This Sunday I continued our series on the life of Abraham by looking at Genesis 18–19. A challenging passage, but one that gloriously points to the gospel! “The Lord announced his judgment on the city of Sodom, but Abraham intervened, pleading with the Lord for mercy. In this talk, Liam considers the theme of intercession,…
Tag: prayer
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…
A United Witness (John 17)
Jesus prayed for his church, that they would be one, even as the Trinity – Father, Son and Spirit – are one. In this talk, we consider the call and challenge of unity, and how a unified church can be a powerful witness in a divided world.
Stand Firm: Four talks on Daniel
Back in the summer, I had the opportunity to speak at the Dreaming the Impossible youth festival on behalf of Bible Society. Every morning, we led a Bible Study based in the book of Daniel and connected to the overall theme of the conference, ‘Stand Firm’. Given that this was the first year they’d run…
Jesus the Healer (Matthew 8)
On Sunday I had the privilege of speaking at Christ Church Manchester’s CCM Day, where they gathered all their services together for a joint celebration. It was so much fun. We sang in English and Spanish, ate a lot of cake, and I got to speak on the subject of healing, and pray for people….
Fellowship with Focus (Acts 2.42–47)
Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at Witney Community Church, continuing their series on the book of Acts. We looked at the picture of the early church in Acts 2.42-47 (a passage I think I’ve heard more sermons on than any other, but had never preached on until this week!) We considered some of…
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…
Learning to pray on Gethsemane roundabout
This strange little roundabout is a few minutes from my house. The first time I walked across it, taking my then-five-year-old daughter to school, she declared: “Oh, I know this place from my Bible! It’s the Garden of Gethsemane.” It was a strange thing for her to say. Gethsemane in her storybook Bible looks far…
Eternal Prayers: Paying to pray on the blockchain
I often wonder what the Apostles would make of modern ‘Christianity’. If you could resurrect Paul for a week and get him to visit a selection of churches – or worse still, hand him an iPhone and let him scroll through Christian Twitter – what would delight him, and what would baffle him? What innovations…
Advent Reflection: Which prayer and which response?
Luke 1 begins with the story of Zechariah, a priest who ‘just happens’ to be in the right place at the right time, serving in the Temple at the altar of incense. An angel appears to him, declaring that his prayers have been answered and that he is to become a father. What seems like…
Liam Thatcher 