Christ Church Selly Park sermons
Episodes
Sunday Apr 10, 2022
Sunday Apr 10, 2022
Susan Haynes | Matthew 21:1-17 | Matthew 26:36-45
The disciples... brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘“My house will be called a house of prayer,” but you are making it “a den of robbers.”’
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled... He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’
Susan tells the story of Palm Sunday and some of the events that followed from a rather unusual source. The content is based on "An Easter Donkey's Diary" written by Tony Bower of York Schools and Youth Trust.
The readings are given by Alison Cooper, John Lanchbury and Michael Dewsbury.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Peter Frere | Mark 10:13-16 | 1 Corinthians 12:12-26
Jesus... said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ ... But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
Peter ends our series "Rooted disciples" by discussing how we can put the teaching of Jesus and Paul into practice. What does it mean to be dependent, on God and on each other, in a culture which values strength and independence?
The recording begins with the readings from Trevor Whitehouse.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Mar 27, 2022
Sunday Mar 27, 2022
Allan Bartlam | 1 Peter 2.1-5 | 1 Peter 2.9-17
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
In a few sentences Peter stresses our need to grow in our personal faith, but also to play a full part in the shared life and status of God's people. Allan explores some areas in which we have to maintain a balance between what might seem to be conflicting priorities. The recording begins with the readings from Bobbie Frere.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Mar 20, 2022
Sunday Mar 20, 2022
Bobbie Frere | Acts 4.32-37 | Matthew 19.23-26
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy person among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’
In those very early days of the church, the power to preach the gospel and work miracles went hand in hand with generosity. Today, we tend to cling on to our possessions and our time. Bobbie challenges us to live out community values and to work out a genuine response to world poverty. She reminds us that these are difficult questions with no ready-made answers.
The document "An evangelical commitment to simple lifestyle" that Bobbie refers to can be downloaded from http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/1980-04/1980-04-177-lifestyle.pdf.
The recording begins with the readings from Rachel Fasham and ends with a short prayer from service leader Martin Garrod.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
Susan Haynes | Genesis 2.8-15 | Romans 8.18-23
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
It's always been God's purpose for us to take care of the created world, and as we know only too well, we've made a mess of it. In this service we discussed why this matters and some of the ways by which we can put things right. In the recording we hear from service leader John Lanchbury, preacher Susan Haynes, reader Chris Powell, Bobbie Frere speaking on behalf of the Eco group, and members of the congregation.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Mar 06, 2022
Sunday Mar 06, 2022
Rachel Fasham | 1 Corinthians 3.1-13 | Colossians 1.24-29
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
[Christ] is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
We know that, as Christians, we need to grow up in our faith - though as the sketch which begins the recording shows, some of us might be more happy to remain as children. Rachel explains some ways in which we can grow and so become more like Jesus.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube. It includes some visual material, and also music that can't be included in the audio recording for copyright reasons.
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
Bobbie Frere | 1 John 3:1-10
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
When God makes us his children, we have the promise that one day we will be like Jesus. But, says Bobbie, this is not just something for the future. Rather, it's a process that continues throughout our lives. She encourages us to co-operate with the Holy Spirit to bring this about.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Feb 20, 2022
Sunday Feb 20, 2022
Ben Green | Romans 12:1-8
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Don't be conformed, be transformed. How can we live in and engage with the world around us without being pulled away from God? Ben Green continues our series Rooted disciples discussing why and how we should stay true to our calling.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
Ben Green | Mark 8.27-38
[Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’
This week we begin a new series Rooted disciples based on John Stott's final book, "The radical disciple". The recording begins with service leader Graham Romp, and then Ben, introducing the series. In the sermon, Ben explains the learning process Jesus' disciples went through as he led up to his challenging, but often misunderstood, call to follow him.
An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Allan Bartlam | Matthew 28:16-20
Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.‘
As Allan says, the Great Commission is the church's job description. But what's the plan? Who is going to bring it about? This short talk formed part of an All-In service focusing on our partnership with people and churches who, like us, are seeking to become and make disciples in our different places and circumstances.
A longer edited video recording of the Sunday service, including music and a video link with one of our partners in Kenya, can be viewed on YouTube.
The world map shown by Allan during his talk can be seen here:
