St Nicholas Bristol: Recent Episodes
St NIcholas Bristol
St Nicholas Bristol is a vibrant Anglican church in the centre of Bristol led by Toby and Gill Flint. Our vision is to play our part in the evangelisation of the nation, the revitalisation of the church and the transformation of society. We want to create spaces where anyone can come to explore faith in a pressure-free environment, to encounter Jesus for themselves and to make a difference in the world around them. Enjoy our podcast and please feel free to visit us at stnicholasbristol.org.
On baptism Sunday, we had guest speaker Philip Jinadu from Woodlands Metro come and talk to us about what it is for God to make us 'new creations'. And how when we give our lives to Jesus, we become truly alive.
One of our ordinands Maddie dives into how the invitation to follow Jesus can change lives and gives us tools to invite people into a relationship with Him.
Chris is from our congregation and works for the Bible Society. In his talk, he unpacks how the Bible brings hope to our everyday lives, and to every nation of the world.
Josh Bradshaw kicks off our 'New Year, New...' sermon series, by discussing how we can be inspired this year to remain in intimacy with Jesus, and deepen our relationship with Him.
Helen Gordon shares how God moves in unexpected ways, just like in the story of how Jesus came to Earth. Helen then poses the question – are you ready to watch God move in your life?
Toby Flint shares at our annual St Nicks Carols, about how God sent Jesus to Earth to make His Home among us.
Matt Southcombe explores how in this season of Advent, we can draw near to God in the waiting, and find that all along, Jesus has always been waiting for us.
On our 'Preach It' Sunday, three members of our congregation: Jonah, Bre and Victoria, share how Jesus has become the Way the Truth and the Life, in their personal journeys of faith.
Our student pastor Hattie continues our 'I Am' series by looking at Jesus as 'The Vine'. She unpacks how whilst living in an unstable time and culture, stability and nourishment for our souls come from Jesus.
Matt Southcombe continues our 'I AM' series by unpacking the power of Jesus’ promise of eternal life and life in all its fullness.
Matt Southcombe continues our 'I AM' series by unpacking the power of Jesus’ promise of eternal life and life in all its fullness.
Josh Bradshaw explores how in a world where it can feel so hard to be truly known, you are known by Jesus, the Shepherd. He gave it all for you and longs to guide you in each moment of each day.
Josh Bradshaw explores how in a world where it can feel so hard to be truly known, you are known by Jesus, the Shepherd. He gave it all for you and longs to guide you in each moment of each day.
Toby Flint continues our I Am Series by exploring how Jesus is the Light of the World, and how when we welcome Him into our lives we can walk in this light and witness it to others.
Toby Flint continues our I Am Series by exploring how Jesus is the Light of the World, and how when we welcome Him into our lives we can walk in this light and witness it to others.
Betty Sanena kicks off our new sermon series, exploring the ‘I Am’ statements of Jesus, found in John 6. Here she unpacks how Jesus gives us true provision and sustenance, whilst being the only one who can truly satisfy.
Betty Sanena kicks off our new sermon series, exploring the ‘I Am’ statements of Jesus, found in John 6. Here she unpacks how Jesus gives us true provision and sustenance, whilst being the only one who can truly satisfy.
Toby Flint unpacks the counter-cultural generosity of the Kingdom of God, by looking at the story of Elisha and the Widow.
Toby Flint unpacks the counter-cultural generosity of the Kingdom of God, by looking at the story of Elisha and the Widow.
Josh Bradshaw kicks off our vision series by talking about how God has invited you to join in with what He’s already doing. And, how this is all for the joy of relationship with you.
Josh Bradshaw kicks off our vision series by talking about how God has invited you to join in with what He’s already doing. And, how this is all for the joy of relationship with you.
Jesus: The real deal – Out of all the leaders, philosophers and influencers of history why is Jesus worth following? Toby unpacks how John the Baptist was one of the first to follow Jesus and over 200 million still do today.
Take a second look – Do you take things at face value? Do you jump to conclusions? Niall encourages us to take a second look and find that Jesus can change everything, turning despair into hope and joy.
All for love – This Easter Sunday, Andy shares with us how through God’s love for us, we can receive forgiveness for our past, hope for our future of eternal life and freedom for now. God's love is a gift, all we have to do if receive it.
The 5 Preach it! – Preach it! Joined by three first-time speakers at St Nicks, we hear the story of Palm Sunday shared to us from their different perspectives.
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Leading out of weakness and vulnerability – Concluding our series ‘Emotionally Healthy Discipleship’, Andy looks at the story of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and how we too can live and lead through weakness and vulnerability.
God can do a lot with a little – Toby announces some exciting news of upcoming plans for St Nicks and empowers us to remember that God can do a lot with a little. When we feel like we don't have much to bring, God meets us in that place and works for good through what we have to offer.
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Bring the whole lot – Guest speaker Joel continues our series 'Emotionally Healthy Discipleship' by encouraging us to let God into every part of our lives and in that, allow him to grow us into the people He has made us to be.
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: How to deal with loss and grief – Continuing our series ‘Emotionally Healthy Discipleship’, Laura talks about how we can process loss and grief in healthy ways so that we can grow in our spiritual journey.
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Let love be the measure of maturity – Toby continues our series ‘Emotionally Healthy Discipleship’ by looking at how we measure our discipleship and how Jesus sets the measure with the great commandment.
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Embrace God's gift of limits – Whether it's time in the week or just the season we are in, there are always limits to what we can do. As we continue digging into our Emotionally Healthy Discipleship series, Andy unpacks the maturity found in embracing our limitations and asking God to help us when we hit our limits.
Emotionally Heathy Discipleship: Be before you do – Ali continues our series 'Emotionally Healthy Discipleship' by challenging us to asses how deep our identity is truly routed in Jesus.
Emotionally Heathy Discipleship: Follow the real Jesus – Continuing our series 'Emotionally Healthy Discipleship', Josh speaks into how we, as the Church, are called to cut through the noise and challenge the cultural backtracks that warp our view of who Jesus is. As we relax into Jesus, into who He truly is, He fills us with His strength and power to face the lies of the world.
Emotionally Heathy Discipleship: Healthy things grow – Matt introduces our new series ‘Emotionally Heathy Discipleship’ exploring how we can build a faith that will grow, bear fruit and survive through tough times.
Why Church: First look up – Speaking from Matthew 17:1-9, Toby encourages us to think about which direction we are looking in at the start of this new year. If you are looking back with regret on 2021, looking forward with fear and anxiety, looking inside with a feeling of failure or looking around at a broken world and feeling helpless – change that perspective and first look up! See that God can redeem the past, give you hope for the future, that He loves you as his son or daughter and gives you the resources you need to serve those around you. It all starts and ends with Jesus.
Why Church: The Bible – Kicking of our series ‘Why Church?’ Isaac challenges us to think about who we want to be in 2022. Psalm 119 shows us the power of God’s word, how it revives, encourages and guides us. He encourages us to make a New Years resolution to be people immersed in God’s living word and share that with one another.
Carols by Candlelight – Hannah shares the good news of Christmas at our Carols by Candlelight service.
St Nicks Carols – Toby shares the good news of Christmas at our St Nicks Carols service
Encounters with Jesus: Kingdom Manifesto – Finishing our series ‘Encounters with Jesus’ Betty speaks from Luke 4:18 and invites us to join together in bringing good news to the poor and freedom to the captives.
Encounters with Jesus: Do whatever He tells you – Matt continues our sermon series by unpacking the story of Jesus turning water into wine. Jesus is inviting us to come to Him and be renewed. Wherever we are at, broken, weary, He will meet us there and not leave us there. The bravest thing you can say is help.
Encounters with Jesus: Sitting at His feet – Speaking from Luke 10:38–42, Josh continues our series ‘Encounters with Jesus’ by exploring how we can best become more like Jesus by sitting at His feet, without the distractions of phones and background noises. It is in that place, sat in His presence, that we take on all our depth and all of His character.
Encounters with Jesus: The loyal son – As part of our series 'Encounters with Jesus', Hannah looked at Jesus’ encounter the devil in Matthew 4. Addressing the idea of suffering and evil still being evident in the world around us, Hannah challenged us to seek to learn from Jesus' example about how we can be best prepared to respond to it.
Encounters with Jesus: The prophesied saviour – Continuing our series 'Encounters with Jesus', Andy unpacks the story of Nathanael where he encounters Jesus and the story of his journey from being cynical to calling Him the Son of God, the king of Israel. Jesus ends surpasses Nathanael's expectations and opens up his heart and mind.
The kind liberator – Speaking from John 20:1-18, Laura explores Jesus’s first encounter, in resurrected form, with Mary Magdalene. Through this story we see the power of God’s grace at work and learn about how Jesus longs to come and meet with us, personally by His spirit and be our liberator.
Let's talk about mental health – Mental Health is so important and yet can be so difficult to talk about. To mark World Mental Health day, Matt interviews Will van der Hart on the challenges and difficulties we may be experiencing during this post-lockdown season.
Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name – Guest speaker Philip Jinadu looks at the story of Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus and the simplicity around Jesus calling him by name.
Come and see – Speaking from John 4:7–30, Josh reminds us that God meets us where we're at and that encounter changes everything. When we invite other people in, Jesus does it all, our part is simply to say ‘Come and See’.
Rebuilding the walls: Give – Finishing off our series ‘Rebuilding the walls’, Toby unpacks how the act of giving can change us as individuals and us as a church and how we are called to give generously, intentionally, voluntarily and enthusiastically.
Rebuilding the walls: Teams – Continuing our series on Nehemiah, Toby speaks into how we can make a difference in our city by taking action, encouraging those around and maintaining focus on God and His goal.
Rebuilding the walls: Pray – Toby kicks our series 'Rebuilding the walls' off by looking at how we can have impact on those around us by pausing, re-focusing on God and asking Him to guide us whilst being expectant for Him to move.
Heroes of the faith: Rahab – Looking at the story of Rahab in Joshua 2, Hannah continues our series by looking at how we can follow Rahab’s example of decision making in our own faith; basing them on God’s faithfulness and his covenant with us through Jesus.
Heroes of the faith: Noah – Unpacking the story of Noah, Wayne continues our series Heroes of the faith challenging us to asses our response to when God speaks to us and whether we listen and act according to His will.
Heroes of the faith: Jonah – Continuing our series on Heroes of the faith, Matt digs deep into the story of Jonah focusing on how we can process our disappointment and anger by drawing near to a gracious and loving God rather than pushing away and distancing ourselves.
Heroes of the faith: Esther – Kicking off our series Heroes of the faith, Andy unpacks the story of Esther exploring how we are to be courageous in following God’s calling on our lives.
How to deal with persecution – Matt continues our series through Acts, looking at the persecution of the early church, christians around the world today and how we are to live distinctive lives.
How to care for those in need – Speaking from Acts 4:32-37, Hattie continues our series 'Faith in action' by addressing how we are to care for those most in need in our society. She explores how we are to reset our heart to be in line with that of Jesus' heart for people and then act by using the resources we have in our lives to help alleviate poverty and suffering.
How to activate your gifts – Continuing our series ‘Faith in action’ Betty shares and encourages us to discern, deploy and develop our God given gifts by stepping out in faith and trusting that all good and perfect gifts come from above.
How to put your faith into action – Speaking from Acts 2, Josh kicks off our series ‘Faith in action’ by digging deep into how our faith remains active and powerful when we stay focussed on the grace of God.
Go Long: Invest for the future – Finishing our series 4D Vision, Andy unpacks our final value as a church, ‘Go Long’. He encourages us to invest in our faith and the faith of others by intentionally partnering and building community with those older and younger than ourselves in order to learn, grow and build a faith that is sustained and lasts.
Reach Wide: Work together for the good of others – Speaking from Acts 2:1-17;37-39, Toby continues our sermon series looking at how we can reach wide and work for the good of others by changing our source of energy and where we place our identity.
Dig Deep: Build faith that will last – Continuing our 4D sermon series Matt looks at our second value 'Dig Deep'. Speaking from Colossians 2, he expands on how we can put down roots and learn to feed ourselves so that we are stable and growing in our faith whilst bearing fruit for the kingdom.
Aim High: Give God your best – Toby kicks off our sermon series 4D Vision by unpacking what it looks like to aim high, giving God our best. Using the story of Noah and the example of his sacrifice for God, Toby encourages us to asses our lives and choose to put God first in all we do.
The Lost Son – Guest speaker, Philip Jinadu digs deep into the story of the Prodigal son, the lost son. Looking at the story from the perspective of the son and of the servants around the father, he reminds us of the father heart of God. His deep and unmeasurable love for us and how we often don't know how loved we are until we realise how lost we are.
Resurrection and revelation – Unpacking the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus and His revelation to the disciples, Sonia addresses how it is a choice to let Jesus into our lives and that it requires taking a step of faith, trusting in Him and understanding that we can only really know someone until we have opened our heart to them.
Grief and the Resurrection – Speaking from John 20:11-18, Josie explores the story of Mary Magdalene and addresses the topic of grief. She unpacks how by knowing Jesus in the midst of suffering and pain, we can have furious hope fuelled by resurrection power, trusting that God has defeated all.
Celebration must resist cynicism – Concluding our series Beautiful Resistance Toby explores the relationship between cynicism and celebration. He identifies that cynicism not only comes from our culture but also from laziness and often pain, broken trust, inequality and disappointments. Jesus himself experienced cynicism and yet refused to be cynical. Toby digs deeper into how celebration is the cure of cynicism and that by celebrating the work of God in our lives, his generosity and grace, we have continuous reasons to celebrate.
Honour must resist contempt – Speaking from 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, Toby unpacks the danger of contempt and how it can affect relationships, lead us to devalue others and ultimately create devision. By honouring God, honouring one another and honouring ourselves we gain perspective and unity.
Hospitality must resist fear – Continuing our series Beautiful Resistance, Betty unpacks what it really means to practice hospitality. Speaking from the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19, she challenges us to look to Jesus, those He spent time with and the way that He welcomed everyone into His presence. We are called to actively love our neighbour, those who our different to us, the broken and the forgotten.
Love must resist hate – Matt continues our sermon series unpacking how Jesus teaches us to respond to hatred and oppression with love and a beautiful resistance.
Worship must resist idolatry – Digging deeper into our series Beautiful Resistance, Dave addresses the topic that when we place anything in higher value than God, we create disordered loves that lead to disordered lives. He encourages us to not be passive, to take action and step into true worship of the one, God. Allowing Him to transform our hearts and reorder our lives.
Hunger must resist apathy – Continuing our series Beautiful Resistance, Zoë challenges us on the topic of fasting. Exploring how by recognising, pursuing and turning our hunger into devotion, we create space for God to play a larger role in our lives and that through that, lives can be changed.
Rest must resist exhaustion – Speaking from Matthew 11:28-30, Andy continues our Beautiful Resistance series, engaging with how rest must resist exhaustion and how Jesus invites us into a new way of living.
A church coming back to life – Kicking off our sermon series Beautiful Resistance, Andy shares with us how we are to be salt and light to the world, developing distinctive characters and making 'authentic acts of resistance that shine the light of Jesus into the city around us'.
Where is God in all the suffering? – Guest speaker Amy Orr-Ewing addresses a question that many people wrestle with throughout their lives, 'Where is God in all the suffering?'.
The 5 Preach it! – Joined by three members of the congregation, we hear about the ways in which God has taught them throughout this season and where they have found their strength to move forward and grow.
The 11 Preach it! – Joined by three members of the congregation, we hear about the ways in which God has taught them throughout this season and where they have found their strength to move forward and grow.
You are Free – Speaking from Galatians 5, Matt challenges us to put into perspective our earthly concept of freedom by living in assurance that we are saved by grace and have freedom through the power of the spirit.
Take Heart – Unpacking Ephesians 3:14-21, Toby speaks about how we can live out our faith by digging deep roots, reaching wide to those around us, investing in the younger generation and aiming high by seeking, in all things, to give God our best. All in the knowledge that we can take heart, because God has overcome the world.
Finding life in a new year – Kicking off the new year, Josie shares how we can find life in this new year allowing ourselves to be led and taught by Jesus and trusting in his true kindness and love for us.
Where to find comfort & joy – Comfort & joy. Two words that have the ability to fill us with hope. Toby explores how in Jesus, we can find both comfort & joy in the knowledge that he loves us and that in him we have a purpose, forgiveness, security and that justice will be done.
Hope for Christmas - Unpacking the tension of celebrating Jesus’ coming and living in a world of the now and not yet, Josh finishes our sermon series on Hope reminding us how we can have hope for Christmas and in the freedom that we receive from Jesus.
Hope for Creation - Continuing our series on Hope, Matt provides us with a theological understanding of the climate emergency and how we are all called to act now.
Hope for the Future - Speaking from Revelation 21:1-6, Laura speaks to us about how we can have hope for the future knowing, through God's promises throughout the Bible, that He loves us unconditionally and has plans for our lives.
Hope for the Past - Continuing our series on Hope Betty speaks from Colossians 1:15-23 unpacking how we can stand faultless before God knowing that we are forgiven for our past and can find hope in the good news of Jesus.
Hope for the Mind and Soul - Interviewed by Laura, Will van der Hart opens up and digs deep into the complexities and difficulties of being a Christian and struggling with mental health, especially in the light of a second lockdown.
Hope for the Present - Continuing our series on Hope, Josh speaks from Romans 15:4-13 on how we can have hope for the present.
Hope in Loss - Speaking from John 11:17-44, Toby journeys through how we can have hope in loss by finding comfort in God’s closeness with us throughout the pain and the suffering and through the promise of eternal life with Him.
Hope in Jesus - Kicking off our series on Hope, Andy speaks from Romans 5:1-11 exploring the amazing truth that despite there being suffering, we can have hope. Hope fuelled by the outpouring of God’s love into our hearts.
How to live generously - Finishing our Vision Series, Toby unpacks 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 encouraging us to set the posture of our hearts to be open to give as God calls us to do - generously, intentionally, voluntarily and enthusiastically.
Thief Prisoner Soldier Priest - Toby interviews Rev Paul Cowley MBE about his life and experience of moving from being a thief to a prisoner, a soldier and finally to being a priest and pioneering Alpha in prisons and Caring for Ex-Offenders. A story of redemption, hope and an outpouring of God’s grace.
All about the one - Speaking from Luke 15:4-7, Chrii shares her experiences of inviting friends to know Jesus and encourages us to focus on sharing our Faith by remembering that in God's eyes it is all about 'The One' and that He loves and cares for every single one of his sheep.
Rebuilding in Prayer - Continuing our Vision series, Matt unpacks Nehemiah 1:3-11 and encourages us to, through prayer, reset our hearts on God, refocus our priorities on Him and His purposes, and seek His help as we rebuild, not just as a community of faith, but in society.
Where to find Courage - Speaking from Joshua 1:5-9, Toby starts our Vision series with the reminder that God has called us to this place and time and that we can be strong and courageous knowing that He will never forsake us.
Healthy habits & healthy routines - Rob Gardner will be speaking from Matthew 4 vs 18-22, encouraging us to establish new healthy routines in our lives.