Redeemer Central

Palm Sunday: Two Roads, Two Ways

David Armstrong teaches from Matthew 21 on the events of Palm Sunday. The arrival of Jesus and his disciples into Jerusalem for the Passover Festival is the moment that Jesus project goes public. Jesus entering the city on the donkey — the fulfilment of a 500 year old prophecy — is a form of guerrilla theatre that makes a mockery of the dominant forms of power displayed by the Roman Empire. In one act of parody he exposes this kind of power for what it is; fearful, insecure, oppressive and viole...

Fasting 05 - Q&A

Fasting 05 - Q&A David, Armstrong, John Herron & Stephanie Wilson discuss the series on fasting and share some of their learning along the way. Part of the Practicing the Way Series. For info and resources on this series go to redeemercentral.com/ptw

Fasting 04 - To Stand With The Poor

Fasting 04 - To Stand with the Poor “Give to the hungry what you deny your own appetite.” —St. Gregory of Nyssa In the West, many of us struggle with the problem of food abundance — having too much food to eat. Our cupboards overflow with snacks; we have so much food in our fridges it goes bad before we have a chance to eat it; apps on our phones can put any food we want just a few swipes away. Dieting is a constant fad, and most of us live in a daily war of attrition against sugar, processed ca...

Fasting 03 - To Amplify Our Prayers

Fasting 03 - To Amplify Our Prayers Fasting and prayer go together. Like two wings of a bird, together they take flight. You can pray without fasting, and you can fast without praying, but when you combine the two, there’s a noticeable amplification of our prayer before God. This comes as no surprise, since fasting is a kind of praying with our body. When the request of our heart is coupled with the yearning of our body, our prayer is purified of its dross and presented like a precious metal bef...

Fasting 02 - To Grow in Holiness

Fasting 02 - Grow in Holiness Fasting is one of the most essential and powerful of all the practices of Jesus and, arguably, the single most neglected one in the modern, Western church. The Fasting Practice will train you in this ancient discipline, integrating your whole body into life with God. In Part 2 David Armstrong shares how fasting has many physical benefits for our bodies that mirror how it benefits our souls. Part of the Practicing the Way Series. For info and resources on this series...

Fasting 01 - Offering Ourselves to Jesus

Fasting 01 - Offering Ourselves to Jesus As powerful as the mind is, because we are holistic beings, we can’t simply think our way into spiritual maturity. Our discipleship to Jesus must take seriously our body, as it is “the temple of the Holy Spirit” — a home where we make room for God to dwell. Most of us are used to approaching our spiritual formation and life with God through the door of our mind — by thinking, talking, praying, reading, or hearing teaching and preaching. But very few of us...

Prayer 05 - Q&A

Prayer 05 - Q&A Prayer is simply the medium through which we communicate and commune with God . The practice of prayer is learning to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world. In Prayer part 4 David Armstrong explores the fourth stage of prayer: being with God. There comes a point in our spiritual journey when prayer goes beyond words to simple loving presence, or what the ancient Christians called “union” with God. ...

Prayer 04 - Being with God

Prayer 04 - Being With God Prayer is simply the medium through which we communicate and commune with God . The practice of prayer is learning to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world. In Prayer part 4 David Armstrong explores the fourth stage of prayer: being with God. There comes a point in our spiritual journey when prayer goes beyond words to simple loving presence, or what the ancient Christians called “union” wit...

Prayer 03 - Listening to God

Prayer 03 - Listening to God Prayer is simply the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. The practice of prayer is learning to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world. In Prayer part 3 John Herron helps us understand that prayer is not just when we talk but when we listen to hear his voice. As Jesus said in John 10v27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” This is a Spirit-ge...

Prayer 02 - Talking with God

Prayer 02 - Talking with God Prayer is simply the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. The practice of prayer is learning to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world. In Prayer part 2 Stephanie Wilson helps us begin to learn how to talk with God . Praying pre-made prayers is a beautiful way to pray. It’s where we start our prayer journey, and it’s a place we revisit all through our lives. But at some...

Prayer 01 - Talking to God

Prayer 01 - Talking to God Prayer is simply the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. The practice of prayer is learning to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world. In Prayer part 1 David Armstrong explores the first stage of prayer: talking to God. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray,” in Luke 11, Jesus replied, “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be y...

Advent 03

David Armstrong finishes our Advent series looking at this season as a divine invitation and divine interruption. Note: This recording begins with a prayer led by Ian Ryans for Israel-Palestine, amid all the conflict and violence taking place there.

Advent 02

Scott Witherick brings a reflection on the season for our Advent series

Advent 01

Glen Mitchell begins our Advent series

Sabbath 04 - Worship

Sabbath 04 - Worship In Sabbath Part 4 we look at how sabbath isn’t just a day to stop, rest, and throw a feast in community — it’s a holy day set apart and dedicated to God himself. For many Western Christians, Sunday has become what Eugene Peterson called a “bastard Sabbath”–the illegitimate offspring of the Sabbath and a secular day off. Whether you practice Sabbath on Sundays, Saturdays, or another day of the week, it’s essential to remember God commands us to “remember the Sabbath by keepin...

Sabbath 03 - Delight

Sabbath 03 - Delight Sabbath is a day of rest by which we cultivate a spirit of restfulness in all of our life . In Sabbath part 3 John Herron looks at the third movement of Sabbath– delight. Jesus himself said plainly, “In this world, you will have trouble,” but he also said his desire for his disciples was “that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.” Sorrow is inevitable in this life, but joy is not. In the Way of Jesus, joy is a gift, but it’s one that must be chosen and cultiva...

Sabbath 02 - Rest

Sabbath 02 - Rest Sabbath is a day of rest by which we cultivate a spirit of restfulness in all of our life . In Sabbath part 2 Stephanie Wilson explores the second movement of Sabbath–to rest. The idea of rest sounds wonderful, but in reality, rest is a radical, countercultural act of resistance to the powers and principalities of a world at war with God and his kingdom of peace. To practice Sabbath is to draw a line in the sand against all external (and internal) forces that would encroach upo...

Sabbath 01 - Stop

We begin a new series — Practicing the Way — exploring 9 ancient practices of the way of Jesus that promise to help root us in the faith and deepen our experience of God as we serve our world. When practiced regularly these keystone habits can powerfully guide our journey of spiritual growth and help us become more like Christ, transformed into the people we were created to be. Each practice is taught in 4 parts and David Armstrong begins with our first practice, Sabbath — a day of rest by which...

Faith & Peacemaking (with Jonny Clark)

A morning with our friend Jonny Clark exploring the relationship between faith and peacemaking and his own journey into the work of mediation, public theology and peace-building. Jonny Clark is the Program Manger of Public Theology for The Corrymeela Community. He is a facilitator and mediator working in political and inter-faith contexts and has devoted significant energy to the development of peace-building organisations around the world in post-conflict societies. His involvement in peace-bui...

Faith & Mental Health (with Dr. Richard Laugharne)

Our friend and guest speaker Dr. Richard Laugharne explores the relationship between faith, spirituality and our mental health. Following a talk from Richard, he is interviewed by Stephanie Wilson before a time of Q&A with questions from those in attendance. If following this episode you have any questions or would like support in any way related to the topics discussed please reach out to any of our Senior Leaders who are ready to talk, walk with you and offer pastoral care. Thanks Richard ...

WKOC6: A Grace-Saturated Church

Stephanie Wilson teaches on what it means to be church saturated by grace. Part of the series ‘What Kind of Church’ that explores the values that give shape to our community.

WKOC5: A Kingdom-Oriented Church

David Armstrong teaches on what it means to be a church community shaped and oriented firstly by the values of the Kingdom of God. Part of the series ‘What Kind of Church’ that explores the values that give shape to our community. Note: Unfortunately due to technical difficulties the sermon by David Armstrong on 24 September entitled WKOC Part 4 - A Spirit Filled Church was not recorded. Apologies for any inconvenience. You can listen back to previous talk on this topic in the Podcast Archives i...

WKOC3: A Family-Community Church

Stephanie Wilson teaches on what it means to be church as family. Part of the series ‘What Kind of Church’ that explores the values that give shape to our community.

WKOC2: An Ancient/Future Church

As followers of Jesus we invited to locate ourselves in a bigger story, the story of God. This is a story with ancient roots that is still unfolding, and we are invited to embody and live out. David Armstrong shares how the wisdom of this story tells us the road to the future actually runs through the past. These ancient paths lead us home to God’s presence, right where we belong. Part of the series ‘What Kind of Church’ that explores the values that give shape to our community. Sermon begins at...

WKOC1: A Jesus-Centred Church

David Armstrong teaches on what it means to be a Jesus-Centred church. Jesus is the lens through which we see and understand everything. When we ask the question “what is God like?” we are peering into a mystery. But Jesus has made the mystery knowable, the invisible, visible. (Col 1). We believe Jesus shows us what God is like. He tells his disciples “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus life reveals to us a new way of being in the world and asks us to follow him and his way of love....

Guest: Jason Miller - When the World Breaks

Community Voices #2 - Curtis Irvine

Community Voices #1 - Naomi Witherick

Liberated by Love (Part 26) - Bearing Witness to a new world

Liberated by Love (Part 25) - Stephen