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Episodes
16 hours ago
16 hours ago
Adoption
The word for today is adoption. Imagine you are an orphan left on the streets. You are hungry and thirsty. Begging for scraps of food. Your last job you were treated like a slave, so you escaped. Even your only friend, a stray dog, has abandoned you! You are friendless, lonely and miserable.
Then one day a big stretch limousine pulls up beside you. You recognize the limousine. It is the one you scratched with a key because you were bored and belongs to the enemy of your former boss. The driver asks you to get in, and reluctantly you do. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The limousine drives and eventually goes through some large gates and there is a huge house on top of the hill. The owner is there to greet you. He tells you that you are now part of his family now, if you want to be. You have no need to go back to begging for scraps. You are part of his family now, with all the legal standing as one of his children.
That is adoption in the Christian sense. If you are a Christian, God has accepted you as a member of His family with all the legal standing of an heir and a true son or true daughter.
The bible says in Galatians 4:7 "Now you are no longer a slave b ut God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir."
Because of adoption, we know that:
- God purchased us from slavery into a family (Ephesians 1:7)!
- God will supply all our needs, just as all good fathers always do!
- God comes to live inside us!
- We are reconciled with God, even though once we were His enemies (Romans 5:9)!
- We have transformed relationships with others and ourselves!
- We now seek His honour rather than our own!
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2 days ago
2 days ago
Psalm 139
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm far away.
3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
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7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
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13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
18 I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name.
21 O Lord, shouldn't I hate those who hate you? Shouldn't I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
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3 days ago
3 days ago
WOW Word - Temptation
~Today Alphy the WOWChurch Cat shares about
the WOW Word Temptation!
Agghhh! Temptation! Temptation to sin! We all face them as Christian disciples.
Who are we tempted by? We are tempted by the arch-enemy, the devil! We are tempted by other people to disobey! We are tempted by our old nature fighting against our new nature given to us by God!
But that’s what we as Christians are facing when we are tempted to sin and disobey God! When you are tempted to disobey God, either in action or inaction, you are not to touch it – just like you wouldn’t try to stop a chainsaw with your hands!!
Christians face constant temptation to disobey God and sin. However temptations are common experiences for all Christians. God allows temptations, but He will never let you be tempted beyond what He knows you can handle – that’s His promise. And even more, He always provides a means of escape from temptation! Paul wrote about that to the church in Corinth and we read that in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has a way out, so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it.” WOW!
Temptation it must be noted is not sin. If it was, Jesus the sinless one would not be sinless! Rather it is the giving into temptation that causes us to sin. By dealing with temptation at the very moment it confronts you, you show you are living a life worthy of Jesus Christ.
Here are some short guidelines to help us deal with temptation:
- Remember the need to love God with a greater love than whatever is tempting us (1 John 2:15).
- Acknowledging and remembering that sin’s power was nullified by Jesus’ death on the cross (Romans 6:11)
- Remembering that as Christian Disciples, we are to continue living under the control of the Spirit’s power (Galatians 5:16) – the Holy Spirit who lives within you! WOW!.
- Remembering that you are as a Christian to be living a moment-by-moment dependence in faith on the Holy Spirit’s power, and make a conscious decision by an act of your will to benefit from the Holy Spirit’s power and assistance. He will help you if you ask!
Remember to continue to grow as a Christian! The key to growing as a Christian Disciple is to submit everything to God and keep on submitting everything to God. If you are growing as Christian Disciple, you are grow more in love with God, and therefore your desire to sin and disobey Him becomes increasingly less.
Finally, here is a WOW for you! Remember that the Holy Spirit lives inside you, and greater is He that is in you than anything else in the world (1 John 4:4). Now that is a comforting thought, because it means we don’t face these temptations alone! How easily that is forgotten!
So next time you are faced with temptation to sin and disobey God - pray and ask for God’s help! But be prepared for the answer, because it may not be the answer you expect! Be alert to the possibilities! If you have specific sins that entangle you habitually, ask that the Holy Spirit will help you avoid the temptation! It may also mean that you are to avoid the situation or circumstance where you are being tempted. You could also get close friends to pray for you as you also pray for them!~
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4 days ago
4 days ago
WOW Word - What is Evangelismddddddddd~
All Christian Disciples are called to do the work of evangelism. Not everyone is called explicitly to be an evangelist, such as Billy Graham. However. All Christian Disciples and Disciples are called to tell and show others about Jesus Christ and the good news which He alone can offer. That is evangelism. I know it is a word that scares a lot of people who call themselves a Christian. But what can we learn and overcome to do this basic of the Christian faith? Download the mp3 using the link below to learn more.~
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5 days ago
5 days ago
The Goal Of Being A Christian
Our WOW Word today is Goal! As in the goal of being a disciple of Jesus Christ!
I wonder what you think the goal of being a Disciple of Jesus Christ is to be. Is it just a means to get to heaven? Maybe it is praying a lot? Perhaps it is reading and memorizing the whole Bible? Doing lots of evangelism or doing lots of work for the church? As admirable as those things are, they are not what is to be the goal for those who claim to be Disciples of Jesus Christ.
The ultimate goal for any Christian Disciple is to be found in these verses from 1 John 2:3-6 -
“We know that we have come to know Jesus if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
According to the Apostle John, the goal of being a Christian Disciple is to walk and live as Jesus did and to follow the commands of Jesus. That doesn’t mean walking around in sandals, wearing white clothes and traversing the terrain where Jesus Himself walked. The Apostle John means that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to be radical, holy and living lives worthy of that of Jesus. Download or listen to find out more!
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6 days ago
6 days ago
Partakers Prayers
For the Persecuted Church Worldwide
We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity! Come! Let us pray together!
Amen
God of all comfort, for those who are tortured both in body and mind, give them the grace to endure and to see their suffering as part of following in Christ’s footsteps. Merciful God, for those asked to pay the ultimate price; who are martyred because of their love for you, may they truly know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
Amen
Father God, for those who are widowed and orphaned may they know the comfort that comes from your promised presence even when they walk through the valley. May they be strengthened by your Spirit, enabling them to rejoice with the psalmist as they proclaim that the LORD will not abandon them in death.
Amen
Heavenly Father, we ask that you would make us ever mindful of our brothers and sisters around the world who need us to stand with them as they suffer in your name. Teach us what it means to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony; we pray that we would not love our lives so much as to shrink from death.
We ask these things O Father, through the name of Your Son, Jesus
Amen
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7 days ago
7 days ago
Colossians 3v1-4
“Remember Who You Are!”
3:1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
3:2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
3:4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
In the year 1993, I slipped into a coma on a Saturday evening during my sleep. But that story is a bit of a bore and not really important. After a couple of days in hospital, I woke up and there was a face of a pretty woman peering down at me, smiling and asking "Do you remember who you are?" My response was "Of course I do!! But who are you, and what have you done with my wife". And that is a similar story for those of us who are Christians. If we are listening, we are constantly being reminded by God the Holy Spirit, of our status before God if we are His children. The Holy Spirit is always there behind us, reminding us, that we are now His children and not His enemy, and therefore to stop living as if we were His enemy. In these verses, Paul reminds us of our identity. This morning we are going to look at primarily our new identity and five facts about our Christian identity...
1. What are we to do with this Jesus if we claim to be his followers and in relationship with him?
a. We died with Christ (3a).
b. We are raised with Christ (1a).
c. We live with Christ (4a).
d. We are hidden with Christ (3b).
e. We will be glorified with Christ (4b).
2. Jesus - fully human
3. Jesus - fully God
Recapitulation
- Remember who you are.
- Remember your identity.
- Remember you have died with Christ,
- Remember you have been raised with Christ.
- Remember you have new life in Christ - NOW!!.
- Remember you are hidden with Christ - NOW!!.
- Remember you will be glorified with Christ when He comes again.
Conclusion
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Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Wednesday Wisdom
Proverbs 6
G’day! Welcome to Partakers and to Wednesday Wisdom, where we are listening to what the Bible has to say through the Wisdom literature of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Come on in!
Today it is Proverbs 6. Download this episode using this link
MY son, if You be security for your friend, if You have stricken your hand with a stranger,
2 You are snared with the words of your mouth, You are taken with the words of your mouth.
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, when You are come into the hand of your friend; go, humble yourself, and make sure your friend.
4 Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Deliver yourself as a deer from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, You sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provides her meat in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long will You sleep, O sluggard? when will You arise out of your sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 So shall your poverty come as one that travels, and your want as an armed man.
12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth.
13 He winks with his eyes, he speaks with his feet, he teaches with his fingers;
14 Perversity is in his heart, he devises mischief continually; he sows discord.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
16 These six things does the Lord hate: yes, seven are an abomination to him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother:
21 Bind them continually upon your heart, and tie them about your neck.
22 When You go, it shall lead you; when You sleep, it shall keep you; and when You awaken, it shall talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Lust not after her beauty in your heart; neither let her take you with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29 So he that goes in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever touches her shall not be innocent.
30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
32 But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: he that does it destroys his own soul.
33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though You give many gifts.
That’s it for today! Come back every day to Partakers Podcasts to hear something to encourage and uplift you as a Christian disciple, regardless of where you are in the world. You can also purchase our books via Amazon at Pulptheology.com
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Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
Psalm 29
1 Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of the mighty,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name.
3 Yahweh's voice is on the waters.
The God of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters.
Yahweh's voice is full of majesty.
5 The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars.
Yes, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them also to skip like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion like a young, wild ox.
7 Yahweh's voice strikes with flashes of lightning.
8 Yahweh's voice shakes the wilderness.
Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 Yahweh's voice makes the deer calve, and strips the forests bare.
In his temple everything says, "Glory!"
10 Yahweh sat enthroned at the Flood.
Yes, Yahweh sits as King forever.
11 Yahweh will give strength to his people.
Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
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Monday Oct 28, 2024
Monday Oct 28, 2024
Partakers Bible Thought
“31 ‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD,
‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD.
33 ‘This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbour,
or say to one another, “Know the LORD,” because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the LORD.
‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’ ”
(Jeremiah 31:31-34)
In the ancient world and in the Bible, Covenants were common in all kinds of life, and not just between God and humanity. For instance where a powerful nation had taken over a weaker nation, a covenant was in place to give benefits from the powerful nation to the weaker nation, such as protection as well as sanctions if the weaker nation rebelled.
As a Christian today, you are living under is called the "New Covenant" (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Prior to this "New Covenant", there were 6 Covenants between God and humanity. What where they? What do all these Biblical Covenants have in common? What does this New Covenant have to do with you and I as Christians in the 21st Century?
Let’s explore these words together, download and listen to the podcast!
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