Isaiah 59-63“A dangerous monster threatens a community. One man takes it on himself to kill the beast and restore happiness to the kingdom”. This basic plotline of so many stories and films expresses one of the deepest longings of the human heart. It finds its fulfilment in the coming conqueror of the final section of Isaiah’s prophecy.
When Geoffrey Hilder was last at the Barge 4 years ago his training session triggered a new ministry which is running to this day. Listen in to learn how to engage in gospel conversations with strangers and how to overcome your fears.
John 16:16-28 David Cameron has stated that improving our society’s sense of happiness is the great goal of his government: he wants to make happiness the new GDP. Pursuing happiness is what drives us on a personal scale as well. As St Augustine put it: “Every man, whatsoever his condition, desires to be happy.” So happiness is clearly what it’s all about, but how exactly do we find this illusive thing? Listen in as we consider Jesus’ teaching about how to find invincible joy.
Isaiah 56:1-57:5According to one survey, over a lifetime we spend 27 days waiting for trains and 6 whole months waiting in queues. But waiting is actually integral to the Christian life. We are waiting for salvation. But Christian waiting is an active thing, characterised by the three hallmarks in this passage.
Colossians 1:28How would you sum up in one word what life is all about? What is the point of life? What is the centre of life? Happiness? Family? Work? Love? Football? Money? In this talk we look at the answer the Bible gives.
Isaiah 55:1-13Throughout life we may receive many different invitations – to parties, to weddings, to marry someone, to take a new job, to subscribe to Horse & Hounds…But the greatest invitation of all is God’s offer of abundant life in his kingdom. What is he offering, and how do we need to respond?
John 16:5-15 The film Groundhog Day depicted someone being trapped in a time loop. And one reason the film was so popular is that it resonated with so many people’s experience. Each day follows the last, but what’s the point? We’re just trapped in this endless cycle, having to create our own sense of meaning and purpose. The film taps into a longing we have to be caught up in a grand and glorious story which is actually heading somewhere. Join us as we hear Jesus’ teaching about where history’s heading, and how we can live purposeful lives.
Isaiah 54:1-10From Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ to ‘Chunky to hunky’ accounts of beer bellies becoming six-packs, we love stories of personal transformation. This passage is about the mother of all transformations – the spiritual one that comes about through the work of the suffering Servant.
John 15:18-16:4 One-hit wonder Joan Osborne had a top-ten hit in the 90s with a song called “One of us”. The songs asks the question about what kind of reception we would expect God to get if he became one of us. What about if God were to reveal himself to one people in the world, and if he were to show them what life’s about and how to live and flourish in this world, how do we think the world would respond to those people? Our answer to these questions reveals a lot about our assumptions about humanity. Come and hear Jesus’ answers to these questions and why a distinctive feature of a Spirit-filled church must be being unpopular.
2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2 Children’s books and TV programs categorize people into goodies and baddies, but as we grow up we discover that the world is more complicated than that. Rather than seeing everything as “black and white” we discover instead “50 shades of grey”. This is why, for many people, they can’t accept the Bible with its simplistic categories of good and evil; heaven and hell; saved and lost. Listen in as we consider this issue together.