‘Things get out of hand’ by Owen Lynch, 14 April 2024
Do we get that there’s a massive movement building? Owen Lynch looks at the growing expectation among Jesus’ followers early in the book of Acts that their world would change. Believers were living in revolutionary ways which changed how they saw and handled possessions, hoped and worked for equality, and fought and dealt with corruption.
There began to be deadly consequences, both for a couple whose corruption undermined the integrity of the movement, and for man inspired by God to share the movement’s story as part of the history of Israel.
These stories might be familiar to us, but we might have read wrongly or applied them unhelpfully if we haven’t understood their context. What can we do to understand and learn from them better today?
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‘Preparing for Government’ by Owen Lynch, 10 March 2024
What if you expected a power struggle in your life? Owen Lynch looks at Jesus’ followers soon after his resurrection and ascension to heaven, and the giving of his Holy Spirit, which came with power. Peter and the other disciples expected a new Kingdom to come which would challenge the ruling authorities, political and religious. These authorities would not react well. But what did each party want and believe, and how would they handle their conflicts?
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‘From Judea and Galilee to the ends of the Earth’ by Owen Lynch, 18 February 2024
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 without destroying their origins, and it had the signatures of God at work among them. What would it do?
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‘Waiting for a revolution’ by Owen Lynch, 11 February 2024
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 like, and what they want to do with it? And for us, what are wanting, expecting and hoping to see God do in our lifetimes?
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Severn Vision Sunday, 28 January 2024
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.
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‘Hope in Jesus’ by Owen Lynch, 14 January 2024
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?
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‘Advent: Starstruck’ by Owen Lynch, 24 December 2023
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?
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‘Advent: A story of trust’ by Owen Lynch, 3 December 2023
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 other, and that God trusts us?
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‘Spiritual & Emotional Health 5 - Embracing weakness and vulnerability’ by Owen Lynch, 22 October 2023
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 could it make to be honest about weakness with ourselves, God and someone we trust?
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‘Spiritual & Emotional Health 4 - Embracing pain and loss’ by Owen Lynch, 15 October 2023
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 with death itself?
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‘Spiritual & Emotional Health 3 - Embracing our limitations’ by Owen Lynch, 1 October 2023
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.
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‘Spiritual & Emotional Health 2 - Family history’ by Owen Lynch, 17 September 2023
How are we shaped by our family histories, and what can we do about this? Owen Lynch looks at repeating patterns of behaviour in himself and his own family, as well as stories of families shared in the Bible. Jesus offered another way of life he described as being “born again” - but what does this mean for us?
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‘Spiritual & Emotional Health 1 - Stop before you hit the bottom’ by Owen Lynch, 10 September 2023
What do we need for healthy spiritual and emotional life? Owen Lynch looks at the links between spiritual and emotional health, what we see happening on our surfaces and what might be going on beneath. What can we do to get a better understanding of what’s formed us and how can we deal with stress, pain and - when needed - change?
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‘What the gospel means to me’ by Owen Lynch, 3 September 2023
What difference does it make to believe that God is present, protects and provides today? Owen Lynch shares what the gospel means about God’s role in his life, in a context where fewer and fewer friends and colleagues might believe in God or go to church. Can we draw lessons from history about what religious institutions do under pressure, and can we follow Jesus into a different way of life?
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‘Seeing Christ in serving’ - Owen Lynch interviews David Jennings - 28 May 2023
How can we hope to see Christ working when we make ourselves available to serve the vulnerable? Owen Lynch interviews David Jennings about his experience of working for three years with “Chasing The Dragon” author Jackie Pullinger’s ministry in Hong Kong.
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‘Whose king is Christ Jesus?’ by Owen Lynch - 30 April 2023
We’re celebrating a coronation soon, but why? Owen Lynch looks at how the king is already king, but it makes a difference to us when we recognise and remember that. In many ways, Christ’s ascension to heaven was the same as a coronation - memorable and amazing for everyone who saw it, but Christ was already king. Was he only the king of people who recognised him or followed him at the time?
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‘Staying in the game’ by Owen Lynch - 23 April 2023
In difficult and stressful times, how can we carry our wounds and stay active in the situations that we’re in? Owen Lynch looks at some current financial and practical problems facing our church, and considers how Jesus demonstrated that new life even overcomes death. If Jesus calls us to take part in his new life together, how should we live, what should we expect, and what can we offer each other when we are wounded?
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‘Which gate would you have gone to?’ by Owen Lynch - 2 April 2023
What do we think Palm Sunday is all about? Owen Lynch shares about the difference between his understanding as a child and the difficult reality of the story of Jesus’ coming kingdom clashing with the established powers of his time. It was a struggle that would result in death. But if we were there, where would we have been looking for life?
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’Seeing Christ in the inner place’ by Owen Lynch - 26 February 2023
What nutrition do we need to be healthy, physically or spiritually? Owen Lynch looks at the role of what we feed on, and the surprising claim from Jesus that he is real food and drink for us. What does it mean to practise feeding on Jesus?
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’Seeing Christ in love’ by Owen Lynch - 12 February 2023
What do we have to do to earn God’s acceptance? Owen Lynch looks at the difference between a religion driven by rules and regulations and the unconditional love of God demonstrated by Jesus and written about through much of the Bible. Jesus embraced groups who were on the fringes of society, including women, the poor and the unclean with apparently limitless love. Could we have been missing this love while distracted by other issues?
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