During August we have asked speakers to choose a Christian book that has impacted or inspired them.
Sunday 4th August 2024
Let me Go There, by Paula Gooder - sheila watters
Sunday 7th July 2024
Whose image is this?: Sheila Watters
Summary Mark 12:13-17
This conversation occurs in Jerusalem in the week leading to Passover. The normal population of 25,000-35,000 would grow by another 150,000 at Passover.
It was a hotbed of different sects, with different attitudes to the occupying Roman forces. Jesus’ triumphant arrival, and subsequent challenges to the different powers have made him deeply unpopular, to the extent that groups like the Pharisees [sticklers for the Jewish law and oral tradition] and the Herodians [supportive of Herod and the Empire, and offensive to the Pharisees] band together to oppose Jesus.
Roman Taxes were deeply controversial, and had Jesus answered with a direct yes or no he would have given them grounds to accuse him of disloyalty. His answer “The coin bears the image of the emperor Caesar, so you should pay the emperor his portion. But because you bear the image of God, you must give to God all that belongs to him” left them speechless.
If we think of 21st C Empire as
Domination and exploitation- what can we gain?
Capitalist system, consumerism, How do we ‘get ahead’?
Image and status defined by values of those ‘in front’
Strongest dominate, get richer, and the ‘weak’ are further impoverished
Focus on my needs and my rights
The system demands my time and allegiance
What might you add to the list?
Jesus “saw the contradictions of the gospel to the Roman Empire and acted out an alternative” [Brueggemann]
The questions from this passage might be:-
What do I give to Empire that is really God’s, and how is that expressed?
Jesus showed us a life that belonged to God. What does giving to God the things that are his mean to me?
Sunday 30th June 2024
The rich man: Revd. cath candish
Mark 10: 13-27
'Children should be seen and not heard'? Jesus sees and hears the ones belittled and ignored by society.
We see our exterior selves, but Jesus looks at the heart. He sees the hearts of the children, who perhaps look scruffy on the outside, but they love 100%
The rich young ruler looked impressive on the outside... he was a high achiever, and thought it was on him, to earn eternal life 'what must I do'? He askes the wrong question. God, in Christ has done it all, he has made a way, on the cross. He has made the impossible, possible.
Jesus sees the heart of the rich young ruler, who looks great on the outside, but his heart is too attached to his wallet.
Jesus puts his finger on the difficult place in the young mans heart. The bit that he doesnt want to surrender.
A monkey (so they say) grasps peanuts in a jar, and wont let them go and withdraw his fist from the jar, and so entraps himself. In what ways are we like that monkey, what traps us? Where are the difficult places in our heart?
Children trust God 100%, they dream impossible dreams (a skateramp in a shed) - a camel through the eye of a needle ,and God makes the impossible, possible, when we surrender to him completely and trust him like a child.
Sunday 23rd June 2024
A question of opposites ref. Mark 9:17-29: Revd. Simon Winchcombe
If I can?
If I can?
I am the alpha and the omega.
If I can?
I was there when the sun first burst into light
and the stars went out to fly.
I was there when the first wave hit the shore
and the mountains first kissed the sky.
If I can?
I was there when the first breath entered man.
And when they ate from the sacred tree
I felt the roaring chasm between us,
Break the heart of my Father so mercilessly.
And when the Father asked me,
would I give up my throne?
Would I humble myself, my beloved son?
Would I be obedient, even if it meant my life?
Even if it meant my Father would forsake me.
I said, ‘Your will be done.’
If I can!
If only you knew who I am.
No valley would be too deep.
No storm too fierce.
I will always be there.
In the darkness, behind closed doors
when no one can feel your pain.
I will be there.
I will always be there.
If I can!
If only you knew who I am.
I think we all can relate to the father; his son has struggled all his life and the father feels helpless. The cry of ‘I believe help my unbelief’, has echoed down the centuries. There is a sense of comfort, the sense that the father is doing a little but it’s just not enough. I want to challenge this assumption. It isn’t the amount of faith that matters, it’s the object of your faith that matters. Doubt does not in itself signify a lack of faith. It is okay to doubt, to rage, to question but we need to build a radical hope, a hope not in the power of ourselves, our journey. You see Jesus said that even if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can move mountains. So, what does all this mean? The answer is what Jesus said to the people around him, ‘If I can!’
Jesus gave the same sort of comment to the Samaritan woman at the well when he said, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ Jesus is the answer, he is both the reason for our salvation and the perfector of our faith.
We need to build radical hope and I propose four practical ways to do this:
1. Get into Scripture. It says that scripture is the lamp that guides us in the dark times. Remembering, and recalling God’s Word helps us. Read Psalm 23 and you get what I mean.
2. Prayer. Read Romans 8:26-27
3. Solitude. When we empty ourselves of all distractions, worries, when we learn to breathe then God enters in. I have found Henri Nouwen particularly helpful.
4. Community. Again from Nouwen: In community we find a place where heart calls to heart, spirit speaks to spirit. It is grounded in God who calls us all together. In true community we are windows constantly offering each other new views on the mystery of God’s presence in our lives. By loving one another , them all people will know you are my disciples.
Sunday 9th June 2024
Jesus Calms the Storm: Revd. Simon Winchcombe
In Mark chapter 4, we find the story of Jesus calming the sea. This story gives us a great example of our own Christian journey, what some have called a parable of discipleship.
Martin Luther King said of this passage, “The first lesson of this gospel is that if you want to be a Christian and want to have the gospel, you must anticipate rough weather, for this is inevitable.” Storms make us vulnerable, they have a way of measuring us, testing us if you will.
King David’s life had many storms and he often wrote about his feelings in the psalms. Psalm 13 and 143 are particularly relevant when you are facing a storm in your life. In both, David mentions how he recalls the days long ago, mediating on all God’s works and at the end he ascends with hope, trusting God's unfailing love.
Jesus told a parable of two builders, where one built their house on rock and the other on sand. When the winds and storms came the house built on rock stood firm but the one built on sand collapsed. When we face tough times we need to ensure our faith is on solid ground.
In verse 40, Jesus says to the disciples, ‘Do you still not have faith?’; they had seen miracles, heard inspiring words and seen him face off with the religious leaders but when they were in the storm, all that had flown out with the fierce gusts.
The Bible uses the word ‘remember’ and its variations over 550 times. To build our foundation we need to remember, get ourselves into scripture and recall His promises, His assurances and to fully appreciate that we are called, and loved. We have a new identity, for, as it says, ‘Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.’ And if God is for us, who can stand against us.
Sunday 2nd June 2024
The parable of the lamp: Jon Webb-Peploe @ 9.30
The Parable of the Sower precedes this parable in chapter 4 and is about the readiness of our hearts to accept the word of God.
The Parable of the Lamp is then about the readiness of our hearts to reflect the love of God to the world. God will not light us up if we hide away. Are we prepared to be a lamp?
We are not the outcome. The outcome is Jesus the light of the world, who the Holy Spirit illuminates through us, to reach others. We are to shine his light on sin, and we need to start with ourselves. So what are we hiding that we need to repent of? Once we have removed the log from our own eye then we can see the spec in our brother's and sister's to help them. What else can we shine a light on?
Micah 6:8: "Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God". We need to respond. God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called. We are all called. As we do, more understanding will be given to us. Trust and obey.
We will face troubles, but Psalm 34:19: The Lord helps us in each and every one. If we do not use our talents, these will fade. But if just a small part of us wants to come out and shine, God will light us up. It is not too late to use our talents. Ezekiel 37:1-10. "I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life".
The Parable of the Lamp: Sheila Watters @ 10.45
Mark’s gospel gives us a real sense of Jesus passion and of the urgency of his mission. We don’t know whether he knew at the start of his ministry that it would only last 3 years- but that certainty was clear to him by the middle of Mark’s gospel.
There’s a passion and intensity to what Mark writes, he is telling an action packed story, with 3 times as many miracles recorded as there are parables,
In this parable Jesus urges his listeners not to hide their light, but to shine in the darkness of the world. Lamps were made of pottery, with a linen wick, which burned olive or other oil. It was a simple, but effective design.
What ‘lamp’ are we comfortable to have on display and what do we want to hide?
We can so easily allow the opinions of others, or the taunts from our past to hinder us.
Jesus urges us to bring things into the light. Not just bringing our sin before, but maybe the gifts and abilities we lack confidence in using. The purpose of our light is to point to Jesus.
He then speaks about listening, and discerning. The Passion translation gives v.25 as “Be diligent to understand the meaning behind everything you hear, for as you do, more understanding will be given to you.”
As we listen with open hearts to God, to one another, to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we will gain more understanding.
Sunday 26th May 2024
Tradition on Trial: Revd. Simon Winchcombe
The Pharisees wanted to get away from the secularism of the faith following the Maccabean revolt (167 BC). They sought to be separated hence their name Pharisee, yet Jesus said that they had nullified God's breath, His commandments, strangling them by the human traditions that had been handed down. He mentioned in both readings (Mark 3 and 7) that it was their hearts that were hardened, and stubborn. How do we stop from following the same path? As Christians we need to be continually transformed by the renewing of our minds. Knowing that the heart is the centre of our human being, the place where emotions, intuitions and decisions find their source (Henri Nouwen), it is here that our thoughts grow from.
As Christians, Christ promised that His Spirit would dwell within us, wow.
So, it is the Holy Spirit that guides us, through the study of scripture and within the community of faith. As a community of faith, we are called to encourage and build each other up in love; by this will all people know that we are His disciples. Let us, therefore, continually seek to build each other up.
Welcome to our Sermon Archive
Here you will find audio files of many of the sermons from our online services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although we still stream our Cafe Church services via Zoom they are no longer recorded.
There is a second collection available at our Sermon Archive 2!
Sermon Series: Creation in Crisis
Sermon Series: Life Together
Sermon Series: Waiting
Sermon Series: So…?
Sermon Series: God and the Pandemic
Please note there is a small disruption around 8mins40secs in this audio (31/01) due to a small technical issue, but this is the whole sermon as delivered on Sunday!