How do you cope with waiting? Some of us struggle and feel desperate to get to the thing we’re waiting for. Others are more naturally serene, and can wait with patience for their situation to improve. Advent begins this Sunday. It’s a time of waiting to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas. What should we do with this time? It’s a time to prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas. It’s a time to pray for the coming of Christ into our hearts and into the world. It’s a time to practise spiritual discipline. Spiritual life is lived in the tension between Christ is here already and Christ is yet to come. There’s always thankfulness for what we have but also yearning for what’s yet to come. Christians live between thankfulness and yearning, so both active service and patient waiting are always aspects of faith. During Advent we practise the yearning and the waiting, and this is a form of prayer. May God guide and bless you through this Advent season. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

Hi, what’s your favourite season? I think mine is autumn as far as the natural world goes - though I am weary of fireworks and halloween! At last it begins to feel like autumn in the UK with both leaves and temperatures falling. This season inspires us to think of the dying away of the old so that new life can grow. This week we think about the reign of Christ. What needs to die away in life so that love can reign supreme? Don’t forget, you can email me about the podcast on [email protected] Rev. David Sutcliffe. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

Hello and welcome to Knowing You Jesus.  We are coming to that time of year when we remember those people who risked or gave their lives in recent wars.  Remembrance Sunday is 13th November 2022, and up at Hearsall we’ll be remembering in a two-minute silence at 11am that day. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

Welcome to our brand new podcast, Knowing You Jesus. In this, the first ever episode, we consider the topic of ‘Green Faith’ and reflect on our responsibilities as Christians for the care of the planet. As COP27 begins, we focus our minds on what we can all do to respond to the climate crisis. The format of the new podcast is very simple. You’ll hear a sermon with a scripture passage, a song or a meditation, and then a conversation with a guest about the themes of the week. My first guest is Jan Clemons, our dedicated eco-deacon, who has led the church in achieving an A-Rocha Silver award as an eco-church and who inspires us to be practically involved in environmental issues. My text is Hebrews 1: 1 -3. This is a passage that makes such grand claims that they are really too big to be kept inside a church. Can Christians make a special contribution to help with the climate crisis? If this passage is our guide, the answer must be a resounding ‘Yes!’ I hope you enjoy the new format and if you want to make a comment, you can email me on [email protected] or [email protected]. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

We very much hope you have enjoyed listening to, or reading, Hearsall at Home both this week and over the past couple of years. We are indebted to our musicians, including Joan Cobb, Nick Leonard, John Pettifer, Martin Prue, Seb and Fran Farrall and others who have provided such beautiful sounds to accompany our worship. We are grateful to all our readers and leaders of intercessions and to our interviewees and other contributors. Thanks too, to Jackie Pritchard, who faithfully edits the script for the podcast. We are especially grateful to Andy Thompson, our technical manager, who every week weaves together all our various contributions into a coherent sound file. Starting from next week, we will be slimming the podcast down a bit and giving it a new name: Knowing You Jesus. You’ll read or hear the readings and a sermon, and a song or a reflection. In a new feature, the audio file will include a conversation between myself and a guest about the theme of the week. We hope you will be blessed by it. Hearsall at Home is written and presented by Rev David Sutcliffe, with additional material this week from Sarah Lewis. The readers were Louise and Martin Prue and Sarah Lewis. Music and songs by Martin Prue, Joan Cobb, Seb & Fran Farrall, Nick Leonard and John Pettifer. The written download was compiled by Jackie Pritchard and can be downloaded on this link. Post Production was by Andy Thompson. Incidental music by Zapsplat.com. Hearsall at Home is brought to you by the members and friends of Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, in the heart of the United Kingdom. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

Our theme today is good news for the poor. We look at the announcement Jesus made about his ministry as described in chapter four of Luke’s gospel. What does this message mean for us? Do we consider ourselves ‘poor’ in any sense? Have we personally accepted the good news of Jesus? What does the message mean for a church community? Do we share life together in Jesus’ upside down way, where the last can be first and the servant is the greatest? And what does the message mean for the nation all around us? As the cost of living crisis looms, how can we support people who find themselves in serious financial difficulties? That’s quite a bunch of challenging questions. Even so, I hope you find the service uplifting this week. Hearsall at Home is written and presented by Rev David Sutcliffe, with additional material this week from Peter Fearn. The readers were Fran Farrall and Peter Fearn. Music and songs by Martin Prue, Joan Cobb, Seb & Fran Farrall, Nick Leonard and John Pettifer. The written download was compiled by Jackie Pritchard and can be downloaded on this link. Post Production was by Andy Thompson. Incidental music by Zapsplat.com. Hearsall at Home is brought to you by the members and friends of Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, in the heart of the United Kingdom. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

Today we explore the extraordinary power that comes through a prayer of pain. What do I mean by a prayer of pain? Sometimes life gets too much! A person may sense that the only place to take their accumulated heartache and grief is God. At last the pain is poured out. Such moments may be very traumatic, but they have the potential to become turning points in a person’s life, and also in the life of the world around them. These themes are explored through the story of Hannah. How do you like to pray? With many words, heart-felt cries, walks in nature or silent contemplation? There are many ways to pray, but when a broken heart is brought to God, healing can at last begin. Hearsall at Home is written and presented by Rev David Sutcliffe, with additional material this week from Denise Ree. The readers were Angela and Roger Bull and Denise Ree. Music and songs by Martin Prue, Seb & Fran Farrall, Nick Leonard and John Pettifer. The written download was compiled by Jackie Pritchard and can be downloaded on this link. Post Production was by Andy Thompson. Incidental music by Zapsplat.com. Hearsall at Home is brought to you by the members and friends of Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, in the heart of the United Kingdom. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

This week saw World Animal Day celebrated on Tuesday. This annual event dates from the 1920s, and aims to raise the status of animals and call for their compassionate treatment at human hands. Those going to Hearsall on Sunday are invited to bring a dog. We will thank God for all that our animals mean to us, consider what they mean to God, and pray for those who campaign for the humane treatment of all God’s creatures. Perhaps you may be thinking of a pet you once loved, or an animal you care for. What can we learn about God’s love from our dogs, cats and other animal companions?     Hearsall at Home is written and presented by Rev David Sutcliffe, with additional material this week from Val Grecu. The readers were Val Grecu, Cynthia Baker and Andy Thompson. Music and songs by Martin Prue, Joan Cobb, Seb & Fran Farrall, Nick Leonard and John Pettifer. The written download was compiled by Jackie Pritchard and can be downloaded on this link. Post Production was by Andy Thompson. Incidental music by Zapsplat.com. Hearsall at Home is brought to you by the members and friends of Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, in the heart of the United Kingdom. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

I hope you are okay and managing to stay warm. Do get in touch if you need help in any way. This week’s service is all about Wonder. It’s been defined as “a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar.” I wonder when you last felt wonder. How did you respond? Did the wonder bring you closer to God? When we’re young we might find many aspects of life to be rather wonderful. As we grow older, our sense of wonder might become a little jaded, perhaps. We’ve seen it all before! But moments of wonder are precious gifts when they arrive. Can we learn to recognise them, welcome them and be made better people through them?  Hearsall at Home is written and presented by Rev David Sutcliffe, with additional material this week from Cynthia Baker. The readers were Anne & Colin Bunting and Cynthia Baker. Music and songs by Martin Prue, Joan Cobb, Seb & Fran Farrall, Nick Leonard and John Pettifer. The written download was compiled by Jackie Pritchard and can be downloaded on this link. Post Production was by Andy Thompson. Incidental music by Zapsplat.com. Hearsall at Home is brought to you by the members and friends of Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, in the heart of the United Kingdom. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message

This week we celebrate the harvest. Fresh produce brought to church on Sunday will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will go to support Practical Action, a wonderful charity providing development assistance in some of the world’s poorest countries. You can support them too via their website on this link. Non-perishable goods will this year go to Coventry Food Bank. Again it’s great to be able to share our food with those who may be struggling. Do get in touch if you need help in getting a donation to the church. Giving is meant to be a joyful act. If you are able, then find a way of sharing with those less fortunate than yourself. You’ll feel so much better for it! Hearsall at Home is written and presented by Rev David Sutcliffe, with additional material this week from Jan Clemmons. The readers were Anne & Andy Thompson and Jan Clemmons. Music and songs by Martin Prue, Seb & Fran Farrall, and Nick Leonard. The written download was compiled by Jackie Pritchard and can be downloaded on this link. Post Production was by Andy Thompson. Incidental music by Zapsplat.com. Hearsall at Home is brought to you by the members and friends of Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, in the heart of the United Kingdom. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/technical-director/message