Deeper: Podcasts to explore and deepen Christian faith

The commandment "do not steal" isn't quite as simple as choosing not to grab our 'swag bag' and swipe stuff from peoples houses.  Though please don't.  The ways we steal from others are much more varied and subtle than we think, and some of them have spread unquestioned into our normal systems and businesses.  So - if we're going to live abundant lives as people of faith - what's the opposite of this 'stealing' that happens all the time?

Exploring what it might mean to live a life of true abundance, we're working our way backwards through the 10 commandments, asking if there's a secret in here for all of humanity, especially for Christians across the world.  This is episode 2 - Truthful, and here we look at commandment 9 - don't give a false testimony against a neighbour.  So what does that mean, and where's the abundance in that?

We're going to give ourselves some time to work backwards thru the 10 commandments and see if that can help us unearth what Jesus is hoping for in the 'life in all its abundance' that he said he'd come to bring humanity.  This is episode one of season 3 and is called, "Contented".  We look at the 10th commandment - Don't covet other people's stuff.

At the crucifixion of Jesus, he utters 7 phrases while on the cross.  Here we explore how two of them could be linked together through a Psalm written a thousand years before Jesus was even born.  Could this spiritual song and poem written by King David (one of Jesus' direct ancestors) be a key to unlocking the hope of the cross?

Jesus once asked us not to focus on the things that everyone else focuses on, like money and belongings and what we will eat and drink.  That's a lovely idea, but anyone who's a parent will also know that not worrying about those things also feels like a lack of care.  Surely he doesn't mean we should neglect our jobs or our families?  We explore what he is trying to say, and why focusing instead on his ways of living might be the revolutionary answer that the world is looking for.

Tuesday is an odd name for this episode, I do know that, but there's something great about Tuesdays according to the story of creation and according to ancient Jewish wedding traditions ... and according to Jesus.  He loves a good third day!  As you listen to this miracle (water into wine) and we unpack some of the goodies hidden around it all, we pray that you'll see yourself and your own life in a brand new Tuesday way.  

This time we look at a 3,000 year old spiritual song and poem, written for people on pilgrimage to sing or recite together as they meet and head up to their place of worship.  It's written around two key images of what it feels like and how God's blessing presents itself when people live together in unity.  A timely message for the world we live in today, and helpful as we explore what it might mean to live as a Christian person of faith in today's world.

One of the Gospel Writers (John) inserts one specific word when he's writing about the baptism of Jesus.  It's the word 'Remain'.  In ancient common Greek, that word means more than just staying with someone or something.  It's a cracker really - and in this podcast we look at how John uses that one word then, and later, to explain a lot about what it actually means to be a follower of Jesus today.  

I've read and spoken about the moment when Jesus comes to John the Baptist and gets baptised, but there's a line in Matthew's Gospel that I've never really got to grips with.  In this podcast we explore that one line, "we have to do this to fulfil all righteousness", and look at three ways to interpret what it might mean.  All three will lead us deeper into faith, deeper into understanding who Jesus is and what he's about, and hopefully deeper into living a life like Jesus here and now today.

In the first episode of season 2, we look at a single word, and bizarrely it's 'word'.  What does the Gospel Writer John want his original readers to understand by the way he introduces Jesus, and what might that mean for how we see Jesus as a historical figure, and as someone we can know and meet today?

Our final ADVENT 2025 podcast explores the title 'Emmanuel' given to Jesus 700+ years before his birth.  The more we find out about this prophecy in its original form, the more it speaks to what we see it meaning about Jesus, and also ... also about us today.

Isaiah is an Old Testament Prophet who could see in his spirit who Jesus was going to be, more than 700 years before he arrived on the scene.  But even though he could see clearly, there was no way for him to know him personally - not yet.  John The Baptist arrives on the scene and is a contemporary of Jesus, but even he - when he was thrown in prison, could not see and know Jesus how we can ... not yet.  What can we gain from their insights and questions, and in what ways does Jesus make himself known to us here and now?

Here we read through a prophecy Christians believe is about Jesus from 700 years before he is born, by one of the greatest Old Testament prophets - Isaiah.  What does it tell us about who Jesus was going to be, and therefore about who followers of Jesus are to be now.

Here we open up a short passage where Jesus teaches us to expect him to one day return.  How can we be ready for that, and what does it actually mean?  As Christians all over the globe use ADVENT (the period of time before Christmas) to get ready to celebrate his birth, we remember too that we need to be ready for his return.