Teaching for today

Archbishop Cranmer's reforms in the Church of England led Christianity in this country in a direction that we still benefit from today. He came into office at a time of great uncertainty, but managed to push the Church towards embracing the great doctrines of the reformation. Gordon Murray shows that while Cranmer's work had a profound impact in many areas, his ultimate concern was the proclamation of justification by faith alone.

One of Victorian Britain's most prominent evangelical preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon believed firmly that the Bible applied to all of life and to the nation. His life and teaching reflects a conviction that Christians should be an influence for good in the way society is governed. Tim Curnow offers an important insight into the work and influence of a man who sought to "draw politics up into the light and power of Christ".

The great Scottish Covenanter and brilliant university teacher, Samuel Rutherford, was born into an age when the king answered to no-one - 'The king is law' (Rex Lex). But Rutherford believed the opposite. He wrote a book called 'Lex Rex', translated as 'The law is king'. The notion that the monarch was subject to a greater authority - God - was so radical that, had he not first died of illness, Rutherford's courageous stand would have seen him martyred for treason.

From modest gentleman farmer to great soldier and statesman, Oliver Cromwell consistently trusted in God's mercy and providence in spite of the political tumult of his times. He often cuts an ambivalent figure in British history, suffering from popular misrepresentations of the Puritans as gloomy killjoys. However, Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones has celebrated the period of his Protectorate as "one of the most glorious" in English history. After Cromwell, Parliament gained a status it had never had before.

Evangelicals rightly stress the glorious plan of salvation and the proclamation of the gospel. However, what exactly we are being saved for, beyond this life, is often regarded in the haziest manner. There must be something better and more exciting than floating on clouds and playing on harps ahead of us! Why are we so unclear about the nature of future glory? What should excite us about 'heaven'? What can we be confident about in that Life ahead? How should seeing the New Creation more clearly affect our thinking and behaviour in this present fallen world? It is time to penetrate Satan's smokescreen. It is time to regain a clearer sight of Glory.

As Christians we are in the world but not of the world. But how do we engage with the culture of our day, if at all? Should we abandon, embrace or try to transform it? In 1951 American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr famously described five ways professing Christians have engaged with culture throughout history. In this talk we will use these five ways to better understand how we as Christians should engage with the wider culture.

Why do we 'work'? What does the Bible teach us about how our work fits into the wider picture of God's purposes for humanity? Does it matter what work we do? We will explore these questions, as well as current issues of pay, wealth, taxation and our responsibilities to others.

What does it mean to be a Christian citizen in 21st Century Britain? What are the implications of the Gospel for our stance in the public square? Revd Ovey looks at how Christians should respond to our modern culture of entitlement and 'rights', in which so many, including the Government, do not submit to anyone higher than themselves. He explains how Christians need to understand why the Gospel is so precious, and where it is under threat.

God's great rescue plan of salvation will lead to the redemption of His people and the restoration of creation itself. What God established in creation is now marred by the fall. But God's ultimate purpose cannot be thwarted. There will be ultimate fulfilment of all things in the New Heavens and New Earth. This has profound implications for how we live today.

In Christ, we are renewed and equipped for service. Christians, and the whole of creation, long for deliverance from slavery and corruption, eagerly awaiting the freedom promised.