EPHESIANS: Planting a Church - Michael Coltman

Acts 19.1-20 In the first of two introductory talks on the letter to the Ephesians, we learn how the church was planted. It turns out to be a combination of extraordinary open doors, biblical proclamation, miracles, spiritual warfare and very hard work. 18 January 2025.

Acts 2.42-47. The dynamic and growing early church prioritised Bible teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. They met both all together in the public sphere and in smaller groups in homes, a perfect model for all churches at all times and in all places. 11 January 2025.

Isaiah 54.2-4. On this Vision Sunday, Michael sets out our dreams, ambitions and sense of God's priorities for the year ahead, with a call to commitment, full-blooded discipleship and faith. 4 January 2025.

Matthew 2.1-12. Who were those strange visitors from the East we know as the three kings or the three wise men? Were they actually wise at all? Were they three in number or necessarily all men? What do their unusual gifts mean? And what do they and their journey represent for us today? 28 December 2025.

Luke 2.1-20. The shepherds in the nativity story represent the world's outsiders, the marginalised, the poor and the overlooked. Jesus is for everybody. 21 December 2025.

2 Peter 3.8-18. Peter speaks in his second letter of the last things. What should we expect? How should we prepare? 7 December 2025.

2 Peter 3.8-18. In Peter's last letter, he gives some instruction and a warning about the last things and the second coming of Christ. Why does the Lord delay so long? What will happen on that great and terrible day? And how should we prepare for it? 7 December 2025.

1 Peter 5.1-7 Is there a biblical blueprint for church leadership? It is increasingly the norm in the UK to have one priest for a number of churches. But the New Testament norm is the exact opposite; a team of leaders for one church. And not ‘priests’ either, but ‘elders’ (1 Peter 2.9 says that all believers form a royal priesthood). Who should be local church elders and what kind of qualities should we expect of them? Peter explains in his first letter. 30 November 2025.

1 Peter 2.4-10. Having focused so far exclusively in this series on what people wrote about Peter, we now look at what he himself wrote. In his first letter Peter describes the church as a temple - the place where people encounter the presence of God, where heaven meets earth. But this temple is not made of limestone, mortar, timber and glass, but of transformed human lives, filled with the Holy Spirit. Are you a “living stone”? 23 November 2025.

Acts 11.1-18. In Acts 10 and 11 Peter is involved in an incident that sees the gospel break free from its exclusively Jewish roots and start to propel outwards towards the ends of the earth. But Peter’s friends are freaked out by this and confront him angrily about it. How is Peter going to turn this sudden crisis into a window of opportunity? 16 November 2025.