Genesis 1-4 provides us the origin story for the whole Bible and human history. In them we find a blueprint for why things are they way are. Why is the world so good and yet such a mess? What is it that makes humanity unique? Why is our work such a struggle? Where does marriage […]
Sometimes it can feel like following Jesus is getting harder. There can be a pressure to conform to certain cultural ideas, and Christianity doesn’t always fit. This pressure would be very familiar to the Hebrew Christians (probably) in Rome. They lives in a context where worship of the Roman gods was expected from all, with […]
A few years ago, a survey was done about who is considered to be the most influential person to have ever lived, and it will probably come as no surprise that in first place was Jesus Christ. His historical impact has been unparalleled. Kings and rulers have pledged allegiance to him. Schools, universities and hospitals […]
David is one of the most popular figures in the Old Testament. His story seems to feature the whole range of human experience, and he is at the same time one of the clearest models of Christ that we have and one of the most relatable characters in his own flawed humanity. In this series, […]
Christmas sermons can present a challenge for preachers as they break the normal flow of a series, and it is not easy to have a fresh angle each year whilst staying focussed on the unchanging truth of Christ coming into the world. In this series we suggest a few different ideas that you could you […]
In Psalm 27, David writes that the ‘one thing’ he seeks above all others is to be in the house of the Lord, where he could be in God’s presence. In the New Testament, we are taught that the church is the house of God, in whom he dwells by the Spirit. It is the presence […]
When God poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, it was different to how the Spirit had worked in the Old Testament in a number of ways. One of the most significant of these is that the Spirit was poured out ‘on all flesh’. No longer would it just be kings and […]
The church is described in Scripture as the temple of the Holy Spirit, so we should expect when we meet together that God will be present in our midst and that this presence will not be merely theoretical but manifest and tangible. One of the primary ways Scripture describes God as being manifest in the […]
As we read through the accounts of the lives of Elijah and his successor Elisha, we see amazing things happen. The sick are healed, people are provided for in amazing ways, the dead are raised and many other miracles are done. And yet, in the New Testament, the apostle James describes Elijah as a man […]
The promise of the gospel is more than individual salvation. Through the cross, God is bringing all things together in Christ, and this means that both our relationship with him is renewed and our relationships with one another are restored. This is the glorious truth that the letter to the Ephesians is written to explore. […]
The topic of creation care is one that is talked about a lot in our society, and it is something that the Bible has much to say about. Christians have not always been quick to engage the conversation, and when we have it is often simply echoed what the world is saying. In this series […]
There are not many occasions recorded in the gospels where the disciples of Jesus requested specific teaching from him. One time where this did happen is in Luke 11:1, where they asked him to teach them to pray. Clearly, those disciples saw something in the way Jesus approached his prayer life that they realised was […]
In the New Testament there are certain truths about the gospel that are considered foundational to Christianity. To understand these things is to grasp what makes Christianity distinctive and is helpful for the new Christian and the established believer alike, as well as being a great way to introduce non-Christians to the faith. This series […]
When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment is, he answered that it is to love God with heart, mind, soul and strength. In this response Jesus conveyed that the Christian life is not about mere belief nor mere obedience, but rather it is about being fully devoted to God in every aspect of […]
The Bible is one single story and all of it points to Jesus. Understanding the Old Testament helps us appreciate more clearly what we read in the New Testament, and often we need to see the fulfilment in the New Testament to make sense of the Old. There are lots of different ways the Old […]
The story of Joseph shows the sovereign hand of God at work in the mess of ordinary life. The story includes fierce sibling rivalries, parental favouritism, lies, abuse of power, faithfulness in low positions, faithfulness in high positions, forgiveness and reconciliation. Joseph is sent down to the lowest place but in the process learns humility […]
When Jesus began his public ministry he had a radical new message: the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Throughout his teaching, Jesus constantly returned to the theme of the kingdom (usually referred to as ‘the kingdom of heaven’ in Matthew and ‘the kingdom of God’ in Mark and Luke). At its simplest, the kingdom […]
Of the many instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples, the ones from which all the others flow are the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The Great Commandment is found in Matthew 22:34-40 and is Jesus’ response when he was asked what is the most important command in the law. Jesus said that there […]
This preaching series is based on the book ‘Good and Beautiful and Kind’ by Rich Villodas. The book is subtitled ‘Becoming Whole in A Fractured World’ and is themed on spiritual formation, in the light of a world where we frequently see just the opposite of goodness, beauty and kindness. The book (and series) are […]
This preaching series is loosely based on the series ‘Making Change’ by Craig Groeschel (click here for the original series and accompanying resources). The time we live in is one where money stresses are affecting an increasing number of people. Mortgages are sky rocketing and energy bills are going through the roof. Thankfully, the Bible […]
The letter to the Galatians is Paul’s fervent defence of the gospel against legalism. Some people were trying to persuade Gentile believers that they needed to keep the Jewish law if they were to be true Christians. The presenting issues may be different today, but the danger of trying to add to the gospel remains. […]
This series is loosely based on the ‘Practicing the Way’ series taught by John Mark Comer. We can often think of what it is to be a Christian in terms of an identity that we claim or a set of ideas that we believe, and there is some truth in both of these things. For […]
Ecclesiastes has been described as an ‘inspired recored of uninspired wisdom.’ It shows a preacher (traditionally held to be Solomon) looking for some meaning to life ‘under the sun’. When things are considered on this purely earthly level, the picture is bleak: whatever the preacher throws himself into is found to be meaningless, be that […]
As the book of Acts charts the growth of the early church, it tells the story that we are part of today. Jesus commissioned his followers to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, and he empowered them with his Spirit for the task. He have the same Spirit and the same mission, […]
When we look at the incredible church planted by the apostles in Jerusalem after Pentecost, we could wonder where they got the ideas from. How did they so quickly understand what do and how to build? In part, of course, this was due to the empowering of the Spirit poured out, but it was also […]
The Sermon on the Mount is the largest block of teaching from the mouth of Jesus that is recorded in any of the gospels and it is quite probably the greatest sermon ever preached. The scene is set in Matthew 5:1-2 where Jesus is teaching his disciples on a hillside in earshot of a crowd. […]
James is one of the earliest letters of the New Testament and is one of the most practical books in the Bible. It was written by James the half-brother of Jesus, and his purpose is to help Christians live our their faith. There is more to faith than just intellectual belief in God or accepting […]
John’s gospel is one of the most beloved books of the Bible. It tells the story of Jesus in a very different way to the other gospels, being built around seven signs (miracles done by Jesus to show who he is), seven sayings (claims made by Jesus about himself that start with ‘I AM’, referencing […]
The book of Isaiah is a long Old Testament book that records the prophecies of Isaiah (and some argue those who followed him), and it has been described as the Bible in miniature. It is a book that is crammed full of correction and encouragement for the people of Israel, but above all it is […]