Christ Church Selly Park

Go and see

John Lanchbury | Mark 6:30-44 

By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?’ ‘How many loaves do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’

Eager to hear Jesus' teaching, the crowd had followed him, and now they were in need of physical food. Having set his disciples a seemingly impossible task - to feed the crowd - Jesus now asks them to assess the resources available, which amount to just a few loaves and fish. Yet as John reminds us in his talk, anything is possible when Jesus turns up and we offer what little we have to him.

The recording begins with the reading from James Williams.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Come and see

Peter Frere | John 1:35-51 

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.

Last week, Ben introduced our new series by looking at the calling of Jesus' first disciples. This week Peter focuses on John's account of the story and the reaction of those who met Jesus: to invite others to discover him for themselves.

The recording begins with the reading from Kate Routley.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Coming and going with Jesus

Ben Green | Matthew 4:18-22 | Matthew 28:18-20 

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.

Jesus came to [the disciples] 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.’

We begin a new series this week, which Ben introduces at the beginning of the recording. Then, after the readings from Susan Mole, he continues to discuss what it means to be a disciple. We still follow the same pattern today: Jesus calls us to follow him, then we go and pass on that call to others.

A longer, edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

The greatest gift

Dan Parnell | Matthew 2:1-12 

After [the Magi] had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

This short talk was part of an Explore service in which each of us could respond in different ways to what we heard. How much do we know about these mysterious Magi, and what can we learn from their place in the gospel story? 

The recording begins with the reading from Susan Haynes.

A longer, edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

A new thing

Susan Haynes | Isaiah 43:14-21 

This is what the Lord says -
  he who made a way through the sea,
  a path through the mighty waters...
‘Forget the former things;
  do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
  and streams in the wasteland.’

We can learn from and be thankful for what God has done in the past, but we should not get stuck there. At the beginning of a new year Susan challenges us to embrace the new things God has for us and to be part of what he is doing.

The recording begins with members of the congregation describing what it is like to experience something new.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Live through walking

Bobbie Frere | 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.

Paul points out some things the Christians at Thessalonica were getting wrong in order to point them in the right direction. In this case, some had misunderstood the purpose of work. Is there a model we can follow? Bobbie outlines a framework for all kinds of work - paid or voluntary - based on gospel principles, those by which we should live.

The recording begins with the reading from Simon Jones.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Conquering in Jesus

Ben Green | 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us - whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter - asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

What will happen in the future? How will it all end? Paul had taught the Thessalonians directly about these matters, but in his letter he only gives a summary, leaving us with many questions. Ben encourages us to focus on what we do know - that in Jesus we have the ultimate victory, whatever happens now or in the future.

The recording begins with the reading from Trevor Whitehouse.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Suffering in faith

Ben Green | 2 Thessalonians 1 

Among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

Paul begins his second letter to a church that continues to suffer severe persecution. Are their hardships a sign of God's disfavour, or that they somehow don't matter? As Ben explains, the true explanation is far more hopeful - indeed, glorious.

The recording begins with the reading from Susan Mole.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Living as gospel people

Graham Romp | 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

In all circumstances? Even when the church is suffering severe persecution, as was the case at Thessalonica? Paul ends his letter with some instructions that are timeless but especially ran counter to the culture of his time. As Graham explains, the Christian faith is truly radical.

The recording begins with the reading from Dilys Garrod.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Is there hope for peace?

Ben Green | Isaiah 52:7-10 

How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    ‘Your God reigns!’

This Remembrance service is introduced by Susan Haynes, then, after the reading from a member of the Brownies, Ben speaks about where real peace can be found. Earlier in the service we had used a set of flags, each representing a nation currently in conflict, as an aid to prayer, and Ben refers to these flags in his talk.

An edited video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.