Contentment is a tricky thing to find. A recent book captures the mood of our culture well – “Why are we restless: On the modern quest for contentment” Here is the diagnosis We live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, yet everywhere we see signs that our pursuit of happiness has proven fruitless. Dissatisfied, we […]
Author Archives: Steve Vaughan
Dating, Sexual Boundaries & Jesus
A few months back someone in church who is dating asked me this question (I paraphrase): Okay Steve…so we’re not to have sex till marriage… but why… and what are the principles that underly our thinking on sexual boundaries whilst we date? I was so grateful for the candor and for the chance to chat […]
Renew – 2022
Why is personal and corporate renewal necessary? In the 5th Century BC Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to re-envision the people for being God’s covenant people. Nehemiah helps us understand what corporate renewal looks like in the life of a church. Nehemiah 1-6: Rebuilding the city walls The […]
Acts 10-15: The Gospel For All
Is every type of person invited to be part of Jesus’ church? Is every believer in Jesus, no matter what skin colour, gender, ethnicity, race or socio-economic background, equal within the church? Is the Gospel really for all people? These are the questions that are at the heart of Acts chapters 10-15. They are crucial […]
Jonah – Sent To The City
Over the month of March and start of April we are going to consider what it means to be ‘sent to the city’ by looking at the book of Jonah. This will feed nicely into our ongoing conversation around the potential of starting a morning congregation which is all motivated by God’s call to us […]
Prayer Concerning Violence Against Women
Sunday 16th January (after the murder of Aisling Murphy) Heavenly Father we come to our time of prayer today with gratitude in our hearts that you’re a good, loving and caring father. Thank you that as your children we can be free and bold in our prayers. Thank you that you listen not just to […]
1 Peter – Aliens & Strangers in the world
Given the current cultural moment we find ourselves in, every Christian and every church must read and re-read the letter of 1 Peter (alongside the Old Testament book of Daniel). Our culture is increasingly moving away from traditional Christian values and we’re increasingly the minority, or the odd ones out. To most modern people, the […]
City Group Leaders Training – 16 Apr
As a church grows bigger it must grow smaller! In other words as the number of people in a church increases, the number of smaller contexts for people to connect must increase too, otherwise a church can feel like a place you attend once a week where you sit next to strangers. A church is […]
United Across All Earthly Divides
The gospel gives the Christian a unique identity. In it we are told that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet at the same time we are more loved than we ever dared dream. In Romans 5:8-10 we learn that Jesus had to die for us because we were sinners and enemies […]
The kingdom of heaven (parables in Matthew)
The kingdom of heaven – what is it? A spiritual disembodied place where we sit on clouds (in our non-physical bodies!), playing harps to Jesus? Is it a time at the end of history when Jesus comes to gather, to judge and to rule the world? If so, how it is ‘near’ or ‘at hand’? […]