this gift, discover its purpose and why God would call this a gift in the first place.

Gifted | Voluntary Poverty

Welcome to our weekly podcast from City Bible Church, Hamilton, New Zealand.

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City Bible Church, NZ

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