Joe joins up recent sermons to show how Jesus' stretching expectations - e.g. righteousness beyond that of the pharisees - can (only) be fulfilled through a change of heart. Personal affront (holding a grudge) may result in expressions of anger which reflects the state of one's heart. What starts with a thwarted will can lead to personal insult, self-righteousness, contempt, a lack of appreciation for others, resentment and violence - what starts small can kill us. Jesus gives practical instructions for how to deal with anger early and at depth ..read more

Bishop Emma reflects on her favourite passage. She takes apart the word Jesus used for "blessed" (separating it from the conditional "you will be blessed if...") and goes through each of the "Good on you when..." statements that comprise "the beatitudes". Full dependence is what we need; to recognise our reliance on God, generate genuine gratitude and be in right relationship with our peers ..read more

Ritesh continues our series showing how Jesus fulfilled the law. Jesus showed how to live a righteous life from the heart. Ritesh takes us back to God's choice of David - a man after his own heart. We then go back to Jeremiah and Ezekiel and God's promise to transform us from inside to out. Don't pretend - confess - yield and be changed. This is what matters ..read more

Joe picks up the story in Matthew where Jesus leaves the wilderness and starts teaching. What does Jesus call us to do in 2024? Are we to talk about his ethics, his love for the lost, his exhortation to love your neighbour? Well, repentance is the foundation, in recognition of the king and his kingdom. Having allowed humans the freedom to choose God is reclaiming his world; so repent (respond!) for the kingdom of heaven is near ..read more

Mike takes us through a familiar passage (when Jesus was led to a solitary place) and asks "What is the wilderness?", "What is temptation?" and "So what?". He compares Jesus's experience to that of the people of Israel being led from the abundance of fertile Egypt and out into the desert. Mike bounces us through parallels - from the Post Office to Potiphar to his own hospital bed experience - to illustrate how God works through empty times; giving us strength to endure as we hear our hearts beating ..read more

2024 01 21 Sermon Mp3 by All Souls Church in St Margarets near Twickenham ..read more

Joe takes on a challenging passage to push through January. Not a common Nativity story but it is there in the book - child murder, sudden departure, being refugees. Becoming like Jesus - a whole and integrated life - this may not play out as we expect... Joe draws upon the teachings of wise Christian leaders as well as a personal encounter with a shooter in the shadows to highlight how we should expect to fight through life - take heart ..read more

All Souls welcomes Richard back to finish off our vision series. Remembering camping excursions and the "collecting the kit" stage he reflects on stuff - for a church that is people buildings and money - and encourages us each to ask not "What do we do with what we've got?" but "Why has God given this to us?". Using a passage from 1 Chronicles he highlights how a sense of scarcity (for some) and a sense of pride (for others) are both anxiety inducing. Realising that it is all God's anyway helps us see that he has plenty and sees further than we do, and to be grateful and generous ..read more

On safeguarding Sunday Joe, Katherine and Eva take us through why as well as how we are to honour all members of the church body. We all go through times when we are particularly vulnerable due to our own unique circumstances. As a church we need to continually be watchful; looking out for one another and looking after one another. We need to be mindful of past failings and the positive role of safeguarding, an outworking of God's heart - we all have roles to play ..read more

Joe starts this week by asking how we'd advise our younger selves - what would you tell younger you? Asaph, in Psalm 78, talks about the responsibility to share testimony from generation to generation - "teach them to know God and follow his ways". God searches you, knows you and loves you; we need to instill this sense of connection and appreciation in the next generation. Joe encourages and commits us to inter-generational church - it's challenging as well as fun ..read more