Kingsway Caringbah

Kingsway Church
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Welcome to the podcast of Kingsway Church in Caringbah. We pray this teaching will inspire you and deepen your faith in Jesus.

  1. Sep 19

    Purpose

    What does it mean to live with genuine purpose? This message takes us straight into the heart of that question by grounding us in Luke 10, where Jesus sends out 72 disciples with a mission that is both thrilling and sobering. The central insight here is that purpose is not something we manufacture from within ourselves by cataloguing our strengths or following our passions. It is something bestowed upon us from outside ourselves, by a God who is a sending God. From Abraham in Genesis 12 to Moses in Exodus 3 to Jesus himself in John 17, the arc of Scripture tells a consistent story: God sends, and His people go. We are invited to see ourselves as part of that same unbroken movement. The 72 were not given comfort or certainty before they left. They were sent as lambs among wolves, with no money, no supplies, and no guarantees. And yet they went. And it was in the going, not before it, that the power of Jesus met them. That pattern speaks directly to us. The life of purpose God calls us into is not a life of comfort first and obedience second. It is a life of trust, of letting go of control, and of stepping into the mission with open hands. Discussion questions: 1. Jesus sent the 72 disciples out as 'lambs among wolves' with no money, no supplies, and no sandals - what does this radical dependence on God reveal about the relationship between trust and purpose, and where in your own life do you find it hardest to let go of control? 2. N.T. Wright's description of the Christian purpose includes announcing redemption, healing, and love through story, music, art, philosophy, education, politics, and more - how does this expand your understanding of what it means to participate in God's mission in your specific vocation or daily life? 3. Jesus warns his disciples not to rejoice that spirits submit to them, but to rejoice that their names are written in heaven - in what ways might we be tempted to find our identity in what we accomplish for God rather than in belonging to God, and what is the danger in that?

    Purpose

  2. Sep 12

    The Plentiful Harvest

    What does it mean to truly belong to God - not just in the songs we sing or the words we speak, but in the way we spend our time, our resources, and our energy? Phanet draws us into one of the most urgent pictures Jesus ever painted: a harvest field overflowing with ripened crops and nowhere near enough workers to bring it in. The central passage from Luke chapter 10 reminds us that the opportunity before us is enormous, but the response from God's people has too often been too small. We are challenged to ask ourselves whether we have grown comfortable building our own kingdoms while the harvest waits. The lesson here is pointed and personal - the salvation we have received was never meant to be held privately. It is missional by nature, designed to move through us and outward toward others. Just as a farmer who ignores a ready harvest watches it wither and go to waste, a church that turns inward risks losing what God has placed right in front of it. Discussion questions: 1. Jesus described the harvest as plentiful but the labourers as few - in what specific areas of your life or community do you see this tension most clearly, and what is holding you back from stepping into that gap? 2. Phanet suggests that salvation is not meant to be personal but missional - how does this reframing challenge or affirm the way you currently live out your faith on a daily basis? 3. The Greek word 'deomai,' translated as both 'pray earnestly' and 'beg,' implies passionate, action-oriented pleading - how does understanding prayer as begging change the way you approach intercession for the lost? 4. What are the cultural, relational, or personal fears that most often cause believers to treat their salvation as a private possession rather than a shared gift?

    The Plentiful Harvest

  3. Sep 5

    Peace

    What does it really mean when Jesus tells us not to worry? In this message drawn from Matthew 6:25-34, we explore how those words were spoken not to people living comfortable lives, but to people facing poverty, political oppression, and daily uncertainty. Jesus is not dismissing the weight of our circumstances. He is inviting us into an entirely different way of seeing them. At the heart of this passage is a contrast between two kingdoms: one built on scarcity, where we grasp and compare and control, and one built on the abundance of a God who feeds birds and clothes wildflowers and knows exactly what we need. The birds and flowers Jesus points to are not just poetic illustrations. They are a deliberate call to notice. To look at creation and remember the character of the Creator. When anxiety narrows our vision, we forget God's faithfulness. When we learn to notice, we begin to remember. And remembering is where peace takes root. This is a message for anyone who has ever felt the gap between what they believe and how they actually respond when life feels overwhelming. Discussion questions: 1. What story about God and his provision do you find yourself defaulting to when anxiety rises, and how does that story align with or contradict the kingdom values Jesus teaches in Matthew 6? 2. In what areas of your life do you most notice scarcity thinking taking hold, and what would it look like to replace that with a kingdom-of-abundance perspective? 3. Elijah, David, Peter, and even Jesus himself experienced fear, grief, and distress - how does knowing that God meets people in the full weight of their emotional reality change how you approach your own moments of worry or overwhelm? 4. Peace grows over time through remembering God's faithfulness rather than being achieved instantly - what practices of remembrance help you build that kind of resilience, and where do you feel those practices are lacking in your life? 5. What does it look like practically for you to move from acknowledging fear to actively placing trust in God, and where does that transition feel most difficult?

    Peace

  4. Aug 31

    Worship The Giver Not The Gift

    What are we really hungry for? That is the question at the heart of John 6, where the feeding of the five thousand becomes far more than a miracle story. It becomes a mirror held up to our own hearts. We all carry hungers that go beyond food. We hunger for connection, security, success, and for life to simply work. And so much of our energy goes into chasing things we hope will finally satisfy us. But here is the tension: the hunger always comes back. In this passage, we see a crowd who ate until they were full, then got up the next morning and went looking for more. Jesus, in a stunning moment of clarity, looked straight through their seeking and named what was really going on. They were not looking for him. They were looking for what he could give them. The miracle had captured their hearts, but the one who performed it had not. This is the spiritual challenge we are invited to wrestle with. It is entirely possible to have the appearance of seeking Jesus while really only seeking the benefits of being near him. The feeding of the five thousand was never meant to be the destination. It was a sign pointing to someone. And that someone stepped forward and said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry." The greatest provision God offers is not something he gives. It is himself. Discussion Questions: 1. Dave describes how the crowd sought Jesus not for who He was but for what He could provide - in what ways might you recognise this same tendency in your own faith journey? 2 It is possible to have the appearance of seeking Jesus while really only seeking His benefits - how do you personally discern whether your pursuit of God is genuine or driven by what you hope to receive from Him? 3. John 6 shows that the crowd saw the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand but missed the sign it was pointing to what signs or provisions in your own life might you be focusing on at the expense of seeing the person of Jesus behind them? 4. Good things like worship, community, preaching, and friendship can become substitutes for Jesus Himself - how do you guard against elevating the gifts of church life above the God who gives them? 5. If the greatest gift God has given is Himself, what would it look like for you to practically reorient your prayers, your worship, and your engagement with faith around wanting Jesus rather than wanting what Jesus can give you?

    Worship The Giver Not The Gift

  5. Aug 22

    Rest

    What if rest is not something we earn at the end of a long road, but something God builds into the journey itself? Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar passages in all of Scripture, and yet its opening line carries a challenge we can spend a lifetime avoiding. The Lord is my shepherd. Not our co-pilot. Not our support crew. Our shepherd. Which means, before anything else, we are sheep. This message invites us to sit with that identity and let it reshape the way we move through life. We live in a culture that treats exhaustion as a badge of honour and stillness as a sign of weakness. But the shepherd in Psalm 23 does something striking. He makes his sheep lie down. Not suggests it. Not rewards them with it eventually. Makes them. There is a rhythm God has written into us that we keep overriding, and this exploration of Psalm 23 calls us back to it. From green pastures to dark valleys to a table set in the presence of enemies, we are reminded that biblical rest is not the absence of difficulty. It is the presence of the shepherd in the middle of it. If we have been running on empty and calling it faithfulness, this message speaks directly to that tension. Discussion Questions: 1. We often wear exhaustion like a badge of honor -- in what ways have you personally equated busyness or tiredness with spiritual faithfulness or significance? 2. Psalm 23 describes God making David lie down, using the word 'makes' rather than 'invites' - what does it suggest about our relationship with rest that God sometimes has to compel us into it rather than simply offer it? 3. Jesus regularly withdrew from ministry even when people still needed healing and help - what does his practice of withdrawal reveal about the relationship between abiding with God and serving others effectively? 4. Bretto suggests that some of our deepest encounters with God happen not when he removes the valley but when we discover we were never walking through it alone - has there been a valley in your life where this proved true, and what did you find there? 5. How does the truth that 'the Lord is my shepherd' change what you believe you need in order to live well?

    Rest

  6. Aug 15

    When Provision Runs Out

    What happens when the very thing God used to sustain us begins to dry up? In 1 Kings 17, we find the prophet Elijah sitting beside a brook that God himself directed him to, fed by ravens, hidden from danger, and then watching the water slowly disappear. It is a moment that raises one of the most honest questions of faith: does a dwindling resource mean a disinterested God? This message takes us deep into that tension, holding Elijah's story alongside the equally striking account of a widow in Zarephath who was down to her last handful of flour and her final drizzle of oil, preparing what she believed would be her last meal. Together, these two stories reveal something profound about the nature of divine provision. God does not always fill the jar to overflowing. Sometimes he provides just enough, one day at a time, asking us to return tomorrow in trust. The central spiritual insight here is both unsettling and deeply freeing: the way God provides changes, but his faithfulness does not. We are invited to loosen our grip on the provision and tighten our grip on the provider, recognising that scarcity is never the measure of God's capacity. Discussion questions: 1. The brook at Cherith drying up was not a failure of God's plan but a progression within it - can you think of a time in your own life when a provision you relied on disappeared, and how did that shape your understanding of God's faithfulness? 2. The widow of Zarephath was asked to give her last resources to someone else before meeting her own need - what does this story reveal about the relationship between generosity, faith, and God's provision, and how does it challenge the way you hold onto what little you have? 3. Dave makes the point that scarcity is not the measure of God's capacity -- in what areas of your life do you most often calculate what is possible based only on what you can see is available, and how might this story reframe that thinking? 4. Sometimes God provides just enough for today rather than filling the jar to last for weeks - how do you honestly respond to the idea of daily dependence rather than long-term security, and what does that reveal about where your trust actually sits?

    When Provision Runs Out

  7. Aug 8

    When God's People Get Hangry

    In this message drawn from Exodus 16, we explore the surprisingly relatable story of God's people in the wilderness, a people who, just weeks after witnessing one of history's most dramatic miracles, found themselves consumed by anxiety, complaint, and what can only be described as a collective spiritual amnesia. The central lesson is both humbling and hopeful: when we zoom in too tightly on our fears and frustrations, we lose sight of the full picture of God's faithfulness. The manna God provided was not merely a meal, it was a daily invitation to trust, to depend, and to remember. For us today, the question is the same one the Israelites faced: can we zoom out far enough to see what God has done, is doing, and has promised to do? This message challenges us to resist the pull of grumbling and catastrophising, and instead to cultivate a memory that holds tightly to God's demonstrated goodness, even when tomorrow feels uncertain. Discussion questions: 1. Tom introduces the idea that the Israelites may have feared starvation rather than actually experienced it - how does anxiety about the future distort our perception of what God is currently providing for us? 2. God responded to the Israelites' petulant and irrational grumbling not with judgment but with sustaining grace - what does this tell us about the character of God, and how does it challenge the way you think about your own failures of faith? 3. The manna was provided daily, requiring the Israelites to depend on God each morning rather than stockpile for the future - in what practical ways does modern life work against this kind of daily dependence on God, and how might we cultivate it? 4. The sermon draws a direct line from the manna in the wilderness to Jesus declaring himself the bread of life in John 6 - how does understanding the Exodus narrative deepen your appreciation of what Christ offers to those who come to him? 5. Tom observes that grumbling is contagious, spreading through marriages, friendships, and churches - can you identify ways in which a culture of grumbling has taken root in a community you belong to, and what might it look like to counter it?

    When God's People Get Hangry

  8. Aug 1

    The God who sees

    What does it look like when a barren, lifeless desert suddenly floods with water and erupts into an explosion of colour, life, and movement? That is the striking image at the heart of this message, drawn from the remarkable natural phenomenon of Kati-Thanda Lake Eyre in outback South Australia. One of the driest places on earth, it sits dormant for years, appearing forgotten and lifeless, until water begins to flow and everything changes. This vivid picture becomes a lens through which we explore one of the most profound questions the human heart quietly carries: is there enough? Enough time, enough money, enough help, enough hope? We live in a world that constantly tell us there's not enough, and over time that shapes the way we see God, ourselves, and our circumstances. This message invites us to recognise that beneath every fear of not having enough lies a deeper question about whether God can truly be trusted. Through the lens of Genesis 22 and the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah, we discover that God has always been in the business of bringing life to barren places, and that His provision is not occasional or distant but deeply personal and purposeful. This is a message for anyone who has a dry place within them that has long been waiting for renewal. Discussion questions: 1. Beneath the scarcity mindset is the deeper question of whether God can be trusted - in what areas of your life do you find it hardest to trust that God is truly good and actively providing? 2. Lake Eyre sits barren and dry for years before suddenly flooding with life - what parts of your own life feel like that dry salt plain right now, and what would it mean for you to hold onto hope that God could bring them to life? 3. Abraham was asked to surrender the very thing that was itself a gift of God's provision - have you ever experienced a season where God seemed to be asking you to release something He had previously given you, and what did that reveal about your trust in Him? 4. Dave draws a line from the ram caught in the thicket on Mount Moriah all the way to Jesus on the cross at Calvary - how does reflecting on Jesus as the ultimate provision of God deepen or reshape the way you understand God's generosity toward you personally?

    The God who sees
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About

Welcome to the podcast of Kingsway Church in Caringbah. We pray this teaching will inspire you and deepen your faith in Jesus.

Information

  • Creator
    Kingsway Church
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All content is original and owned by Kingsway Community Church. The content of this podcast remains the property of the contributors. For permission to use this content please contact admin@kingsway.org.au.
  • Show Website
    Kingsway Caringbah