Welcome to our podcast/talks page
So here it is at last... your chance to download an audio version of the talks on Sundays... Yes, we know - not that exciting but perhaps useful every now and again. Let us know if any thing is not working or you are having difficulty getting things to download...
You can subscirbe to Itues and get the talks as they come up or click on the individually to download them - it's up to you : )
rolloverLatest Sunday
The end
In putting the jigsaw pieces together I am starting with a crucial edge piece which will determine how the centre goes... Starting at the 'end' of the story we consider how the promise of the new creation answers the longings and brokenness of the world as we experience it.
What happens when our idea of 'heaven' changes?
Click here
to listen
Jigsaw
This week's talk marks the beginning of a journey together when we will be revisiting the central tenets of the Christian faith. In doing so we may need to take apart the pictures that we have been already given so that we can make use of all the pieces of the jigsaw.
It will be fun. It will hopefully be life changing. For you and
for me
Click here
to listen
I am who I am
Another activity filled gathering kicking off the new series during lent based on the Exodus stories of the old testament. This week we focused on the name of God - Yahweh - what this means for us and how he comes to liberate us from all that binds us up
Click here
to listen
Proclaim, admonish, teach
Before good news was called 'good news' it was simply stuff people talked about... Truth is that keeping secrets is virtually impossible for us,
especially when it's good news we are holding in. We are all natural 'evangelists'. Richard explores the theme of
proclaiming good news by talking endlessly about his new dog!
Click here
to listen
Joy and Suffering
Gavin teaches about the mix of joy and suffering that Paul seems to talk about in the same breath. Fantastic ideas, life changing teaching. We live in Christ and he shares our suffering, as we share in his... as we do his joy... Listen to this one!
Click here
to listen
River or Road
Prayer is natural, so how come we find it so hard? Is it because we have inherited a view of God which makes it hard to
truly believe in it? Richard talks about prayer and in doing so compares and contrasts two versions of how
God's will works... a river and a road. Interesting stuff...
Click here
to listen
Knowing God
God has given us everything we
need for life and godliness... and he invites us all to
'participate in his divine nature'... Richard links these thoughts with
the prayers of Paul from Colossians 1:9-13
Click here
to listen
The Bigger Picture
What is our hope?
Hope drives us forward. Richard explores the theme
of hope and asks us to consider what exactly is the content of the
Christian hope. Apparently it has something to do with
resurrection, a new earth and a life without tears....
Click here
to listen
Grace and Peace
The first of the new year in
earnest, Richard unpacks the opening stanza of Paul's lovely letter to
the church in Colossae. Grace and Peace feature strongly...
just what we all need.
Click here
to listen
Temple:Worship
One of the best sermons for ages! Gavin takes us through the temple sacrifices of the past and brings them slp bang up to date so that they not only make sense of back then, but also of what Jesus was doing for us. Brilliant!
Click here to listenTemple:Different
Kadesh - the Hebrew word for
Holy - means 'set apart' and 'different'. Richard looked at
what Peter meant when he encouraged us to 'Be Holy as God is Holy', and
ate some weetabix to make his point. He ended by inviting us to
consider what it meant to be holy in our use of time, how we see our
sexuality, how we think, how we speak, and how we use our money...
Click
here to listen to PART 1 and
here
for PART 2 (We had difficulty
uploading it this week...Argh... technology...!)
Sorry
Frustratingly our recording device has not worked properly for ages and we are struggling to get the services recorded. We are sorry! Hopefully it will be ok for this weekend. Thanks!
Forgive one another
The recordings of this last
series looking at the some 'one another' phrases in the New Testament
letters have not worked out very well, so we only seem to have the last
one of the series - about forgiveness. Always a difficult topic to get
our heads around, Richard goes back to explore the original meaning of
the word as Jesus would have used it and discovers that far from being
beyond us, forgiveness (while hugely costly) is possible and vital.
Interesting stuff.
Click
here to listen
Teach one another
While some seem good at
teaching whole groups of people at once, it turns out that all of us
are authorised and expected to teach one another - both through words
and example all the time. Twerton needs an army (if that's the right
word) of teachers... Sorry, but the recording didn't work...
Honour one another
Sorry that the recording didn't
work, but you can read the notes if you want to...
This week Richard introduces the 'one another' series with a talk on
Honouring one another. A first step is listening to each
other properly...
Suffering 2
Week two of this mini series
looking at the age old question about suffering... This time Richard
builds on last week's talk which built a foundation upon the fact that
Jesus is the 'exact representation of God', and explores the complexity
of the rest of the way the world (post the fall) currently is. Again -
this may be a new way of looking at the world - and it may change your
view of God forever.
Click
here to listen
Suffering 1
Can I really believe in a God
of love when all around me I see people suffering? In the first of a
two week series on suffering, Richard tackles this vital question head
on and encourages us to base our response on the life, character, and
compassion of Jesus - the exact representation of the Father. No easy
answers. A meaty meal... Could change your view of God forever.
Click
here to listen
Father/Discipline
Another aspect of God's
fatherhood is that his delight in us leads him to discipline us.
Richard revisits the story of the 'true vine' from John 15, and talks
about parental discipline and love. Being a 'Sunday Live' service, the
talk is illustrated by some crazy behaviour. We also join together to
pray for one of our church who has cancer. Click here
to listen
Father/Inheritance
For may of us we have been told
that God is like a Father in the way he loves us. While completely
true, Richard explores another (perhaps more important) aspect of this
relationship - that of inheritance. If God is our Father, we are his
Son and therefore heirs to his inheritance.
Click
here to listen
Father/Son
Father's Day. Richard focuses
on the story about a Dad and his two very different sons. One returns
home. Retelling the famous story, God's recklessly wild love stands out
as both mad and amazing. Also contains a call to the church to be a
homecoming, partying church for the feckless and broken.
Click
here to listen
Each Other
Richard finishes off the series
on Genesis 1&2 rounding off looking at the way that the
blueprint for relationships is laid out in this early part of the
story. So, at last, a talk about sex
and relationships... Of course,
not every issue was covered but he laid out a framework for working out
how we might remain faithful to the story and the grace of God in our
lives... Sadly the power cut out half way through and so the talk was
not recorded... but you can read it here if you want. Not the same -
and the tone makes a big difference - but it's better than nothing...
Created
Richard kicks off a new series
on Genesis 1&2 looking at the beginning of the whole story of
our lives and asking how this might shape the way we think and
act. This week we look at the way that God being creator
changes things. Richard also briefly comments on some of the
stuff that God seems to be saying to us as a church right now and
responds to the talk of revival elsewhere.
Click
here to listen
A House of Prayer
Richard shares his experience
of prayer and what God has been saying to him about it all
recently. Honest and simply told this is a call to us all as
a church to be the 'house of prayer' that Jesus so longs for.
Click
here to listen
Denial
It's all going belly up. Jesus
is heading towards certain death. The disciples are loosing it and
Peter can't hold himself together... Gavin searches out the edges of
our own stories and how we connect with Peter, even at this terrible
moment of denial. No Podcast I'm afraid due to technical problems...
Still worth having a read through...
Feet
Once again Peter finds himself
straining to understand what Jesus is doing and saying. Jesus astounds
him with an act of radical service - washing his disciple's feet.
Richard explores the significance of this for Peter and for us right
here, right now. The focal image is of a towel.
Click
here to listen
Stuff
Jesus meets a rich young man
burning with desire for real life and Peter watches with intent as
Jesus invites the man to give everything away. Peter can't quite make
sense of it all and begins to learn more about life in the kingdom.
James Vaughton from Bath Youth for Christ brilliantly helps us to
reflect on what this story means for us today. He also tells us about a
vision God has put on his heart for a new School's worker in the City.
Click
here to listen
Forgiveness
Sadly the recording didn't work this week so we can't publish Gavin's talk on Peter's wondering just how many times he had to forgive those who had wounded him. Still you could read the passage in Matthew 18:21-35. Forgiveness is clearly important to Jesus
Transfiguration
Not a word we use in common
speech, nor a story we talk much about as a church. So why was the
'transfiguration' of Jesus so important to Peter? It certainly seems to
have grabbed his attention. God wants us to listen to Jesus. And so we
wonder what God might be saying to us, individually and as a community,
which will help us live life well. Click here
to listen
Sunday Live!
Ok, not your normal service - no sermon really - just loads of stories about what God is doing among us and what he is saying to us. Unscripted, moving, inspiring. Recording got interrupted a little so some people's stories have been cut out by mistake - but you'll still get the drift... And what is even better is that "He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ". (Philippians 1:6) Click here to listen
Understanding Jesus
Wow! What a morning! Great to
see so many people joining us as we celebrated the baptism of 7 people
of all ages: Sam, Ephrath, Sam, Isaac, Ed, Peter and Dave. Made all the
more memorable when the electrics blew and we fell into darkness. Today
really was a movement from darkness to light and it was a complete joy
to listen to how God is changing lives. Who do you say that Jesus is? Click here to listen
Water
Perhaps the busiest day in the gospel stories... trips around the lake, feeding 5000, a boat rip back home, a late night encounter with Jesus... famous stories - but what is the real significance? Gavin takes us back through the story focussing on Peter and how he responds to Jesus' call to join him on the 'waters' and invites us to wonder where we are in the story ourselves. Truly insightful! Click here to download
Fish
The first of the new series
tracing Peter's life as he becomes a disciple and learns to live within
the Kingdom of God that Jesus opens up for him. This week Richard sets
the scene walking us through the way Luke tells the story of Peter (or
Simon as he was initially called). The story ends with Simon Peter
walking away from everything that has been important to him so far...
and we are left wondering happened to the fish...
Click
here to download
Epiphany Sunday
What's 'Epiphany' all about? What relevance does the story of the Magi have for us here in Twerton in 2008? On this first attempt at recording a service (this was a 'Sunday Live!' service following a massive breakfast together) Richard gives a brief reflection on the story, weaves in a connection between that our hopes for the new year together and then turns our attention to praying for Sam Ludwell our new Youth Director, who has just started working with us. Click here to download
Formation
Find out more about our new formation groups here... How about starting one up yourself!
