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G’day and welcome to Partakers Christian Podcasts! Join us for uplifting Bible teaching, inspiring readings, heartfelt worship, powerful prayers, and fascinating church history. Whether you’re new to faith or growing deeper in your journey, we’re here to encourage and equip you. 🎧 Tune in, interact, and be inspired—wherever you are in the world.
Episodes
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
“Jesus - our hope”
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6)
A good Christian friend of mine recently died. I am sure you know others as well. My friend is now more alive than ever before! Why? Because Jesus was his hope. Let us learn together today at how and why Jesus Christ can be our hope!
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Tuesday Apr 04, 2023
Tuesday Apr 04, 2023
Exploring The Bible
24. New Testament
Gospel of John - A.D. 80-90
G'day and welcome to our series, "Exploring the Bible" This is also the title of our latest book available on Amazon by clicking here or visiting PulpTheology.com
Key Verses:
- John 1:1-5
- John 20:28-31
John was writing his Gospel sometime after the other three writers, probably about AD 90. He had built up a considerable fellowship of disciples for whom he was now writing, so he is more concerned with the meaning of what happened than the facts behind the events. He presents the person and work of Jesus Christ in such a way that everyone should believe in Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.
John’s argument portrays Jesus as the God-Man. John records miracles and messages that affirm both Jesus’ deity and humanity. He builds his record around Jesus’ public ministry, private ministry, the cross, and the resurrection. The result is a Gospel worthy of much careful thought and meditation.
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Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Exploring The Bible
24. New Testament
Gospel of Luke - AD 60-61
G'day and welcome to our series, "Exploring the Bible" This is also the title of our latest book available on Amazon by clicking here or visiting PulpTheology.com
Key Verses:
- Luke 1:3-4
- Luke 19:10
Luke presents Jesus as the God-Man, a saviour for the entire world. He writes primarily for Gentiles in the Roman and Greek world. He does this from a broad vantage point that is compatible with the fact that he is himself Greek.
Luke traces Jesus’ incarnation, introduction, public ministry, rejection, subsequent teaching in view of His rejection, the cross, resurrection and ascension. Even though a Gentile, Luke emphasizes the kingdom program, with Israel's place in the kingdom, but he makes it clear that the kingdom is for all people.
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Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Exploring The Bible
24. New Testament
Gospel of Mark - AD50-60
G'day and welcome to our series, "Exploring the Bible" This is also the title of our latest book available on Amazon by clicking here or visiting PulpTheology.com
Key Verses:
- Mark 8:34-36
- Mark 10:45
Mark presents Jesus as the Servant of the Lord, coming in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. Jesus offers His miracles and his teaching as his credentials. He gathers His disciples, while proclaiming the Kingdom of God and its message.
Jesus teaches in short parables, which hide the truth from those hardened against Him, while at the same time preparing and instructing those responsive to Him. Jesus calls those who follow him to serve him by serving others and to deny themselves by taking up their own cross, just as He took up His. There is little about the resurrection in this Gospel, possibly because the end of the scroll has been lost.
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Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Exploring The Bible
27. New Testament
Gospel of Matthew - AD50-60
G'day and welcome to our series, "Exploring the Bible" This is also the title of our latest book available on Amazon by clicking here or visiting PulpTheology.com
Key Verses:
- Matthew 1:23
- Matthew 28:18-20
Matthew writes primarily to Jews, presenting Jesus as the long waited for Messiah, predicted in the Old Testament. He also records Israel’s attitude towards Jesus as Messiah.
Matthew gives us the Jesus’ genealogy and proceeds to tell us about Jesus’ presentation, and authentication as the Messiah. Matthew tells of Israel's opposition to and rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. This causes Jesus to reject Israel due to her unbelief. Matthew then records the death and resurrection of Christ. He concludes with Christ commissioning the disciples.
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Friday Mar 31, 2023
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Dedication of the Temple
2 Chronicles 6v1-21
Tonight as you may have gathered, we go back to looking at the prayers of Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6. Not in an exhaustive way, but to discover together what we can learn about God and His relationship with those who are His and seeing how this is relevant to us some 3 millennia later. During the intervening period, I wonder if Solomon had wrestled in his mind over what he prayed… Let us wrestle together now, in these prayers of his, albeit briefly. This is a key passage, a link if you like, between the Covenant that God made with Solomon’s father, David, including the building of a House for God, the Temple, and the glory of the Lord filling the Temple in 2 Chronicles 7. This reflects I think, the necessity and vitality of prayer in the unfolding of God’s will for humanity. The story is also regaled in 1 Kings 8 but with some nuance as you may expect.
1. A Covenant Making God
a. Verses 1 & 2 - Solomon acknowledges God’s presence in the cloud
b.Verses 3 to 9 – Solomon blessed the people and blesses God.
c. Verses 10-11 - Solomon presents the finished temple unto God.
Part 2. Solomon’s prayer.
a. Verses 12-14 - Humility before and praise unto God.
b. Verses 15-17 - Solomon recognizes God as the maker and keeper of promises.
c. Verses 18-21 - Solomon asks God to dwell in this place and honour those who seek Him here.
Conclusion - Promises of God for the Christian
The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Luke 22:15-20)
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Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
God is Love!
The world is in love, with love! Love sells everything! But what, or rather, who, started love? God did! The Bible tells the story of this God of love and we are going to very briefly in our time together talk about this great subject! Perhaps more books are written about the love of God than anything else! How is God love? God is a trinity or tri-unity! That is, God is a living, vibrant and dynamic community of love! Every activity of the Trinity is an expression of love. God loves because that is His very nature. God the Father loves God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God The Son loves God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit loves both God the Father and God the Son. A perfect community of love.
Description of God's Love
God's Love as described throughout the Scriptures
- Unfailing - Psalm 119:41 Lord, give me your unfailing love, the salvation that you promised me.
- Everlasting - Jeremiah 31:3 Long ago the Lord said to Israel: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
- Intimate - John 14:21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.
- Sacrificial - Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
- Unbreakable - Romans 8:35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
- All-conquering - Romans 8:37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
- Personal - Galatians 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
- Great - Ephesians 2:4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
- Immeasurable - Ephesians 3:18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
- All knowing - Ephesians 3:19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
JI Packer - "God's love is an exercise of His goodness towards individual sinners, whereby having identified Himself with their welfare, He has given His Son to be their Saviour, and now brings them to know and enjoy Him in a personal covenant relationship."
How is God's love seen?
- It is seen supremely in the Cross of Jesus Christ, when He died for the sins of the world. Supreme love overcoming all that is not love.
- It is seen in the love that people have for others. When you hold somebody's hand or give that telephone call just to say hello - that is love.. Even with all the acts of evil in the world, love is all around. You can see it at the arrival halls of airports where family members meet each other. You can see it in the cafes where friends meet for conversation. You can see it as couples get married. Love exists even in the middle of that chaos, turmoil and hatred. Yes there are people filled with hatred and commit acts of unmitigated evil - but even those people have experienced love of some kind despite their not remembering it, being aware of it or even in spite of it! Even if it was the guiding hand of their parents to alert them from danger or the greeting of a close friend.
- Going further, the love of God is seen when Christians, who proclaim their love of God, love others. Churches are also to be enabling radical love in their communities! Not a love which is impractical but a love which is self-sacrificing! A love mirroring that of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is by helping supplying the practical needs of others, even to the point when it hurts to give! 1 John 3v16-18 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But if any one has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.
Love is tough!
Love is not wishy-washy though! Love is tough! When Jesus died on the cross, that was tough love as He died. Love involves discipline such as the guidance of a parent stopping their child from putting their hand on a hot pan. Avail yourself of God's love today and more importantly show the love of God to others today! A kind word, a surprise gift or an helpful act! God's love releases us from the things that entangle our daily walk with Him. The more you hold onto His love, the more you will desire it and the more it will be revealed in your daily life. Your love in action today, reflects God's love in action on the cross. Go and love - to the glory of God! Love not just in words but also in practise! Love all that you come in contact with - practical love showing a loving God in action. By loving others, we help heal this broken world we live in with all its traumas, natural disasters and conflicts. Love.
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Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Jesus’ Encounters
We know Jesus spoke to and interacted with large crowds. The Sermon on the Mount, the feeding of large crowds just a couple of examples. But we also have records of his encounters with individuals and their reaction to him. People who we talk to about Him, often have three reactions: rejection (either in sorrow or anger); more to think about it; and acceptance. We are going to look at two encounters that we find in the Gospels, what Jesus had to say to them and their subsequent reactions: his encounter with the rich young ruler and his meeting with Nicodemus. Next time we will look at two examples of those who accepted and believed in Him.
1. Rich young ruler Matthew 19:16-26 Mark 10v17-22 Luke 18:18-27
Mark 10v17: As Jesus started on his way; a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.'"
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
This story is in all three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Luke describes him as a wealthy ruler (Luke 18v18-27). Matthew describes him as a young man (Matthew 19v16-26). In Mark’s account, he is simply a man (Mark 10v17-22). Put altogether that makes him a rich young ruler. He runs up to Jesus and falls on his knees before Him. He wants eternal life, wants it now and so asks Jesus about it. When he calls Jesus a good teacher, Jesus responds “No one is good—except God alone.”
Now Jesus could have been correcting the young man, but more likely Jesus was asking: “Do you know what you are saying and how close to the truth about me you are?” This young man had fully kept the commandments listed by Jesus (Mark 10v19). However when Jesus said to the young ruler that in order to follow Him, he would have to give up all his wealth in order to have treasure in heaven and eternal life, the man left rejected.
That was a step too far for the rich young ruler. He wanted his riches and also eternal life but Jesus said he couldn’t have both. He remains the only man who left Jesus’ presence sorrowful, and that due to putting his trust in his riches & wealth alone. Now riches are not necessarily wrong but they do make trusting fully in God very difficult (Mark 10v23).
2. Nicodemus John 3v1-21
John 3v1-3: Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[
Nicodemus wants to know more about Jesus and investigate Him personally, instead of following the majority of the other Jewish leaders. What do we know about Nicodemus?
- Member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin
- A leading teacher and learned scholar of the Scriptures
- From other sources we know he may well have been from a family of wealthy landowners
- Protested against Jesus’ condemnation without a trial (John 7v50-52)
- Took gifts to anoint Jesus’ body (John 19v39-40)
Nicodemus was probably one of the many looking for a kingdom of God based around a political Messiah; hence him admitting that due to his miraculous signs, Jesus must have been from God. They wanted a Messiah who was a political leader who would lead Israel to be a shining light for the whole world to come to Jerusalem and worship the one true living God. However, Jesus corrects Nicodemus and says that it is not through a new Israel that God’s kingdom will be seen, but by being “born again”.
Three times in this conversation, Jesus repeats about being “born again”. What does “born again” mean?
- It is not a physical rebirth and nor is it merely a turning over a new leaf.
- It is not baptism because Jesus has not instituted baptism yet!
- It is the new covenant, which Nicodemus should have known about it (Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36). It is being born with water and spirit – cleansed of sin and indwelt with the Holy Spirit
- It is being born from above, which is looking to the one who has come down from heaven. For the phrase “born again” can also be translated “born from above”.
- It is looking to Jesus and trusting in him just as the ancient Israelites were saved by looking at the bronze snake (Numbers 21v8)
- It is on an individual basis just as physical birth is. Nobody knows the date and time of their own birth unless they are told by somebody!
Jesus seemed astonished that the teacher didn’t already know that, being as Nicodemus was a highly educated and learned teacher!
So there we have 2 different reactions to Jesus: The rich young ruler who left full of sorrow; the Jewish leader who left with more to think about regarding this Jesus. In each encounter, Jesus is remarkably comfortable with all two people. He loved the rich young ruler (Mark 10v21)His love surrounded them, just as His love surrounds all people today. His message of salvation, through Him alone, is for everybody of all time.
For more to think about please do ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.
Q1. Please read Mark 10v17-22. What things may be hindering me from fully trusting in God for all things?
Q2. Read John 3v1-21. What does this Scripture tell me about God’s salvation?
Q3. How does Jesus’ approach to telling people about salvation inspire me to do likewise?
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Psalm 24
the world, and those who dwell therein.
2 For he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the floods.
3 Who may ascend to Yahweh’s hill?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart;
who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood,
and has not sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive a blessing from Yahweh,
righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek your face—even Jacob.
Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, you gates!
Be lifted up, you everlasting doors,
and the King of glory will come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
Yahweh strong and mighty,
Yahweh mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates;
yes, lift them up, you everlasting doors,
and the King of glory will come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
Yahweh of Armies is the King of glory!
Selah.
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Monday Mar 13, 2023
Monday Mar 13, 2023
Psalm 72
For the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm. By Solomon.
72:1 God, give the king your justice;
your righteousness to the royal son
72:2 He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice
72:3 The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people.
The hills bring the fruit of righteousness
72:4 He will judge the poor of the people.
He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.
72:5 They shall fear you while the sun endures;
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations
72:6 He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth
72:7 In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more
72:8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.
72:9 Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him.
His enemies shall lick the dust
72:10 The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute.
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts
72:11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before him.
All nations shall serve him
72:12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries;
the poor, who has no helper.
72:13 He will have pity on the poor and needy.
He will save the souls of the needy
72:14 He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence.
Their blood will be precious in his sight
72:15 They shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba.
Men shall pray for him continually.
They shall bless him all day long
72:16 Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land.
Its fruit sways like Lebanon.
Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.
72:17 His name endures forever.
His name continues as long as the sun.
Men shall be blessed by him.
All nations will call him blessed
72:18 Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds
72:19 Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen
72:20 This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.