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Episodes

Sunday May 11, 2014
Sundays with Sammy 11 05 2014
Sunday May 11, 2014
Sunday May 11, 2014

11th May 2014
To walk in the light – 1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7
We continue our look at St John’s letters to the churches that he started in order to eradicate the false teachings that had begun in his absence.
Last time we heard that:
- John wrote this letter about Jesus, who is the Word of life
- Jesus came from God to show us real life
- When we believe God’s message, we join God’s family
The command to walk in the light seems on the surface more an act of sensibility than anything theological or biblical. Why would anyone WANT to walk around in darkness? Anywhere? Inside you are very likely to end up with bruised shins, and outside (especially here where there are no streetlamps – as we have no pavements/sidewalks) well, there are ditches, trees and huge cows to walk into, and trust me, they don’t move when a daft human stumbles into them!
I finished the last session saying, ‘In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’ This is one of my favourite dismissals from the liturgy, and we hear it often, but firstly do we actually hear the words…by then most of us on a Sunday morning are already into ‘what shall I cook for lunch’ or ‘did I wash and dry the kids’ games kit or was that last week?’ mode. But even if we do manage to hang on to those last precious, uncomplicated moments in church before the chaos resumes, what do those words actually mean?? This time, John wants to explain that the light he talks of isn’t necessarily a physical light – although that is a characteristic of God – but the light that drives away fear; light that reveals truth, light that show us where to walk. Next time we will cover sin, but for now let us go back to John’s first letter. He writes, ‘This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.’
1 John 1:5 - God is perfect and people who know God must not do evil deeds.
John did not invent the message. Remember that he says ‘we have seen’ more than once in his writings so what John writes, we can pretty much assume is as a witness and says that he received it from the Lord Jesus. Jesus, we know, taught those who were with him and He showed them how to know God. He then sent them to teach this to other people which is how the apostolic church was started, and in this way, everyone may know God as well. This is the message that John heard from the Lord and that God is light.
God is light by nature, as we learn from the creation story in Genesis. God said ‘let there be light, and there was light, and God saw that the light was good and God divided the light from darkness’. As light shines, so God shows himself. All light comes from God as God created it. John uses the word light to mean all that is good, holy and right. This message shows something about God’s character. God is good. He is always right, and holy. God, who is light, sees all things. We can hide nothing from him. John uses the word darkness to mean evil acts, sin and error. There can be nothing bad in God. He is perfect and he can do nothing wrong. The only Old Testament occurrence of this precise phrase is in Isaiah 2:5, ‘O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord.’ The Psalms contain similar phrases (56:13; 89:15), as does Isaiah (9:2; 50:10-11; 59:9).
Some people may turn from the light. They love darkness more than the light. This is because their actions are evil (this refers to the gospel of John 3:19-21). There can be no darkness in God. Those people who do evil acts cannot share life with God. Those who believe God must live in the light.
1 John 1:6 - People who do evil things do not share God’s life
John now shows how this message should affect our lives. In the next five verses, there are three false things that some people say (verses 6, 8 and 10). After each of these false things, John shows us what the truth is (1:7, 9; 2:1). The effect of what they say is that sin does not affect them. So, it does not matter what we do. They say that they are united with God. But they continue to sin. The Lord Jesus gives a new life to those who believe. This life is from God and only God, through a living relationship with Jesus. This life is unity with God. But there can be no unity between light and darkness.
A person may say that they live with God. But if that person does evil acts, then their words are lies. Their actions are not right. Those actions are darkness not light. That person is like someone who walks in darkness. Darkness and light cannot be in unity. They do not share the life from God. The false teachers said that they walked in the light, but, what they did were works of darkness. They did not do what was right. They did not obey the truth. John believes that the test of truth is not just belief. Truth is not only in what we say. Our belief will affect what we do. We show our belief in God by good and right acts.
Verse 7: God has provided a remedy for our sins
There is a contrast here. The person who does the wrong thing lives in darkness, likewise the person who does the right things lives in light. This is how God wants us to live. He wants us to believe the gospel. And we should live to please him. God is holy. He always does what is right. God is in the light because he created the light and is the light. To live in the light is to be true to God. This is to live in the same manner as God lives.
Real Christians live in the light. They believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They all share the same life. This unity among Christians shows that they belong to God, united with each other, brothers and sisters adopted by and united with God to be His children and live together. John desires that the readers will come into that same unity.
The word ‘blood’ here is referring to the death of Jesus. The Old Testament says that the life is in the blood. Jesus gave his life for us and by his death, Jesus has taken away our sins. He removes all sin from us. But we must believe in him. Remember that nobody can be perfect while here on earth, but we must all try and do what God asks us to do, and when we do stray or make mistakes, God forgives those who believe, and with Jesus we can get back on the right path. Through the forgiveness that we ask for, Jesus makes sinners clean again. Whenever we say the Lord’s Prayer we are asking for forgiveness for the things we have done wrong. Jesus forgives us NOT so we can go and do the same thing again, but to show us how we can move on without guilt and become closer to God.
God has made the remedy for our sin. By this, he can make us clean from all sins. So, we can keep our unity with him. This remedy is the blood of his Son Jesus Christ.
Some people taught that the human Jesus was not the Son of God. They taught that the human Jesus died. However, they said that God the Son did not die. John makes it plain that Jesus as God the Son did die for our sins.
To ‘walk’ is, in short, to live one’s life. One’s lifestyle or way of life can be considered a ‘walk.’ The word also indicates progress. Walking is related to growth; it is taking steps toward maturity. ‘Light’ in the Bible can be a metaphor for life, happiness, righteousness, or understanding. The Bible is clear that light comes from the Lord God, the ‘Father of the heavenly lights’ (James’ letter in 1:17 tells us this also). God is the opposite of evil. The darkness is the Devil, snuffing out your light and happiness and love – do not let him in…call upon God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to fill you with light, whenever you feel the darkness creeping in.
So, putting it all together, ‘walking in the light’ means ‘growing in holiness and maturing in the faith as we follow Jesus.’ I leave you this week with my version of a hymn written first in 1558, which is also a wonderful prayer to start the day, or a journey, or even a task with.
God be in this day and in its responsibilities;
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my ears, and in my listening;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my loving;
God be in my mind, and in my thinking;
God be in my hands, and in my doing;
God be at mine end, and at my departing. Amen
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Friday May 09, 2014
Friday Prayers 9 May 2014
Friday May 09, 2014
Friday May 09, 2014
Partakers Friday Prayers!
9th May 2014!
We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity!
Today we pray a Morning Prayer from the Syrian Clementine Liturgy. This Liturgy, which dates from the 4th century, was celebrated in Syria and throughout the Church of Antioch. It is the oldest model known in Antioch, and is a liturgy is related to the Apostle James. Come pray! Play & download the video and share this page!
A Morning Prayer from the 4th Century Syrian Clementine Liturgy
O God,
You are the unsearchable abyss of peace,
the ineffable sea of love,
the fountain of blessings,
and the bestower of affection.
~~~~~
O God,
You who sends peace to those that receive it;
open to us this day the sea of Your love,
and water us with the plenteous streams
from the riches of Your grace.
~~~~~
Make us children of quietness, and heirs of peace.
Kindle in us the fire of Your love;
sow in us Your fear;
strengthen our weakness by Your power!
~~~~~
Bind us closely to You
and to each other
in one firm bond of unity;
for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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Thursday May 08, 2014
Thursday with Tabitha - Nahum
Thursday May 08, 2014
Thursday May 08, 2014

Thursday with Tabitha
6. Nahum by Tabitha Smith
Nahum prophesied about the destruction of the city of Nineveh, the capital of the nation of Assyria. If Nineveh sounds a bit familiar, it might be because you’ve listened to the first instalment in this series about the book of Jonah! In some ways, Nahum is like a sequel to Jonah.
The date of writing of Nahum can be narrowed down to somewhere between 660 BC and 630 BC. We can deduce this because of the historical events that Nahum refers to during his prophecy (unless of course you don’t believe in predictive prophesy!). Like Micah last week, we don’t know anything about Nahum apart from the fact that his home town was called Elkosh. It’s not certain where this was, but it was probably in Judah because at the time of his prophesy, the kingdom of Israel had ceased to exist.
The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians in about 722 BC. The Southern Kingdom of Judah had not suffered the same fate, despite an attempted siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib of Assyria shortly after the fall of Samaria. Instead, the Kingdom of Judah had become a sort of vassal state to Assyria. The Assyrian kingdom had been established by acts of terrible violence, torture and cruelty and forced deportations of thousands of people, under the leadership of Tiglath-pileser III. His campaigns were ruthless and highly successful, conquering most of the known world at the time.
Nineveh was a great city, the capital of Assyria. Jonah had been sent by God with a message of warning to Nineveh, telling of God’s imminent judgement on them for their evil behaviour.
At that time, much to Jonah’s surprise and disgust, the people of Nineveh did repent and God spared them. However, a century later, we see that the repentance did not last, and Nineveh has fallen back into evil, idolatry, violence and depravity.
Nahum’s key message is that God is going to judge and overthrow Nineveh. Nahum means ‘comfort’ and his message would have brought comfort to the people of Judah who were living under Assyrian oppression.
Nahum is written in the style of ancient war poetry. The first verse of the book tells us that Nahum received the prophecy in the form of a vision. The way he writes his book is like the eye-witness account of a war correspondent. God is pictured as a divine warrior, coming to judge the Assyrians for their evil deeds. God had used Assyria as a tool of judgement on his own people, but the Assyrians were held accountable for the wicked nature of their conquests and the ways they had lived their lives in alienation from God.
In chapter one, the book opens with a poetic description of God on the war-path. God is described as jealous (for his honour and his people), wrathful, righteously angry and all powerful. Even the rock-solid mountains melt before him and the seas dry up completely. Nothing and no-one can stand against him. At the same time, God is also described as slow to anger, good, knowing those who seek him, compassionate and seeking his people’s freedom from their oppressors. The message that Nahum proclaims is simultaneously terrible and wonderful, and it all depends on the reader’s perspective and relationship to God.
At the end of Nahum 1, Judah is urged to keep the feasts, i.e. the celebrations of their history that remind them of God’s salvation purposes and commemorate his saving works for them in the past. Judah will be restored once more. We should not miss the significance of this - the Messiah would one day come from the remnant of Judah.
Nahum 2 launches into a prophetic account of the overthrow of Nineveh. The imagery is vivid and it’s almost as if Nahum is present in the city, watching the events unfold. The invading army arrives in the outskirts of Nineveh and the call goes out to ‘man the walls’ and take up arms. The invasion comes with speed and devastation, chariots thundering and swords and spears flashing and glinting in the sun. The invading soldiers are clothed in red with red shields, possibly indicating the original colour of the shields or their staining with blood. Siege towers are built and the river gates are opened to flood the city and destroy the royal palace.
It’s helpful here to consider what we know from historical accounts of the overthrow of Nineveh. Nineveh was attacked by a coalition of armies, principally of the Medes and Babylonians, in 612 BC. The city was sieged for a period of time which may have been as short as a few months. The invading armies closed the gates of the river Khoser, which flowed through the city, allowing the water to build up. The gates were then opened, unleashing a flood on the city which destroyed much of the important architecture and allowed the invaders to penetrate the city walls and finish the overthrow of the city.
Nahum 2 contains more vivid images of the invasion with graphic descriptions of the piles of dead bodies in the streets of the city. God asks Nineveh whether she has considered herself better than Thebes. Thebes was a great city in Egypt which was invaded by the Assyrians in about 664 BC. Thebes had appeared to be immune to attack with a natural sea defence and many allies. However, the Assyrians had conquered the city. They were now going to get a taste of their own medicine.
The book ends with Nahum surveying the aftermath of the siege and invasion. The final words are a taunting song declaring the finality of the destruction.
The ruins of Nineveh can be found today near the modern Iraqi city of Mosul. They were not discovered until the 19th century - prior to this all reference to Nineveh disappeared from the pages of history. When the ruins of the city were uncovered, many unburied skeletons were found. The city was razed to the ground. Nahum’s prophesies were fulfilled.
The book of Nahum reminds us that God is all powerful, omnipotent. He is not a tame god who is passive and powerless but he acts on behalf of his people. He is a God of justice who cannot pass over sin and evil but he must act justly to uphold his own honour and the welfare of his chosen people Israel. Moreover, God had promised to spare a remnant of his people, specifically from the tribe of Judah, in order that the Messiah, the deliverer, would come from his people. The future of the people of Israel often seemed under threat but God always faithfully preserved and restored a remnant to preserve the line of Abraham.
God is able to work even the most impossible of circumstances and most wicked of people into his sovereign plan. The seemingly ordinary list of names in the genealogy of Jesus described in Matthew chapter 1 encompasses accounts of infertility, prostitution, bereavement, displacement, adultery, murder and exile. God truly is able to make all things work for the good of those who love him, according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
God can even use wicked and pagan people in order to judge his own people and work for their ultimate good. In a few weeks’ time we will look at this issue in more detail as we look at the way Habakkuk wrestled with this.
Whatever opponents or battles you face in your lifetime, none of them are too big for God to handle. The military might of the Assyrians was legendary and they built one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Yet even they were relegated to the pages of history, the ruins of their prized capital city lying undiscovered for centuries. Our perspective is so limited. We struggle to comprehend the span of human history, and yet humans are such a brief vapour, like the dew that evaporates from the morning grass. Peter says in the first chapter of his first letter:
“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25
All earthly things will pass and only God will endure. Yet, incredibly, he cares about each one of us and knows every detail about us.
The whole of history is centred around the life of Jesus, God in the flesh, who came to rescue us.
Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He stands in authority above all human institutions and authorities, both the good and the evil ones. His kingdom is incomparably greater than the most mighty of human kingdoms and yet it is established in an upside-down order where the first are last and the last are first. We pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” because Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. One day his kingdom will be unified and complete. Then, as Paul says ‘at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:10-11).
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Friday May 02, 2014
Friday Prayers 2 May 2014
Friday May 02, 2014
Friday May 02, 2014
Partakers Friday Prayers!
2nd May 2014
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!
Order of Prayer Service
Opening Prayer
1 John 1:8-10
Confession
Lord's Prayer
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Prayers for those facing challenging situation
Prayers for those grieving & in despair
Prayers for those imprisoned
Prayers for Churches Worldwide
Prayers for the world
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Time for your own prayers
The Creed
Benediction
Closing Prayer
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Thursday May 01, 2014
Thursday with Tabitha - Micah
Thursday May 01, 2014
Thursday May 01, 2014

Thursday with Tabitha
5. Micah by Tabitha Smith
Micah came from the town of Moresheth in Judah, southwest of Jerusalem - other than that, we are not told anything else about the man himself. The book doesn’t tell us how God called him. His name can be translated as a question which asks: Who is like Yahweh?
Micah’s prophesy came during the years of kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah (who ruled between 750 BC and 687 BC). Hosea and Isaiah prophesied at roughly the same time. The main themes of Micah are God’s judgement and forgiveness. In this book we will discover the prophesy about Jesus’ birthplace and meet the Messiah as the Good Shepherd.
The book opens with a pronouncement against Jerusalem and Samaria, announcing to them that God is bringing his witness against them, like a kind of lawsuit. In the same way that a prosecutor outlines his case, God will bring charges against his people and back them up with evidence.
From chapter 2 God starts to set out his case. His people have dealt cruelly and unjustly with their fellow-men. Out of greed and jealousy they have desired what belongs to others and taken it for themselves - both houses and fields. False prophets have arisen amongst the people, speaking words that do not come from God. The prophets speak what the people want to hear, for their own pride and gain. In Micah 2:11, Micah sarcastically says that a prophet who promised plenty of alcoholic beverages would be just the kind of prophet the people desired!
The rulers of Israel are criticised for doing evil, abusing the people they are supposed to be ruling and despising justice. The leaders accept bribes, the priests preach for money and the prophets accept cash for false fortune telling. The whole society is twisted and corrupt, so far from the way God intended them to be. Judgement will fall on Jerusalem and Samaria in the form of invading armies of the Assyrians and Babylonians.
In
chapter 4 the mood suddenly changes to one of future promise. In Micah 4:1, Micah
says that ‘in the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be
established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills,
and all peoples will stream to it’.
The
phrase, ‘in the last days’ is often found in prophetic writing and it usually
refers to a time in the future beyond the present era, sometimes referring to
the time of the coming of the Messiah. Micah foresees a time when God will
restore Jerusalem
and make it a focal point for the gathering of the nations. Instead of climbing
to high places to worship pagan false gods, the peoples will make the ascent to
the dwelling place of God and worship him alone.
Micah 4:3 is quite famous; in it Micah prophesies that the nations of the world will ‘beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.’ Unprecedented peace will come to the world in the last days when the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, ushers in his new kingdom. These same words are found in the book of Isaiah 2:4. It is possible that Isaiah and Micah used a shared source for this, or one may have borrowed this thought from the other.
In chapter 5 we find intriguing prophesies about the coming Messiah. Micah5:2 is often read at Christmas time. It says “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”
King
David came from Bethlehem
and was an unlikely choice to be king by external worldly measures. Bethlehem was a small
town with nothing really going for it.
Several hundred years later, the greater David, the Messiah, Jesus, was born in this same small town. The Jews anticipated that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, based on this prophecy in Micah. Yet they didn’t recognise him when he arrived as he didn’t come in the way they expected. Ironically, it seems that the Jews alive at the time of Jesus knew him as the carpenter of Nazareth in Galilee, ignorant of the fact that his birthplace was in Bethlehem. You can read more about this in the 7th chapter of John’s gospel.
This coming Messiah is pictured as one who will shepherd his flock, his people, and bring them unprecedented peace.
In chapters 6 and 7 God continues his lawsuit against his people. The charges now include corrupt business practices, disloyalty and betrayal within families, violence and falsehood. The downfall and destruction of Jerusalem is foretold.
However, there is the promise of hope and restoration. In Micah 7:9 the city of God speaks with a prophetic voice: ‘Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.’
The book ends with a rhetorical question that echoes the meaning of Micah’s name: ‘who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again show compassion to us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.’
In the Bible the language of the courtroom and legal process is loaded with significance. God is the ultimate Judge, and he is always just in his judgements. He cannot just ignore sin and wrongdoing, or sweep it under the carpet. Where there has been a wrong, a judgement must be pronounced and a sentence served. In the New Testament we encounter the concept of justification. This is also a legal term. To justify someone means to acquit them, to declare them righteous. The Bible teaches us that God justifies us by grace. In other words, he declares us righteous although we do not deserve it. The penalty for our sin still had to be paid and Jesus did this for us, taking our sins upon himself in his death on the cross. So sinful people can be pronounced just because Jesus paid for (or atoned) for our sins. The penalty is paid, justice is done.
Justification doesn’t mean that God lets us off for our sins, or acts as if we’d never sinned; it means that God’s holiness demanded a payment for our sin, and God himself provided the means of this payment, through the death of Jesus on our behalf. Justice and mercy meet together and love and grace are seen most clearly on the cross.
God issues his people with a challenge in Micah 6:8 - “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
These words have timeless relevance and if you would like to see how Christians are working out this truth in the world today, have a look at www.micahchallenge.org.
Micah Challenge is a coalition of Christians who take their inspiration from this verse in Micah and campaign on issues of justice. They are working to hold governments accountable for the promises they made to the poorest people in the world in 2000 when the Millennium Development Goals were set. If you need some inspiration or resources to help you get engaged with issues of justice, poverty and action, have a look at their website. If you are involved with a local church, think about how you could encourage people in your fellowship to take practical steps to speak up for those who are denied justice. Love is demonstrated in action and we are all called to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
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