At Oxford Community Church we are currently in a series on Community Groups, and this Sunday I co-preached on one of my favourite gospel stories in Mark 2 Four men bring their friend to Jesus, seeking healing. When faced with a crowd blocking their way, they take a courageous choice to do whatever it takes…
Tag: faith
Venom and Antivenom: A Gospel Metaphor
Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes more than 200 times and received 700 injections of venom. Now his blood could save hundreds of thousands of people. It’s an imperfect gospel metaphor to be sure, but it’s not bad. The Seed and the Serpent From its opening pages to the closing ones, Scripture uses…
The Banished are Beloved: A Holy Week reflection on David’s Sons
This week I’ve found myself reading through a rather unpleasant stretch of 2 Samuel – the story of David’s sons, Amnon and Absalom. These chapters are full of violence, abuse, manipulation and heartbreak. They’re not enjoyable to read at any time of year. Reading them on Holy Week, however, adds an extra layer of poignancy,…
Strike the Ground (2 Kings 13)
Last weekend the Salt and Light Advance family of churches held our annual Leaders’ Conference, Thrive. It was a great event, at which we enjoyed powerful times of worship, teaching and ministry, and set fresh vision for our life together. On the Friday night, I spoke on the story of Joash and Elisha from 2…
We Love God’s Spirit (Conference recordings)
Helen and I recently had the joy of speaking at King’s Church Eastbourne for their weekend conference, We Love God’s Spirit. I’m a big fan of this church! We have many friends there and have visited countless times for theology and leadership training, albeit about 15 years ago! So it felt precious to be able…
Pictures of Mission: Keys and Nets
Whenever I teach on mission or evangelism, I tend to leave people two simple pictures: keys and nets. Together these pictures help us see how to share our faith in a way that’s authentic to who we are, but also sensitive to the needs of our friends. Keys Like most of us, I carry a…
Jesus and the Wasgij
‘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…
Faith and Wisdom (James 3.13–18)
On Sunday, I preached at Oxford Community Church, as part of our series in the book of James. We looked the subject of faith and wisdom, considering what it means to be truly wise, and contrasting the Wisdom of Heaven with the Wisdom of Earth. If you’d like to catch up, you can find the…
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…
Faith in Action (James 1.1; 5.19–20)
On Sunday, I preached at Oxford Community Church, kicking off a new sermon series on the book of James. We looked at who the author and recipients were, and considered some of the main themes of the letter – in particular, grace and faith. If you’d like to catch up, you can find the audio…
