Podcasts about 2c637

This week’s message comes from Acts 2:14-47. Let’s see what God has to say to you through Richard speaking to us this week.

How should we stand up for what we believe in? We are not talking here about a crusade against an enemy or interminable disputes about what a word means, but about knowing what the Bible teaches in order to recognize when someone teaches something different. If someone accidentally makes a mistake about what the text means, we can help them to see the truth, but when someone is deliberately distorting the truth to excuse behaviour that should not be accepted, what then? Listen to this talk to see what one of our church leaders, Paul Sherwood, explains what the book of Jude has to say about this situation and how we can remain faithful to God’s word and the standard of behaviour He calls for.

As we prepare for 2020, one of our church leaders, Steve Riisnaes, asks us to consider what sort of people we are: busy folk with full agendas, always doing something, or people who take time to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to what He wants to say, and filling our hearts with His word. In this story about Martha and her sister, Mary, Jesus points out that sometimes we need to make the effort to just sit and slow down,  and Steve considers what modern people can do to achieve that.  

In this talk, we again look at the period of waiting which we call Advent. This is derived from the Latin words meaning “to come”, and is the period when we prepare spiritually for Christmas, the time when Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem. Richard Wardman looks again at the prophecies of Isaiah, this time in Chapters 8 verse 19 to 9 verse 7, when Isaiah looks forward to the birth of a child, a son, who will be King. Richard looks at the qualities of this son, and why he is qualified to be King. The words of this prophecy are very well known to Christians and lovers of Handel’s Messiah: “For unto us a Child is born; unto us a son is given. The Government will be upon his shoulders and he shall be called ‘Wonderful Counsellor’, ‘Mighty God’, ‘Everlasting Father’, ‘Prince of Peace’.” The reading that starts this talk starts at Isaiah 9 v1.

Advent is the time of waiting: waiting for Christmas, waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is easy to get caught up with the commercial side of Christmas: shopping, exchanging gifts, sending cards and eating and drinking, but Advent gives us the opportunity to press pause for a few minutes to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas: that God came to be with us on earth, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Richard Wardman introduces this short series by reflecting on one of the names ascribed to Jesus before he was born: Immanuel. This means “God with us”, and Richard takes us to Isaiah 7 and Matthew 1 to see how this name was given by prophecy and how the gospels introduce Jesus as “God with us”.

In this talk by our visiting speaker, Ross Wilkinson, of Christchurch, Dunstable, we look at whether the apostle Paul was an optimist or a pessimist. Did he fret about his imprisonment in Rome or swing from the chandeliers in joy? Ross tells us that it was neither one nor the other: instead, Paul looked at all his experiences through Gospel-tinted glasses. How did he do that? Listen on, and see if it is catching! [contact-form]

We are delighted to welcome Ross Wilkinson from Christchurch, Dunstable, as our guest speaker for the next 3 Sundays. Ross is speaking to us this week from the letter of Paul to the church in Philippi, an important city in Macedonia, to the north of Greece. He explains that the church may be showing some cracks – just like many modern churches – and explains Paul’s recipe for expressing love to one another.

While our Pastor, Richard Wardman is away, we continue in our selected series in Romans, by our church member, Colin Richards. In this, the third in his series, Colin speaks to us about the grace of God, as illustrated in His dealings with Abraham.

This week, whilst Richard is still away on sabbatical, our member Colin brings us the Word from Romans 10:5-15, entitled The Gospel of God. We hope God speaks to you through this Word.

“Shall we continue to sin, so that grace may abound?”, asks Paul, one of Jesus’ early followers. He immediately knocks down the suggestion: “May it never be!” So, what should we understand about sin, the things that hinder or prevent us from coming close to God, and Grace, the way to God that He has provided through the death and resurrection of Jesus? Listen to see what Colin teaches us through this passage.  

If last week was the “bad news”, this week we start to hear about the good news: despite the fact that we all deserve judgement because we have not been obedient to God, He found a way to save us in spite of ourselves. Grace: God sending Jesus to die in our place, so that we might have new life. Hear what Colin has to say about the big words like “justification” and” propitiation”, and what they mean to us.  

After Jesus died, he rose from the dead. After he rose from the dead, he appeared to his followers. This talk tells us about the “loose ends” of Jesus’life on earth, particularly to do with Peter and John, two of the men that he was closest to. Listen to how Richard Wardman sums up this final chapter of Jesus’ biography, and what it might mean to you and me today to follow Jesus.

Christians like to think of ourselves as people who bring good news – of forgiveness, of new life and that death is conquered by Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross. Colin Richards tells us in this talk that before we can have the good news, we have to accept the bad news: God hates sin, and we all sin. To use an old word, God has wrath towards our sin and the way we live because of it. Listen on to see what that means to you and me.

In our materialistic society, we say “seeing is believing”. We trust the evidence of our physical senses much more than what we are told, particularly since we decided that “we have had enough of experts”. In this talk, Richard Wardman brings us face to face with Jesus’ declaration that “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”. Sometimes, believing is seeing, particularly when it involves faith as a gift from God himself.  

Richard continues his series on the things that Jesus said to His closest followers just before his death. In this talk, we hear more about the role of the Holy Spirit, who will come when Jesus has died, and who will glorify Jesus, by continuing to proclaim Jesus’ message. By the way, can you spot the reference to a spring flower that explains a lot about God’s activity towards man? (Hint: it isn’t a daffodil)

In this continuation of Jesus’ last talk with his disciples, He uses the image of a vine to explain the intimate way that our life and fruitfulness are bound up with His. Richard starts by talking about the meaning of verse 2, which could seem quite threatening to some. If we don’t remain in Christ, can we expect to be cut out of the vine? Listen on to see what our Pastor has to say about this.  

When Jesus was about to die, his disciples must have been confused and anxious about the future. He must have known that, because in today’s sermon, Richard explains what Jesus promised His disciples in his last chance to speak to them together. Just as it encouraged the disciples, it will encourage us, who have never met Jesus in the flesh. Listen on to see who Jesus entrusted us to, and why it is still all about Jesus, even after he died, was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. Bonus marks for Harry Potter fans if you can spot the link between JK Rowling’s books and the Holy Spirit… Note: for technical reasons, we were unable to upload the reading that Richard used as the basis of his sermon, so you might like to read John’s Gospel, Chapter 14 verses 15-31, before you listen to to this talk.