Bible teaching

Bible in hand

We think the thing God uses more than anything else to speak to people today is the Bible.

That’s why we’re committed to being Bible centred in our Sunday services and our other meetings through the week. As God speaks through the Bible, we meet him. It is not only a text to explore, discuss and understand; it is God’s word to us, to be received and obeyed.

How can a book which has stories from thousands of years ago have any relevance today? Because the God who created the world is still in charge, and he still speaks to address our deepest need: we can know God and enjoy him forever.

A big part of each Sunday service given for preaching, because we think it is important that God’s word is at the heart of the life of the church. We want the Bible to be presented to the church clearly, faithfully and relevantly, so it is applied directly to our lives.

Regular preachers

John Risbridger leads the leadership team and gives almost half of his time to preaching and preparing to preach. He began teaching the Bible to a group of young people at his home church when he was a teenager, and since then he has had a growing passion to understand and communicate God’s word in a way which connects with people and which communicates a passion for God.

Paul Webber is one of the ministers. He started preaching at the age of 16 in a youth group and on the streets of Neath. He loves preaching because we see how the Bible, though it’s over 2,000 years old, is relevant and has timeless truth that speaks to us, today. God is a speaking God, and has spoken to us primarily through his Son, Jesus. We can meet Jesus today on the pages of the Bible, as God uses it to speak to us by his Holy Spirit.

Dan Simpkins preaches as part of his role as assistant minister. His first experience of preaching came in a pub while he was a student. His passion for preaching comes from being convinced that God uses it to save, build up and bless people, because the message of the cross is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 1 and 2) and this is good news that the world needs to hear about (Romans 10:13–17).

A number of elders also contribute regularly to the preaching (Paul Allcock, Richard Blake and Tony Watkins), and other church members preach from time to time, including David Abernethie, who once acted as the church’s moderator.