Sermons @ Salford Elim Church

Another Remembrance Sunday when we are reminded of the catastrophe of war, the effects it has on those directly involved, as well as those bystanders who get dragged into it all. Jesus told his disciples to expect war, but that in the midst of it all there would be reasons to retain hope for the future. We need to hear it again this week as Russian troops advance on the borders of Ukraine.

What's Jesus being the Messiah got to do with COP26, your own very personal life and our life together as a church? Much more than we might imagine…

Jesus was regularly invited to meals. Some wanted to argue with him, others just wanted to get close to him. Some folks were socially at ease with him. But some seemed to make a fuss - to such an extent that it could be embarrassing. But Jesus didn't seem fazed by it, In fact he seemed to enjoy it. Maybe it was because he knew that this is how grace feels to those starved of hope. That's still how...

After his conversion Saul arrives back in Jerusalem, but not to the welcome he had hoped for. The disciples there are fearful of Saul and his intentions. Saul needs someone to be his advocate and stand with him. Barnabas is just the man for the job…

In Luke's tale of two visions, God calls two people to change their life plans in order for the gospel of Jesus to spread further.

Most of us live with two nagging questions that keep coming back. 'How do we know what we should be doing?' 'I don't think I fit in here, am I good enough?' Acts 8 gives us a glimpse of the answers to both of these questions.

The action has all been in Jerusalem up to now but with the persecution, the gospel travels to the places where people had thought things could never change. Samaria was an ongoing problem to the Jews – history and culture meant that they could never imagine that things could ever be any different. Yet change happens because of the bravery of people and the power of the Spirit. How might this lead...

The religious folks resisted what was happening, and charge Stephen with going against the temple and the law. Stephen re-tells their own history to them, showing that God has always operated outside of the temple, Jerusalem and Israel. God was with his people, and at work, in all the difficult places. God is in the business of doing new things. We are on a journey with him. In difficult times, ti...

At times of stress, or change, old animosities can emerge. They need to be addressed. If they aren’t what makes us think we will be ready for what God has in store for us in the future. If the early church hadn’t solved this problem, they would never have been able to deal with the questions that would be raised when Gentiles accepted the gospel.

News of the resurrection of Jesus was deeply disturbing to the authorities, who were desperately trying to keep order. The apostles directly threatened the status quo – they stood in the temple offering a radically different understanding of all that God was doing. They were arrested and put in jail, but the angel broke down the door – and gave them specific orders to go back and to keep on speaki...

In a week where we have seen protests about blatant acts of injustice, and against a backdrop where coronavirus has affected BAME people more than others, it’s easy to feel disempowered to know how to change anything. But Acts 4:32-5:11 shows the result of being filled with the Spirit and how the resurrection of Jesus created the foundations of a new society. That society challenged the existing c...

The healing of the crippled man really disturbed the establishment. The only thing they could do was try to intimidate the apostles. But it didn’t work...

A man who has been begging for 40 years - a lifetime of not being able to walk. But then something happens to that man, because two men slowed down enough to notice him...

God sent the Holy Spirit and did remarkable things amongst the early church. On the day of Pentecost there was a new routine for them...

Something amazing has just happened and people are asking, "What does this mean?" Then Peter begins speaking to the crowd about it...

Our different dialects and accents can make us feel like we belong, but they can also make us feel like we're judged and misunderstood. It was no different for the early church, yet they were able to be heard and understood.

Judas commits suicide and now there are only 11 disciples; the disciples need to replace him. How will the new twelfth disciple be chosen?

At a time when everything seems to be on a knife edge and we're not sure what will happen next, the book of Acts is really helpful. The church was birthed into the unknown. They didn't know what happen next, but they learned to respond to the moving of the Spirit because they were really aware that they weren't in control of things.

Mary and the disciples go to Jesus' tomb knowing that people don't rise from the dead, but Jesus did and proved to them that He was alive. This changes everything.

When we think about the cross on Good Friday, it's not just some religious activity that we engage with; it's because we know that we're set in motion by the power of the cross, we're energised by it, we're upheld by it, we're guaranteed a future by it, we're secured for the future because of it. Good Friday is not the whole story, but it's worth slowing down because it's such a vital part of the...

Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey; on the sides are the people cheering him and the Jewish leaders trying to stop him; behind are the disciples following him. Where do you feel you are in this picture?

What does it mean to live well and to pray well, when things are not so great? What can we learn from Paul's letter to the Ephesian church about praying with authority?

How should we pray during anxious days? We need to be joyful and gentle, with prayer that overcomes anxiety, guarding against anxious thoughts and put our faith into practice!

When Peter was imprisoned, the church prayed with conviction and passion for his release and yet seemed astonished when he was. How do we pray when faced with a crisis? How do we make sense of both the answered and unanswered prayers?

Matthew's gospel tells two stories of outsiders who come to Jesus determined and confident that he will do something incredible for someone they care about. Will we do the same for one another?