Pastor Stephen Hackney Podcast

Episode 29 | What Is The Bible - The Way I See It

The Bible is an amazing but not always easy book - or library of books and there are several ways you can approach it. In this episode we look at the Bible as a story - a meta narrative, or big story into which our own stories can find meaning, purpose and perspective. Looking at the Scriptures, we will see the Holy Book as containing a story that resonates, illuminates, translates, and elevates - as its compelling message speaks to greatness and what it means to be truly human from the perspective of the divine. 

Episode 28 | The Power Of Words

Our words have power to build up or tear down. They carry authority to change relationships, families, teams, churches and communities for better or worse. Proverbs 18:21 says, 'The tongue has the power of life and death...' So how we speak and what we say really does matter. If we want to flourish in life then we need to learn how to speak well - how to talk in a way that honors other people and situations. We need both honesty and humility if we are to live and speak with integrity and so in the this session we will look at the power of words from the perspective of: creation, consideration, compassion, consistency and confession. 

Episode 27 | Where is the Joy?

When life is robbed of joy it usually means we are void of peace, hope and personal contentment. Joy is an indicator of tranquility; a measure of how we are navigating the world. When life throws us off course through suffering, doubt, fear, an existential or faith crisis, we usually discover we are losing our joy. When we search for joy and can't find it - maybe we are looking in the wrong places. In this episode we look at what joy is - where it comes from and how, rather than being a nice tag on to a charmed life, it is actually an essential part of being human. 

Episode 26 | Because You're Worth It - Part 2: Environments, Attitudes and Rhythms

In this second session on Self Care we look at building on the foundation of Christ whilst considering the importance of the environments that shape us; attitudes that contain us; and rhythms that sustain us. We finish by talking about the value of building margin, creating stamina and developing resilience as keys to maintaining rhythms that enable us to flourish in life. 

Episode 25 | Because You're Worth It - 4 Steps to Self Care

A lot is spoken today about self care and the importance of looking after ourselves. In this episode we look at that place of self care as part of a balanced life and importance of finding value in who you are as the first step in this area of life. We then look at 4 steps to consider in taking care of self as an foundation to being a support to other people.

Episode 24 | Anxiety's Creeping Paralysis - And How To Tackle It

Recent research suggests we are becoming a generation of anxious people. Much of this is borne out of uncertainty in our ever changing world along with an explosion of social anxiety caused by our addictions to social media. In this episode we look at how all this creeps up on us and take a look at some of the things we can put into place to cope with change and flourish in life. 

Episode 23 | Is Jealousy Killing You?

Jealousy is an emotion that can get the better of all of us. Yet if we are to thrive we need to recognise that we can be both the giver and receiver of jealousy. To live above it we first have to see it - to deal with it we have to choose a different pathway. In this episode we ask the question: What does that mean?

Episode 22 | Growing In Self Awareness

If we don't pay attention to personal development we restirct out ability to grow. By developing our skills in self awareness we position our life for greater fruitfullneess. This is a talk I gave at Hope which I feel has value in offering insight into the area of this topic. 

Clive Roberts - A Story About Forgiveness

Continuing our series at Hope about forgiveness, I sat down to talk with Clive Roberts about his experience of forgiveness and how that jounrey affected both his life and his faith. Thank you Clive for agreeing to share this with us. 

Jason White - My Journey towards Forgiveness

I sat down with Jason White to ask him about his own journey of life and forgiveness as part of the Hope series called 'The Forgiveness Project'. Here's what he had to say about his journey so far... Thank you Jason for agreeing to share it with us.