Mercy. Integrity. Peace. These are qualities we admire, but they are not always easy to practice. What makes someone genuinely merciful? What does it mean to live with a pure heart? And where does real character come from? Jesus describes a kind of character that cannot simply be manufactured through self-improvement.
Study Guides
Free - selected episodes
You will receive communications from Martyn Iles and At the Crux.
34. The Difference Only God Can Make
33. Where Real Character Begins
What actually makes someone a better person? More confidence? Greater self-belief? Looking deeper within? Jesus gives a very different answer. His opening words in the Sermon on the Mount show that real change begins when we stop looking to ourselves for the answer.
32. Can We Make Up for the Bad We’ve Done?
We are quick to say that we want justice. But what happens when that same standard is applied to us? If God is just, His justice cannot stop with everyone else. None of us measures up. The gospel offers something we cannot achieve or earn for ourselves: a righteousness that God provides.
31. How Self-Worship Is Shaping Our Culture
Self-love, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-care, self-discovery. We live in an age increasingly preoccupied with self. But the self cannot be both the problem and the solution. We suppress the truth about God because acknowledging God threatens our desire to be our own authority. To understand who we are, perhaps we need to start by asking a different question: Who is God?
30. An Ancient Problem in a Modern World
There is no shortage of theories about what is wrong with the world. Some blame politics, others education, others bad ideas or plain ignorance. But what if we have misdiagnosed the problem and there is something deeper going on? What if we are far better at suppressing the truth than we realize? [Romans 1]
29. Equal in Salvation, Different by Design
Our culture is deeply confused about gender, but Genesis is not. From the beginning, God created humanity male and female, equal in dignity and made for one another. This message traces the biblical foundations of manhood and womanhood, showing how God’s design is not oppressive, but good, purposeful, and deeply connected to His plan of redemption.
28. Why Evil Still Exists — And Why It Won’t Last
27. The Design Behind Everything — And Why It’s Under Attack
It's easy to get lost in the details. Genesis takes us back to first principles. The world around us is not self-explanatory. It points beyond itself. This message explores why creation matters, what it reveals about reality, and why understanding the foundations of the world helps us make sense of many of the questions facing our culture today. [Genesis]
26. It Doesn’t Always Work Out Ok in the End
Belshazzar knew. He'd seen what happened to his grandfather. He'd witnessed God's power firsthand. But he ignored it — and threw a party instead. Daniel 5 is the story of a man who resisted God for too long. It wasn't the size of his sin that destroyed him, it was how long he looked away. The writing was on the wall. [Daniel 5]
25. X-Ray – The World Behind the World
Revelation was not written to fill Christians with fear, but to fortify them with confidence in Jesus Christ. This bonus episode brings together key moments from the Revelation 1 series to trace its great themes: the reign of Christ over history, the endurance of His people, the certainty of His kingdom, and the call to lift our eyes above the chaos of the world and behold the risen King who rules over all things. [Rev 1]
24. Is This the Most Accepted Sin? [Part 2]
The worse you have it, the less you can tell. That's pride. It is so difficult to recognize. But Daniel 4 reminds us that God resists and humbles the proud - as He did to Nebuchadnezzar, whose pride was humbled through God's extraordinary dealings with him. It confronts us with the reality that our pride must be recognized and dealt with before it's too late. This is a practical episode, teaching us what pride is, how to recognize it, and what to do about it. [Daniel 4]
23. You Will be Humbled. The Only Question Is How? [Part 1]
Pride is deceptive. The worse you have it, the less aware of it you are. But scripture promises us: God opposes the proud. So, what is pride? How can we examine ourselves? How can we be humble? This is a practical episode about a high stakes problem, learning from the example of King Nebuchadnezzar and God’s dealing with him. [Daniel 4]