Anchored: Teaching from St Martin’s Church

Writing from a Roman prison, Paul reminds the Colossian church that God has both rescued and qualified His people through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. In response to this grace, believers are called to remain steadfast in faith, building their lives on Christ alone and holding fast to the hope of the Gospel. Read the Bible Passage Here  Writing from a Roman prison, Paul addresses a congregation he had never met directly, offering instructions rooted in Christian love. The core message from this sermon on Colossians 1:9–23, explores two fundamental questions: what Father God has accomplished through Jesus Christ, and how Christian believers are expected to respond to that grace. Using the visual memory aid of a "QR code," we can think of Father God's action in two key components: Q ualified and R escued. Beginning with the idea of being rescued we see that Father God delivers believers from the "dominion of darkness"—a state of spiritual bondage, powerless...

Psalm 35 shows how God meets us in the raw places of anger, betrayal, and frustration, inviting us to pour out our pain honestly before Him. As David moves from fury to worship, we learn that giving our hurt to the Lord is the path back to trust, praise, and peace. Read Psalm 35 here What do we do with the difficult parts of the Old Testament? How often, when we read through the Book of Psalms, do we quietly skip over the nasty ones?  Psalm 35 is the first of the ‘imprecatory’ psalms — those psalms where the writer calls down curses on his enemies, asking the Lord to act with supernatural power against those who oppose him.  But how do we reconcile this, and other psalms like it in Books Two and Five, with the New Testament’s call from Luke 6:29 ‘Turn the other cheek’ and "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" from Matthew 5:44? The truth — though we often don’t like to admit it — is that we live in a broken world where justice is frequently absent. And even...

 Su mmary  Colossians 1:15–20 is one of the most powerful descriptions of Jesus in the whole Bible. Paul writes to a young church in Colossae to help them understand who Jesus really is and what it means to belong to Him. Before this passage, Paul reminds them that Jesus has rescued them from darkness, forgiven their sins, and brought them into God’s Kingdom. Now he shows them who this Jesus truly is. Paul says Jesus is the image of the invisible God. This means that when we look at Jesus, we see exactly what God is like. Jesus shows us God’s character, God’s heart, and God’s actions. Creation gives us hints of God, but Jesus shows us the full reality. Jesus is also the firstborn over all creation—not the first created being, but the One who stands above everything. He existed before creation and is supreme over it. Paul goes further: in Him, through Him, and for Him all things were created. Everything we can see and everything we cannot see came into being through Jesus. He h...

Psalm 34 invites us to look back on our lives and recognise the quiet, faithful ways God has rescued us.   David’s story becomes our encouragement: those who take refuge in Yahweh discover His goodness, His protection, and His unfailing care. Read the Psalm Here Have you ever looked back on a moment in your life and suddenly realised there was far more happening beneath the surface than you understood at the time — that The Lord was quietly at work in ways you only recognised later? Psalm 34 was written by King David later in his life as he looked back at a unusual and humiliating episodes recorded in 1 Samuel 21 . This was during the long, painful season when David had to flee from his father‑in‑law Saul, who had turned against him and was now trying to kill him. In desperation, David escaped to the city of Gath which was ruled by an enemy king, Abimelech — only to find himself in fresh danger. His solution was rather unusual, but effective: he pretended to be insane so that ...

Here are the posts so far put into differant headings. Refelcting on the Psalms  Psalm 27- ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?’ Psalm 29 — ‘The Song of the Thunderstorm’ Psalm 30 'From Mourning to Dancing': A Testimony from David Psalm 31: When Someone Else’s Story Becomes Your Own Psalm 32 The Joy of Forgiveness: Hearing the Lord’s Voice Psalm 33 - Unfailing Love in an Unstable World Psalm 34: Trusting the God Who Rescues Preparing the Way teaching Series 1: Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? 2: Following the Real Jesus 3: Where Are You? The God Who Seeks Us” Genesis 3:1–9 4: Pulling up weeds Mark 1:1-9 5: Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus Anchord Teaching Series Living by God’s Design - Part 1: Scripture — Our Firm Foundation

Read Psalm 33 on Bible Gateway Do you ever have those moments when you’re struck by the incredible power of God in creation, and at the same time painfully aware of the desperate attempts by humans—especially those in power—to promote their own dominance? Welcome to Psalm 33. Some believe it was written in a time of war and conflict. It contains a call to the people of Yahweh to look higher—to stop being consumed by rumours, reports, and the schemes of the powerful, and instead to place their trust in the unfailing, steadfast love of Yahweh. Unusually for a psalm in Book One (Psalms 1–41), this psalm is not attributed to anyone. There is no “of David.” It simply comes from an anonymous worship leader calling God’s people to worship. Verses 1–3: Our unnamed worship leader calls on all the righteous—all who know and trust the Lord—to come into the house of God and worship. He says, “Sing, [shout] joyfully to Yahweh.” “It is fitting’ it is the right thing for those who place their ...

Main passages Hebrews 12:1–3, Mark 1:1–8   Supporting Passages Hebrews 11, Isaiah 40:3-5, Malachi 3:1-4 , Romans 7 Last week we stepped into the opening of Mark’s Gospel — a beginning that feels almost like the start of a film. The title appears: “The Good News about Jesus Christ.” But instead of meeting Jesus straight away, Mark draws us into the backstory and introduces us to John the Baptist. John arrives fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi, preparing the way for King Jesus. He is the voice in the wilderness calling people to clear the road for the coming King. And we saw that this preparation wasn’t about fixing a physical road but clearing the inner one — filling spiritual potholes and pulling up spiritual weeds that block the heart. Many came to John, confessed their sins, repented, and were baptised, readying themselves for Jesus. Confession means honestly naming what’s in our hearts — the obvious sins, the hidden ones, and even the “acceptable” ones tha...

Have you ever experienced one of those moments when you’ve found yourself far from the Lord, carrying a real weight inside you—something you know needs to be put right, yet you’ve felt unable to do so? This was David’s story, and so often it is ours too. Yet in this psalm we hear the joy of forgiveness and the voice of the Lord speaking. Psalm 32 was written by David and is believed by many to run parallel with Psalm 51, which is his response to his sin with Bathsheba when he is confronted by the prophet Nathan. But this psalm is different. Rather than being the immediate response to the challenge of his own sin, this is David looking back later, thinking about the effects of sin on his life, and also the joy of forgiveness. Unusually for a psalm, this isn’t just David speaking to Yahweh; later in the psalm the Lord speaks directly to David and to us as well. Verse 1-2 The psalm opens with the great blessing of Yahweh being placed on the person who repents. Blessed, or “oh what ...

  Mark opens his gospel like a film that delays the reveal of its hero, drawing us first into the wild landscape and the voice of John the Baptist — the messenger promised centuries earlier — calling people to clear the road of their hearts for the arrival of King Jesus. This reflection explores how spiritual “weeds” grow unnoticed or even appear good, yet still block the way for Christ’s reign in our lives. Through confession, repentance, and receiving God’s forgiveness, we learn to prepare the way afresh, pulling up anything that hinders us so that Jesus may fill us again with his Holy Spirit and holy fire. Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash The best stories don’t begin by introducing the main character straight away; rather, the story gently unfolds and we are led to them, with everything setting up so we know who they are. So it is with the Book of Mark. Almost like a movie script, the title is revealed so we know what it’s about, but then we are led through… …the back st...