Past Preaching Programme

Romans is commonly regarded as Paul’s greatest letter. What is recognised less often is its nature as an exposition of the covenant. During this series we will work through Romans seeking to follow Paul’s careful explanation of how the covenant appeared to be in jeopardy because of Israel’s sin, only to find its surprising solution in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans is somewhat complex, and understanding its contents will involve grappling with technical terms such as ‘righteousness’ and ‘justification’, as well as the issues involved as Gentiles became members of God’s people alongside Jewish Christians. But the aim is to make full sense of the practical teaching that Paul gives at the end of the letter about the sort of church that we should aspire to become in the light of the covenant love of the God who has rescued us in Jesus Christ.

God will often change our lives through the impact of the lives of other people. During this series, four members of Christ Church will talk about a Christian who changed their life and what it was that this person said or did that made such an impact on them. The aim is to both encourage thankfulness for the way in which God has worked through others to bless our lives and also to recognise the impact that we too can have for God in the lives of others.

The New Testament is clear that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ lie at the centre of his mission to bring God’s forgiveness and restoration to the world. Often, however, we are rather unclear about how the distinctive activities of Jesus related to this. During this series we will think about this question and the part played in Jesus’ mission by his exorcisms, his parables, his healings and his prayer.

The Wisdom Literature contains little explicit mention of themes that the rest of the Bible makes central. All of them, however, address in different ways the question of what sort of world are we living in and what it looks like to live well in that world. During this series we will look at Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job and the Song of Songs and think about the wisdom we can gain from their different perspectives.

Practical atheism – living large parts of our lives without any reference at all to God – is very easy for us to drift into. But God is relevant to every part of our lives, and during this series we will take four areas of our lives – our pets, our holidays, bereavement and parenting – and think about how a Christian perspective both can and should dramatically change our approach to them.

Peter is one of the most vivid characters in the New Testament. Within the gospels, he is the impetuous Galilean fishermen that Jesus calls to follow him, getting as much wrong as he gets right. Then, within the Acts of the Apostles, we then see Peter as a key leader within the early church speaking and acting with the authority of the risen Jesus. During this series, we will look at several of the key episodes involving Peter and seek to learn from the very different aspects of his discipleship.

Christ Church possesses a number of very beautiful stained glass windows. Although the church has existed for over 150 years, most of the windows come from the period between 1896 and 1919. There are just three exceptions from 1878, 1965 and 2001.

Each of the windows possesses a particular story connected with it, usually concerning former members of the church for whom it was given in memory. In virtually all cases, their actual content, however, is focused upon a biblical story or theme that was understood to speak powerfully into the context of that person’s life or contribution to the church.

Writing in the April 1896 Parish Magazine about the window given in memory of Arthur Herbert Streeter and depicting Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the Light of the World, the second Vicar of Christ Church, the Reverend William Allen Challacombe said these words

‘The eye is a medium of knowledge as well as the ear; and we shall pray that the Spirit of God may glorify Christ through these windows, which will reveal him as Saviour and Guide’

During this series we will seek to reflect the aim of Mr Challacombe’s prayer. Using research that we have undertaken, we will explore what we know about the human stories behind the windows. This is to serve the greater aim of reflecting upon the biblical truths that they display and pondering how these truths can further shape and impact upon our lives.

Particularly when it comes to the Old Testament, it is easy for Christians to know the Bible as collection of isolated stories rather than having any handle on its nature as a coherent narrative. The Bible Project is a brilliant collection of videos aiming to help Christians grasp ‘the bigger picture’ within which the contents of the Bible makes their greatest sense. During this series, we will use these videos to help us grasp the shape and message of the books in the early part of the Old Testament. The sermons that follow will aim to provide greater clarity on the ‘bigger picture’ of each book so that we can all move forward in how we approach and understand the Bible and apply its content to our lives.

Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ stand at the heart of our Christian faith. However, it is easy for there to be large parts of both the Easter story and its implications for us today that we fail to understand. Too often these questions remain unanswered because we are too embarrassed to ask them. Across all of our services during April, we will seek to ask a series of searching questions about the story of Easter and its meaning. The aim is to strengthen our faith and discipleship by developing our understanding of how the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ changed the world forever.

Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ stand at the heart of our Christian faith. However, it is easy for there to be large parts of both the Easter story and its implications for us today that we fail to understand. Too often these questions remain unanswered because we are too embarrassed to ask them. Across all of our services during April, we will seek to ask a series of searching questions about the story of Easter and its meaning. The aim is to strengthen our faith and discipleship by developing our understanding of how the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ changed the world forever.

Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ stand at the heart of our Christian faith. However, it is easy for there to be large parts of both the Easter story and its implications for us today that we fail to understand. Too often these questions remain unanswered because we are too embarrassed to ask them. Across all of our services during April, we will seek to ask a series of searching questions about the story of Easter and its meaning. The aim is to strengthen our faith and discipleship by developing our understanding of how the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ changed the world forever.

‘The Five Marks of Mission’ is an attempt to clarify the different aspects of the church’s missionary calling so that none are neglected. These are:

1. To Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
2. To Teach, Baptise and Nurture New Believers
3. To Respond to Human Need by Loving Service
4. To Transform Unjust Structures of Society, to Challenge Violence of every kind and pursue Peace and Reconciliation
5. To Strive to Safeguard the Integrity of Creation and Sustain and Renew the Life of the Earth

During March we will look at each of the ‘marks of mission’ in turn and think about the practical ways in which God is calling us to implement them within our life at Christ Church.

‘The Five Marks of Mission’ is an attempt to clarify the different aspects of the church’s missionary calling so that none are neglected. These are:

1. To Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
2. To Teach, Baptise and Nurture New Believers
3. To Respond to Human Need by Loving Service
4. To Transform Unjust Structures of Society, to Challenge Violence of every kind and pursue Peace and Reconciliation
5. To Strive to Safeguard the Integrity of Creation and Sustain and Renew the Life of the Earth

During March we will look at each of the ‘marks of mission’ in turn and think about the practical ways in which God is calling us to implement them within our life at Christ Church.

‘The Five Marks of Mission’ is an attempt to clarify the different aspects of the church’s missionary calling so that none are neglected. These are:

1. To Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
2. To Teach, Baptise and Nurture New Believers
3. To Respond to Human Need by Loving Service
4. To Transform Unjust Structures of Society, to Challenge Violence of every kind and pursue Peace and Reconciliation
5. To Strive to Safeguard the Integrity of Creation and Sustain and Renew the Life of the Earth

During March we will look at each of the ‘marks of mission’ in turn and think about the practical ways in which God is calling us to implement them within our life at Christ Church.

St Paul says a great deal about God’s love in his letters and how it should transform the lives of Jesus’ followers. During this series, we will look at what he says about this in 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Philemon and Romans and the practical ways in which we can reflect this love in our church life together.

We learn most about God when we look at Jesus and this particularly applies to the nature and extent of God’s love. During this series, we will look at a number of the interactions that Jesus has with people in Mark’s Gospel and ponder what each of them reveal about God’s love. This will then form the basis for thinking about practical ways in which we can reflect this love more fully in our life as a church.

The Old Testament is sometimes seen as presenting a God who is less loving than the one that we encounter within the New Testament. However, from its very beginning the Bible is the story of God’s love with all of its other emphases serving to highlight rather than detract from this central theme. During this series, we will look at a number of the key passages from the Old Testament, what they particularly reveal about the nature of God’s love and how this should change us.

The most distinctive mark of Christians is meant to be our love for one another. It is also the factor that, more than any other, will attract people to join Christ Church and see the reality of Jesus Christ. However, it is also the aspect of our Christian discipleship that we usually find most difficult to fulfil. The reason why the Motto Verse for 2019 has been chosen is the recognition that loving one another is something that we need to do better as a church. During this series, we will look at the different aspects of love contained in Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 4.2-3 and seek to discover more about how we can fulfil these within our church life together. The aim is to bring healing to some of our divisions so that we can fulfil our mission and ministry more effectively.

The most distinctive mark of Christians is meant to be our love for one another. It is also the factor that, more than any other, will attract people to join Christ Church and see the reality of Jesus Christ. However, it is also the aspect of our Christian discipleship that we usually find most difficult to fulfil. The reason why the Motto Verse for 2019 has been chosen is the recognition that loving one another is something that we need to do better as a church. During this series, we will look at the different aspects of love contained in Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 4.2-3 and seek to discover more about how we can fulfil these within our church life together. The aim is to bring healing to some of our divisions so that we can fulfil our mission and ministry more effectively.

The most distinctive mark of Christians is meant to be our love for one another. It is also the factor that, more than any other, will attract people to join Christ Church and see the reality of Jesus Christ. However, it is also the aspect of our Christian discipleship that we usually find most difficult to fulfil. The reason why the Motto Verse for 2019 has been chosen is the recognition that loving one another is something that we need to do better as a church. During this series, we will look at the different aspects of love contained in Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 4.2-3 and seek to discover more about how we can fulfil these within our church life together. The aim is to bring healing to some of our divisions so that we can fulfil our mission and ministry more effectively.

Luke’s Gospel prepares us for Christmas through a series of scenes that display God’s people waiting for his promises to be fulfilled. Ordinary people, sometimes faithful and often confused, but for whom the coming of Jesus brought the fulfilment of the hope that gave meaning to their lives.

For Matthew’s Gospel, the coming of Jesus Christ is presented as bringing the long, winding covenant story to its surprising fulfilment. The story of the Old Testament, including the parts that seem odd or problematic, is seen as part of the process by which God’s righteous commitment to the world and his people was finally revealed.

Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and Jeremiah all lived hundreds of years before Jesus Christ. But in their belief that the covenant God of Israel would act to fulfil his promises, they all spoke the events that eventually came about in Jesus Christ. During this series, we will try and understand how the coming of Jesus formed the answer to the issues these prophets sought to address.

There are a number of practices that we repeat fairly regularly in our church services. Sometimes the habitual nature of these practices means that we take little time to reflect on why we do them and what they have to teach us about God and being followers of Jesus Christ. This includes the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion but also our sung worship and service to God through things like work with children and young people. During this series we will look at these important areas of church life and ask what God is wanting to teach us through them.

It is often said that Christians should ‘in the world but not of the world’. However, the task of remaining engaged with the world’s issues, but also distinct from its values and attitudes, is often very difficult. During these series, we will look at a number of issues that involve the wider world but seeking to find a distinctively Christian take on them. Some of these issues are more obviously historical such as how as Christians we should regard the First World War or Bonfire Night. Others such as Brexit, the education of our children and how we should grow older are more obviously contemporary. But in all of these examples, the Bible has much to say on how a Christian attitude should be formed and then lived out in response to them.

It is often said that Christians should ‘in the world but not of the world’. However, the task of remaining engaged with the world’s issues, but also distinct from its values and attitudes, is often very difficult. During these series, we will look at a number of issues that involve the wider world but seeking to find a distinctively Christian take on them. Some of these issues are more obviously historical such as how as Christians we should regard the First World War or Bonfire Night. Others such as Brexit, the education of our children and how we should grow older are more obviously contemporary. But in all of these examples, the Bible has much to say on how a Christian attitude should be formed and then lived out in response to them.

All of us sometimes feel let down by God and frustrated that he allows such terrible things to happen in the world. The Old Testament book of Habakkuk makes it clear that it is consistent with faith in God to complain to him about this. During this short series, we will think about the value of being honest with God about injustice and suffering and what he reveals as we do this.

A number of passages in the Old Testament are so disturbing that it is all too easy to ignore them. However they are still part of the inspired Scriptures given to teach, rebuke, correct and train us. During this series we will look at four of the most difficult Old Testament stories to try to reach some answers about why such material is found within the Bible and its vital role within the story that reaches in climax in Jesus Christ.

Prayer is something very mysterious and a large part of our Christian faith involves the call to pray without possessing a full understanding of how prayer works. However it is still good to ask searching questions about prayer and during this series we will seek answers to some of these with the aim of inspiring us to pray more – both with other Christians and by ourselves.

When Paul tells us to ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thessalonians 5.17), he means there to be no aspect of our lives that we fail to bring before God in prayer. During this series, we will seek to do this by looking at some different aspects of life and considering how we might pray about them. Some of these will be global issues, some national, some involving the church and others affecting our personal lives. As we consider how prayer can connect with these areas, we’ll hopefully be inspired afresh in our prayer lives, both as a church and as individual Christians.