Sinking to the bottom of the ocean, Jonah must have felt his life was over, but God had other plans. In this talk from Oxford Community Church, I look at Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish, and what it tells us about the nature of salvation.
Tag: jesus
A God-given Name
There’s a moment I love in the story of David, when he and Bathsheba have a child, who would go on to become Israel’s wisest king and build the Temple for God’s presence. His parents named him Solomon, which is a solid name. It’s related to the Hebrew word shalom, so it means in essence:…
A Living Community
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…
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 Death of David’s Innocent Son (2 Samuel 12)
There are stories in Scripture which, honestly, I struggle with. One of them comes in 2 Samuel 12, when the Lord took the life of David’s innocent son. The context for this is the sin of David against Bathsheba and Uriah. The King summoned Bathsheba to his courts while her husband was away and, presumably…
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,…
The Lent Encounter
Each day through Lent, Bible Society is producing a series of reflections – written and audio – journeying with the people of God through the wilderness, and looking ahead to the events of Easter. And I’ve had the privilege of writing this week’s contributions. This week we will work through Exodus 25–29, looking at the…
A Priest like Melchizedek (Hebrews 7)
On Sunday I continued our series at Oxford Community Church, looking at the identity of Jesus in the letter to the Hebrews. After a few weeks of tantalising hints, we finally spoke about the enigmatic figure of Melchizedek – a priest and king, who receives a fleeting mention in Genesis 14, and then fades into…
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…
Questioning Keller’s 200 Terrible Sermons
“For the first 200 sermons, no matter what you do, your first 200 sermons are going to be terrible.” I’ve encountered this quote from Tim Keller a good many times, and have found it to be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it’s hugely releasing to know that you’re not going to be perfect…
Liam Thatcher 