On Saturday I had the privilege of speaking at a Worship Training Day, gathering 80 worship leaders and musicians from across the Salt & Light Advance family of churches. It was such a rich and enjoyable day, and God’s presence was so tangible as we worshipped. I gave two talks, the first of which was a…
Category: God
This section won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but here are my musings on faith, preaching and theology.
Alive: Surprised by Hope (Luke 24.13–35)
On Sunday I preached at Oxford Community Church as part of our Alive series, looking at encounters with the risen Jesus, and how he meets our deepest needs for love, purpose, freedom, hope and… bacon? (You’ll have to listen!) This week we looked at the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and…
Rescued People (Exodus 14)
On Sunday Lifehouse Church Bicester and Banbury came together for a service, and I had the privilege of continuing their series through the book of Exodus. We looked together at what it means to be a rescued people. I considered how God delivered his people out of Egypt through the plagues and the passover, but…
Building with Wisdom (Matthew 7.24–29)
Jesus’ sermon ends with a call to build our lives on Jesus’ words, promising that a life built on him will be able to weather the storms of life. In the final talk of our series on the Sermon on the Mount, I look at what it means to be those who hear God’s word and…
God looks at the Heart (1 Samuel 16)
On Sunday I preached at Horizon Church in Carterton, kicking off their brand new series on the life of King David. We looked at the difference between David and Saul and considered what kind of life pleases God. I also drew on the work of a different David, using a concept from The Road to…
Seek First the Kingdom (Matthew 6.25–34)
Jesus teaches that we should resist worry and trust God for provision. But what does this look like in practice? In this talk, we look at three ways that God provides, and what it looks like to seek first God’s Kingdom in the area of our finances.
The Lord’s Prayer pt2 (Matthew 6.11–15)
In the second half of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus invites us to bring our needs before God, asking for daily provision of food, forgiveness, and protection from the evil one. In this sermon, I look at how we can pray this prayer today.
The Law and the Heart (Matthew 5.17–48)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sets the bar high, telling his hearers that they need to be perfect as God is perfect and that their righteousness should surpass that of the Pharisees. This seems an impossible demand! In this talk I grapple with some questions about Jesus’ teaching on the law:
Emmanuel: God with us
Advent is a time of waiting in anticipation for the one who will make all things right. In this talk from Oxford Community Church’s carol service, I reflected on the message of Christmas, and how Jesus stepped into our story to rescue us.
A tale of two desert roads: a further reflection on Acts 8
While preparing a talk on Acts 8, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Official, I was struck by something I’d never noticed before. It wasn’t strictly relevant to the talk, so it didn’t make the cut (despite how much I wanted to keep it in. Gotta keep killing those darlings!) But here it is……
Liam Thatcher 