Inspire Church Albany

Free to Surrender by Ps Shane Willard (12 Dec 2021), grounded directly in your archived transcript:

Ps Shane Willard explores how biblical figures like John the Baptist, Moses, Jeremiah, Mary, and even Jesus faced seasons of struggle despite doing everything right. He shows that faith is not the absence of doubt or difficulty, but the choice to surrender when life feels uncontrollable. Through these stories, he highlights that control leads to frustration and captivity, while surrender opens the way to freedom, trust, and spiritual growth. The message invites listeners to release their need to control outcomes and embrace the life‑giving power of surrender to God.

Pentecost Sunday with Ps Julia McDonell centers on welcoming the Holy Spirit afresh and remembering the power Jesus promised to His followers, as she reminds the church that “the Holy Spirit’s a gift” and the source of courage, wisdom, and transformation. Drawing from Acts 2, she highlights how the Spirit turned fearful disciples into bold witnesses and calls believers today to choose joy, surrender control, and live empowered lives, noting, “That joy comes from the Holy Spirit.” Ps Julia contrasts the division of Babel with the unity of Pentecost, where every person heard the gospel in their own language, revealing God’s heart to reach the ends of the earth. She closes by urging the church to live Spirit‑filled, unified, and courageous—people who carry God’s love into the world with bold faith.

Podcast Summary — Ps Julia McDonell | 17 May 2026

“Tested Faith, Trusted Faith”

Ps Julia McDonell brings a deeply anointed and emotionally charged message on the journey from tested faith to trusted faith, calling every believer to move beyond comfort and step into personal revival. Drawing from Ephesians 4 and the powerful story of Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings 2, she shows that God forms trustworthy vessels through seasons of pressure, surrender, and obedience.

She reminds the church that revival is no longer about the “big names” or the spectacular movements of the 1990s—God is igniting revival within each believer, empowering them to transform their world, workplace, and relationships. Through vivid storytelling, Ps Julia highlights Elisha’s unwavering loyalty, his willingness to walk through rejection, famine, confrontation, and grief, and his ultimate transition into a double‑portion inheritance—not of power, but of sonship.

With raw honesty, she shares her own journey through grief and the moment she had to “push through and touch the hem of His garment,” urging listeners not to remain stuck in pain but to cross over into personal faith, personal prayer, and personal encounter with God. The mantle, she says, falls in moments of painful separation—but each believer must choose to pick it up.

This message calls the church to maturity, surrender, and courage: Stop depending on someone else’s walk with God. Strike the water for yourself. Step into the new season God is opening before you.

Special Mother's Day Dedication with Ps Julia and Don McDonell  Sunday 10 May 2026

Ps Julia opened the Mother’s Day service by honouring the women of the church, reading from Proverbs 31 and declaring strength, dignity, and God‑given beauty over every woman, saying, “I am magnificent and I carry God’s favour.” She encouraged the congregation with stories of Sarah’s renewed youth and reminded the women that God can revive what feels worn out, restoring grace, purpose, and joy. The service then shifted to a powerful moment of child dedication, where Ps Julia prophesied life, wisdom, and God’s favour over each child and spoke about the church’s role in shaping the next generation. Ps Don joined in prayer as the church celebrated family, legacy, and the call to speak life, hope, and blessing over both mothers and children.

“Spirit of Faith” — Ps Don McDonell 3 May 2026

Ps Don McDonell teaches that a spirit of faith is caught, not taught, and grows in the atmosphere you choose and the words you speak. Drawing from Scripture, personal stories, and examples like Timothy, Caleb, and Smith Wigglesworth, he emphasises that faith is a spiritual force that transforms environments and unlocks God’s promises. He challenges believers to guard their words, reject negativity, and speak life, because “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (as he states in the sermon). Ps Don calls the church to lean into faith over the coming month—praying, gathering, and stepping out boldly even when the path is unclear. He concludes by declaring that faith breaks heaviness, awakens hope, and positions every believer to rise, overcome, and walk in God’s purpose.

Podcast Summary — ANZAC Memorial & Sermon by Ps Ken Harrison (Sunday, 26 April)

Ps Ken Harrison opened the service with a deeply personal and reverent ANZAC commemoration, honouring the sacrifice of New Zealanders who served in World War I, World War II, and later conflicts. Drawing from his own family history — a grandfather wounded at Passchendaele and a father who fought in Egypt and Italy — Ps Ken reflected on the cost of freedom and the responsibility each generation carries to protect peace. He shared vivid stories from the battlefields he has visited, including the trenches of Epes and the Seneo stopbank in Italy, grounding the remembrance in real human courage and loss. As he read Laurence Binyon’s famous lines, “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them,” the congregation stood to honour those who served and those who still carry the scars of war.

Transitioning into his sermon “Seize Life, Seize the Day,” Ps Ken connected the ANZAC legacy of courage to the Christian call to live purposefully. Using his father’s wartime diary — including the entry written the day his father was wounded — he illustrated how moments of crisis can shape a lifetime of conviction. His father’s motto, “You only pass this way once — live it,” became the foundation for a message urging believers to embrace each day with faith, passion, and intentionality.

Drawing from Ephesians 5 and Ecclesiastes 9:10, Ps Ken taught that seizing the day means recognising God’s love, goodness, and guidance in every season. He reminded listeners that faith is not passive; it “holds up” the promises of God and propels us into the future with courage. Using the acronym LIVE — Love God, Invest in His kingdom, Value your time, and be Eager to please Him — he called the church to live fully for Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit and committed to the work of the Kingdom.

The message closed with a challenge: as long as it is day, we must do the works of the One who sent us. Just as past generations fought for our freedom, we are called to honour their legacy — and Christ’s sacrifice — by living boldly, faithfully, and purposefully today.

“Free to Surrender” by Ps Shane Willard

Ps Shane Willard unpacks the stories of John the Baptist, Moses, Jeremiah, Mary, and Jesus to show that faith isn’t about controlling outcomes but learning to surrender in the middle of struggle. Through their journeys, he highlights that even when we do everything right, life can still feel uncertain — yet God meets us in that place. True freedom comes not from fixing every circumstance, but from releasing control and trusting God’s work in us and in others. The message calls listeners to embrace surrender as the pathway to peace, strength, and deeper faith.

In this powerful message, Ps John Peters calls the church into a fresh awareness of destiny, reminding us that gathering isn’t routine — it’s stepping into a divine encounter. He teaches that while life brings “potholes” and challenges, Christ in us is the shock absorber who strengthens, steadies, and transforms us from the inside out. Drawing from Numbers 13, he urges believers to dream, taste, and be transformed, capturing God’s vision for their lives and refusing to let trouble cloud their calling. This sermon stirs faith to rise again, fight the good fight, and walk boldly into the freedom and purpose God has prepared.

Ps Don McDonell reminds us that even in seasons of uncertainty, restriction, and hardship, we can choose to trust God rather than lean on our own understanding. He teaches that praise is a spiritual weapon that lifts heaviness, breaks chains, and shifts the atmosphere of our lives. Through the examples of Peter, Paul and Silas, and Joseph, we see that prayer, faithfulness, love, and using our God-given gifts bring victory even in difficult places. The message challenges us to put on the garment of praise and become carriers of hope, peace, and encouragement to those around us.

Ps Jesse Kelly teaches that salvation is not the finish line but the starting line of a Spirit‑empowered life.

Drawing from Ephesians 2, he reminds the church that we are saved by grace, shaped by God as His workmanship, and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

He emphasizes that God’s love reaches every height and depth of our lives, forming us together into people filled with His fullness.

The message concludes with a call to live sent with purpose, stepping into the good works God has already prepared for each believer.