"Eh, kinda. But it's much more than that."
Tim shows us that Isaac Watts never intended this hymn to be sung only during the Christmas season, but to help people understand the three advents of Christ, not just one. Most of us think about Christ's first advent (Christmas) and His second coming (the future return). But there's a middle advent we often miss: the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Tim traces "Joy to the World" back to Psalm 98, written centuries before Jesus' birth. Isaac Watts in 1719 deliberately "fed it through the language of the New Testament," creating a song that celebrates all three advents. Verse one is past tense: celebrating what God has already done. Verse two is present tense: calling us to praise God right now. Verse three is future: pointing to Christ's return.
This episode begins with prayers in response to the tragic anti-Semitic attack at Bondi Beach. Stu Crawshaw and several congregation members lead us in prayer for victims, families, first responders, the Jewish community, and our city.
Why would the God of the universe, the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator before whom angels tremble, want a personal relationship with you? And maybe more importantly: why don't you want a relationship with Him?
In this final part of our "God, Why?" series, Ethan unpacks Romans 8:1-17 to explore both sides of this profound question. He begins by acknowledging what makes this question so difficult: God's overwhelming bigness and our crushing awareness of our own sin.
Drawing from Old Testament stories of people struck down for touching the Ark, priests entering the Holy of Holies with bells on their robes (so others would know if they died), and Moses glowing after encountering God, Ethan paints the picture of a God who inspires reverent fear. How could that God want simple little me?
Hosea 11 reveals God as the Father who taught His children to walk, who lifts them to his cheek and bends down to feed them. This isn't just New Testament love, this is the God of the Old Testament too. He's like Aslan from Narnia: not safe, but good. Big and powerful, yet inviting us to call him "Abba" Dad or Father.
Romans 8 tells us our minds governed by flesh are hostile to God, unable to please him. We can't just show God our carefully curated "friendship profile". God sees everything. Every thought, every action, everything we've done and will do. So why would he want us?
Because he loves us. And it's all we need.
But then Ethan flips the question entirely: Why don't YOU want a relationship with God? Not theoretically, but actually. What's getting in the way of that relationship right now? Is it the desires of the flesh stopping you? Being too busy? Fear? Conflict with Christians? Your own sin? God's already answered why he wants you, he loves you and offers eternal relationship where you'll walk with him forever, never needing to leave his presence.
So what's your answer?
Peace feels like trying to hold water in your hands. No matter how tightly you grip, it keeps slipping through your fingers. Why is peace so elusive? And where do we find the kind of peace that actually lasts?
Jai McMordie tackles our universal struggle with anxiety, worry, and chaos. From Philippians 4:4-9, he exposes the false promises we chase: perfect circumstances, total control, comfortable lives, and reveals where supernatural peace is actually found.
Jai identifies three major peace-stealers: trusting in our circumstances, harbouring unconfessed sin, and most commonly, robbing ourselves of peace by worrying about the future or dwelling on the past. He shares his own battles (including waking up in a cold sweat about a Year 7 conversation) to illustrate how we all struggle with letting go of control.
This isn't just diagnosis, it's an invitation. Paul's words in Philippians offer a pathway: rejoice in the Lord's control, don't live in anxiety, chuck (not carefully cast) your worries to God, pray with thanksgiving, and receive the peace that guards your heart and mind. This peace isn't the absence of trouble; it's the presence of Jesus in the middle of the storm.
Jai paints a picture of Godly peace: a bird perched peacefully on a branch jutting from rocks behind a roaring waterfall. Not removal from chaos, but Jesus sitting with us in it, saying "you will not sink." God sees you. He knows the battles inside your heart and mind. And He's offering you the gift of His peace, but our hands need to be empty to receive it.
Why does a good and powerful God allow suffering? It's the question that keeps people up at night, causes believers to doubt, and makes skeptics walk away. In this profound message from the "God, Why?" series, Jai doesn't offer easy answers, but offers biblical truth that transforms how we understand pain.
Starting with D.A. Carson's stark observation that "if you live long enough, you will suffer," Jai guides us through Romans 8:18-30 to explore God's purposeful design behind our hardest seasons. He dismantles common misconceptions, that God lacks control or goodness, and reveals four transformative truths about suffering that change everything.
Jai speaks with compassion to anyone walking through loss, illness, trauma, or despair. He addresses the lies we believe in isolation and extends a powerful invitation: suffering was never meant to be carried alone.
He speaks on why redemption through Christ required a world with suffering, how natural disasters point to the moral horror of sin, why Christians aren't exempt from pain (and what our suffering demonstrates to the world), and how the cross represents the greatest act of love precisely because suffering exists.
Stu tackles an uncomfortable question most Christians avoid: why would anyone actually want to go to heaven?
Starting with 90s skateboarding culture and songs like "Heaven is a Halfpipe" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," Stu explores why so many people associate heaven with restrictive authority rather than ultimate freedom. The cultural zeitgeist has always celebrated rebellion—so why would anyone choose eternal submission to God?
Using 1 Corinthians 13, Stu reveals the true nature of heaven: it's not about activities or autonomy, it's about being face to face with Jesus. Right now we "see through a mirror dimly," living by faith rather than sight. But in heaven, faith gives way to direct relationship—seeing Jesus face to face every single day.
Stu doesn't shy away from the doctrine of hell, presenting it as potentially a place where people continue to reject God even in eternity, "gnashing their teeth" not in regret but in ongoing anger at divine authority. It's a sobering reminder that not everyone loves Jesus—and those who don't won't want to be with him forever.
The challenge: if you find church boring or faith difficult, the issue might not be external—it might be your relationship with Jesus himself. Because when you truly love him, gathering with the kingdom becomes a foretaste of eternity.
Part of our God, Why? series.
God, why don't you make yourself more clear? If you're real, where's the evidence? Why don't we see the same miracles as in pre-Jesus times? Why can't I hear what you want me to do with my life?
Tim Beilharz kicks off Soul Revival's "God, Why?" series by tackling divine clarity and hiddenness. But first, three ground rules: God is a person, not a concept. Discipleship is about faith, not Bible trivia. And faith formation is intentionally inefficient—we live in a world of instant answers, but God doesn't work like ChatGPT.
Tim explores what God has already done: the heavens declare his glory, the scriptures tell his story, and Jesus is the exact representation of God's being. But then he challenges faulty assumptions. Do signs make believers? The feeding of the 5,000 proves otherwise—thousands saw the miracle and walked away. Does God have a specific plan for every decision? No—God's plan is simpler: love God, love others, grow in the fruits of the Spirit.
Is God really hidden? Tim flips it: God is not hiding—we're distracted. We're chasing promotions, scrolling screens, seeking to be known rather than seeking him. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. God wants to know you more than you want to know him. He's not far—we're just caught up in smaller things.
The challenge? Study the world. Read the scriptures. Consider Jesus. Live by the Spirit. Ask, search, knock.
What does it look like to live as a Christian in a world that's beautiful but hostile? Stu wraps up our series through 1 Peter with a challenging message about standing firm while we wait for Jesus to return.
Using the metaphor of traveling through Queensland in a Kombi van—encountering cassowaries, platypuses, and everything else trying to kill them—Stu paints a picture of our world: gorgeous, but fallen. Dangerous, but not without hope.
Peter's final instructions in his letter come down to this: because the end is near and Jesus could return any day, live with clarity and love. Pray with sober minds. Serve with your gifts. Lead humbly. Resist the devil. Don't let pride cloud your humility. Don't become spiritually sedentary.
Stu asks:
It isn't about religious performance or spiritual anxiety. It's about living with an eternal perspective that changes how we treat others, how we handle attacks, and how we invest our time. It's about urgency, not anxiety. It's about being active Christians, not sedentary ones.
In this message from our Living Well on the Way Home series, Tim Anderson explores what it means to suffer for good as followers of Jesus. Drawing from 1 Peter 3:8–4:6, Tim reminds us that when we face hardship with faith, we reflect the heart of Christ — responding to evil with good and trusting that God is refining us for His glory.
As we look to Jesus, our ultimate example of righteous suffering, we’re encouraged to live with hope and courage in a world that often misunderstands the gospel. True freedom and transformation come not from avoiding suffering, but from walking through it with the assurance that God is at work in us and through us.
In this message from our Living Well on the Way Home series, Stu Crawshaw preaches from 1 Peter 2:13–3:7 on how gospel relationships are generative — they grow, transform, and bring new life.
Stu explores how the gospel changes how we relate to one another, to authority, and to the world around us. Christianity is not passive — it’s a radical, world-changing way of life that responds to evil with good and transforms oppressive systems through love.
He reminds us that we don’t go to church; we are the church — a community of people who live for Jesus each day as living sacrifices, drawing others to Him through gentleness, courage, and grace.
Jai preaches from 1 Peter 2:4–12 on what it means to live as God’s people — a community built on Jesus, the living cornerstone.
The church is not a collection of the moral elite, but a community of the rescued. We are a royal priesthood and a holy nation, called to serve with humility, love others deeply, and reflect the grace of the One who chose us.
When we understand that the God who owns the stars calls us His treasure, it changes how we see church — not as a place we go, but as a people we belong to.
In this message from our Living Well on the Way Home series, Jai preaches from 1 Peter 1:13–2:3 on what it means to avoid mental intoxication and live holy lives that glorify God.
We know the end of the story — whether we believe it or not, we’re in the middle of it. In this sermon, Jai McMordie challenges us to stay alert and ready for action, living out the holiness that flows from who we are in Christ.
Faith never fades — it saves, sanctifies, and grows. It shapes our spiritual minds so we’re not dulled by the world but crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word.
Joel McMaster kicks off our new series Living Well On The Way Home from 1 Peter 1:1–12 - reminding us of the secure hope and inheritance we have in Jesus.
Even in the face of trials, our faith is being refined and our future is safe in God’s hands. Peter reminds us that what lies ahead for God’s people will never perish, spoil, or fade — a hope that changes how we live here and now.
In this stand-alone sermon, Stu Crawshaw explores the transforming power of friendship through John 15:1–17 and what it means to embrace difference over sameness.
Jesus calls us friends — not because we’ve reached His standard, but because He chooses us and loves us. Through the image of the vine and the branches, Stu reminds us that we are connected to God as our source of life, called to bear fruit that blesses others.
Biblical friendship isn’t about sameness — it’s about love that crosses boundaries. From David and Jonathan to Ruth and Naomi, Scripture shows how deep friendship forms across difference. Stu challenges us to see our desire for close friends not as a reducer, but as a multiplier — a way to open our hearts wider.
In every relationship, look for the sweet honey of Jesus, the truest friend who helps us embrace others just as He embraces us.
We close our Apostles’ Creed series with the final line: “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”
Preaching from Romans 8:18–39, Tim Beilharz tackles some common myths about eternity — that our bodies are just cages for our souls, that we’ll float on clouds forever, or that we’re just “passing through” this world. Instead, Scripture shows us God’s plan for resurrection, renewal, and eternal life in a redeemed creation.
Nothing can separate us from this hope in Jesus.
Jai McMordie continues our Apostles’ Creed series with the line ‘the forgiveness of sins.’ From Luke 7:36–50, he reminds us that until we understand the weight of our sin, we cannot come close to understanding our forgiveness through Jesus. In him, guilt is met with grace, shame is lifted, and new life is given.
In this sermon, Jai also shares a very personal story which may be triggering for some people. If it raises concerns, we encourage you to chat with a pastor.
Tim Anderson unpacks ‘The Holy Catholic Church’ from the Apostles’ Creed.
Drawing on Ephesians 4:1-7, he explores what it means to live in unity, use our gifts to build up the church, and embrace a new life in Christ. Practical insights are shared on personal holiness, speaking the truth in love, and contributing to a thriving, Christ-centred community.
The Holy Spirit is not distant — He points us to Jesus, changes the way we live, and assures us that we belong to God.
In this sermon from The Apostles’ Creed series on Romans 8:1–17, Jai explores how the Spirit magnifies Jesus, empowers us to live for God, and testifies that we are His children.
In this message from our Apostles’ Creed series, Bishop of Wollongong Peter Hayward explores what it means to confess: “He ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”
At a special confirmation service, Bishop Peter reminds us that turning to Christ is not simply acknowledging a historical figure, but trusting in the risen Lord who intercedes for us right now. His ascension is cosmic in significance — Jesus has finished his saving work, yet he remains actively involved in our lives.
Even in the face of personal struggles, global uncertainty, and the unknown of Christ’s return, we can live with purpose and joy because the final word is victory in Jesus.
📖 Bible Passage: 1 Peter 1:3–8
🎙️ Speaker: Bishop Peter Hayward
📌 Series: The Apostles’ Creed
On the third day He rose again — and that changes everything.
In this sermon from The Apostles’ Creed series, Ethan teaches from 1 Corinthians 15:1–23 and explores why Christians can be confident in the resurrection of Jesus. Paul insists that if Christ has not been raised, our faith is in vain — but because He has risen, we have true and eternal hope.
This hope means storms don’t overwhelm us, death has lost its sting, and we can stand firm in the promise that God is making all things new.
He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate | The Apostles’ Creed
In this sermon, Tim unpacks one of the most sobering lines of the Apostles’ Creed: “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead.”
Drawing from Matthew 27:11–54, Tim explores:
The Creed reminds us that this is our story. Just as ANZAC Day shapes our national memory, the death and resurrection of Jesus shape our Christian identity.