Graham uses the story of Ananias and Sapphira to highlight the need to live wholeheartedly for God.
Read MorePreaches
We make as many talks, preaches and discussions available for download as possible. The most recent series is at the top and you should scroll down to find previous talks and series.
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Being Different: Different Ways to Win Others
Paul made it very clear in his fist letter to the Corinthians that, although he was a free man belonging to no-one, he considered himself to be a slave to everyone. Why? In order to win as many people as he could to Christ. He did this through relating to the culture around him (1 Corinthians 9 vs 19-21). If, like Paul, we want to share in God’s blessings, we too have to be sensitive to those around us - for the sake of the Gospel. Andy Sparkes examines in this talk why we must emulate Paul in his attitude if we are to bring others into the Truth.
Read MoreBeing Different: A Different Kind of Service
We are called, as Christians, to be citizens of God’s kingdom and thus, to serve. We are representatives of His kingdom here on Earth - where we are, so is God’s kingdom. Where we serve the kingdom is probably where we spend most of (or certainly a lot of) our time - in the community, parenting, in the workplace, for example. Ephesians 2 tells us that, as God’s handiwork, He prepared us in advance to do good works. Angela Siderfin here explains how this relates to our daily lives.
Read MoreBeing Different: A Different Kind of People
Following on from last week’s talk ‘A Different People’, we consider today the same subject but this time from a different viewpoint. Again quoting from 1 Peter 2 (verses 4-10), we are (1) a chosen race, (2) a royal priesthood, (3) a holy nation and (4) a people for God’s own possession. We join Ted Winter part way through the first point; as a chosen race (people), it’s clear that God makes choices yet bestows no honorary titles - we have work to do!
Read MoreBeing Different: A Different People
The Bible reminds us that we are a peculiar people, a chosen people - or, to put it into today’s language, we belong exclusively to God (1 Peter 2 vs 9-11). This means we have responsibilities and as such we must be different to those in the world around us. How else would we get noticed were we to remain the same, doing the same old stuff we did before Jesus called us?? In this talk, Pete Bond uses 1 Peter 2 as his basis for teaching why we are indeed a ‘peculiar people’ and how we need to be different. NB: due - we suspect - to a fleeting power cut during the meeting, only the first 16 minutes of Pete’s talk were recorded.
Read MoreGrowth Means Change
Having already considered 5 key ways in which we may grow in Christ, both individually and as a church, we reach the final, perhaps most crucial element - our preparedness to change in order to grow. Because we like our comforts and being familiar with things, change is something we rarely relish but if we’re not open to change….well, we won’t mature. We’ll just stagnate, become less attractive and less relevant, not something we’re seeking to be at Gillingham Community Church! With reference to the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 5), Pete Bond describes how Jesus challenged the people (and vicariously, us) to live righteous lives in accordance not just with the established law but additionally by God’s will. Remember, “you have heard it said but I (Jesus) tell you…”
Read MoreGrowth Means Making Choices
Life, or how we decide to live it, involves making an ongoing series of choices, each of which can only ever lead to two possible outcomes - a right one, or a wrong one. The decision-making dilemma we all have is this - do we listen to what the Holy Spirit may be telling us, or do we just go ahead and do what we think is the right thing? In this talk, Steve Gibbons helps us to navigate through some of the bible’s helpful pointers as to how we can make the right choices, concluding that to choose God’s way is to choose life itself. Now, will that be the mince pie or the apple for me to snack on?!
Read MoreChurch Growth: Growth through Sacrifice
Sacrifice is a very important part of our faith - after all, didn’t Jesus give us everything through the giving of himself? Our self-sacrifice helps us draw closer to God. Paul, in Romans 12, exhorts us to be ‘a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God’ and that we should ‘not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind’. Easier said than done? Well, Ted Winter here gives us some biblical pointers as to how we might become ‘a living sacrifice’ through our faith and actions - but beware, it comes at a cost. Expect and accept regular pruning!
Read MoreChurch Growth: Growing up to Maturity
Through all the various stages of life, we are always growing in some way. One aspect of our walk with Jesus which is sometimes overlooked (or worse, ignored) is that of spriritual growth for, if the church is to grow, we as individuals must also grow….continuously towards Christ. Surely we don’t want to remain as unweaned toddlers, feeding on nothing other than spiritual milk? In which case, we need to keep going, to run the race, forgetting what is behind us, constantly seeking spiritual growth through fixing our eyes on Jesus. Martin Powell’s talk outlines how our continuing spiritual growth benefits not just ourselves but also the whole church, in our relationships, our worship, our love for one another and so on…
Read MoreChurch Family: Same Sex Attraction
A most important aspect of living as part of the wider church family is the question about how we, as Christians, interact with those who may have a same sex attraction. Unfortunately there has been so much unhelpful negativity broadcast over the years by conservative (small ‘c’!) groups in established churches; Graham Palmer seeks to clarify how we must keep Jesus in focus when dealing with this issue and love others, regardless of their sexuality, as He loves us. Graham, in his talk, refers to a number of testimonies on the Living Out website which can be accessed here, with further helpful advice on how to support those living with same sex attraction here. The publications referred to can be found here on GCCs website on the publications page - scroll down for the Same Sex Attraction booklet.
Read MoreChurch Growth: Acceptance of Others
Acceptance of others. It’s not just for Sunday mornings! If we want to grow as a church, to become more like Jesus, we have to accept others, even those who are very different from us or who maybe don’t measure up to our values. Jesus accepted everyone; in fact, he made a point of showing love to those whom society deemed ‘unloveable’, such as Samaritans, tax collectors and fallen women. What an example! Don’t we want to make people feel welcome, included, loved and accepted? Angela Siderfin gives us the biblical background to the practical aspects of not just ‘accepting others’ but loving them too.
Read MoreChurch Growth: Introduction
Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed to illustrate that big things generally have very small (but significant) beginnings. When we consider church growth - also the title of our new season of talks - we tend to think in terms of size and numbers, but of course, that’s nowhere near the full picture. For growth to take place, a church’s members need to be unified, maturing spiritually and welcoming; just some of the positive traits it takes to make a growing church. Pete Bond also takes as his key text the parable of the mustard seed from Luke 13 for this introduction to church growth.
Read MoreEvangelism: Gifts of the Spirit
Not to be confused with the fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5), the gifts of the Spirit are nevertheless of great importance in helping us to support one another and to relate to others about our faith. As followers of Jesus, we have all been given different gifts - we’re not all of us called to be prophets or healers or miracle-workers. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12 v7 “…the manifestation [gift] of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”. In today’s talk, Steve Gibbons speaks in more depth about these gifts, how they unite us all and imploring us to remain true to the particular gift given us by the Holy Spirit.
Read MoreEvangelism: Sharing Your Story
What’s your story? How did you first come to know Jesus? How has Jesus made a real difference in your life? For what are you particularly thankful? All - or some - of these questions can form ‘your story’ which you can use to tell others about your faith. Few of us have incredible, Damascus road experiences but that doesn’t matter because, whatever your story, someone needs to hear it. And practising it makes perfect, as Angela Siderfin facilitates in this week’s talk!
Read MoreCAP Sunday 2018
Gillingham Community Church has been a Christians Against Poverty centre for 10 years! Woo hoo! Today we get encouraged by stories, testimonies and facts and figures to do with the wonderful work that we have been honoured to be a part of over this time.
Steve (our area manager and CAP Yeovil worker) helps us realise what an important work it is that we are doing here.
Read MoreChurch Family: Marriage
In this recording, the second in a trilogy of talks looking at relationships and the Church family, Graham Palmer considers what it means to be in a marriage relationship from the perspective of Jesus the bridegroom and the church. He examines why marriage is a covenant, not a contract, and introduces us to the concept that we probably married the wrong person. Intrigued? Then listen on!
Read MoreEvangelism: Through Compassion
Andy Sparkes takes us on a journey outlining our motivation for compassion - what drives us to empathise with, and take action to alleviate, the suffering of others?
Pastor Fredie Sekeywa
This weekend, GCC has had the pleasure of hosting Pastor Fredie Sekeywa from Uganda. His first time in the UK, let alone visiting GCC, Pastor Fredie explains his mission in ‘Celebration of Hope Ministries’, of how establishing coffee farms is helping to provide incomes, homes and the Good News of Jesus to poverty-stricken families throughout his locality in southern Uganda. There’s also a message for GCC, encouraging us to ‘let our light shine’ in our community. Great coffee, by the way!
Read MoreEvangelism: Friengelism
….or, in plain English, Friendship Evangelism. We all have the ability to influence our friends, relatives and work colleagues but do we ever introduce Jesus into our relationships? That’s ‘friendship evangelism’. It isn’t about forming relationships with the ulterior motive of proselytising, i't’s about using what we already have to talk about what is really important to us. With reference to Luke 15, Pete Bond explains how we might be more effective in evangelising to our cohorts
Read MoreEvangelism: Treasure in Heaven
Steve shares insight into the nature of the “Treasure in Heaven” that we are storing up whilst here on earth. What more motivation do we need?