SF Sunday Podcast

Jesus sent out 72 ordinary, unnamed followers to bring peace, healing and hope into the world. Their quiet faithfulness reminds us that God’s kingdom grows through everyday acts of love and service. As we celebrate St Luke, we explore what it means to be sent by Jesus, accompanied by his presence, and called to make a difference wherever we are.

Most of us don’t say no to God; we never get round to replying. In Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1–14), a generous invitation is ignored, then opened to the streets. Discover how God’s grace welcomes us as we are but changes us, and why following Jesus means making room: for him, and for the neighbours around us.

Most of us picture St Francis as a garden statue with a bird on his shoulder, admired but never followed. The real Francis gave everything away and got off his horse to kiss a leper. On St Francis Sunday, Tony explores Matthew 11:25–30 and asks what it would take for our church to stop admiring Jesus and actually follow him.

1. Where are you more an admirer of Jesus than a follower right now — and what would one step of following look like this week?

2. Which yoke are you carrying that isn’t Jesus’ — hurry, proving yourself, keeping everyone happy? What would his “gentle and humble” pace change?

3. Francis found Christ in the man he’d been riding past. Who might you be moving too fast to notice — and what would it take to get off the horse?

"Is the Lord among us or not?" — asked in a dry place, on a route God had chosen. Scripture doesn't tidy the question away; it names the place after the argument. Tony on bringing the honest question rather than the polite one, and on a God who answers not by proving his power but by going all the way down.

Rev. Peter asks, Why is it so easy to compare ourselves with others—and why does envy steal our joy? Through Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard, we discover a different way to live: receiving God’s generosity with gratitude rather than measuring ourselves against others. Join us as we explore contentment, compassion, self-worth, and becoming the person God created us to be.

What kind of thing is a church? A venue, a club, a service provider, a building with a roof to keep watertight? Every one of those is partly true — and none of them is what Luke describes at the end of Acts 2.

In this one-off message, Tony looks at the snapshot Luke gives us of the church three days old: a community that was devoted rather than interested, that shared rather than simply gathered, and that lived it every day with the door left open. Along the way: why idealism about community is so destructive, why being known is harder than being generous, and why growth in Acts is something the Lord does rather than something the church engineers.

With Bonhoeffer, Dallas Willard, Thomas Merton, C. S. Lewis and A. W. Tozer for company.

“The church at Pentecost was not a better version of the community around it. It was a different kind.”

The series lands on holy ground — which turns out to be Moses' workplace. The God who sees, hears and comes down also sends, and Jesus completes the maths of the free feast: people who've received everything can afford to give anything. Rest that takes up a cross, a Monday manual from Romans 12, and a commissioning into ordinary life.

The series lands here: Peter’s confession comes before his commission. Isaiah says remember the rock you were hewn from; Paul says offer yourselves in view of mercy already received. Identity precedes activity — so mature disciples work from rest, not for approval. The final week of Rest and Identity in Christ, from St Francis, Hillcrest.

Rest isn’t for hoarding — it’s for hospitality. This week Isaiah ties sabbath to welcoming the outsider, Paul declares mercy wide enough for everyone, and a Canaanite mother discovers the table is bigger than the disciples thought. What God gives us in rest, he means to flow through us. Week three, from St Francis.

Rest isn’t a technique — it’s a Person. This week an exhausted Elijah meets God in sheer silence, and a sinking Peter is caught by the hand of Jesus in the storm. Who we rest in matters more than how we rest— and surrender means fixing our gaze on Christ in the storm, not waiting for the storm to stop. Week two of Rest and Identity in Christ, from St Francis, Hillcrest.