Bethnal Green Mission Church

In the first of our new Compendium series, James dives into the words of Evelyn Underhill. Drawing on natural theology, scripture and re-examining belief, he unpicks what she might have to say about the Christian life today.

WWMI returns for a mini-series on Desire. Augustine said, "Our life is a gymnasium of desire", that is, as humans we exist by desire. But how are these desires formed and curated in us and what do they  tell us about our human identity, God and our spiritual formation? In a world where desire feeds the economic system of capitalism and consumption, who or what is desiring us? For the next 6 weeks...

The focus of this talk is Psalm 84, with an emphasis on viewing it from a New Testament perspective. Luke records that the resurrected Jesus declared to his disciples "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms". With this in mind, we considered how this  Psalm prophetically looks forward  to what the New Testament reveals about Jesus, an...

In this talk we consider the meaning we can draw from the metaphor of the church as the bride of Christ. What does this image tell us about the identity of the church, its relationship with Christ, and its role in the world today?

In this last talk on John 9, we explore the further reaction to the man's healing and testimony by his parents and the religious authorities. Will anybody choose to be his advocate and will his voice be finally heard? What do these scenes say about powerful, 'able-bodied' domination systems that get challenged and disrupted by the marginalised and disbelieved? What irony is employed by John that i...

This is the second part of our reflection on the encounter of a blind man with Jesus through the lens of disability. John 9 is a public trial of disability and ability, with several 'stakeholders' interacting with the man and Jesus over 6 scenes. The man has been given his sight by Jesus and this attracts debate and questioning from neighbours and religious authorities (v.8-17). What issues arise...

The early followers of Christ referred to themselves as followers of the Way. The Way is how Jesus referred to himself, a phrase taken up by the first-century church in the book of Acts. But what does this Way look like and what does going this Way entail for the church today?

How the message of 1 Peter weaves together key aspects of Israel’s relationship with God with the person of Jesus and those who believe in him. How can the separate roles of Royalty and Priesthood make sense together? Who is Melchizedek? What might it look like for us to inhabit this priestly role? What are these acceptable spiritual sacrifices we are meant to offer?

In our quest to learn about theology from the margins, we give our attention to a story in John 9 and read it from the perspective of disability. What can able-bodied people learn from reading the bible with a new lens? In this first part, we will examine Jesus' response to the disciples' curiosity about the link between the man's blindness and sin. Was the man born blind so that God could perform...

Within the diverse and creative world of biblical interpretation, it's possible to encounter scripture freshly and dynamically which helps to bring new understanding. This talk takes a second post-colonial look at Jesus' encounter with a 'foreign legion' that had possessed and subjugated a man. How does it speak to us about how imperial power has occupied, dominated and diminished people and natio...

What place links the New Testament events of Passover with Pentecost? Elisha with Peter, Mary, mother of Mark with Jesus? It is the Upper Room. The Upper Room is synonymous with prayer and the preparation for an encounter with God. This physically spacious dwelling place becomes the setting for Jesus to help the disciples encounter and embody the person of God - a God who has many rooms. How is th...

"This Thing Called Church" talk focuses on the most used illustration in the New Testament - The Body of Christ". The passage is from Paul's letter to the Church in Rome and explores how the metaphor gives insight as to how the Church should function, including shared insights from the whole congregation. 

The challenge of any reading of the Bible is that we all come to the text as interpreters with different lenses. Peter Enns said, "All theology has an adjective" - our theology and interpretation are pre-fixed with a setting, a world-view and a bias. How can we prevent letting our filter become the dominant one? How can the diverse experiences of other people help us to encounter the Bible more ri...

What is mission? What is our place in the story of God? At the start of our new series, This Thing Called Church, James talks about the mission of God and how we are invited into the story of the restoration of all things.

We conclude our mini-series with a dive into some ancient habits and postures of prayer which are orientated toward being attentive to the sacred wonder in the ordinary and the everyday. We return to Nick Cave for some helpful examples and perhaps a surprising form of music as a metaphor of prayer.

Continuing our series The Christian Life in Paradox, this talk explores, in a very personal way, living with hope and disappointment alongside each other and the implications for our faith journey. Trigger warning: this talk covers issues of grief, illness, loss and mental health challenges and is emotionally raw in places. If you are impacted by any of the themes in this talk, the leadership team...

What does God's presence and personhood in the world look like? That is the question we have been grappling with. We are seeking to be re-enchanted by the sacred divine presence - to imagine where and how God is. But what habits do we need to adopt and what posture do we need to make? Perhaps our language and our sight have been deficient? What can the experience of Jacob and Moses offer as a way...

The empty tomb of Jesus offered very little comfort or consolation to the disciples when they first encountered it. It was Mary Magdalene who refused to accept what she saw that first Easter morning. In this brief talk, we will reflect on how Mary's posture enabled her to encounter the risen Jesus which gives us an insight into what we need to do the fathom the depths of this new reality. 

The Christian life is a paradox. Today we explore the metaphors and practice of fasting and feasting and how they can be understood in the Christian life. How do these binary concepts exist in faith and how can we take them seriously as we follow Jesus?

How does God work in the world in response to prayer? That is the question we are grappling with in this mini-series of WWMI. Today, we get deep into the weeds about God's 'all-knowingness' - what is the 'all' that God knows and what type of future does God know? What are the consequences for prayer? Again, we apply the 'logic of love' to our understanding of these questions and explore how this r...

Looking at examples of the lived experience of the rest and wrestling of faith, this talk explores attitudes towards both experiences and how they can hold together in the paradoxical dance that is faith.

We have been using the phrase, 'The Logic of Love' to describe God's actions in the world and the role of prayer to bring about his will. Love 'pre-conditions' God's power and knowledge. Love is the only form of God's power. If love is first in God's nature, then his will and actions in the world will allow and consent to creaturely freedom. God is subject to the variables and 'say-so's' in a crea...

Why do we pray? How does God intervene in our lives and world? If we want to have confidence in prayer and in a God who works in the world, we need to address these questions. To gain a glimpse into the possibilities that exist in prayer, we introduce here two concepts that will define our response: the nature of God and the type of world that we live in. In the disenchanted culture of our predomi...

This sermon focuses its attention on the paradox of us being wise by being fools. Taking texts from 1 Corinthians 1,2 and 3, it reflects on the questionable wisdom of the Corinthian church in following different leaders, notes the contrasts between God's wisdom in Christ and human wisdom through the Word, Christ who became a "Fool" and gives examples of Holy fools and the role of fools in royal co...