SPB sermons || As He, So We | John 20:19–31 | Canon Mark Eldredge

A locked room. A frightened band of disciples. And a risen Jesus standing among them with the most surprising opening line in the New Testament.In this sermon from John 20:19–31, Canon Mark Eldredge — visiting from the American Anglican Council — asks why the very first thing Jesus said to his disciples after rising from the dead was "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." Not "let's gather and worship." Not "love one another." Not "serve the poor." But "you're sent."Mark unpacks the priority of mission and the plan for mission — leaving our comfort zones, building real relationships with people who don't yet know Jesus, and becoming "yet people" who say with Christ in the garden, "not my will, but yours be done."A warm and bracing word to St Paul's & St Barnabas about being a church for North Belfast — sent in the same way the Son was sent.Preached at St Paul's & St Barnabas, Belfast — Eastertide, May 2026.www.spbbelfast.church