King's Church Media

General

Esther: The providence of God

The decree of Cyrus in 539BC meant that the people of God could return home after years in exile, but many chose to stay in Babylon. The Jewish people still living in Babylon were, therefore, left asking, does God still see us? Does God still care? Will He act on behalf of a rebellious people far from home? And in this unusual book entitled Esther, written (chronologically) at the end of the Old Testament, the name of God is not mentioned. No one prays. There’s no miraculous intervention or prophet sent from God. Yet, at the same time, the book of Esther describes a breathtaking rescue of the Jewish people. It describes how God’s hand sovereignly guides the seemingly ‘natural’ events of human history to save His people and bring about His purposes. This book is a beautiful help to us today as Christians living in a world that seldom acknowledges God. We may be tempted to ask, does God still see us? Does God still care? As we take a look at the story of Esther, we’ll be encouraged that God is sovereign. That He directs the over-arching events of all history and is also involved in every detail of our lives. We can have confidence that God is with us, a people far from home. Ultimately God has shown us that through Christ Jesus, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has come for us, wherever we are, and we are reminded that in all things God works for the good of those who love him!

Character of God

Exodus 34:6-7 is the most quoted passage in the Hebrew scriptures. It is referenced more than 27 times in the Old Testament and provides a beautiful summary, revealed to us by God, of God’s own character. We discover a God full of mercy, compassion and who is abounding in steadfast love. However, there also seem to be some apparent tensions in God’s character. His mercy v His justice, for example. The fact that He is merciful and yet will by no means clear the guilty. However, the fact that this passage is so often referenced shows us the stability and constancy of God’s character as well. In this series we’ll unpack the rich beauty of how God is revealed, knowing that the more we know and understand God’s character the more we can live lives that honour Him. And ultimately, we’ll see that all the apparent tensions are fully and firmly resolved in the revelation of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection!

Worship: Love, gifts & resurrection

Paul is teaching the Church in Corinth what it means to be worshippers of Jesus Christ. Rooted in the truth of what He has accomplished, we stand on a firm foundation. Knowing His deep love for us means we learn to love one another and celebrate our diversity. In this series we’ll look at Paul’s practical guidelines that promote both the vibrant community life of worship as well as order and what it means to prefer one another. We’ll also consider how we might we grow in our worship; as individuals, families and corporately especially as we have our younger children joining in our worship times. Worship is what we were made for!

'Introducing the coming King'

In this series we are introduced to Jesus, the coming King. Through the 9 weeks we will take a look at a number of different facets of Jesus character. We will explore the beginning of His ministry, noting His authority, power, love & compassion. Each episode reveals something unique about this Son of Man who came ‘not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many’ Mark 10:45. Jesus reveals the kingdom. A Kingdom ‘now’ that comes in power and also a Kingdom yet to come. Often revealed in the most surprising of ways we take a look at the foundation of Jesus’ ministry, and we are introduced to the Servant King, who came to proclaim the ‘gospel of God’ instructing us to ‘repent and believe the good news’.

Jonah ‘The depths of God’s grace’

How is it possible that a city like Nineveh, the epitome of Israel’s enemies could repent and receive God’s mercy? The book of Jonah is a story of God’s unmerited grace. 1st to a disobedient prophet who runs away. 2nd to sailors more open to God than God’s own prophet. 3rd to a city hostile to God. Then 4th once again God’s mercy is revealed to Jonah in the reflections of chapter 4. But like the story Jesus tells of the prodigal son and his older brother, we are left with an open question as to whether Jonah (an older brother type) ultimately repents and turns to God… In this series we get a glorious revelation of a gracious God who is revealed as the one who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster (Jonah 4:2). We are invited to consider our own ways and be both challenged and refreshed by a God who is good to all.

Evangelism as Exiles

1 Peter is written to Christians in Asia minor facing all kinds of challenges… Social ostracism, exclusion, being mocked and maligned and there was therefore, a seductive allure to return to their old pagan way of life. Seeing others in their fellowship backsliding. Encountering the enemy’s fiery darts must all have caused them to doubt the goodness and faithfulness of God. These believers were elect exiles, they didn’t belong, and they knew it!

Fast forward to 21st century Birmingham there’s a similar feeling. John Mark Comer in his book ’Live no lies’ describes a concept sociologists call being a ‘cognitive minority’ where our values, practices, and social norms are at odds with the world around us. There’s been a shift in our culture, where previously the church was held in honour it is now a source of shame. Church teaching and behaviour can often be seen by our world as a problem and not part of the solution… It’s easy to feel ‘dislocated, uneasy, and uncertain about the future. A fight just to stay saved. To stay faithful to Jesus, let alone happy and at peace... It can leave us asking ‘am I crazy to believe what I believe?’ (Comer) If you’re a Christian hanging on and in need of encouragement then 1 Peter is for you! This series will bolster and strengthen your faith that God is good and fully trustworthy. That we have a ‘living hope’ found in the person of Jesus. An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. And it may even give you confidence to believe that we have some seriously good news to share with those around us!

This is the King of the Jews

Worship

This short series on worship explores why and how we are called to worship God and why we prize it so highly at King's Church Birmingham. Looking at Ephesians 5:15-20 we'll learn the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit (the Real Deal in a world of counterfeits!) and how this will overflow in worship in our lives: both together on Sundays and in the intimate place of our own hearts. We see that when we think about God, his true worth, and his saving work in our lives, we will always have reason to thank and praise him. The more we know God, the more we'll come to worship him.

Relationships

The series will explore God’s good design for our relationships. Specifically, as we search the story of the scriptures, we will see how God tells us a beautiful and climatic story about who we are, what we were made for and how we are supposed to relate to one another. That all our relationships point us towards the greatest relationship of them all… the one between Christ and His Church. We will cover topics including: Parenting, Friendship, Singleness, Marriage, Sexuality, Gender Identity, and the Church.

Prayer

Advent

Elisha: A Life of Faith

The book of Kings tells the story of a long line of monarchs who came after David but who don’t live up to the promise of establishing God’s kingdom, rather they run the nation of Israel into the ground. Interspersed through King’s are Prophets - key figures in Israel’s history, they speak on behalf of God to call out idolatry and injustice and remind Israel of their calling to be a light to the nations. Elisha, a disciple of the prophet Elijah is a voice to the nation, performing signs and wonders that the people might sit up and take notice of what God commands. The study of Elisha then is provocative; his signs miraculous, and his life extraordinary. The stories of Elisha are compelling and yet challenging, calling us to consider how we might best obey and follow God today. In this series, we’re going to be studying the life of Elisha, exploring the sign that he was to his generation and unpacking how Jesus, the true Elisha, calls us to be a sign to our generation today.

Summer in the Psalms

The book of Psalms is a wonderful, expertly crafted, poetic telling of the biblical story. The Psalms help us to pray, hope and reflect as we learn to live by God’s wisdom and seek His justice in the world. The book is designed to help us meet with God and discover His presence in the good and the hard times. Over the summer we are going to be exploring how a selection of different Psalms can do this for us today, discovering how they point us to God and what He is saying to us through them.

1 John - Love and Light in a world of darkness

The epistle of 1 John gives us a unique insight into handling the truth of the gospel and disagreements that arise within church life. John, an eyewitness to the life of Jesus (1:1-5), paints a wonderful portrait of the Son, who came in the flesh to make a way for sinners to be one with God. He warms the churches against those who might preach another gospel, who might question their reception of eternal life. It’s an encouragement to us to stand firm for a true gospel witness. John also highlights that God is both Light (1:5) and Love (4:8). This is a wonderful juxtaposition of two truths, much needed in our world today that are so often pulled apart. We worship a God who is beautiful in holiness and glory and who hates sin (God is Light). But who also holds out sacrificial atoning love for those who do sin (God is Love). Both available to all, through the work of Christ Jesus. Our God truly is love and light in a world of darkness.

Cultural Values

In this ‘Cultural Values’ series we explore the type of family God is calling us to be at King’s Church Birmingham. We want to investigate just how Jesus led His disciples. What type of people He was developing, and we’ll look at the culture He created. Specifically, we want to unpack 5 key qualities that Jesus instilled into His disciples, so that we might better get hold of these truths for ourselves. We will explore what is means to be a generous family, a loving family, to honour, to be authentic and to become a courageous family. And as we do, we are trusting we will, in a much deeper way, become the church family that God wants us to be!

Joseph — From Pit to Palace

The journey ‘from pit to palace’ found in Genesis 37-50 is the life story of Joseph, a man who learned to trust God through all of life’s tumultuous ups and downs. It’s a story of God’s sovereignty. His providence. Of God’s ability to weave together all of life’s ‘seemingly’ random, unfortunate events into the bigger picture of His ultimate rescue and provision. Joseph’s is a story of God preparing a man for honour, by first refining him through dark times. Joseph has to grapple with pride, rejection, slavery, despair, accusation and prison before he is ready to be elevated to the right hand of Pharaoh. This provocative story is a word in season, for our turbulent times that we too might learn how to trust God in the midst of uncertainty and despair. The story’s finale is one of hope. Reconciliation and forgiveness for a broken family and provision for the nations in the midst of famine. And yet there’s even more… The story of Joseph points to God’s chosen Son, who endured darkness and despair before being elevated to a place of glory, the glory of the cross. Jesus Christ is the true Joseph, and his journey ‘from pit to palace’ has brought reconciliation and provision for every nation.

When Jesus Met

In this series we look at 8 encounters Jesus had with regular people and how it changed them. We see the beauty of our Saviour displayed up close and personal and in multi-faceted detail. How He is the reconciler, the prophet, the healer, the deliverer, the resurrection and the life and so much more!

Habakkuk

Habakkuk is an Old Testament book, found within the minor prophets, that speaks right into our current cultural climate. As the prophet wrestles with injustice, suffering, and economic recession his cry is one of ‘How long O Lord’ (Hab. 1:2). Yet it’s also a book full of hope, that encourages weary believers today, that in God, the ‘righteous shall live by his faith’ (Hab. 2:4). It’s a book that teaches us to be real with our questions and our anxieties, and yet at the same time, helps us to wrestle through our doubts. It’s a call to pursue God in prayer, to get to a place where even if God takes everything away, we are able to pray with Habakkuk, “Yet, I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation’. (Hab. 3:18).

Romans: The Gospel of God

In this series we take a closer look at Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul is writing to a church that he’s neither planted nor visited in an effort to convince them of his apostolic ministry and to give them confidence in the gospel. His hope is that they might be united, blessed and in the hope that they might support Him as he begins a new phase of missionary work in the West of the Roman Empire.

We will discover how this letter is primarily about God and His gospel. A gospel that both fulfils and elucidates scripture, how it has the power to bring life out of death, to produce the obedience of faith, unite Jew and Gentile as well as weak and strong. We’ll uncover a revelation of the righteousness of God, faith as the exclusive means of salvation and eternal resurrection life as the great hope of believers walking not in the flesh but in the spirit.

Paul is sure of his calling as an apostle who is on a mission to (1:4) bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including the Romans. Nearly 2000 years later Jesus is still on His mission and wants to include us in the wonderful gospel of God.

Adventures with Abraham

This series will follow the journey of an idolater from Babylon called Abram whom God speaks to graciously, who’s asked to leave everything and go to a land that God will show him. God makes some extraordinary promises to Abraham; that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and that through his offspring God will bless all the nations of the earth. We’ll follow the story of how Abraham responds in faith & with patience but also take a look at his mistakes and sin as scripture gives us an unadulterated look at the life of this great patriarch. We’ll journey with Abraham and Sarah as they await the promise of Isaac and we’ll look beyond to the One who fulfils the promises. We’ll discover that to fully understand Jesus and His mission we have to understand Abraham and his. As we do so we’ll be propelled into the mission of King’s Church with fresh anticipation, as we play our part in the great unfolding drama of redemption, sharing the gospel that the earth may be filled with the glory of God.

Letters to the seven churches

This series looks at the first three chapters of the last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation. Have you ever wondered what Jesus would say to King’s church. Well here we have recorded, in scripture, Jesus’ own words to seven different churches. We will explore what Jesus really cares about concerning His church and conversely what He doesn’t seem to focus on. This series will provide food for our souls, reorientate our priorities as we consider revelation from Jesus and gain an insight to what He wants to emphasis in our own lives and the life of our church.

True worshippers

We are born to be worshippers. Made in the image of God, worship is foundational to knowing who we are and just how great our God is. In this series we take a look at how we grow in our worship; as individuals, families and corporately. How we use the spiritual gifts God gives to build one another up, how we choose to worship in the tough times as well as the good. How the truth of God’s Word and His Holy Spirt inspire songs of praise. How worship can even lead to victory in different areas of our lives, always remembering ‘The battle is the Lords’ 2 Chronicles 20:15.

Joshua: Inheriting the promises of God

A new generation prepare to take the inheritance promised them by God. We’ll consider the many lessons we can learn as God’s people as we pursue the call of God in our day. Led by their leader Joshua the people learn to trust God by responding in faith. Without a military strategy as such, they learn simple obedience to the Lord who goes before them. Plus we look forward to a better Joshua, one who was strong and courageous, who went into battle on behalf of His brothers, who has torn down every dividing wall and barrier and won for His people an eternal inheritance and an eternal rest.