Severn's All You Can Eat Buffet

What difference can it make to foster or adopt children? Anna Simmons describes her experience of becoming part of God’s family and, after having children, the decision they made to become a fostering family. Home For Good helps to find homes for the thousands of children that need them - find out more about them at homeforgood.org.uk

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the end of the book of Exodus, chapters 23 to 40. People see Moses go up a fearsome looking mountain into God’s presence, and there is a lot to discuss about what it means to be in the presence of God - how do we experience this today? Two contrasting stories emerge in this part of Exodus about faithful and unfaithful response to God. Th...

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the beginning of the book of Exodus, chapters 1 to 22. There is a lot of important story to process here, beginning with the loss of good relationship between Egypt and the family of Israel, but with changes coming thanks to what God does through Moses. It’s the foundational story of Israel as a distinctive people, ultimately a nation, b...

How did Jesus give his followers power after he went up to heaven, and what was this for? Owen Lynch looks at what happened at Pentecost, a Jewish celebration of the founding of their nation, and how Jews who had grown up in many different cultures heard Jesus’ disciples in their own languages. A community of hope was gathering around one story which was including and uniting a diversity of people...

In this episode, Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the end of the book of Genesis, chapters 45 to 50, and Psalms 1 to 28. The story of Joseph ends in a good place relationally, with reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration - it’s a picture of hope. But it’s also clear that there is more to come, both for Israel’s family and the rest of the world. Psalms contrast with...

What would you want and expect if you were promised power? Owen Lynch looks at the situation of Jesus’ first followers and the ways they were desperate for their country to be run differently and better. When Jesus overcame execution by the authorities, rose from death and promised the arrival of the Kingdom of God, what did the people closest to him expect? What would their promised power look li...

We’re on a boxset binge through the Bible, and in this episode, Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the middle of the book of Genesis, chapters 25 to 44. This could be well described as a family story and, as with many families, it can get a bit messy. Far from being a set of neat moral tales, it’s an account of people causing and dealing with difficulties. They are not pe...

What does it mean to have a relationship with God, and what should we expect from one? Claire Lynch looks at the way mistaken ideas about someone’s character can misshape our relationship with them, and how important it can be to learn what someone is really like through an authentic relationship. God made us in his image, giving us the capacity for relating to him, as well as reflecting his chara...

We’re on a boxset binge through the Bible, and in this episode, Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the very beginning, Genesis chapters 1 to 24. What is described at the start of the Bible has been the subject of much discussion over centuries. People take different views on interpreting it, but most agree that it is an awesome statement of the wonder of life and the way...

What is our hope and vision for the year ahead? Claire and Owen Lynch look back on what God did in and through Severn last year, and present our aims and what we need looking forward. In an election year, we probably won’t be short of promises to make life better, and as we take inspiration from Jesus for how God can really deliver this, we are aiming to live by four values that we find in Jesus:...

We’re on a boxset binge through the Bible, and in this episode, Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about Acts of the Apostles, chapters 10 to 28. Peter gets a mind-blowing revelation from God which ends up changing how believers in Jesus saw themselves, other people, and the whole purpose of religion and its laws. This story is told by Luke who, we learn, joined in the missiona...

We’re on a boxset binge through the Bible, and in this episode, Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the Luke’s Gospel chapters 15 to 24 and its sequel, Acts of the Apostles, chapters 1 to 9. Luke’s story about Jesus and the surprisingly inclusive Kingdom of God continues with demonstrations of the power God wants people to have, to overcome suffering, injustice, and even d...

What does it mean to have hope in Jesus? Owen Lynch looks at the difficulties and divisions in society in Jesus’ time and we might relate to some of them today. People were not looking for a nice idea to make them feel better, they needed a restoration of hope, and the way Jesus offered this transformed their world. How can it do the same for us? This talk on Luke’s Gospel will be followed by a se...

We've started on a boxset binge through the Bible, and in this episode, Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about Luke's gospel chapters 1 to 14. Luke is telling a story which is rooted in Jewish beliefs and customs, but turns out to be inclusive for everyone. In a difficult time, Jesus seems to challenge every authority and offer the love, power and hope that is desperately nee...

Did you know there's a surprising way you can feel happier, right away, right now? Claire Lynch looks at the power of thankfulness, including its proven ability to make us feel more satisfied, while also improving our relationships when approached in certain ways. It's also a major theme in the Bible, part of healthy personal and community life with God.  Claire concludes this talk with a ten...

In the first week of our boxset binge, we're introduced to Jesus by Luke, telling his story for the benefit of people who were interested in the God of the Jews, but were not themselves Jewish. Our suggestion is to listen to the first 14 chapters of Luke's Gospel this week - they'll take about an hour and forty minutes (at 1x speed) from our recommended NIV UK version, read by David Suchet, availa...

The Bible is an amazing collection of literature which some say can help us hear God. It has a big story, told through lots of smaller stories. It's full of engaging characters who are each part of something much bigger than themselves. In this podcast, Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch discuss how listening through the whole Bible, and noticing how it makes us think, feel and move, can connect us with s...

What does it mean that Jesus’ birth was written in the stars? Owen Lynch looks at the hopes and expectations which were carried by Israel’s promised Messiah, and how people had a range of reactions when it seemed like this person could have arrived. This Christmas, will we find that Jesus leaves us indifferent, resistant, or starstruck?

How would you react to news that rocked your sense of who you were and what to expect from life? Owen Lynch looks at the ways one family in Israel would have been shaken by the news of expecting a child, and how this child would have an historic role which would surprise everyone. However, along with the shock came a call to trust. What does it mean that we can trust God, and grow to trust each ot...

What is it like to approach Jesus and faith like a child? Bern Leckie shares his experiences of growing up in a religious community and how some things seemed to make more sense than others. When Jesus told people they had to receive God’s kingdom like little children, what did he mean? Was he telling people to be mild and obedient, or hoping that they’d receive the enormous superpower of God’s lo...

What can we expect from life with God? David Jennings shares his experience of being in the middle of life-changing things like people being freed from addiction, and finding that this can still be messy and difficult. Jesus promised the reality of God’s kingdom would start to be visible in our lifetimes, so how do we deal with the tension of this being both “now” and “not yet”?

How did the idea that God is angry with people become widespread, and is it true? Claire Lynch looks at some of the ways in history that people have formed a view of God, in many ways shaped by developing understandings of themselves. Pictures of God’s wrath seem easy to find in the Old Testament, but was there also something bigger, stronger and longer lasting being revealed? Jesus and the New Te...

How can we find strength by embracing our weaknesses? Owen Lynch shares about the choices he has faced in dealing with imperfections and needing to decide between denial and defensiveness or acceptance and vulnerability. Jesus told the story of the son whose admission of weakness led to stronger connection with his father than the son who claimed to have done everything right. What difference coul...

How does it help us to deal with pain and loss? Owen Lynch looks at some of the effects that loss-bringing change can have on us, from adjustments in work and family life to the death of someone close. Psalms in the Bible can reflect some of our feelings and direct our attention to God for sharing them. Can we find hope in a relationship with God that brings to life Jesus’ ultimate confrontation w...

How can it be good to accept some limitations in life instead of striving to overcome them all? Owen Lynch looks at how this has applied to him and, maybe surprisingly, takes Jesus as an example of someone whose choice to live within limits may have set us a good pattern for a healthy life.  This is not about limitations imposed by society on the grounds of race, class or gender, but about co...