Hope Church Merthyr Podcast

Is God real? If He is, does He care about you? Does He know you, and does He want friendship with you? YES is the answer! And the Good News is that He’s shown His care and His love by becoming human, becoming one of us, a man called Jesus. Because of Jesus, we can know and experience real relationship with this God, and not at a distance. Through Jesus, we have access!

This week has been another week where we’ve seen such sad stuff in the news. Something’s not right with the world—and if we’re honest, it’s not just “out there,” it’s in us too. So what does God do with a beautiful but broken creation? He doesn’t abandon it, or just patch it up. He redeems it! This Sunday we’re asking the question: How? How does Jesus save? How does He save the world, and how does...

“Covenant” isn’t a word we use very much, but it’s HUGE in the big Bible storyline. Covenants tell us so much about who God is and what he’s like. And because he’s a God who keeps his covenants, we can have hope that’s fulfilled and life forever.

The church makes a big deal (and rightly so) about: What Jesus has done (God become human, dying on the cross, rising again, defeating death and sin), and What He will do in the future (coming again to make everything new). But we spend a lot less time thinking about what Jesus is doing right now. And what is He doing right now? He’s sat down. He’s seated. And that is actually incredibly good news...

May 25, 2025Hebrews 7:1-28Speaker: Paul EdwardsJesus isn't a "cross your fingers" kind of hope. He is certainty, for this life and beyond. And we're all invited to know this hope! (We had a technical error so the sound is a little disjointed for the first couple of minutes.)

May 18th, 2025Hebrews 6:9-20Speaker: Jonathan ThomasWe all need hope. Without hope, we shrivel. But what do we place our hope in? We need something that's constant, unchanging, forever, permanent. Where can we find a hope like that?

May 4, 2025Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10Speaker: Paul EdwardsThe Priest We Need"Priest" is a word that means different things to different people. But the truth is that what we need most is a priest! Not just any priest, but the ultimate Priest, who stands with us, stands for us, dies for us and offers us life forever. This priest is called Jesus, and He is good news for everyone.

March 23, 2025Hebrews 4:1-13Speaker: Nic MathesonRest. We all like it. We all need it. But much of the time the rest we get isn't what we need. So where can we find true rest? Real rest is found in a person - Jesus!

May 18th, 2025Hebrews 6:9-20Speaker: Jonathan ThomasWe all need hope. Without hope, we shrivel. But what do we place our hope in? We need something that's constant, unchanging, forever, permanent. Where can we find a hope like that?

March 16, 2025Hebrews 3:7 - 4:5Speaker: Paul EdwardsUnbelief is dangerous. It's different to doubt, uncertainty, wavering. Unbelief says, "No matter what you show me, no matter what evidence, I will not believe." And that really is the difference between life and death.

March 9, 2025Hebrews 3:1-6Speaker: Paul EdwardsAs humans we have a complicated relationship with leaders. And it's easy to understand why, when we've got such a mixed bag of examples! Why is Jesus the ultimate leader we can trust?

March 2, 2025Hebrews 2:1-18Speaker: Tim CarterIn a world that is definitely post-truth, how do we know what to trust? Where to place our confidence? When it's easy to get blown around, how do we make sure we have our eyes in the right place, and not drift?

February 23, 2025Hebrews 1:4-14Speaker: Paul GaskinJoin us today as we continue our series in Hebrews with Jesus is better than the angels.

February 16th, 2025Hebrews 1:1-4This morning, we're celebrating two baby dedications - families committing to bring up their children in a way that will give them best opportunity to encounter God. But why would you want to? It all depends on what this God is like!

February 9th, 2025 Hebrews 1:1-2When you’re going through a tough time, and feel like giving up, the world helpfully tries to throw motivational quotes at you: “Trust the process!” “Just believe!” Sure great, but what process? And just believe in what? The Letter to the Hebrews was written to a group of Christians on the edge of giving up. And the writer doesn’t tell them to trust the process or j...

Jesus has come to deliver us from the powers of darkness. But those who love the darkness reject the light.

Jesus' words to his anxious disciples echo down the years to us: why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?

Jesus begins to teach in parables as a means of sifting the crowd. Who’s really listening? And how is the message being received?

Jesus offers a sober warning to those who consistently harden their hearts to the evidence in front of their eyes about who Jesus is.

Before Jesus sends his apostles out to preach, he calls them to be with him. This word, 'with', summarises the whole Bible story.

Jesus begins to clash with the religious leaders, as he reinterprets their traditions in light of his own coming.

The first 12 minutes the sound didn't work, so we have cut to when they sound starts. Sometimes, when people walk into our church building, they crack a joke about being surprised they haven't been burned up. There's an assumption that they're not the type of person welcome in a "God space." But when we look at Jesus, we see radical hospitality towards the most unlikely people...‭‭Mark‬ ‭2:15‭-‬17...

So far in Mark we've seen Jesus heal, but in this passage he addresses a deeper and more fundamental need first.

When Jesus announced the Kingdom of God was arriving in and through him, it was accompanied by power to change and transform reality.

Jesus came announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God. One of the core signs of this new reality was the overthrow of evil powers.