Hardwick Evangelical Church - Sunday Sermon: Recent Episodes
Hardwick Evangelical Church
On "pulpit-swap" day we were happy to have Mike Roberts from Gamlingay Baptist Church with us. Mike continued our series in Nehemiah, with a call to corporate prayer.
David proposed that the returning exiles were intolerant of the "people of the land" - the poor who were never taken into Babylon. Has the same thing happened in modern times?
Enid looks at the background to Nehemiah's "arrow prayer" in verse 4 - when it's time to act.
Kate introduced our new series on Prayer in the book of Nehemiah. In chapter 1 we meet a careful and thoughtful planner.
Kate brought us some reflections on Daniel 2 and Hebrews 12: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."
Liz is the second of our "occasional speakers" this summer, and shared her insights into this passage, which brings hope to the discouraged.
Today David IB gave the first of two talks on the subject of money, concentrating on the teaching of Jesus from Luke 16.
Enid used the Bible Project video to recap and overview Joel, with its handy poster. The Day of the Lord as the final judgement and final justice and blessing.
Robbie starts us on a short series on the prophet Joel - a short book that packs a big punch!
Robbie spoke from Matthew 21:1-10, the "triumphal entry" to Jerusalem which we usually talk about on Palm Sunday. He found three different ideas among the people who were there about who Jesus was.
Enid & David broke the taboo of mixing religion and politics! But with a general election looming - how would Jesus vote?
David shared a view of three parables in Matthew 21:28-22:14 - two sons, tenants in the vineyard, wedding feast.
Kate spoke about "Citizens of the Kingdom" from Matthew 19:1-30. Called to be different!
Michael examines questions of forgiveness through this difficult parable from Matthew 18:21-35.
Kate continued our series on the Kingdom in Matthew's gospel, finding a developing theme in the "parables of the Kingdom" in chapter 13.
We read Matthew 10:1-39 with Soula, when Jesus sent his twelve closest disciples out on an exciting mission.
Kate continued our study of the Kingdom in Matthew's gospel with part of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 6.
Robbie gave our second talk on the Kingdom of Heaven from Matthew's gospel, taking us through the Beatitudes.
David launched our new series on the Kingdom of Heaven in the gospel of Matthew. This week: a surprising new message.
On Easter Sunday Kate talked about the last song recorded in the Bible, in Revelation 5: "Worth is the Lamb that was slain!".
Soula told of a terrifying battle that wasn't fought thanks to God's intervention. It's an interesting narrative worth a read, from 2 Chronicles 17.
Robbie noted a connection between this song and our recent talks about Israel in the Bible. The Song of the Vineyard starts out like a love song but soon takes a darker turn.
David examines this question - if we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and if we see from prophecy that there will be war against Jerusalem when Jesus returns, are we praying for the wrong thing?
Although David had been anointed as king to replace Saul he laments over the death of Saul and son Jonathan, who was David's close comrade.
Our Area Minister joined our series on songs in the Bible with Habakkuk's song in chapter 3, read for us by Julie Coulson.
Moses' song in Deuteronomy 32 is quite a challenging read - a prophetic song of warning of disaster and offering rescue.
David looks at the Bible passages where God promises the land to Abraham, and finds something that may surprise you.
Two strong women and a miraculous storm brought great change for the Israelites as they settled in Canaan.
Kate starts our sermon series on "songs" from the Bible. This week - the first and last recorded songs in the Bible both sing of God as a rescuer.
Talk 1 of a mini-series of three talks from David Instone-Brewer about the status of Israel in the Bible.
Kate concludes our series on Colossians by seeing what we know about the people that Paul names at the end of his letter.
We've included all the traditional Christmas readings and Kate's reflections in this bumper episode. Kate hung items of clothing on a rail to illustrate each of the readings and used these to walk through the whole Bible narrative from the Fall to Redemption.
Kate showed how Paul's advice for society both mirrored and challenged the understanding of the time.
Colossians moves from giving warnings to advice - turn away from bad behaviour and take on newness in Christ.
Enid continues our reading in Colossians and refers back to what we heard from David just before, about Daniel's prayer, so you might want to hear that first.
It's Remembrance Sunday and David looks as the glimpse that Daniel gets of what goes on behind the scenes when we pray. Our next talk in Colossians follows the same theme so you might want to hear it next.
Robbie labelled this section of the letter "Paul's blueprint for Christian living" with three main points.
We need to maintain our relationship with God and continue in the faith - but if we fall away there's always a way back.
Possibly Paul's most elevated passage about the nature of Jesus, it was written to answer problems facing the church in Colossae. What was going wrong?
Kate introduces our new preaching series on Paul's letter to the Colossians with an intriguing look at the first 8 verses.
The last of three talks based on the points found in the booklet Knowing God Personally. This week - the Holy Spirit.
The second of three talks based on the points found in the booklet Knowing God Personally. This week - Jesus came to fix the problem, but how does it work?
The first in three talks based on the points found in the booklet Knowing God Personally. This week - God loves us, but sin breaks the relationship.
Kate spoke of the value of singing together - with, to and for each other, with special reference to "He's Our Rescuer" (Rend Collective).
Dave showed us where in the Bible the lyrics of this hymn might be found, and asked what Scriptures would express our personal song.
Liz agreed to speak on this day, not knowing that England's Lionesses would be playing a World Cup Final at the same time! Liz is a member of the F.A. Women’s National League Board and has been a lifelong player and fan. Today she shared her reflections on the Matt Redman song "Blessed be your name".
The church needs songs to express sorrow and longing. Steve focusses on a modern song reflecting on climate change.
Jane asked some great questions about the lyrics of the songs we sing in church. Her talk ends at 16m33s and there follows feedback and discussion, some of which is quite quiet.
Pam unpacked the lyrics of the song "Ancient of Days", (Jesse Reeves, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, Rich Thompson, (c) 2018 CityAlight Music)
Kate introduces our Summer series on the songs that we sing in church and what they mean.
We're told that Cain got married and founded a town after he left Eden, and was afraid that someone out there would kill him so God promised to protect him. But who was there to marry and to fear?
Kate develops Paul argument against putting obstacles in the way of those coming to faith.
David updates Paul's rather convoluted reasoning as he (Paul) continued to show how Peter went wrong.
Paul has a stand-up row with Peter and accuses him of hypocrisy. Do we ever act out of tradition and prejudice?
Kate asks if there are any obstacles that the church throws into the path of those who are coming to faith.
Kate walked us through the events of the first Easter with readings from John 20, and songs as a response to the unfolding drama.
David unpacks what was in Paul's mind when he wrote this passage.
(The recording missed the beginning of the reading.)
David looks at the Ten Commandments, and the rest of the law of the OT, as a vehicle of justice.
On the joyful occasion of Joe Gaze's baptism service, Enid makes some links between Jesus, Moses and Joe's declaration of faith.
Kate launches our Lent series, based around the daily readings in "Live Lent - Embracing Justice".
Kate's topic started out as "advice to sons" - but hey, good advice for life is for everyone!
Dr Kighoma shares some of the challenges of training believers for mission in a war zone.
As part of a presentation from WCCYM (West Cambridge Christian Youth Ministries) Nick asked how daring we are prepared to be for Jesus.
John's Baptism for Repentance was a startling new concept. Jesus takes it a step further - Forgiveness.
Kate shared two short reflections, introduced by two videos. One is a song from the Rend Collective, "Saviour's Day" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWLXqkvdI78) and the other is a fun but profound poem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie8uheCTKJQ).
David explores the important of gold in the Bible and what the Magi's gift says about Jesus.
Enid looked at the theme of justice in Micah and Amos, and asked how we are challenging injustice as we seek to love our neighbour as ourselves.
David shows what was new about Amos's message, and examines our own response to prophecy.
Kate shared ways in which we can nourish our souls and renew our minds, through meditation on God's word, God's ways, and God's works.
The first reading is Matt 4:1-4 and didn't come across on the recording.
After three chapters of threats and warnings, Micah gives us a vision of a glorious future in the Kingdom of God under Jesus' reign.
Robbie found that Micah felt bold to speak truth to power because of his trust in God. Do we share his confidence? Do we speak out?
Enid launches our new series on the prophet Micah (with a side-order of Amos in a few weeks' time) with a look at the background of the Divided Kingdom and the spiritual and socials evils that the prophet is calling out.
Kate reflects upon King Charles' description of the Queen's life of service as "a life well-lived". How do we serve God, each other and our neighbour?
Kate explored the so-called "Greatest Commandment" from Luke 10:26-28, and finds echoes of this throughout the Bible.
Pauline shared a challenge that she heard years ago which has stuck with her ever since - what would happen if we "tithed" our time? After the talk there were some useful interactions from the congregation; we've tried to boost the sound but some sections may be hard to hear.
In our Summer series Liz shared the powerful story of Daniel's friends, the golden statue and the fiery furnace.
On Dan's last Sunday in the church he launched our Summer series, sharing what he has learned from these two passages:
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters…” from Isaiah 55:1, and “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth…” from John 4:23
How can we "Rejoice in the Lord always"? Can we follow Paul's instruction to "in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Enid finds help in Philippians 4:1-8, which is both highly spiritual and very grounded.
Paul is furious with the "circumcision party" - those who wanted non-Jewish Christian converts to follow Jewish law. What add-ons to the Gospel do we throw into people's path that hinder their journey to faith?
Is all we know about Epaphroditus that he's the guy that was ill? Listen to Robbie's talk for another way to see him.
Steve continues our series on Paul's letter to the church in Philippi, where Paul himself got into a bad situation but was able to rejoice in Jesus.
Kate launches a new series in the letter of Paul to the church in Philippi. Our overall theme is "How to survive well in bad times".
Kate explained that there is not an exhaustive lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament; they may be lifelong tendencies or one-off abilities in times of need.
Soula spoke movingly on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, from the Old and New Testaments, and urged us to "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18).
Kate asks why we take Communion and it means - another talk in our occasional "Holy Habits"series.
To the Jews in Jesus' time, travelling on the clouds was something only God can do - so Jesus ascension and the angels' prophecy of his return underline his status as God.
Robbie talks about the idea of atonement - At-One-Ment, remaking our relationship with God.
Michael investigates what we understand about the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
David kicks off a new series in which we dig into the details of God as father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today - what do we need to know about God?
David investigates Paul's own conversion testimony and looks for lessons that we can take from it.
Using John's 18:28 - 19:16, Enid wonders what was in Pilate's mind as he wavered between condemning Jesus and setting him free.
Michael considers the dramatically different reactions of the closest witnesses to Jesus's death.
Kate Gaze looks in detail at the interactions that Jesus had with Peter's mother-in-law, a woman from Tyre, and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus.
Robbie takes us through the character arc of Nicodemus as seen in John's gospel, and sets it into the wider scope of John's vision.
John 1:1-14 tells us “the Word became meat.” Sounds shocking? So it was for John’s first readers. David Instone-Brewer shows how far Jesus stooped for love of us. Video with the visuals at https://youtu.be/PMSdpVx3bZk.
Soula Charalambous continues our "Face to Face with Jesus" series with a second look at appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament.
Soula Charalambous launches our "Face to Face with Jesus" series with some of the appearances of God in the Old Testament: this was Jesus, the Mediator between God and Mankind. More next week.
The recording of Kate's talk on the practice of prayer was unfortunately cut short. Kate shared some online resources to help us to pray -
How to Pray: a simple guide for normal people, by Pete Greig
https://www.eden.co.uk/how-to-pray-a-simple-guide-for-normal-people-pete-greig/
Videos based on this book: https://prayercourse.org/sessions/
Lectio 365
https://www.24-7prayer.com/resource/lectio-365/
Lectio for families
https://www.24-7prayer.com/resource/lectioforfamilies/
These two also have Bible readings
Kate explores the reason there was "no room" for Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem - his home town!
Michael unpacks the words of Isaiah in chapter 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given."
Soula looks at the first of the Old Testament readings used at Christmas - the rebellion of man and the start of God's rescue mission.
A Franciscan Friar, Brother Sam spoke at the West of Cambridge Ecumenical Service about our connection with the Earth and duty to care for God's Creation.
A challenge from Eastern Baptist Association regional minister Graeme Ross. What happens when Jesus asks us to do something new? Taken from a video that Graeme shared - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzGHNY8PAiY
What can we learn from this ancient prophesy?This recording includes the soundtrack of a video from The Bible Project (https://bibleproject.com/)
Kate Gaze examines what we should understand about prophecy, both in the Bible and in the church.
Hear our minister Kate Gaze as she concludes our reading of the book of Jonah. We are too fond of deciding who is deserving of God's mercy - Jonah finds out the truth.
Jonah 3 is read by Dave Sage, then Michael continues our study of Jonah and finds that God wants to offer us all a second chance.
Welcome to the Hardwick Evangelical Church Sunday Sermon podcast. Today we hear from David Instone-Brewer as he explores Jonah chapter 2 and how we might all recognise, understand and respond to the call God has for our lives.
For more information about Hardwick Evangelical Church, head to www.hechurch.co.uk
Welcome to the Hardwick Evangelical Church Sunday Sermon podcast. Today we hear from Soula Charalambous as she walks us through the opening chapter of the book of Jonah and as we reflect on God's call on Jonah's life.
For more information about Hardwick Evangelical Church, head to www.hechurch.co.uk
Welcome to the Hardwick Evangelical Church Sunday Sermon podcast. Today we hear from Michael Charalambous as he introduces us to our new series by looking at the introductions to the books of Jonah and Nahum.
For more information about Hardwick Evangelical Church, head to www.hechurch.co.uk
Welcome to the Hardwick Evangelical Church Sunday Sermon podcast. Here we hear from Revd Kate Gaze as she reads from Luke's Gospels and the calling of Jesus's disciples and encourages us as a church to become deeper people.
For more information about Hardwick Evangelical Church, head to www.hechurch.co.uk