SIMON PETER: Defying a Gagging Order - John Lambert

Acts 4.1-31. Following the healing of the lame beggar (Acts 3), it all kicks off because the religious authorities can see public support for the new Jesus movement is exploding - at their expense. Peter and the apostles are roughly treated and strictly forbidden to do anything in Jesus’ name. How will Peter lead the Christian response? And how should we respond to public pressure to be silent about our faith? 2 November 2025.

Acts 3.1-16. Peter’s day is interrupted by a man begging at the temple gate. As it happens, Peter and John (who is with him) don’t have any cash on them, but they do have faith in the power of Jesus Christ. So Peter tells the man, who is lame from birth, to get up and walk in Jesus’ name, and then helps him to his feet. When Jesus said that his followers would do the mighty works he did - and greater ones still - this episode shows that he meant us to take him at his word. Apologies; the first minute or so of Phil’s talk is missing from the recording. 26 October 2025.

Acts 2.14-41. After the resurrection, restored by Jesus, Peter is a changed man. After Pentecost though, he is a new man. Peter is unrecognisable from all that came before once he is baptised in the Holy Spirit. How would you respond to Peter’s first sermon if you were listening in that day? 19 October 2025.

John 21.1-19. After Peter’s threefold denial, the risen Lord Jesus offers him a way back. Standing by a charcoal fire, which must have reminded Peter of his dismal failure, Jesus pointedly asks Peter three times if he really loves him. Once that is affirmed, Peter is entrusted with spiritual leadership. How can we move on from our own failures and show that we love the Lord? 12 October 2025.

Luke 22.31-62. His threefold denial, predicted beforehand by Jesus with pinpoint accuracy, is probably the thing Peter is most remembered for. Despite his protests that he would never deny his Lord, fear overtakes him and his night ends in catastrophic failure. What instruction and hope can we take from this story? 5 October 2025.

John 13.1-17. On the night he was betrayed, denied and abandoned, Jesus ate a last meal with his disciples and interrupted proceedings to wash everyone's feet. Peter vigorously protested. Why was this so countercultural and what does it have to say to us in our very different culture? 28 September 2025.

Mark 9.2-13 and 2 Peter 1.16-18. Imagine standing with Peter, James, and John as Jesus is suddenly transformed before your eyes, shining with a brilliant heavenly light. What did this awe-inspiring event mean for Simin Peter then, and what does it mean for us now? 21 September 2025.

Mark 8.27-38. Within a minute, Peter goes from hero to zero as his prophetic revelation of Jesus' identity is followed immediately by a hell-inspired attempt to divert Jesus from his saving mission. How can we in turn grow in our expression of the prophetic and avoid getting it all wrong? 14 September 2025.

Matthew 14.22-33. How do you move away from anxiety, towards trust in Christ? This well-known story of Peter's adventurous but wobbling faith has much to teach us about fixing our eyes on the Lord and keeping them there when it's tempting to divert them towards what scares us most. 7 September 2025.

John 1.40-42 and Luke 5.1-11. Simon Peter must be the most loveable and endearing of Jesus’ twelve disciples. Who cannot identify with his journey of faith, punctuated with human failings? But Jesus called him first and invested in him most because he saw particular qualities in him - qualities he longs to see in us too. 31 August 2025.