Christ Church Selly Park

Chris Turner | Acts 13:13-43 [Paul said,] ‘Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent… We tell you the good news: what God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.’ If you could preach just one sermon, asks Chris, what would it be? Paul, given the opportunity to speak to a mixed congr...

Allan Bartlam | Acts 12:24-13:12 While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. With these few words begins the account of Paul’s extensive missionary journeys. As Allan explains, we don’t know just how the H...

Bobbie Frere | Acts 12:1-24 Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he sa...

Allan Bartlam | Acts 11:19-30 When [Barnabas] arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts... Then Barnabas... brought [Saul] to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. The church at Antioch was...

Chris Turner | Acts 11:1-18 [Peter said,] ‘If God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?’ Recounting the story that we looked at last week, Peter acknowledges that God's purposes are greater than ours even if they surprise and puzzle us. How does this work out in everyday life? Does God really 'work all things t...

Chris Turner | Acts 10 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’ Peter went down and said to the men, ‘I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?’ The men replied, ‘We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fea...

Bobbie Frere | Acts 9:32-43 As Peter travelled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralysed and had been bedridden for eight years. ‘Aeneas,’ Peter said to him, ‘Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.’ Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. Whe...

Chris Turner | Acts 9:19b-31 When [Saul] came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed...

Bobbie Frere | Acts 9:1-19a As [Saul] neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ As Bobbie explains, a Damascus...

Sam Haynes | Acts 8:26-40  |  Isaiah 56:1-8 The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’ Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked. ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. For this is what the Lord says: ‘To the eunuchs w...

Explore Team | Acts 8:4-25   Now for some time a man named Simon had practised sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria... and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, ‘This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.’ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the...

Susan Haynes | Acts 6:1-8:3  (extracts) Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) - Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia - who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit...

It is with great sadness that I share the following news. The text is available on the church website here .

A prayer for our church family this week. Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

Keeping watch like Habakkuk means being attentive, patient and faithful.

What does Advent have to do with winter? Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

Hospitality starts with receiving from God, who calls us to invite others to share all he gives us in Jesus. Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

What a great question I was asked at the weekend!  How would you respond?  Here are some of my thoughts and things to consider so we can all be prepared to give a response for the hope that we have. Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

The Creator Spirit brings beauty, love and peace out of mess and chaos. God's got this, he's got us, he's got you. Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

Please pray for the PCC this week as we have a discussion and make a decision about the shape of our midweek ministries. Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

How should we pray for peace and security - in Jerusalem and for those who love it? Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

How should Christians respond to the rise of so-called Christian nationlism in the UK? Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

As our government recognises a Palestinian state, how can we pray? Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

Thank you! Thank you so much for engaging together in prayer during our 777 Prayer Week. Music by  Denys Kyshchuk  from  Pixabay

Susan Haynes | Joel 2:12-18   ‘Even now,’ declares the Lord,   ‘return to me with all your heart,   with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart   and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God,   for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love,   and he relents from sending calamity. Amid a warning of coming judgement, the prophet Joel calls the whole peop...