Christ Church London Podcast

Andy unpacks the story of the church at Antioch, and the power of unity and diversity in the church, and what steps we can take to build a genuinely multicultural community.

This week at our Mile End service, Andy Tilsley preached from John’s Gospel and its connection to our longing for ‘Eden life’ – the fullness of life intended by God since creation in Genesis 1. We look at how Jesus, as the ‘second Adam’, re-enters Eden through his death and resurrection, and invites us back into deep personal connection with God, and commissions us to bring others into this life they were created for.

This week in our Central service, we had guest speaker Haejin Shim Fujimura. Haejin Shim is an experienced lawyer and co-founder and CEO of Embers International, who work to restore and empower victims of injustice and prevent human trafficking. In this talk, she explores the story of the paralysed man in Mark 2. We look at the faith and intercessory love of his friends, who carry his burden to Jesus for healing and forgiveness, and what this means for our faith and call as disciples.

This week, Andy (Sutton Service) speaks on the Philippian church in Acts 16, focussing on their call to reach the unchurched. As recent UK trends show a growing openness to faith, we see how the passage urges both prayer and action in our context – recognising salvation is wholly God’s work in and through us as followers of Jesus.

Eric and Erica Anderson, from Ark Church in Copenhagen, came to share about some of the amazing things they’ve seen happen in their church over the last 18 months and, speaking from 1 Kings 19, encouraged us to pray and pursue more of God’s presence.

This week, Joel (Central Service) looks at the early church’s growth in Samaria (Acts 8), where ordinary believers spread the gospel while facing persecution and resistance. We look at the need for selfless motivation in serving God, in contrast to the demonic allure for personal power (exemplified by Simon the Sorcerer), and how the invitation to the Way of Jesus opens the door to participate in God’s mission with love and humility.

This Easter message highlights that true confidence for Christians comes from the resurrection of Jesus, which validated his claims, secured forgiveness, and guarantees a future new creation, contrasting with the fleeting nature of earthly confidence factors. The resurrection transformed the disciples from fear to boldness, becoming the central message of the early church and the bedrock of Christian faith, without which belief would be pointless. The speaker urges both believers and non-believers to recognize the life-altering significance of Christ's rising, offering an invitation to prayer and a deeper exploration of this foundational truth.

For our baby dedications at Mile End, Lyndsey recounts the story of Paul and Silas's miraculous prison release, the jailer’s conversion, and his entire household being baptised. Through it, we look at how the story of Scripture transforms our understanding of who we are as God’s 'image-bearers’, and how this can teach our children not just to believe in biblical principles, but to be ‘Jesus-people’ in our world today.

This week in our Sutton service, David looked at the importance of building a resilient faith, and the role persecution has often played in that regard in the Bible and church history.

This week, Adnan teaches on the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8. We look at what the story reveals about listening to God’s Spirit, believing that he has something to say to each of us, and how hearing God is rooted in Scripture. 

Andy spoke from Malachi chapter 3, and the broken state of the nation, and the desperate need for God to break in, much like our own time. God's message to the people then was to put God first in all things, including their financial life, for the sake of the nation and their future, and he speaks the same message to us today.

In this weeks talk Joel examines the biblical pattern for generosity and how it might inspire us to get caught up in Jesus’ vision to transform the city.

This week we gathered all Christ Church London services together for Gather25. Lars Due-Christensen taught from Moses’ experience of the burning bush (Exodus 3), and what this means for our call to approach God’s Presence with curiosity, surrender, and humility, in order to hear his voice and experience his Presence in our own lives.

What is faith? Why is it so important? After the healing of the man at the Beautiful Gate, Joel explores the importance of Peter’s biography of faith, and how faith in Jesus transformed him from a man cowering in the shadows, to one who can stand up in front of thousands to preach the good news of Jesus. 

Andy looks at the story of the stoning of Stephen in Acts 6 and 7, unpacking the amazing vision Stephen has before he dies, and what it means for us today as followers of Jesus. As we pursue God for revival, we also examine how we should live while we’re waiting for it.

This week Jonathan teaches from Acts 2, exploring community through the lens of Jesus, and how our call to follow Jesus together is vital to being formed as person of love, for the sake of others.

At Mile End, we had the privilege of hearing Eti’s story of following Jesus through hostility, and how God met with Eti and her husband in the face of resistance to their faith. We also got to hear more about how Open Doors are serving the persecuted church worldwide, and how we can support and pray for their crucial work.

Temples are a big theme in the book of Acts, and were epicentres of controversy for the early church. Temples are places of power and systems of life centred on what’s most precious to us. This week, Adnan looks at what it means to live as temples of God’s presence, and what we can expect as we centre our lives on Jesus as the ‘Cornerstone’ of a new spiritual superstructure.

As we continue our series through the book of Acts, Andy looks at the day of Pentecost, the gift of tongues, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the early church. As Andy unpacks the promise which still stands for us 2000 years later, we explore what we need to do to encounter more of God’s Spirit and power today.

This week, Joel starts our new teaching series on the book of Acts. We look at how the Ascension of Jesus shapes our encounter of God’s presence as a church, and our longing to see his kingdom in our world.