People all over the World celebrate Christmas in different ways. Just like the Wisemen gave gifts to Jesus, we give gifts to others. But the greatest gift of all is the gift that God gave us, Jesus. Our Kids Pastor Amy shared a brilliant talk for children and adults alike. She reminds us that the festivities are lovely but let’s remember the reason for the season – the gift of Jesus. 

Graham Smith, retired vicar and part of the St Matts family, shared an Advent message at the Ten as we wait for and celebrate the profound and supreme moment of ‘heaven invading earth.’ He encouraged us to tap into both the word and spirit as we seek God invading our lives today!

'To all our questions God offers us the story of his life with us.’ 

Our good friend Sarah Yardley who is the Mission and Ministry Lead at Creation Fest spoke at St Matts Evening Carols challenging us again to receive the impossible truth- ‘God is with us.'

‘The Beatitudes are how you spot a local in the Kingdom of God.’ This week Teressa finished off our ‘Blessed Life’ series by looking at the final Beatitude on ‘The Persecuted.’ 

Life as a Christian wasn’t meant to be easy and this beatitude reminds us that we are not expecting to be airlifted to safety in the midst of life’s troubles. Instead, we are encouraged to keep pursuing right relationship with God and doing what is right knowing that God will re-purpose persecution for his glory.

In his final talk at St Matts our vicar Olly shares thoughts on Jesus’ penultimate beatitude: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."  We’re invited to make peace with God; peace with others; and peace in the world.

 The heart is not only central to physical life but also spiritual. Claire shares wisdom on how to grow a pure heart resulting in better spiritual health.

There was an issue with our recording for this week but the audio is back to normal from 1:41 in - so stick with it! 

Mike shares three moments of remembrance in the scripture and how they can lead us to a deeper understanding of Remembrance Sunday and of our faith in general.

God calls everyone into a relationship with him and to make a positive difference in the world. Hannah shares ways in which we can discern and live out God’s call for our lives.

Olly shares thoughts on the fifth beatitude, ‘Blessed are the merciful’ - know that God is merciful; be merciful to others; show mercy to yourself.

This Sunday was a Preachtastics Sunday where we got to hear from six members of the St Matts family across the day.

Each of the speakers are continuing our Blessed life series looking at the 4th Beatitude: ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’ – Matthew 5:6

It’s always so inspiring to see how God speaks to everyone so individually. We’d recommend listening to all of them as each bought a different perspective and angle to the passage, but if you want to listen to someone specific, use the timestamps below:

Jason Gilbert | 0:00

Paula Reeves | 11:24

Adrian Boughton | 23:07

Kwaku Owusu | 35:07 - Unfortunately part of the recording for Kwaku’s brilliant talk corrupted, but we’ve included the last few minutes!

Georgia Grinham | 37:06

Louis Winstone | 45:32