Past Preaching Programme

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.

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.

People will sometimes read a book that then changes their life forever. This often happens in the lives of Christians where a particular book helps them to understand the Bible or some part of their faith with a much greater clarity than they possessed before. The stories of the difference that the book made to them can be really inspiring. During this series, four members of Christ Church will talk about a book they read that transformed their Christian lives and explain why this was the case.

Very often the only discussions that take place about baptism concern the age at which it should take place. The New Testament never directly addresses this issue. Instead it stresses lots of other things about baptism that we need to note such as it implications for holiness and unity. During this series we will seek to explore these emphases so that baptism can assume a greater ongoing importance in our personal and corporate lives.

One of the most remarkable characteristics of Jesus’ ministry was his treatment of women. Both within Graeco-Roman and Jewish society, women were accorded second class status and yet, within the gospels, we see Jesus giving women status and respect. Luke, in particular, provides many examples of this. During this series, we will look at number of these encounters and what we can learn from them.

The Elisha stories are amongst the most difficult material found in the Bible. Compared to the Elijah stories, many of them are very difficult to interpret because of their strange nature. However these very characteristics force us to interpret the Elisha stories against the broader context of God’s covenant plan and the way it was being advanced through the prophet whose name means ‘God saves’.

(This series was in two parts: the first in July 2018 and the second in October 2018.)

Throughout June, we will explore Jesus’ ‘Sermon on the Plain’ from Luke 6.17-49. This is the Gospel of Luke’s equivalent of Matthew’s better known ‘Sermon on the Mount’ and includes very similar sayings from the teaching ministry of Jesus. This includes instruction about love for our enemies, not judging others and Jesus’ famous story of the wise and foolish builders. During this series we will explore this teaching from Luke’s perspective and try to see how its truths can further shape our lives as we seek to follow Jesus more faithfully.

Christianity rests on the assertion of a number of truths including the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his bodily ascension into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus at Pentecost and the nature of God as Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. None of these beliefs are abstract but all have very concrete implications for how we understand and then practice our Christian faith. During this series, we will seek to explore how each of these beliefs can and should make a difference within our lives.

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 the Reverend Challacombe’s prayer. Using research that we have recently 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.

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 the Reverend Challacombe’s prayer. Using research that we have recently 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.

Having spent Lent looking at the things that Ephesians 4 and 5 tell us to ‘put off’, we will spend the first few weeks after Easter looking at the types of behaviour that Paul then tells us to ‘put on’. Rather than happening automatically, the development of Christian virtues involves hard work as we consciously seek to submit our lives to the Holy Spirit and this series will examine a number of areas where we need to do this.

Within the resurrection narratives in John’s Gospel we see an emphasis upon the way in which people’s lives were transformed through meeting the risen Jesus. In this Easter series we will examine a number of these encounters and consider how our lives can and should be further transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

1 Peter examines a number of ways in which the resurrection of Jesus Christ should transform our lives. During this series, we will work through this letter looking at each of these areas and seeking to have our lives further transformed by this event that stands at the centre of our Christian faith.

Written by C.S. Lewis in 1942, The Screwtape Letters remains immensely popular. This is testimony to the insight with which it unmasks the way in which temptation often works within us. Lewis fans, Steve and Elizabeth Hill have selected their four favourite letters from Screwtape for this series which will focus upon seeking to recognise and reject the common forms of temptation that we face.

Chapters 4 and 5 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians contains a number of exhortations. Many of these centre on the Christians at Ephesus consciously ‘putting off’ harmful and destructive patterns of behaviour. During this Lenten series, we’ll look at a number of these areas and consider the ways in which God is calling us to change as part of our obedience to him.

Lent is a time when Christians review our lives and what God wants to change within them. Spring (rather delayed this year!) is also traditionally a time for deep cleaning our houses. Within this series we will use the metaphor of spring cleaning to examine a number of areas within our daily lives and think about the changes that God is calling us to make within them.

From its early days, mission has been central to the Christian faith with followers of Jesus Christ being sent out to share his love with the world. This mission has always taken many forms with the message of God’s love in Jesus Christ accompanied by tangible signs of this love in care and action on behalf of the poor. However, in each generation the missional needs of the world and the role of church need to be reconsidered and our recently reformed Global Mission Group plays the central role at Christ Church in directing our thinking and action on this. Part of our mission as a church involves causes and issues in places far away from New Malden but also responding to such issues on our doorstep, such as the Night Shelter that we run in February and March for people who are homeless. During this series – which again will cross all three of our services – we will consider various aspects of Christian Mission in the Twenty First Century and how God is calling us to respond to them.

From its early days, mission has been central to the Christian faith with followers of Jesus Christ being sent out to share his love with the world. This mission has always taken many forms with the message of God’s love in Jesus Christ accompanied by tangible signs of this love in care and action on behalf of the poor. However, in each generation the missional needs of the world and the role of church need to be reconsidered and our recently reformed Global Mission Group plays the central role at Christ Church in directing our thinking and action on this. Part of our mission as a church involves causes and issues in places far away from New Malden but also responding to such issues on our doorstep, such as the Night Shelter that we run in February and March for people who are homeless. During this series – which again will cross all three of our services – we will consider various aspects of Christian Mission in the Twenty First Century and how God is calling us to respond to them.

From its early days, mission has been central to the Christian faith with followers of Jesus Christ being sent out to share his love with the world. This mission has always taken many forms with the message of God’s love in Jesus Christ accompanied by tangible signs of this love in care and action on behalf of the poor. However, in each generation the missional needs of the world and the role of church need to be reconsidered and our recently reformed Global Mission Group plays the central role at Christ Church in directing our thinking and action on this. Part of our mission as a church involves causes and issues in places far away from New Malden but also responding to such issues on our doorstep, such as the Night Shelter that we run in February and March for people who are homeless. During this series – which again will cross all three of our services – we will consider various aspects of Christian Mission in the Twenty First Century and how God is calling us to respond to them.