Bethnal Green Mission Church

Hidden amongst the cenus lists, laws and rituals described in Numbers, is the fabulous story of Zelophehad's five daughters. These are women who are left behind after the death of their Father in culture and tradtion of the emerging Israelite community which favours men and male heirs. It is a story which celebrates a courageous and fiesty struggle for justice. How does the voice and struggle of t...

We wouldn't be mis-guided to say that the Bible gives a sense that God is very angry. But is God's anger matched with judgement? And what does it mean for it to be erek-aphayem? How does this understanding of God's anger affect the way we relate to ours?

In the Gospel of Mark, the resurrection account of Jesus is abrupt and unfinished. It stands alone as being very different from the other Gospels. What we have missed in this story is about what Mark has missed. We meet the women who come to the tomb to attend to Jesus' body and have a scary encounter with an angel, who gives them a promise and command. Mark's account of the resurrection ends with...

The theme of holiness saturates Leviticus. But holiness as a concept has been misunderstood, corrupted and weaponised in some Christian churches and traditions. How does Leviticus, in all its complexity and nuance, help us recover and rescue the meaning of holiness? When Levitical holiness is viewed in the larger sweep of the biblical narrative, its role in the formation of Christian ethics and be...

Amongst the myriad of the Levitical holiness laws and regulations for the priesthood, lies the tragic story of Nadab and Abihu. Trained and set apart as priests, they offered 'strange and alien fire' to God and were consumed by the fiery divine presence. What did they do wrong and are there any lessons we can learn from this grizzly story?

Solitude - Where does this hinterland habit fit into the modern world, why it's necessary and why we don't do it.

We explore the practice of listening to God by reconnecting with our fearfully and wonderfully made bodies, tuning into the wisdom offered by both our physical and emotional being, and attending to the ordinary present moments to encounter the divine in the ordinary. (There are a few audio glitches half way through this sermon)

This talk argues that confession is a "front and centre" spiritual discipline. It explores passages in the Old and New Testaments, that unveil what confession should mean, for followers of Jesus in our every day context, when we are scattered and when we meet as the body of Christ.

A discussion-based look at hospitality. It is a characteristic of God, so how can we see this in Jesus, the fullest revelation of God, who often operated outside of home? What does community hospitality look like, and does it mirror God's hospitality?

Continuing our series of hinterland habits, today we reclaimed the old word prudence. Looking at prudent rest, being prudent with money and prudent with speech. What does the bible teach us about learning from yesterday, behaviours we can implement today, for a better tomorrow?

Understanding congruence to mean what we say matches what we do, this talk underlines its importance as a spiritual trait and practice. It focuses on the teaching of Jesus on hypocrisy - the antithesis of congruence - by looking at the woes directed to the Pharisees in Luke 11, climaxing with the warning to the disciples "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees - Which is hypocrisy"

What does the word prudence mean to you, and how do we apply it in our day to day?

Leviticus is a hinterland book that is often avoided or misused, but if we take the time to look at the way it's constructed and the lens by which we see and understand it, it will help us as we try to deal with the many questions and concerns that can arise when approaching this book.

"Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing". Those are the words said by Jesus about our attitude to giving, but what does that actually mean? Join us as part of our hinterland habits series as James explores the habit of secrecy.

Without a doubt, Leviticus registers as one of the Bible's most neglected, confusing and trashed books. To condemn it as being either boring or irrelevant is to miss its huge significance in the formation of Israel's religion and ritual and how it points to 21st Century Christian discipleship. Travelling to the distant, ancient and complex land of Leviticus, is to do so as an alien in a foreign co...

Buidling a mobile sanctuary for God in the the middle of the desert was a big deal for the Israelites (25-40 chapters worth). Amongst the meticulcous and elaborate intructions, we may have missed how God's spirit worked in inspiring and equiping people for this mammoth task. Who were these skilled and wise-hearted artisans? What does it mean for God's people in any era and place to work, worship a...

As apprenctices of Jesus, we claim that our habits and spiritual formation are influenced by Jesus' teachings and example. Is there anything which he said or did that can help us to learn about simplicity? In this talk, Jos looks at Matthew 11.28-30 and how we can embody "the unforced rhythms of grace" that Jesus taught.

"Celebration gives us perspective on ourselves". This Richard Forster quote helps us to understand the Hinterland Habit of Celebration. What perspective does it give us and how is the habit of celebration foundational to all other spiritual disciplines?

How is is listening a spiritual practice and how can it be part of the formation of our life as Christ's disciples? Learning the important art of listening requires a certain posture. In this Hinterland Habit talk we look at how Jesus' life and teaching enacted a posture of listening and learn from his example that listening can be one of life's most precious and powerful gifts.

Many of us can recall songs which define an era - protest songs, or songs which create a musical movement, or those that represent special events in history. Exodus 15 is an ancient and exuberant song which celebrates God's climatic victory over Pharaoh and which resonates throughout the history of Judaism. We need to dig deeper behind this song to understand whose voice it actually is and how it...

When we read that Pharaoh's heart was repeatedly 'hardened' in resistance to Moses, we can get a bit morally anxious about what God's involvement in it was. Are we expected to believe that God was the 'first cause' of Pharaoh's stubborn heart? If not, what role does God play? How is Pharaoh a warning to us, both individually and as a society, about the consequences of our persistent unhealthy choi...

The plagues narrative of Exodus offers us a terrifying vision of death and destruction as way to demonstrate Yahweh's glory and supremacy over Pharaoh and his empire. What is the purpose of these relentless plagues and how is his supremacy seen and known? In this talk, we look at several of the plagues to get an insight into who is actually in Yahweh's sights and what he is seeking to achieve. If...

Saying 'No' can be provocative, powerful and life affirming. What does it involve for Christians to say 'No' - to God, to others, to our world? What does it mean to formed by a habit of saying 'No'?

Moses finally gets an audience in the court of the Egyptian empire, with a message that the enslaved Israelites need to be set free to worship Yahweh. Endowed with power and authority by God, what could possibly go wrong? What comes next is the unleashing of some of God's best, most infamous judgement work, or at least that is how some might view it. So, what is going on with these strange, devast...