What does greatness look like? Usually it’s titles, status and being noticed. This Sunday we take our place at the table on the night before the cross and watch a King get down on his knees with a towel. In week two of A Different Kind of King this message connects Joshua’s challenge to serve God with Jesus’ example of loving others. Before asking us to serve, Jesus invites us to receive his love. We explore how that love changes our choices and how to be a church that helps care for people in simple, practical ways every day.

A Different Kind of King, Tony explores Colossians 1 and Jesus’ invitation to make him the center rather than just a part. We look at what surrender really means, why it isn’t passive resignation, and how to trust a King who holds all things together.

What do you do when life hasn’t turned out as you hoped? Walking the Emmaus road with two disheartened disciples, Tony explores where hope is found. Not in circumstances or our plans, but in the risen Jesus who walks beside us. Hope grows as we remember God’s faithfulness, slow down to notice him in ordinary moments, and carry it to others.

Jesus sent out 72 ordinary, unnamed followers to bring peace, healing and hope into the world. Their quiet faithfulness reminds us that God’s kingdom grows through everyday acts of love and service. As we celebrate St Luke, we explore what it means to be sent by Jesus, accompanied by his presence, and called to make a difference wherever we are.

Most of us don’t say no to God; we never get round to replying. In Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1–14), a generous invitation is ignored, then opened to the streets. Discover how God’s grace welcomes us as we are but changes us, and why following Jesus means making room: for him, and for the neighbours around us.

Most of us picture St Francis as a garden statue with a bird on his shoulder, admired but never followed. The real Francis gave everything away and got off his horse to kiss a leper. On St Francis Sunday, Tony explores Matthew 11:25–30 and asks what it would take for our church to stop admiring Jesus and actually follow him.

1. Where are you more an admirer of Jesus than a follower right now — and what would one step of following look like this week?

2. Which yoke are you carrying that isn’t Jesus’ — hurry, proving yourself, keeping everyone happy? What would his “gentle and humble” pace change?

3. Francis found Christ in the man he’d been riding past. Who might you be moving too fast to notice — and what would it take to get off the horse?

"Is the Lord among us or not?" — asked in a dry place, on a route God had chosen. Scripture doesn't tidy the question away; it names the place after the argument. Tony on bringing the honest question rather than the polite one, and on a God who answers not by proving his power but by going all the way down.

Rev. Peter asks, Why is it so easy to compare ourselves with others—and why does envy steal our joy? Through Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard, we discover a different way to live: receiving God’s generosity with gratitude rather than measuring ourselves against others. Join us as we explore contentment, compassion, self-worth, and becoming the person God created us to be.