Jesus: Our Representative in God's Big Story // Isaiah 52:13 - 55

Jesus: Our Representative in God's Big Story// Isaiah 52:13 - 55
John Hau

This week, we continue in our exploration of Jesus as Isaiah's suffering servant. Jesus sees his suffering, death and resurrection as being our representative in God's larger story as an invitation to come to him with our suffering and go to those who are suffering. Recorded March 9, 2025.

God Comes Close // Mark 1:4-11; 10:38; 15:34, 37-38

God Comes Close // Mark 1:4-11; 10:38; 15:34, 37-38
John Hau

This teaching marks the beginning of our second "cycle" through the gospel of Mark asking the question, "Why did Jesus have to die?" In this teaching, we explore the themes of Jesus' baptism and the temple curtain, and how Jesus' death opens up the presence of God for all people. Recorded February 9, 2025.

Ransomed from Fear // Mark 8:34-35; 10:41-45

Ransomed from Fear // Mark 8:34-35; 10:41-45
Mitch Claassen

As we continue our winter series in Mark’s gospel, we focus in on an application of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection as “the ransom for many”. In this teaching, we learn how Jesus ransoms us from the fear we experience in witness and invites us to a place of obedience and delight. Recorded January 26, 2025.

Note: we experienced a power outage 25 mins into the recording and unfortunately lost about 5 mins of teaching content. This section has been removed.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - Mark 8:27-35

Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - Mark 8:27-35
John Hau

This week, we begin our series in the Gospel of Mark exploring the question the identity of Jesus and why he had to die. In this introduction, we look at why the answer to this question is important to expand our understanding of Jesus, our ability to speak of him and our lives as disciples. Recorded January 12, 2024.

The Covenant // Genesis 9:1-17

The Covenant // Genesis 9:1-17
John Hau

As we near the end of the Noah narrative, we come to a recreation moment in Genesis 9 where we hear God giving instructions to the humans about how they are to live. When we contrast this passage with the original instructions given to humanity in Genesis 1, we find some curious differences which point out the problem of human violence and how God adapts to partner with flawed human partners. Recorded November 24, 2024.

The Sacrifice // Genesis 8:15-22

The Sacrifice // Genesis 8:15-22
John Hau

We're in the third story of life outside of the garden - the flood narrative in the Bible. This week, we compare and contrast God's speeches and Noah's sacrifice with speeches of other gods and heroes from Ancient Near Eastern flood narratives, to see who God is and how he invites us to a role as priests. Recorded November 17, 2024.

What's a God to do? // Genesis 6:5-8

What's a God to do? // Genesis 6:5-8
John Hau

As we continue in our series exploring life outside of the garden, we come to a difficult passage where God takes drastic action to deal with the problem of increasing darkness. In this teaching, we articulate several of the key problems we have with this passage and also understand how it invites us to know God and live as renewed humans. Re-recorded October 18, 2024.

The Nephilim and Men of the Name // Genesis 6:1-4

The Nephilim and Men of the Name // Genesis 6:1-4
Mitch Claassen

As we continue in our series exploring life outside the garden, we come to a strange and tricky passage for us as modern Western readers. By exploring the ancient and Biblical context, we are invited to recognize spiritual evil, and challenged to call on the name of God rather than become "men of the name". Recorded October 6, 2024.