Past Preaching Programme

In the 9.30 service during January we will aim to build up or knowledge of the contents of the Bible by looking at its overall story and then some of its major sections – the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Epistles. The purpose behind these sermons will be to provide members of the 9.30 congregation with an overall framework within which to locate the different parts of the Bible and a greater appreciation of the role that each of its different sections have in its overall story.

Near the end of Luke’s Gospel Jesus explains to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus ‘…what was said in the Scriptures concerning himself’. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus also declares that he came not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil them. Rather than this referring to the fulfilment of a few isolated prophecies, what Jesus meant by these sayings was that, with his coming, the whole of the Old Testament story was reaching its climax. Many Christians rather struggle with how to interpret and respond to the Old Testament and in the run up to Christmas we will therefore look at how the entire Old Testament – the Law, the History Books, the Wisdom Books and the Prophets - was all fulfilled in his coming.

The Christ Church Motto Verse for 2010 (1 Peter 3:14-15) has focused us upon the need to resist fearing those things that others around us fear but, in our hearts ‘set apart Christ as Lord’. Many of the most destructive decisions that we take in life are somehow linked to our fears. This means that identifying these fears and then responding to them in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ is often one of the most important spiritual issues that we face.

Against this background it is helpful to note how many times fear is mentioned within the Christmas stories. Within these stories Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds are all told by angels not to be afraid. We also hear of Herod’s murderous response to the news of “one born king of the Jews” being driven by him and all Jerusalem being “disturbed”. As we approach Christmas in our morning services at Christ Church, we will therefore use these familiar stories to reflect upon how news of the coming of Jesus Christ relates to and addresses the deepest fears that we possess.

The Christ Church Motto Verse for 2010 (1 Peter 3:14-15) has focused us upon the need to resist fearing those things that others around us fear but, in our hearts ‘set apart Christ as Lord’. Many of the most destructive decisions that we take in life are somehow linked to our fears. This means that identifying these fears and then responding to them in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ is often one of the most important spiritual issues that we face.

Against this background it is helpful to note how many times fear is mentioned within the Christmas stories. Within these stories Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds are all told by angels not to be afraid. We also hear of Herod’s murderous response to the news of “one born king of the Jews” being driven by him and all Jerusalem being “disturbed”. As we approach Christmas in our morning services at Christ Church, we will therefore use these familiar stories to reflect upon how news of the coming of Jesus Christ relates to and addresses the deepest fears that we possess.

The tough questions at six30 @ ccnm in October will centre on how Christians can be seen by the world. Very frequently Christians are seen as boring and sad, ‘holier than thou’ hypocrites, weak and emotionally dependent and intolerant bigots. Asking tough questions about why these images have arisen, we then seek the answers to these questions.

The approach at 11.00 is usually to start with the Bible and see where it leads us. Sometimes, however, is good to do it the other way around, approaching the Bible with our questions. During October we will do this asking how Christians should respond to the following issues: assisted suicide, religions other than Christianity, women’s authority in the church and homosexuality.

At six30 @ ccnm during September we will reflect on some of the distinctive features of an authentic church. six30 @ ccnm has now been in existence for nearly three years with the time now right to reflect upon its vision so that it can grow and develop further. During this series, we will therefore seek to be both ‘visionary’ and practical looking for ways in which we and the service need to develop if six30 @ ccnm is going to reflect God’s will for it.

The New Testament uses several pictures or models of the church each of which shed light on a different aspect of its nature and importance. During September at 8.00, 9.30 and 11.00 we will look at four of those models and what they have to teach us about what the wider church and Christ Church, New Malden should be. The themes connected to each picture will be:

• The People of God:  The Church being united, particularly across the barriers that normally divide people

• The Body of Christ:  The Church using its different gifts and talents to bring Jesus to the world

• The Family of God:  The Church forming a radical, caring community

• A Holy Temple:  The Church being distinctive in the way it lives and a people in whom God is found

The New Testament uses several pictures or models of the church each of which shed light on a different aspect of its nature and importance. During September at 8.00, 9.30 and 11.00 we will look at four of those models and what they have to teach us about what the wider church and Christ Church, New Malden should be. The themes connected to each picture will be:

• The People of God:  The Church being united, particularly across the barriers that normally divide people

• The Body of Christ:  The Church using its different gifts and talents to bring Jesus to the world

• The Family of God:  The Church forming a radical, caring community

• A Holy Temple:  The Church being distinctive in the way it lives and a people in whom God is found

Having asked a number of questions about ‘The Kingdom of God’ in July, the 11.00 service during August will then focus upon a number of parables that Jesus told about its coming. Much of the focus of these parables was upon Jesus warning his hearers of the dangers of not being able to recognise the coming of the Kingdom of God in their midst and in this series we will consider where the challenge of this for us might lie.

Over the last few years, we have used the month of August to have different members of Christ Church talk about ‘Why I am a Christian’. These have turned out to be some of the most popular and helpful talks that we have had during the year, with plenty of downloads recorded on the Christ Church website. Different members of our congregation tell us some of the story of their lives and the key factors that have led them to become and continue as Christians.

Much of Jesus’ teaching focused on encouraging his hearers to recognise the coming of the Kingdom of God and ‘get on board’. During this series we will therefore look at a number of examples of the Kingdom coming. Seeking to unpack why and how this is the case, we will then consider where the challenge of the Kingdom for us might lie, both personally as a church.

This series will be asking a series of questions on the Kingdom of God. After considering what the ‘The Kingdom of God’ actually means we will then consider why Jesus used parables to speak about the Kingdom and then how the healings, exorcisms and meals of Jesus were connected to it. St Paul does mention the Kingdom of God but not nearly as often as Jesus and in the last sermon of this series we will consider why this might have been the case.

Most of Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God was through telling stories called parables. The nature of these stories suggests that Jesus saw the pictures created by these parables as the most appropriate way of conveying the truths about the Kingdom of God. But he also taught this way because such parables required his hearers to engage with faith if they were to recognise the new world coming into the old that these stories spoke of. Looking four parables grouped together in Chapter 4 of Mark’s Gospel, this series will encourage us to consider what these parables of the kingdom have to say to our lives both as individuals and as a church.

Following up from the previous series, this one will take four characters from the Old Testament – Moses, Nehemiah, Gideon and Esther and consider what we learn from their stories about God and how we are called to respond to him.

Asking searching questions is often the key to us really growing in our understanding of why our Christian faith contains the things that it does. In this series we will therefore reflect upon ‘why on earth’ we need the Old Testament, the Sacraments, to use our Gifts and Talents, the Holy Spirit and to understand God as Trinity. The title of the series is deliberate since in many ways it will be an extended exposition of ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’.

The world is full of many great things for us to enjoy such as parties, friendships, music, sport, food and drink and sex. The church, however, can often appear to possess only a neutral or negative message in relation to these things, which is one of the reasons so many teenagers and young people struggle with Christianity’s relevance. The answer is a much stronger theology of creation which recognises the original goodness of all that God has made. Thinking through God’s intention in creating the good things of the world can hopefully lead to us handling these things as well as possible and then receiving more of his blessings through them.

Awareness of the existence of evil within the world has sometimes made Christians less clear than we should be about the essential goodness of God’s creation. One of the reasons why the New Testament emphasises Jesus’ role in creation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2), however, is because a strong theology of creation is needed if we are to really understand and apply the salvation which Jesus came to bring us. During this series we will therefore look at the creation stories in Genesis 1 and think through God’s intentions in giving us such a wonderful world.

Having delved back on our past at the six30 service during March, we will use April and the season of Easter to look towards our future. Reflecting on the new life that we can receive through Jesus Christ, we will examine a number of areas within our lives and consider how God might be calling us to be renewed there.

Many of us will already realise that the significance of Easter goes beyond the chance to eat chocolate eggs (possibly after forty days of avoiding such things!). However we can still be tempted to see the significance of Easter purely in terms of securing our personal destiny which can then lead to a rather individualised understanding of both ‘the Gospel’ and our Christian life. Seeking to avoid this danger (and conscious of the looming General Election), we will therefore reflect at both the 9.30 and 11.00 services upon the significance of Easter for both our personal destiny and that of the world. Integral to this will be consideration of the radical implications of this for both our private and public lives, as individuals and also as God’s people.

Many of us will already realise that the significance of Easter goes beyond the chance to eat chocolate eggs (possibly after forty days of avoiding such things!). However we can still be tempted to see the significance of Easter purely in terms of securing our personal destiny which can then lead to a rather individualised understanding of both ‘the Gospel’ and our Christian life. Seeking to avoid this danger (and conscious of the looming General Election), we will therefore reflect at both the 9.30 and 11.00 services upon the significance of Easter for both our personal destiny and that of the world. Integral to this will be consideration of the radical implications of this for both our private and public lives, as individuals and also as God’s people.

All of us have ‘baggage’ from our past that affects the way in which we live in the present and particularly the problems that we have. Very often these issues are so well hidden that even good friends at church are largely unaware of their existence. The danger then becomes that these problems are then masked by our ‘worship’ rather than dealt with. This series will therefore aim to help members of the six30 service revisit some of these experiences with the aim of allowing the love of Jesus minister to their consequences and open the way to receiving his new life within them.

The call to repentance lies at the heart of the Christian gospel and is reflected in the act of confession that occurs near the start of most of our services at Christ Church. Sometimes reduced to personal contrition, ‘repentance’ is actually a far broader term referring to our lives being actively turned around by God. During this series we will take a deeper look at the meaning of repentance reflecting upon what will actually change in our conduct if we take repentance seriously.

Lent is traditionally a time for taking stock of our lives. During this series (which will also be followed at the 9.30am service during March) we will therefore look at a number of areas within our lives, including our approach to money and relationships, and reflect upon what God wants to change within them.

Some of the most popular sermons at six30@ccnm in recent times have been those in which people have spoken on the theme of ‘Why I am a Christian’. During this series five other people will speak on ‘My Story of Mission’, with the aim of inspiring and challenging us through the story of their very different experiences of Christian mission.

Christ Church has had a long tradition of supporting Christian mission overseas. As well as thinking about how we could deepen our involvement in this mission, this series will also focus on how we might be more involved in God’s mission to both New Malden and our family and friends.

Think of missionary work and many associate it with Europeans wearing pith helmets and going out to ‘darkest Africa’. The Bible is clear, however, that all Christians are called to be part of God’s mission to the world and during this series we will look at some of the different ways that we can be involved in this.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one of the greatest testimonies that we possess of the difference made through having a personal relationship with Jesus. During this series we will look at various different aspects of that relationship as we seek to ‘go deeper’ with Jesus in our own lives.

One of the most important aspects of deepening our relationship with God is allowing the Holy Spirit to make us more like Jesus. During this series we will therefore look at each of the fruit of the Holy Spirit that Paul speaks of in Galatians 5 and look for practical ways in which these could further develop in our lives.

One of the most important claims of Christianity is that we can enjoy a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. During this series we will use a number of stories from Luke’s Gospel to think about some of the things that this relationship can bring us – forgiveness, purpose, acceptance and peace.