Church on the Heath

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament Judith Riordan brings us the story of Hannah in an honest and insightful look at this quiet, yet impressive lady, who wasn’t afraid to bring her pain and vulnerability to God, just as Jesus did, laying out her thoughts and feelings at his feet. Her story shines a light on what living in faith and trust can look like. Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1–20 9.15am, May 5...

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament Jason Riordan introduces Elijah the prophet who challenges the prophets of Baal to a stand-off at the altar on Mount Carmel. Who really is the true God? This is one dramatic, not to say, fiery story. Jason goes on to draw out similarities between Elijah and Jesus. Bonus feature: Tracey Anne Evans opens the podcast, providing some helpful context for the r...

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament Emma Phillips continues our series on Finding Jesus in the Old Testament through the story of Rahab. She touches on themes of faith, not letting our past dictate our future and God’s faithfulness. Apologies for the poor audio quality at the start of the talk. It does improve! Reading: Joshua 2 9.15am, April 14th, 2024

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament Returning to our pre-Lent theme of Finding Jesus in the Old Testament,  Heather Clements takes us through the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, ancestors of Jesus and events that point to redemption. Reading: Ruth 3:1–13, 4:1–17 9.15am, April 7th, 2024

Series: The I Ams of Jesus It’s Easter Sunday and Patrick brings us the final in our current series: I Am the Resurrection and the Life. He walks us through the gardens of the Bible, including the garden of the tomb, asking which resonates with each of us, where we are today. Happy Easter from the podcast team. Readings: John 11:24–27, John 20:1–10  10am, March 31st, 2024

Lent Series: The I Ams of Jesus This week, Dane Baker hones in on the relationship we have with God: we are the branches, connected to him, the vine. Dane develops the idea that we work with God rather than for him, and that being with God has the familiarity of home. Reading: John 15:1–9 10am, March 24th, 2024

Lent Series: The I Ams of Jesus Today, Patrick looks at Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, focusing on each in turn. Learn about Patrick’s unusual ‘satnav’ help in Turin, how views of truth are changing in today’s society, and how life truly is extraordinary.  Below, you’ll find a link to last year’s Eternal Destinies talk which Patrick references. Reading: John 14:1–6 9.15am, March 17th, 2...

Lent Series: The I Ams of Jesus Katie Roberts reflects on God as the Good Shepherd. We learn what constitutes good and bad shepherds, and how this relates to leadership in general. The sheep and shepherd metaphor is a useful one but of course we’re not sheep. Katie goes on to talk about our identity in God vs lies that all too easily affect how we see ourselves. Reading: John 10:11–18 9.15am, Marc...

Lent Series: The I Ams of Jesus Emma Phillips continues our Lent series, this week considering Jesus as ‘the gate’. She talks about two different types of sheep pen used in Jesus’ time. Both types feature in this week’s reading and understanding the distinction between them gives us deeper insight into the passage. Reading: John 10:1–10 9.15am, March 3rd, 2024

Lent Series: The I Ams of Jesus Heather Clements continues our Lent series of talks, linking the theme of Jesus as the light of the world with insight into this month’s mission partner, the Bible Society. Readings: John 1:1–9 and 1 John 1:5–7 9.15am, February 25th, 2024

Lent Series: The I Ams of Jesus Over Lent, we’re pausing the Finding Jesus in the Old Testament series and studying the ‘I AM’ sayings of Jesus – last week’s look at Moses was a perfectly-timed prelude! Patrick Butler kicks off the new series with ‘I am the Bread of Life’. Reading: John 6:35–39

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament Emma Phillips continues teasing out the ‘golden thread’ that runs through the Old Testament, leading to Jesus and the fulfilment of God’s salvation promises. This week we reach Moses, a miracle-worker who led his people out (‘saved them’) from slavery. Reading: Exodus 3:1–14 9.15am, February 11th, 2024

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament David Alston continues our journey through well-known characters and stories of the Old Testament. He finds many parallels between Joseph and Jesus, but focuses particularly on the theme of forgiveness. Reading: Genesis 50:12–21 9.15am, February 4th, 2024

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament This week, Patrick looks at Jacob’s dream of a ladder between earth and heaven, and his wrestling with an angel. Again, we discover ways in which these stories foreshadow Jesus life and character. For example, Jesus references Jacob's dream when calling Nathaniel, as recorded early on in John’s gospel. Readings: Genesis 28:10–19, 32:22–32 9.15am, Janu...

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament Patrick Butler picks out three themes from Abraham’s story that foreshadow aspects of Jesus’ life: Journey, Promise and Sacrifice. Readings: Genesis 12:1–9, Hebrews  11:8–19 9.15am, January 21st, 2024

Series: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament The Old Testament was Jesus’ bible. In this series we look at the lives of some of the well-known characters of the Old Testament, asking: how do we see the life and ministry of Jesus either patterned, promised or present in this story? Emma Phillips kicks off the series with Noah. Reading: Genesis 6:9–22 9.15am, January 14th, 2024

On the first Sunday of Epiphany, Patrick Butler considers the Magi, or ‘Wise Men’ seeking Jesus – not simply watching the star but actively following it. Looking to the year ahead, he asks how a passive, ‘watching’ faith can be developed into an active, ‘seeking’ one. Reading: Matthew 2:1–12 9.15am, January 7th, 2024

As we look back on the past year and forward to the next, Heather Clements explores the word Immanuel, 'God With Us', and explains its particular resonance for Chinese Christians. Readings: Exodus 33:12–17; Matthew 1:18–21 Fun trivia: 2023 both started and ended on a Sunday. This will next happen in 2034.

Thinking of peace at Christmas, Patricks takes three Bible verses that talk about peace and illustrates them with more recent stories. Readings: Luke 2:8–19; Isaiah 9:2,6–7 10am, December 25th, 2023

On the third Sunday of Advent, Emma Phillips explores Mary's reaction to being chosen as the mother of Jesus, as recorded in the gospel of Luke – a joyful song of praise commonly referred to as The Magnificat. Reading: Luke 1:26–56 10am, December 17th, 2023 The first part of the reading starts with a snatch of Salt of the Sound's version of the song Gabriel's Message

David Alston picks up the final talk in our 'Called to...' series. Readings: Hebrews 10:23–25, Psalm 26:8–12 9.15am, December 10th, 2023

Continuing our “Called to” series, Jason Riordan speak on being called to serve others, the church and God. Readings: 1 Peter 4:7–11, Ephesians 4:11–16 9.15am, December 3rd, 2023

Patrick Butler continues the 'Called to...' series by considering different ways to pray and encouraging us in the prayer we're already doing. A rocking chair, anyone? Readings: Romans 8:22–27; Philippians 4:4–7 9.15am, November 26th, 2023

Continuing our “Called to” series, this week we explore Called to be a safe place, in conjunction with the national “Safeguarding Sunday” event. Emma Phillips speaks from Psalm 91 on “God is our space place”, while Paula Hallam, our safeguarding officer, explains what the Church on the Heath does to keep us, and all who we welcome, safe. Please be aware this talk touches on experience of abuse whi...

Dane Baker speaks on Remembrance, from Jesus’ words “greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends”. Readings: Micah 4:1–5, John 15:9–17 10am, November 12th, 2023