Last weekend I returned to preach at Christ Church London’s services in East London. Having been a pastor there for 12 years until we moved earlier this year, it was a little unusual to return as a guest speaker, but it was fun to be back! A.W. Tozer wrote: “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn…
Category: God
This section won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but here are my musings on faith, preaching and theology.
Ground black pepper and holy robes
Two illustrations on Jesus, healing, and ritual impurity.
Exodus and the Character of God
Recordings, handouts and recommended resources from a morning I taught on Exodus and the character of God.
Healing in his Wings (Luke 8:40-56)
This weekend I preached at Christ Church Manchester, and in the morning I spoke on one of (or rather, two of!) my favourite stories in Luke’s gospel: the healings of Jairus’ daughter and a lady who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. It’s a remarkable passage, which demonstrates the heart of God, the power…
Luke, Lots and the Lap of the God
November has arrived, and people are getting in the Christmas mood, just as the first batch of mince pies that hit the shelves back in July is tipping over its best before date. I’m still trying to hold off a little longer… but my resistance is being tested. Not by the lights, sounds and adverts,…
Night of the Living Dead
Ah, that weekend is approaching when those who have worked all year round producing bizarre latex products and tubes of fake luminescent blood, finally get to see the fruit of their labours for 48 hours or so. Slashed throats. Bullet holes in foreheads. Blood-stained t-shirts, and wild attempts to make vampires and witches ‘sexy’. I…
Passing Idols: Salt Bae, Moses and foodolatry
By now you have probably heard of Salt Bae and his £1,450 steaks wrapped in gold leaf. If you haven’t, you’ve not spent a lot of time on social media recently. And I suspect your life is better for it. Nusret Gökçe, otherwise known as Salt Bae, is the chef behind the chain of luxury…
Sweat: A Biblical Theology in Three Acts
Sweat. It’s the body’s natural cooling mechanism, regulating our temperature when it rises due to heat, exercise, fear or stress. Perspiring can be an unpleasant but very necessary bodily function which all of us experience. * For something so common, it is perhaps surprising to note that sweating is only mentioned three times in the…
The Hand of God (Sermon)
It was great fun being up in Manchester at the weekend, kicking off the new year of Christ Church Manchester’s School of Theology, and also getting to speak at their service in Gorton on the Sunday. Here’s my sermon, if you’re interested. It’s one I’ve given before, looking at the church’s prayer in Acts 4…
Looking for a Saviour: Solar Power and Lorde’s spiritual quest
In the summer of 2017, we took a family holiday to France. One of the albums we played on repeat as we drove was Lorde’s Melodrama. It’s a beautiful, moody, layered, self-reflective, electro-pop album, and although not as commercially successful as her first album Pure Heroine, it’s my favourite of the two. And despite the…
Liam Thatcher 