Jesus meets us in our mess, reveals his identity and sets us free from our shame. He does this by His Holy Spirit who is an unseen yet visible force that moves in us to lead us into the work of the Father.

A man named Nicodemus goes to see Jesus. Why? I wonder if it was because he thought he might be missing out. Are you missing out in your life? And if so what can be done about it?

Do we expect Jesus to meet needs in our community? To do this in a way that goes beyond the bare minimum to overflowing provision? To be utterly gracious, entirely forgiving and to bring the supernatural into everyday environments? John challenges us to raise our expectations of Jesus, perhaps even to re-imagine who He is and can be for us.

In becoming children of God we are invited to live lives that point to Jesus. What lessons can we learn from John the Baptist in how to live lives that point to Jesus?

All of us are becoming something but what or who are we becoming. The good news in John’s Prologue is that God became human in Jesus so that we can have the right to become children of God.

As Paul’s journey continues so should ours as followers of Christ. To be witnesses we need to prepare ourselves to allow time for the Holy Spirit to come and enable us to spread the Gospel. This is not how it ends. The Gospel continues to spread in Bishopston & St Andrews. There is work to be done.

Paul knew all about storms at sea and even got shipwrecked. Here on land we all experience the storms of life and the shipwrecks too. Seeing how Paul responds, we can follow him by facing the facts, facing our fears and above all, praying.

What does it mean to have hope in the resurrection?

Do you know Jesus is alive? As we read about Paul's trial, the main dispute is around Paul's claim that Jesus is not dead, but alive! The others in the story have differing responses to that news, what's your response? And does it make a difference to your life?

In Acts 22, just after his arrest in Jerusalem, Paul defends himself and his actions to the Jewish crowd. He has much to say but in essence it boils down to this: I do what I do because of who is uncharge of my life. I wonder who is in charge of your life?

This long chapter starts with a diary-like recounting of the ordinary everyday of travelling on mission. It can sometimes feel in life like God is only present in the big, life-defining moments, but God is also in the detail. How has God worked in your week?

This passage is a snapshot of what God was doing in a time and an age 2000-ish years ago and 2250 miles away from B&A. It's a time and context very different to ours, but people are still people, God is still God and the good news of Jesus is still good news, so what can we learn from them?

Sometimes even good news get's lost in translation because it doesn't seem relevant to the hearer or they can't understand the message. The new movement of 'Little Christs' that we read about in Acts had a message that is Good News everyone can understand if they hear and listen.

What kind of vow makes Paul cut all his hair off? Paul set himself aside, dedicating himself to God. Often we forget to set ourselves aside each day; when someone becomes a Christian, they make a vow of sorts – to be set aside to Jesus. Do we need to reconsecrate ourselves?

All through the Bible when Paul is mentioned we see him doing 3 things: announcing the Good News of Jesus, showing people a new way to live, and building new communities of faith. These actions look a lot like Jesus, but Paul is not trying to mimic Jesus, he's allowing Jesus to compel him.

As Paul waits in Athens for the rest of his team to join him, his spirit is provoked by the way the city works. Paul sees the Athenians searching for God in all sorts of places without success and does the only thing he can to improve the situation: he brings Jesus.

There are many filters through which we can view the world, in Acts 17 Paul is very clear on his worldview and has the evidence to back it up. Where does your worldview come from? How do you inform your worldview everyday?

The character of Barnabas in the book of Acts is one we can learn from! About halfway through the book, we stop hearing about him as much, but here are three lessons we can learn from Barnabas: sell your field, find an enemy, and give a second chance.

Jesus being for everyone, Jew and Gentile was a real challenge for the early Church, in Acts 15 they react by asking themselves: what of our old tradition really is important and relevant for the Church going forward? In our lives, what things might we need to let go of or take hold of?

In this part of Acts there are three types of news: Fake, Bad and Good. The fake news is you need to be circumcised to be saved. The bad news is you need to be saved. The good news is that Jesus saves.