Christ Church London Podcast

This week, Catherine (Sutton Service) explores Acts 17:1-9, where Paul’s preaching in Thessalonica challenged societal norms and established Jesus as King, not Caesar. His message was met with both disruption and persecution, but nevertheless led to forming a vibrant church community. We see how Jesus not only transformed Paul’s life, but how his Jesus’ presence continues to flip our priorities and values, making our lives point to a different kingdom.

This week at our Mile End service, Darren Wolf (guest speaker) explored Jesus’ radical redefinition of family in Mark 3. We see how following Jesus shifts our allegiance and identity into a new spiritual community, which challenges both traditional and modern-day notions family. The Church as our new family calls for commitment and connection, as we live in covenant with brothers and sisters in Christ.

This week, Jonathan (Central Service) taught from Acts 18 – looking at Paul’s time in Corinth. We looked at what the passage teaches us about living with kingdom purpose wherever we are, holding to God’s promise to overcome fear when sharing our faith, and fighting complacency and apathy in our discipleship to Jesus.

This week, Joel (Central Service) explores one of the most crucial moments of the early church at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). We explored the ‘tidal’ nature of faith: diving into God’s presence, which then ripples out to others. Through the passage, we see our call as disciples to embrace opportunities to share our faith, and embody a diverse, open, and formative Christian community.

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.