Galatians 6:11-18 – The only thing that counts

For the second time in this letter Paul says only one thing counts – but he says it's a different thing.  How do these make sense together?  And shouldn't we put people right, where we disagree with them?  (Erik Pattison, 14 February 2021. Recorded on Zoom, with Q&A)

Genesis 15:1-6, Galatians 5:5 – The unique Christian hope

Continuing to look at what is special about the Christian faith: we have a unique hope, but it is often under-valued.  (Erik Pattison, 7 February 2021)

Matthew 5:11-17 – What is the unique thing about us?

People may try to get us on board with all sorts of ideas, but there is one thing that must always be central.  (Erik Pattison, 31 January 2021.)

Isaiah 9:4-7 – The increase of his peace

It is harder still to understand the promise that Jesus' peace is increasing, as we don't seem to see it.  How does faith make sense of this?  (Erik Pattison, 10 January 2021)

Isaiah 9:7 and Matthew 13 – The increase of his government

Isaiah promises that the Messiah's kingdom will expand. Some people say this must be in the future as they cannot see it now.  But the parables of the Kingdom in Matthew chapter 13 give us Jesus' explanation of how his kingdom works now.  (Erik Pattison, 3 January 2021. Recorded in church, with additional remarks at the end from our online meeting)

Isaiah 9:1-7 – The zeal of the Lord

"To us a son is given… The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this."  God has a passion to achieve all that he wills.  (Erik Pattison, 27 December 2020. This recording includes the longer version of the talk given in church, and the Q&A from our online meeting.)

Matthew chapters 1 & 2 – Joseph, man of decision

Joseph is the forgotten hero of the Christmas story.  (Erik Pattison, 20 December 2020)

This talk mentions a song which we had listened to beforehand. This was Tim McGraw's song "It Wasn't His Child" (click for YouTube link).