Living Rock Podcast

The New Testament shows us that the Apostles appointed Elders in every church (Acts 14:23) and in every town (Titus 1:5): Elders were the God-ordained leaders of the NT churches and His plan has not changed since then! So, what is an Elder and how does an Eldership function most fruitfully in the church today?

The Cross of Christ presents every person with a choice, to either embrace it as God’s magnificent power to save mankind, or to reject it as foolishness (‘sheer absurdity and folly’ - 1 Co 1:18, Amplified version). The gospel brings us to a ‘crossroad’ at which we must choose either God’s way or the way of the world. In this message we look at the underlying reasons why the ‘spirit of the world’ (1 Co 2:12) has always rejected the Cross of Christ and why the Christian must not only embrace the Cross in order to live, but must also choose daily to follow Jesus down the ‘Cross-road’.

It’s impossible for us to fully understand the agony of the cross, the victory over the grave, or the full glory of the ascension and crowning of King Jesus, but these three messianic Psalms do give us some glimpses and insights. Join us as we consider what "David…a prophet...spoke about the resurrection of the Christ” (Ac 2:30-31).

As we begin this major new series, we start to see that the work of Jesus on the Cross is far bigger than we could ever grasp or imagine! Standing at the crossroads of time and eternity, the Cross concerns much more than our personal forgiveness and healing. Beginning in Genesis, we see that on the Cross Jesus defeated every enemy, brought forth a new order of humanity, gave hope to all the world and brought ultimate glory to God!...

The opening chapters of Acts show us vital details and characteristics of the church that Jesus planted. It was led by men He’d personally discipled and was filled with His power and His Spirit: it’s no wonder it was a church that couldn’t stop growing! Has your church been planted by Jesus? Join us as we consider some of the vital characteristics of such a church and look at some key growth factors in 2017...

God's intention for His Church in this new year is that we would not only start well, but continue well and finish well - being secure, fulfilled and fruitful in every way! Join us as we consider some important 'opening verses' in God's Word and discover the priorities and choices that will help us succeed in the coming year...

Psalm 122 is the heart-cry of a pilgrim arriving in Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. There he finds a city solidly built, where the tribes have converged as one people; a place of peace and prosperity! For us, it’s a picture of the ‘new Jerusalem’, the City of God where His House is firmly established. Psalm 122 describes the Church in all her glory, and "zeal for this house” consumes the Lord and all His visionary people!...

As we read through the Psalms we come across many fantastic verses that give us reason to approach the Lord’s table wholeheartedly, laying all that we are before Him and asking Him to forgive us, knowing that he is gracious and merciful to do so. As we draw near to Him at His table in His house, we can be confident that He too draws near to us and loves to share this precious meal with us.

In days of change and upheaval in the world, our need to seek the Lord and spend time in His presence has never been greater. In our journey through the Psalms, we have seen the word ‘selah’ mark a pause in the verses, to enable us to stop and reflect on what we’ve read. In this message we take a tour of seven psalms which show us why the selah is so important for each of us, and the strength and anointing which flow out of such times in the presence of the Lord. We also look at the illustrative story recorded by Luke, regarding two sisters, one of whom chose to busy herself in an effort to avoid her problems and one who chose instead to sit at Jesus’ feet.

Ian Jones shares his heart for reaching the lost and practical ways that we can all love and care for people in a pastoral way, leading them into a relationship with Jesus.

Jesus began his public ministry and set forth his mission (Luke 4) by quoting from Isaiah 61. In this great message, Tony Ling shows how the prophet sums up God’s intention to restore everything. Restoration starts personally (“beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair”) but goes on to involve the restoration of the church, and of the entire world - as our lives flow outwards and touch others!...

Jesus assures us the harvest is plentiful everywhere (Mt 9:35ff) and the New Testament attests to this by showing how the good news spread like wildfire from house-to-house and from village-to-village! How does this perspective affect the way we see the hundreds of towns and villages all around us?...

God’s purpose for our lives and church is always far bigger than we realise! But when we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and work through us we begin to see the incredible heavenly strategy… In this message, Arne Skagen encourages us to open our lives up to a dynamic and powerful friendship with the Spirit and to begin experiencing the growth He has planned for us.

In the latest in our ‘School of Ministry’ series, Arne Skagen describes the heart and burden of an Ephesians 4:11 “evangelist”. Drawing from the Scriptures, and from his own experiences of being used by God to bring hope and healing to many, Arne emphasises the importance of being secure in our own identity as he equips the church to look outwards and lay hold of our destiny together!...

When we enjoy the covenant meal together we remember Christ's death and resurrection! As we look around the room together we can be thankful that the Lord has joined us to one another. We see again as we think of Christ's sacrifice that in His sight we all stand equal before Him and with each other. As we break bread we have to stop and consider again our need of Christ everyday; and as we take this meal together we all proclaim His death and that one day He is coming again for His glorious bride.

The story of Abram and Lot in Genesis 13 reminds us that we always travel in the direction of our vision and gaze. Lot looked ahead, saw the bright lights of Sodom, and made choices that served his own self-interests; but Abraham looked up, saw the whole land as his inheritance, and made choices that benefited generations of believers! In this message, Mick highlights the need to see beyond our own limitations and embrace the vast purpose God has for His church!…

Written after a narrow escape at the hands of a Philistine King, David tells us that praise is always the answer in the midst of trouble, because it opens our eyes to the spiritual realities all around us. He teaches us that natural fear is often our enemy, but the 'fear of the Lord' is always our friend. The fear of the Lord starts with our tongues and ends with the total surrender of our hearts. The question is ... are you going to be faithfully fearful, or fearfully faithful?

In Psalms 22-33 King David describes a wide range of circumstances, and the widest range of emotions and heart-cries. But whatever situations he faced, each Psalm concludes with a ‘last word’ or ‘bottom-line’ -expressing his overriding confidence in God’s goodness and faithfulness. These Psalms remind us how vital it is to have a sure and certain ‘bottom line’ that God is good, all the time.

In the closing message from our Momentum conference, David outlines a fantastic vision of the church we see, and encourages us to ‘step-up’ and ‘step-out’ - so that we can be part of the fulfilment of all we long for!...

In this opening message from our Momentum conference, Ezekiel shows us how God’s people are to “rise and shine”: as we fulfil the various, unique God-given callings on our lives, living as we were made to, we radiate light to others and start to influnce our workplaces and communities in the way God intends...