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Ministry

In our somewhat bizarre life, we have had the opportunity and honour of teaching others about the Christian faith. A bit weird when we still have so much to learn ourselves! But God has some funny ideas somethimes about who he wants to use and how he wants to use them.

Just click on the titles below to open them in your wordprocessor, or right click on them to save them to your hard disk.

All of these talks/studies are very much 'work in progress'. Thus any feedback or ideas would be very welcome.

• Towards Hybridity MA Thesis - As part of an MA, completed in 2012, I wrote a thesis that noticed a new phenomenon, new Christian missional groups were springing up that drew their spirituality from both Protestant and Catholic sources. I explored the question, Are we moving towards hybridity?
  
  It strikes me that some Fresh Expressions of Church might fit into this hybrid category.
  
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• Munghu and Friends - The notes for a Quiet Day that I led at Launde Abbey on 1st February 2016. During the day we reflected on some lessons that we can learn from incidents in the life of St Munghu. Lessons that teach us about how we can best relate to the animal kingdom and also wbout how we can best relate to fellow Christians.
  
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• God is for us - but are we for God? - A sermon exploring Romans 8:31ff in which Paul summarizes the whole of hs gospel in a shocking, mind-numbing, reality tilting, four words - God is for us. This is contrasted by Luke 13:31ff where we discover the almost unbelievable fact that those who are closest to God in terms of their religious understanding and practice, are often farthest from sharing His heart. Not for the faint-hearted... (Preached at St James the Great, Birstall on 29/10/15).
  
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• Saving Faith - A sermon preahced at Bransgore Community Church on 24 February 2013. Based upon Romans 3vv27-31 the sermon explores the questions "What is saving faith?" and "How do we access saving faith?". There is also a study guide for small group use that further explores the topic.
  
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• All Nations CIM Seminar on Christian Unity - A seminar delivered at All Nations College on 15 June 2010. The presentation seeks to highlight the essential and mission critical nature of unity for the Church - a unity which is trinitarian in nature and wide in scope. The presentation seeks to develop a biblical understanding what it means to be Christian which enables the widest possible expression of Christian unity. The presentation concludes with a practical application of such a vision of Christian unity to the praxis of mission.
  
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• Mr Magoo Spirituality - Faith is learning to live in a world that you cannot see - Hebrews 11:1-6 - These notes are designed to introduce the incredible topic of faith. What is faith? Where does faith come from? What is the purpose of faith? How does faith relate to the Christian life? We discover that faith is at the heart of a process of radical transformation. That Christians are meant to be being gradually transformed into a different kind of being. That through this process the supernatural is meant to become as real to us and the natural realm. Whew! What a wild ride!
  
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• Focus on the Spirit - John 16:5-15 - This sermon looks at the teaching of Jesus about how the coming of the Holy Spirit is going to change everything for the Church and for the world. How can it possbily be better for the disciples to have the Holy Spirit than to have Jesus himself with them? What does it mean when Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world in regard to sin, righteousness and judgement? What exactly does Jesus mean when he says that the Holy Spirit will lead the disciples into all truth? We try to find answers to all these questions in this sermon.
  
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• Sin is a Serious Business - Psalm 83:6-8 - How serious is sin? In this study I try to show from scripture that sin is very serious, that it can have long-term personal, familial, communtarian and even national consequences. Whilst as Christians we rightly rejoice that we can experience the grace and forgiveness of God, we also need to remember that we will still have to live with the consequences of our sin. However, I hope to show that confession and repentance can, in the remarkable mercy of God, still lead us into unexpected places of blessing and growth. Indeed, I hope to show that this is the very foundation of both the Old Testament and New Testament Church.
  
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• Natural Church Development - A study on the nature of the Church and how the human organisation of it impacts its health. In particular NCD is considered - a tool which enables the health or quality of a church to be quantified.
  
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• Balaam and Israel - A verse by verse study on Numbers chapters 22 to 25. An amazing story of blessing, cursing, international conflict and talking donkeys!
  
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• Blessing or Curse - A study on Jeremiah 17:5-8 of why and how God uses blessing and cursing in the life of the Christian.
  
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• Culture, Communication and Christ - Teaching I gave at the 'Unissons-Nous' conference in Lisieux, August 2002.
  
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  Note that this is available in French on the French language version of this site.
  
  
  
  
• Grace is Wild! - Jonah was scandalised by the wildness of God's grace. That it should be made available to people that he felt didn't deserve it. These two messages were preached at a men's prayer breakfast organised by Christchurch Baptist Church (7/2/04), and at the Sunday morning service of Burton Community Church (8/2/04).
  
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• Lessons from Haggai - A series of studies on the book of Haggai developed for teaching at Burton Community Church, August 2002.
  
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• Saying 'Amen' to the Lord's Prayer - A study on the radical nature of the Lord's Prayer and how to really pray it.
  
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• Sifting the Saints - A study on Luke 22:31-32 and how God uses sifting experiences to transform our character, both individually and corporately.
  
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• Unfamiliar Paths - A study on how God's leads His people and why He chooses to do it that way.
  
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• Waiting but Trusting - A study on Psalm 40 and the experience of waiting in the Christian life.
  
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• A separate page has been produced for a verse by verse commentary and a series of small group studies on the first 6 chapters of Hebrews.
  
  
  
  
  
• Note for a lighter ministry experience you can also try
  
  
  
  
  
  
• My Monastic Journey - Brother Andy PROUD in covnersation with the NEARER community about his call to the monastic life and what it means to live as a monk in the village of Birstall. Click the title to download and listen on yout mp3 player.