Weekly Talks

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Acts 20: 7-12, 17-38 Acts 20: 7-12, 17-38 (NIV) The book of Acts tells the story of the growth of the early church. We read how Paul established multiple churches all over the known world. The fact that Paul was able to keep moving on shows that those churches were not reliant on Paul but on the guidance, inspiration and unity of the Holy Spirit. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Acts 19:1-20 Acts 19:1-20  (NIV) All human beings are broken and sinful, and we rebel against God in all kinds of ways. We need to change – and we need to go on changing over the course of our whole lives. God will not force change upon us, but if we put our trust in Jesus he promises to fill us with his Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to change. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Acts 17: 16-31  Acts 17: 16-31  (NIV) If we are going to make the Gospel relevant to people today, we need to understand the culture we are living in. However, we must understand the culture without succumbing to it in ways that compromise our faith. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Acts 15: 1-11  Acts 15: 1-11 (NIV) The simple message of the Gospel is this, 'everyone who puts their faith in Jesus will receive God’s forgiveness and everlasting life'. However, we love to complicate things, and some people may tell us that we need the Gospel, plus something else. But there is no Gospel plus. Our salvation is based on nothing more than God’s gra...

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Acts 14: 1-20  Acts 14: 1-20  (NIV) The First Christians shared the Gospel with all kinds of people, in all kinds of contexts. In Lystra, when Paul prayed for a lame man who was subsequently healed, the crowds began to worship Paul and Barnabus as gods. The fact that those people would make two mere men the object of their worship shows just how lost they were. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Acts 12: 1-24  Acts 12: 1-24 (NIV)  No evil person – no evil plan – no evil situation, can ever derail God’s plans. The good news remains good news, no matter what’s happening in the world or in our lives. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Acts 11: 19-30  Acts 11: 19-30  (NIV) The good news of Jesus has the potential to spread quickly and the Church has the potential to grow quickly. The Jewish Christians in Antioch shared their faith with out and out pagans, with amazing results. There's no reason why the same thing shouldn't happen today. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Acts 11: 1-18  Acts 11: 1-18 (NIV)  God gave Peter and a Roman centurion called Cornelius separate visions in order to bring them together and affirm non-Jewish inclusion in his kingdom. God demonstrated his acceptance of gentiles by pouring his Holy Spirit out on Cornelius’ household. Baptism with water and the Holy Spirit is the sign of God’s covenant with us. 

By Rev Trevor Adams |  Acts 10: 24-48  Acts 10: 24-48  (NIV) The Gospel, Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost?

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Acts 10: 1-23  Acts 10: 1-23 (NIV)  We’re beginning a new series based on the book of Acts called ‘The Gospel Goes Out’. Today we’re going to see that the early church quickly discovered that Jesus didn’t just come for the Jews, he came for the whole world. 

By Rev Trevor Adams |  Matthew 2: 1-12  Matthew 2: 1-12  (NIV) Searching for Jesus 

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Luke 2: 1-18  Luke 2: 1-18  (NIV)  Jesus was born in a backwater of the Roman Empire. An empire that encouraged the worship of an array of false gods and even Ceasar himself. The gods of the Greco-Roman world were capricious, petty and egoistic. Jesus showed the world what God is really like, and it's not what anyone expected. 

By Rec Charlie Lacey |  Matthew 1:18-25  Matthew 1:18-25  (NIV) People often dismiss the Christmas story as a fairytale, not because of a lack of evidence, but because to acknowledge its veracity would mean allowing God into their lives. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Hebrews 2: 14-18 Hebrews 2: 14-18 (NIV) Someone once said that “many people are tiptoeing through life, trying to reach death safely.”  Death has almost become a taboo subject in our culture.  People try not to think about it.  As Christians, we don’t fear death because we know that Jesus has defeated death on our behalf.  In order to do that, he needed to be fully human and...

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Philippians 2: 1-11  Philippians 2: 1-11  (NIV) ' Jesus has always existed, but he became human in order to serve a sinful world that hates God. His greatest act of service was to die on a cross for you and for me. We can hardly comprehend the selflessness of Christ and yet in many ways we are called to emulate it. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey | John 1: 14 John 1: 14 (NIV) Advent is a time to remember, not just that Jesus has come into the world, but to look forward with hope and anticipation to his second coming.  In our Advent series, ‘The Wonder of the Incarnation’, we will be rediscovering what it means to worship a God, who is not aloof and distant, but has entered into his own creation and become one of us.

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Isaiah 40: 1-10; 12; 21-22; 25-26 Isaiah 40: 1-10; 12; 21-22; 25-26 (NIV) We stand at a point in history when God has already entered into his creation in the person of Jesus Christ.  With Advent just around the corner, we are reminded that we are waiting for Jesus to return. Just as John the Baptiser prepared the way for Jesus the first time, so we are called to prepare the...

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Isaiah 36  Isaiah 36 (NIV) When we are facing a tough situation, there are potentially three ways that we can direct our trust.  We can direct it inwards by relying on ourselves; we can direct it outwards by relying on the people around us; or we can direct it upwards by relying on the Lord. King Hezekiah of Judah, faced a terrible predicament, and we can learn a lot from th...

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Isaiah 11: 1-10 Isaiah 11: 1-10 (NIV) More than 700 years before Christ, Isaiah spoke of one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord would rest, and he describes his character, kingdom, and people.  It’s a message of tremendous hope, not just for Isaiah’s contemporaries, but also for us.

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Isaiah 9: 1-7  Isaiah 9: 1-7  (NIV) The world is full of darkness and many people choose to walk in that darkness. Nevertheless, the light has come into the world - Jesus has established his kingdom. We can walk by the light of Christ now, knowing that one day we will see his kingdom in all its fullness, and his light in all its radiance. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey | Isaiah 6: 1-13 Isaiah 6: 1-13 (NIV) God is so pure and holy that he is completely incompatible with anything that is unholy. Like oil and water, holiness and unholiness don’t mix. This is a problem for us and for the whole of humanity, because we are fallen, broken and sinful. The beautiful truth of the Gospel is that God has found a way to make us holy. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Isaiah 4: 2-6 Isaiah 4: 2-6 (NIV) The Old Testament prophets spoke about things in the present, the future and the distant future; things that are yet to happen, even for us. They give us a vision of God’s ultimate plan for creation and for his people.  That plan comes into focus in the New Testament, but it’s clearly visible in the Old. Isaiah points forward to Jesus, who...

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  Isaiah 1: 1-20  Isaiah 1: 1-20  (NIV) God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to warn his people that there would be consequences to their idolatry and mistreatment of the poor and the marginalised. However, God also makes it very clear that he longs for his people to return to him and so avoid the consequences of their waywardness. 

By Rev Charlie Lacey |  2 Timothy 3: 10-17  2 Timothy 3: 10-17 (NIV) People are often heard to say things like, ‘You can’t rely on the Bible – it’s thousands of years old – it’s been changed – it’s been disproved by science’ and so on. The truth is, the Bible has stood the test of time and the texts contained therein are as reliable today as they were when they were written. 

By Rev Trevor Adams |  1 Peter 1: 3-12  1 Peter 1: 3-12  (NIV) The most frequently asked theological question of all time is probably this: Why does God allow suffering? There are three important things to remember when we're grappling with this question. 1. We worship a God who has experienced suffering. 2. God works in the midst of our suffering. 3. We are promised a future free from suffer...