Our new series takes us back to our very origins, exploring the earliest stories of Genesis 1-3 to ask: how were we and the world created? As we read these ancient accounts, what do they tell us about what we need to flourish in a fractured world? How does that wisdom sit alongside the discoveries of modern science, and help us understand our faith, our life, our relationship with God - and how should it shape our response to some of the challenges of 21st century life? Today join Kate as she opens the series and reflects on control. How do we differentiate constructive control: part of God's character and something than enables flourishing from another kind of control that dominates and becomes destructive. How does healthy control and reaching out to God help us in moments of chaos and disorder and what is our part to play in bringing more order and calm to a chaotic world?

Sabbath is not only a personal spiritual practice—it is a public act of resistance. Rooted in Israel’s liberation from slavery, Sabbath disrupts the values of consumerism, hurry, and injustice. Join Clark as he explores how keeping Sabbath trains us to say “enough” in a culture that always demands more.

Sabbath is not just about what we stop doing—it’s about what we start noticing and enjoying. This week, Tom explores Sabbath as a time to feast, laugh, sing, connect, and savour God’s goodness in creation and community. Sabbath reawakens our hearts to beauty, joy, and gratitude, drawing us into deeper worship.

In a world that never stops, where more is always better and our worth is often tied to what we produce or consume, the ancient practice of Sabbath offers a radical alternative. In this opening talk of our summer formation focus at St Matthias, Clark Buys invites us to rediscover Sabbath as a weekly rhythm of ceasing — from work, from striving, from buying — and to receive it as a holy gift of rest, renewal, and reformation. Drawing from Scripture, history, and cultural insight, this message invites us to live differently: not from a place of scarcity and pressure, but from trust, presence, and gratitude. What if stopping isn’t laziness, but obedience? What if enough really is enough?

(apologies that the recording misses the very start of Clark's talk)

In this standalone talk, Tom takes time to remember and be inspired by the life of Pope Francis. What can we learn from his wisdom, his example and his teaching?

The final in our series contemplating the cross, guided by Rowan Williams' book 'God With Us'. This week, on Palm Sunday, we join with the crowds who cheered Jesus into Jerusalem as we celebrate his Kingship, his victory over the dominant dark powers of this world. But we also need to recognise that the cross exerts its power in a very different way to the systems of our world. What does this mean for us, in moments we might feel weak, failing, falling far short of the people we might hope to be? What when the world feels hopeless or out of control? What is the call of the cross to us?

We continue our series inspired by Rowan Williams' book "God With Us" thinking about the cross. This week we ask: why? What is it that the cross did that was so world changing? How do we understand the deep significance of this moment and what does it have to do with an ancient system of animal sacrifice that feels so mysterious to us now? Join Kate as she explains why Jesus death was the ultimate sacrifice, liberating us from fear, guilt and the worry of a world so full of darkness and chaos. And as we head into Holy week, what does this mean for us, the reason and focus for our life and passion, as we reflect on Christ's Passion?

In this talk, the first of three inspired by Rowan William's book "God With us," we explore the sign of the cross—not just as a symbol of faith, but as a powerful revelation of human nature and divine love. Why did Jesus die such a violent and public death? What does it say about us that when God came near, we rejected him? And what does it say about God that, knowing all of this, Christ still came?Drawing on insights from René Girard, Francis Spufford, and the Apostle Paul, Clark Buys unpacks how the cross reveals our brokenness, our capacity to scapegoat and blame, and our deep need for grace. But the cross also reveals something greater: the upside-down love of God, how Christ empties himself not to condemn but to save, not to dominate but to serve.This talk is a call to see the cross not only as a mirror into our own human condition, but as a window into the love that holds us still.