Bethnal Green Mission Church

Peace. A word used liberally by those across all Christian traditions. But how should we understand it as the third Fruit of the Spirit? In this episode of our Art From the Heart series, we take a look at what we can learn about peace from Monet’s Waterlilies.

We often make the mistake of believing the parables were spoken for our benefit. This is a classic example - the story of a would-be king entrusting his servants with money while he goes away and then holding them to account for the return they produce. Are we the servants of King Jesus, tasked with yielding a return for the Kingdom of God and accountable when returns? Or does the historical conte...

Jesus talks a lot about farming, sowing seeds and how the Kingdom of God can be compared to various agricultural settings and practices. His parable of the weeds takes us into some deep territory about the nature of our world, the evil growing within it and how the Kingdom of God has a strategy to address it. What is this plan, and how does it disturb us and our presumptions about evil and the nat...

A reflection on the complex experience of joy. Wondering how the neurology and psychology of joy alongside the artistic capturing of it helps us appreciate the theological perspective of Joy as a fruit of the Spirit. Drawing from recent developments scientific research and National Gallery curators’ commentaries on Frank Auerbach’s _Mornington Crescent_ and Van Gogh’s _Sunflowers_.

Jesus was a master storyteller. Speaking in parables was second nature to him, in fact, we are told he taught nothing without a parable. But how did these strange, quirky, confusing, sometimes violent and judgemental stories and riddles function? What was the point of them? In this introduction, we explore their purpose and role in Jesus' life and mission and examine how they, far from being moral...

Continuing our art from the heart and fruits of the spirit series, this talk looks at  self-control  through two paintings: JMW Turner’s painting “Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway” and Ben Hartley’s, “Devon Lane, Westlake.”These paintings invite us to meditate on technology, development, infrastructure and housing and how these impact nature. We pause to consider how self-control...

We conclude our marathon series on desire by taking a look at four more habits of Cruciform Desire in the context of our communal life together. We examine further what place joy has in our life of desire and the role of spiritual disciplines in our Christ-like formation. 

This talk picks up the Fruit of the Spirit series, with kindness in focus. Kindness is considered through a contemporary cultural lens that explores a recent societal response of kindness in contrast to the apparent attack on kindness in the sociopolitical sphere. Nevertheless, it is argued that Jesus models another kind of kindness altogether, a revolutionary/cruciform and courageous kindness tha...

We are continuing to examine the shape of our desires through four more habits of cruciformity. We return to our age-old quest for the 'good life' and how we understood it from the creation narrative of Genesis Chapters 1 & 2. How can we develop wisdom habits that are oriented around the Trailblazer of the Good Life, that True Human, Jesus? This talk involves a middle section of recordings fro...

This we will focus on the habits of Cruciform desire, which can be summoned up in the prayer, 'Your will be done'. But what does it mean to align our desires with God's? We explore 5 central habits which may help us orientate our lives towards the One who was ultimately attuned to the will of God. 

Art from the Heart is our new sermon series exploring the fruits of the spirit inspired by the online exhibition from the national gallery. In this talk, James kicks off our series looking at the particular fruit- Gentleness and looking at what this fruit can speak to in a divided and polarised world.

The Christian church celebrates Epiphany today, and specifically in the West, the journey of the Magi to Jesus. Many added layers to this famous story have obscured the power and complexity of Matthew's story-telling. We will explore some neglected understandings about the Magi and what the feast of Ephiphany can mean for us 2000 years later.  

What is a love that walks? In this sermon, James finishes off our 'Compendium' series reflecting on a quotation from Kosuke Koyama. 

Advent is the time of year when we celebrate and anticipate the birth of Jesus. Well, not quite. Many of our Christian and secular approaches to Advent have viewed it as an extension of the Christmas season of merry cheer and a countdown to the main event. But what if we have misunderstood the mood and movement of Advent completely? What if it is less about peace, joy, love and hope, but a far mor...

The quote from this talk comes from Dorothy Day - "I really only Love God as much as I Love the person I Love the Least". Starting with an overview of Dorothy's life, we then consider how the Bible describes the Love of God, and how that is seen tangibly by considering how Jesus treated one particular individual - the woman subject to bleeding. 

We continue examining Jesus' life to help us understand the world of desire using seven words beginning with 'S'. We seek here to discern the scandalous nature of God's desire and his solidarity with our unfulfilled longings, the subversive Gospel desire economy, and the tension between duty and desire seen in Jesus's person. How does being 'awed to heaven but rooted to earth' shape our life desir...

We know our natural human desires are tricky and sticky. So how do we know what is truly good for us in the struggle with our fleshly desires? In this seventh talk on desire, we hang our thoughts on eight words beginning with the letter 'S'. They point to someone beyond us but who has become us to show us how to live the ultimate Good Human life.

The 14th-century mystic, Julian of Norwich, is renowned for her hopeful vision of God, seen in her assuring declaration: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well". But what does this mean for our life with God in a very uncertain world which certainly doesn't look very 'well'? 

The human desire for pleasure is one of the most complex human urges and passions. Christianity has often struggled to come to terms with our natural and normal longing for pleasure and the consequences of living with post-Eden anxiety over our disorientated and disordered desires. What is the love relationship between our temporal pleasures and our longing for God? A look at Eros-love might help...

Adam and Eve's trespass in Eden was about seizing wisdom on their terms. It was a self-determined wisdom and a self-discovered wisdom. The ricochet of this was the reversal of good - the equilibrium and flourishing of their relationship was disordered and disorientated, as seen in Genesis 3.16-19. In this talk, we will consider the meaning of verse 16 in particular - "Your desire will be for your...

Reflections on the Human Experience. In her book, "This Here Flesh," writer Cole Arthur Riley states, "In lament, our task is never to convince someone of the brokenness of this world; it is to convince them of the world's worth in the first place. True lament is not born from that trite sentiment that the world is bad but rather from a deep conviction that it is worthy of goodness." This podcast...

The rich tale of the two trees in the Garden of Earthly Delights points to the choices and consequences of seeing, taking and eating what is desirable to look at. Humans require wisdom to be good stewards in the world and faithfully discern what is good and evil. So why were Adam and Eve warned not to eat from the very tree that would give them this? Why prohibit them from accessing wisdom? The an...

We have been exploring what is the specific vision of the good life that we desire. Genesis 1 and 2 point to a meaning of 'good' which is about order and harmony, multiplication and flourishing. In the garden of delights (Eden) there is a threat to this vision; an alternative route and telos, seen in the presence of the Tree of Knowing Good and Evil and that wily old snake. What danger do these re...

Asking what can be learned from  St. Catherine of Siena's words can, on the surface, seem like a trite meme on social media but in truth holds great depth and power coming as they do from a highly revered theologian who lived life in deep communion with God.  Reminiscent of passages of scripture, Colossians 3:2; Philippians 4:13; 1 Peter 2:9,  this quote and its context prompts questions like: How...

This is the second sermon in our mini WWMI series on Desire. James K. A. Smith believes that as teleological creatures, all humans have a specific vision of the good life, a picture of human flourishing. Our desires will focus on this goal. But what is the good life? What does 'good' mean, and as Christians, how can we understand if our desires for the good life align with God's vision for human f...