The Grainery Church Podcast

In this powerful and practical message, Ps Sue Irwin speaks directly to one of the quiet struggles many believers face: how faith can slowly weaken under pressure, worry, and disappointment. Drawing from Paul’s words in Philippians, she explores what it really means to rejoice in the Lord, not because life is easy, but because God is trustworthy in every circumstance.Sue unpacks how anxiety, fear, and hardship can gradually erode faith if we are not intentional about protecting it. With clarity and compassion, she shows that rejoicing is not denial or forced positivity. It is a conscious decision to place our trust in who God is rather than what we are facing. This kind of rejoicing becomes a safeguard, revealing when our hearts are growing weary and inviting us back to rest in God’s power and love.This message will resonate deeply with anyone feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, or spiritually tired. It offers encouragement, wisdom, and practical steps to keep faith strong, hearts soft, and hope anchored in the Lord who holds all things together.

In this deeply grounding message, Ps Sue Irwin invites us to discover freedom from anxiety by understanding who we really are in Christ. Drawing from Philippians and Ephesians, she unpacks how much of our worry comes from striving to meet our own needs, prove our worth, or gain approval from others.Sue points us to Jesus as the ultimate example. Fully secure in the love of the Father, Jesus lived a life of humility and service, not out of fear or obligation, but from an abundance of love. This same invitation is offered to us. When we stop trying to earn love and instead receive God’s mercy, our mindset begins to change and so do our relationships.This message speaks with compassion to those carrying fear, shame, rejection, or past wounds. It gently challenges listeners to let go of control, surrender anxious striving, and live from the deep assurance of being loved by God. If you long for peace that reaches beyond circumstances, this episode offers wisdom, hope, and a path toward lasting freedom.

As we begin a new year, Ps Sue Irwin opens this series with a hopeful and practical message about living free from anxiety. Drawing from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, she reminds us that an anxious life is not fixed by willpower, positive thinking, or better planning, but by a deeper shift in what we believe about ourselves and about God.Sue gently explores how anxiety is often rooted in identity and misplaced trust, and how peace begins when we learn to live from who we are in Christ rather than striving to become someone through outcomes and achievements. Through Scripture, stories, and clear teaching, she invites us to experience God’s love personally, not just understand it intellectually.This message is a powerful starting point for the year ahead. It offers a fresh perspective on prayer, spiritual growth, and what it really means to be God’s children. If you are carrying worry, feeling overwhelmed, or longing for a steadier sense of peace, this episode sets a grounding and hope filled tone for 2026.

In this thoughtful and timely message, Ps Rachel Baker speaks into the space many of us find ourselves in at the end of the year. The in between. The moment after Christmas has passed but before the new year has begun. It is a season filled with reflection, expectation, uncertainty, and hope.Rachel explores why we are so drawn to planning, goal setting, and resolutions, and gently challenges the idea that we are the authors of our own outcomes. Drawing on Scripture and the stories of people who lived in the waiting between promise and fulfillment, she reminds us that God is always at work in these in between seasons. Not rushing us forward, but shaping our hearts and inviting us to trust Him more deeply.This message is an invitation to pause, to offer our plans to God, and to allow Him to guide what comes next. As the final podcast for 2025, it creates space to reflect, realign, and step into the new year with open hands and a heart ready to listen.

In this encouraging and practical message, Ps Sue Irwin helps us reflect on the year we’ve just lived and shows us how to finish it well, no matter what it has held. As we look back on the highs, the lows, and the moments in between, Sue reminds us that nothing is wasted in God’s hands. Every experience can become a pathway for His blessing when our hearts and minds are aligned with Him.Using the story of King Jehoshaphat, she explores what it really means to trust God in the face of fear, uncertainty, and overwhelming circumstances. Rather than striving harder or trying to control outcomes, we are invited to realign our thinking, surrender our worries, and learn how worship, gratitude, and faith open the door for God to move.This message is especially meaningful for anyone feeling weary, anxious about the future, or unsure how to step into the year ahead. It offers hope, perspective, and practical encouragement to trust God more deeply and allow Him to turn valleys into places of blessing.

In this thoughtful Christmas Eve message, Ps Sue Irwin invites us to see Christmas as more than a familiar story we know about, but as an encounter with someone we can truly know. While the nativity often looks peaceful and polished, Sue gently pulls back the curtain to reveal the deeper reality of what was happening when Jesus was born. Heaven was breaking into earth, and it was anything but simple or safe.Through Scripture, story, and rich imagery, she explores the idea of incarnation and why God chose to come to us as a humble, vulnerable baby. This was not weakness but intention. God wanted to meet us without fear, to speak our language, and to draw close to every human heart. Christmas becomes a rescue story unfolding both visibly on earth and powerfully behind the scenes.This message will encourage anyone longing for meaning, peace, or a deeper understanding of God’s presence. It is an invitation to move beyond knowing about Jesus and to experience Emmanuel, God with us.

In this deeply reflective message, Matt Darvas invites us to wrestle honestly with the tension between the peace promised at Christmas and the pain we see in the world around us. Set against the realities of global conflict, personal loss, and the recent Bondi tragedy, Matt explores what it means to hope for peace when life feels anything but peaceful.Through Scripture, personal family history, and thoughtful reflection, he reminds us that Jesus did not enter a calm and orderly world. He entered a broken one. This is not a message that avoids hard questions. Instead, it gently guides listeners toward a deeper, truer peace that does not deny suffering but meets it with love, justice, and grace.The message also features Ps Stu Brown singing O Holy Night, allowing space to pause, reflect, and let the words of this timeless carol speak to weary hearts.If you are feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world or carrying quiet pain of your own, this episode offers space to breathe, reflect, and rediscover the peace that Jesus gives, not as the world gives, but as only He can.

In this powerful and honest message, Bev Murrill takes us beyond the polished nativity scenes and into the real world Mary and Joseph lived in. Christmas was not calm, safe, or predictable. It was lived under occupation, fear, uncertainty, and enormous personal cost. Bev invites us to see how God’s light entered the darkness of ordinary, difficult life, not to remove the struggle, but to meet people within it.Through Mary’s courageous yes and Joseph’s quiet obedience, we are reminded that God’s favour does not mean comfort, approval, or ease. It often means surrender, misunderstanding, and perseverance. Yet it is through that costly faithfulness that God brings hope, justice, and redemption into the world.This message will resonate with anyone who feels caught between promise and pain, faith and fear. It offers deep encouragement to trust God in the now and the not yet, and to believe that even in hardship, His purposes are still unfolding through ordinary people who say yes.

In this uplifting Christmas message, Stu Brown invites us to slow down and rediscover what the season is really about. With humour, honesty, and warmth, he challenges the busyness and consumerism that so easily take over December and reminds us that Christmas isn’t just a holiday, it’s the moment heaven came to earth.Through stories, Scripture, and reflection, Stu explores Jesus’ question to His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” and reminds us that how we answer that changes everything. Like Simeon and Anna at the temple, we’re called to recognize the true presence of Jesus and respond with praise, even in the middle of life’s messiness.Whether your Christmas feels joyful or complicated, this message will help you centre your heart on what really matters: the hope, peace, and love that arrived when Christ was born.

In this powerful message, Bev Murrill explores how God uses the challenges, pain, and irritations of life to shape us into something beautiful. Drawing from Jesus’ parable of the pearl of great price, Bev reminds us that true transformation takes time and surrender. Like an oyster forming a pearl around a grain of sand, God covers our pain, pride, and fear with His grace until it shines with His glory.She challenges us to let go of the “holy grails” we cling to. Our opinions, control, and need to be right and instead pursue the priceless treasure of becoming more like Christ. Real healing comes not from what we hold on to, but from what we release into God’s hands.This message will inspire you to trust God’s process, find beauty in difficulty, and keep seeking the pearl of great price, Jesus Himself. No matter the cost.

In this encouraging message, John Crawford challenges us to stop living with a “not yet” mindset and start stepping into what God is calling us to do now. We all have good intentions, plans to grow closer to God, change habits, or become better versions of ourselves but too often we get stuck waiting for the perfect time.Through Scripture and personal stories, John reminds us that God’s kingdom is not a distant dream but something we can experience in our everyday lives when we choose to make Him the centre of everything. The distractions of the world, our possessions, ambitions, and self-focus can easily take our eyes off what really matters.This message will inspire you to stop delaying growth, confront what’s holding you back, and refocus on the one thing that lasts forever. God’s love and purpose are available now, not someday. The question is, will you let Him in today?

In this heartfelt message, Ps Sue Irwin invites us to see confession not as something to fear, but as a doorway to freedom. Too often we hide what’s really going on inside because we expect judgment or rejection. But God’s heart is not to punish, it is to heal. When we come honestly before Him, we step out of shame and into grace.Through Scripture and real-life stories, Sue explains how confession is less about listing our mistakes and more about letting light into hidden places. It’s where belief becomes experience, where we discover that God’s mercy is greater than our guilt. She also challenges us to be the kind of friends who can hold another’s honesty without judgment, creating spaces where grace and healing can take root.This message will encourage you to stop hiding, to trust God’s kindness, and to experience the freedom that comes when we allow His love to make us whole.

In this heartfelt message, Bev Murrill reminds us that every follower of Jesus carries the light of God within themand that light is meant to be shared. Drawing from Psalm 97:11, she explains how light can be sown like seeds, spreading hope and truth wherever we go.Through touching personal stories, Bev reflects on her late husband legacy of shining God’s light and challenges us to do the same in our homes, workplaces, and communities. Even when the world feels dark, God calls His people to bring light into it. Not because we are perfect, but because His light never runs out.This message is a powerful encouragement for anyone who feels small or insignificant. One tiny flame can ignite thousands more. The world doesn’t need perfection; it needs people willing to shine. Bev’s words will inspire you to live courageously, sow seeds of light in dark places, and trust that God’s brilliance will shine through you for generations to come.

In this inspiring message, we are invited to look at life through the lens of grace rather than fairness. So often we find ourselves wondering why things happen the way they do or why life doesn’t seem fair. But through the story of Job, we are reminded that God is not building a world based on fairness. He is creating a kingdom built on grace.Grace is where love is freely given, not earned. It is what transforms hearts, heals relationships, and restores hope. When we stop trying to earn God’s favor and simply receive His love, everything changes.If you have ever struggled with disappointment, loss, or the feeling that life has been unfair, this message will encourage you to rest in God’s goodness. You will discover that in His kingdom of grace, every moment of pain and every act of love is redeemed for something far greater than fairness could ever offer.Note: The video clip from Les Miserables used in the original service is copyrighted and could not be included in this podcast recording.

In this inspiring message, we are reminded that generosity isn’t just a nice thing to do, it’s part of God’s design for human flourishing. From the laws of Moses to the life of Jesus and the early church, we see that God hardwired generosity into His plan for healing relationships, communities, and even nations.Through powerful stories from the streets of Nepal to the villages of Uganda and the everyday generosity happening within our own church we are invited to live with open hands and courageous hearts. True generosity isn’t reckless giving; it’s confidence in who we are and in the God who provides.This episode challenges us to see generosity as more than a transaction, it’s a transformation. When we live with open hearts and let God’s love flow through us, we become part of His story of renewal, justice, and hope in the world.

In this powerful and heartfelt message, Pastor Sam reminds us that life was never meant to be lived all at once. When we try to carry tomorrow’s worries or dwell on yesterday’s regrets, we miss the beauty of what God is doing right now. Drawing from Scripture, he challenges us to slow down, trust God’s timing, and take life one day at a time.Through personal stories of faith, forgiveness, and transformation, Sam shares how surrendering control opens the door for peace and freedom. Whether it’s breaking free from anxiety, learning to forgive, or simply choosing gratitude for today, this message will inspire you to live in the moment with God’s strength.If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the future or burdened by the past, this episode is a timely reminder that God is in both but He meets you in the now.

Have you ever realized your faith is running on autopilot? In this powerful message, Bev encourages us to move beyond routine Christianity and rediscover the life-giving relationship Jesus offers. Too often we live like people storing stale water in cracked cisterns—doing the right things but disconnected from the source of life.Through vivid imagery from Scripture, Bev reminds us that Jesus calls us to come and drink deeply from the living water He freely gives. When we draw from Him daily, His Spirit flows through us like a fountain. Refreshing, renewing, and bringing hope to others.This episode is a heartfelt invitation to stop striving, to stop trying to “be good enough,” and simply plug back into the source. Whether you’ve felt spiritually dry, distracted, or disconnected, this message will remind you that it’s never too late to come back to the well and let the living water flow again.

In this message, David Ritchie invites us to see life through the lens of God’s generosity rather than scarcity. Using Jesus’ parable of the rich fool, he challenges the idea that success is about gaining more for ourselves. Life isn’t a zero sum game where someone must lose for another to win. It is an invitation to live with open hands and generous hearts.Through personal stories from his years in ministry and mission work, David shares how God’s kindness multiplies when we trust Him with our resources, fears, and worries. He reminds us that anxiety about the future adds nothing to our lives, but generosity toward God and others brings lasting joy and eternal reward.If you’ve ever struggled with fear, control, or the feeling that you might lose by giving too much, this message will help you rediscover the freedom of living with faith and gratitude, letting the river of God’s generosity flow through you.

In this message, Pastor Stu Brown continues the series Let the River Flow with a challenge to let God do a deep work in our hearts. He reminds us that true community begins with honesty before God and one another, not hiding behind busyness or surface-level connection.Drawing from Psalm 139, Stu encourages us to pray, “Search me, God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.” Like tidying a messy house, we need to bring everything into the light resentments, pride, addictions, hidden struggles and allow God to show us what needs to be surrendered.This is not about shame or endless self-criticism but about freedom. When we confess specifically and honestly, God’s grace meets us with healing, and His Spirit flows through us to others. If you’ve ever felt stuck, weighed down, or far from God, this message will help you take courageous steps toward honesty, surrender, and the fullness of life Jesus promises.

Richmond Wandera grew up in Uganda, where tragedy and poverty shaped his childhood. After his father was murdered, his family was forced into the slums of Naguru. At just eight years old, Richmond faced hunger, loss, and the fear of invisibility that poverty brings. But everything changed when a 15 year old girl on the other side of the world chose to sponsor him.That simple decision gave Richmond access to food, education and hope. It not only lifted him out of poverty but also transformed generations in his family. Today he leads pastors, trains leaders, and helps thousands of children find freedom and faith through Christ.This powerful message is not just about survival but about redemption. Richmond shares how God rewrites broken stories and invites us to join in His work of restoration. If you have ever wondered whether one life can make a difference, this story will inspire you to see how small acts of faith can change the world.