The Garden Church Auckland

What if you’re not as different from the people in John 8 as you think?

In the story of the woman caught in adultery, some people arrive holding stones, certain they know exactly how the story should end. One woman arrives exposed, ashamed, and waiting for a verdict she assumes has already been written.

But then Jesus speaks.

“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

One by one, the stones are dropped.

Tim reminds us in this message from our Jesus vs Sunday School series that this is more than a story about a woman caught in sin. It’s a mirror. Sometimes we’re the ones holding the stone, carrying judgment against someone else. Sometimes we’re the ones standing exposed, carrying the weight of our own failure and shame.

But Jesus offers something heavier.

Grace.

Not because the sin wasn’t real. Not because the stone was never justified. But because grace outweighs judgment, guilt, and condemnation.

Whatever hand you find yourself holding today, Jesus invites you to let it go.

Because grace is heavier. And it’s already here.

What if Jesus turning over the tables wasn’t a loss of control, but a fierce and deliberate act of love?

In Week 3 of Jesus I Know Now, Tim Cleary explores John 2:13–22 - the moment Jesus enters the temple and finds that the Court of the Gentiles, the one place set aside for outsiders to seek God, has been overtaken by a marketplace. People had travelled hungry for an encounter with God, only to find commerce, noise, and barriers where prayer was meant to happen.

Jesus doesn’t simply lose his temper. He takes the time to make a whip and deliberately clears the court. His anger is zeal: a consuming hunger for his Father’s house to become what it was always meant to be. And then the story takes an even greater turn. Jesus doesn’t just cleanse the temple - he declares that he is becoming the true temple, the place where God and humanity meet.

This message is for anyone who has gone looking for God and been handed something smaller instead: a performance, a transaction, a programme, or a religious system that left them hungrier than before. Your hunger isn’t the problem. Jesus takes it seriously enough to fight against whatever stands between you and the real thing.

He’s not too angry to love you - he’s too hungry not to.

“Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” - John 2:17

A religious expert asked Jesus where love ends. Jesus answered with a story in which the religious insiders walked past—and the hero was the last person anyone expected.

In this message from Luke 10:25–37, Tim Cleary revisits the parable of the Good Samaritan and its confronting invitation: mercy crosses the road, gets its hands dirty, and bears the cost.

We don’t show mercy to earn God’s love. We show mercy because Christ first crossed the road for us. The question isn’t simply, “Who is my neighbour?” but, “Am I willing to become one?”

Zacchaeus thought he was climbing a tree to see Jesus - but Jesus had come looking for him!
In Week 1 of Jesus vs Sunday School, Tim revisits the familiar story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1–10 and uncovers what the childhood version often misses: a rejected man, a grumbling crowd, and the promised Shepherd of Ezekiel 34 seeking the sheep everyone else had given up on.
This message is a reminder that grace moves first. Jesus doesn’t wait for us to clean up, settle our accounts, or find our own way home. He calls us by name - and transformation follows us home.
You don’t have to come down clean. You just have to come down.

What makes a strong leader? David’s mighty men show us that true strength isn’t having all the answers - it’s remaining humble enough to learn from the people we lead. From a cave filled with broken men to extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice, David discovered that leadership is forged through relationship, conviction, and honour.
But David’s story also carries a sobering warning. The king who once refused to consume what others had bled for later forgot that lesson - with devastating consequences for Uriah. What we forget, we repeat. Yet failure doesn’t have to be the final chapter: through repentance and grace, what has been forgotten can be learned again.
In this Father’s Day message from 1 Samuel 22 and 2 Samuel 23, Tim Cleary explores what David learned from his mighty men -and what their story teaches us about fatherhood, brotherhood, and biblical leadership. The strongest leader isn’t the one with all the answers. It’s the one still willing to be taught.