‘In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son’ (Hebrews 1.1–2) Last week I delivered a sermon on Hebrews 1, looking at how Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God – the one who fully reveals His…
Tag: bible
My favourite ‘celeb’ preacher: why I guarantee you can’t name him
If I asked you to name your favourite preacher, I wonder who you might choose? I would probably struggle to limit it to one. I could possibly give you a top five. There are various men and women from whom I’ve learned enormous amounts, and who have influenced different aspects of my own preaching. Some…
Stewarding Faith through Disappointment (Luke 7)
Earlier this month, we hosted a series of prophetic conferences at Oxford Community Church, with guest speakers Ben and Heather Armstrong and Paul Manwaring, from Bethel Church, Redding California. These events were SO much fun – packed with great teaching that lay a strong foundation for growing in the prophetic and developing a culture where…
Jesus and the Inner Ring
Have you ever been on the outside and wanted in? Have you observed a tight-knit group, and longed to be part of it? Maybe you’ve sought a position at a table, believing that it can give you status, power, opportunities, validation… And sure, perhaps you’ve had to push and strive a little to get invited…
Returning to our First Love (Revelation 2.1–7)
“What if Jesus’ definition of thriving leaders and thriving churches is different to ours?” Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at Thrive – a conference for the Salt and Light Advance churches of which Oxford Community Church is a part. It was a fantastic event – with powerful times of worship, great speakers, and some…
How to Interpret the Bible
On Saturday I had the privilege of kicking off the new year at Manchester School of Theology. I’ve taught here many times over the years, but this was by far the biggest cohort I’ve seen, and it was so much fun helping them dig into the Bible, wrestling with a few of their questions, and…
The Bible in Four Minutes
How do you quickly and effectively summarise a story as complex as the Bible? Impossible, you might think. But storyteller-poet Dai Woolridge has given it a pretty good shot! His latest video tells biblical story in four minutes, weaving together many of the key themes and threads, showing how they connect beautifully around the person…
The Provocation of Hope
‘Hope is never mere, even when it is meagre. When all other senses sleep, the eye of hope is first to awaken, last to shut.’ (Gil-Galad, The Rings of Power, Season 1, Episode 5) I’ve been thinking recently about the theme of hope, prompted by a few verses from the Epistles (and that quote from…
Rooted in Blessings
What does ‘blessing’ mean in the Bible? What relevance do the blessings and promises given to Abraham, Moses, David and others have for us today? And how do God’s promises strengthen and encourage us in the good seasons and the difficult seasons? These are a few of the questions I got to answer in a…
“A word in season.” In favour of cherry-picking Bible verses
I was once coaching a preacher, and together we were critiquing another person’s sermon, in an effort to learn more about our craft. My friend commented that the sermon simply consisted of ‘cherry-picking Bible verses, and smashing them together’ to which I replied, ‘sounds like a great recipe for cherry jam!’ I was being flippant,…
Liam Thatcher 