Partakers Christian Podcasts

Bible Thought - The Cross of Jesus Christ - WOW Word 15

WOW Word - Cross of Jesus Christ ~

Our WOW Word today is Cross! Cross, as in the Cross of Jesus Christ!

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”.
Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Even a cursory look at the world around you, will tell you that the world is messed up. Is there any hope? Yes there is! That is why God sent Jesus! Jesus is the hope! Jesus came to serve rather than be served. That is why Jesus came to give His life, so humanity may have a hope! God made the world perfect and humanity was in a harmonious relationship with God. Humanity messed it up and broke the relationship bonds with God. When the time was right, God became human, in order to bring humanity back into relationship with Himself.

That man was Jesus Christ and it was His death on a Roman cross about 2000 years ago which was the act of a generous God reaching out to the world that he loves. Without Jesus’ death on the cross would there be no hope for the world! That He died is without doubt, but why did He have to die and what gain do we have as His Disciples?

Alphy the WOWChurch Cat explains the significance of Jesus' death on the cross for the sake of all humanity. Play or download the mp3 audio to discover what Alphy has to say! Bless ya!

 

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Friday Prayers Persecuted Church Worldwide

 

Partakers Friday 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!

 

Prayers for the Persecuted Church

Sovereign God, we worship you and acknowledge that you know all of those who suffer in your name because they follow you. We remember those who are imprisoned for their faith and ask that they would join with the Apostle Paul to see that even though they remain captive, their chains have furthered the gospel, not frustrated it. May they inspire and embolden their fellow believers to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. 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 and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
Amen

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Thursday with Tabitha - Amos

Thursday with Tabitha

3. Amos

Amos was a prophet during the time of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam of Israel. His prophecy came somewhere roundabout the year 760 BC, give or take a few decades! At this time Israel and Judah were enjoying an unusual spell of prosperity and political stability. This was especially the case in Israel, where the land was very fertile and abundant crops were growing. The threat from the kingdom of Assyria seemed to have lessened, at least for the time being, so life was pretty good.
Unfortunately the people of Israel and Judah had wandered far from the standards of holiness that God had intended for them. Idolatry was rampant, the rich were getting richer and more corrupt by the day and the wealthy were exploiting the poor. The Israelites falsely concluded that their prosperity was a sign of God's obvious blessing. They were looking forward to “the Day of the Lord” when God would finally crush their enemies.
It is into this environment that Amos was called to prophesy. We're told that Amos came from Tekoa, a small village in Judah, south-east of Bethlehem. He is identified as a shepherd or maybe a sheep breeder. A rather unlikely choice for a prophet on the face of things!
Amos begins his message in chapter 1 with a series of proclamations of God’s judgement on the neighbours of the Israelites. He has words of judgement for Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, the Ammonites and the people of Moab. These people groups were enemies of the Israelites. The charges against them relate to their violence, cruelty and abuse of other human beings, particularly during times of war and conquest.
The Israelites would probably have been nodding along happily until the beginning of chapter 2. At this point Amos suddenly turns his attention to Judah and then to Israel. The judgements leveled against God’s people are of a different order altogether. God accuses them of violating the terms of his covenant with them - they are called to a higher standard of moral and spiritual living than the pagan nations around them.
Amos doesn’t hold back! The sins of the Israelites include oppression and exploitation of the poor, sexual sins, idolatry, misuse of God’s temple, abuse and silencing of the prophets, and empty, ritualistic worship.
God had patiently tried to warn his people, by sending them prophets and providing examples of holiness in the form of people like the Nazirites, who took vows of holiness and of abstinence from wine. But God’s people had not listened and now God would judge them. The main message in the book of Amos is this: God’s judgement is universal; Israel and Judah are not immune.
Chapters 3 to 6 expand on the initial judgements outlined in the first two chapters. Even the women of Israel are exposed as people who oppress the poor - God likens them to the fat cows that graze in the fields of Bashan! God is appalled at the nature of the people’s idolatrous worship. The people had started to offer sacrifices in places other than the temple in Jerusalem and they had appointed priests who were not Levites. These things were deviations from the instructions that God had provided for worship. They had even turned to worshipping golden calves and other idols. The Israelites thought that they were offering worship that was pleasing to God but it was actually detestable to him. In chapter 4 God summarises a series of warning shots that he gave to the people, which were intended to bring them back to him, but the tragic refrain is repeated over and over again: “yet you did not return to me”.
In chapter 5 Amos entreats the people to turn back to God, telling them that it’s perhaps not too late. God laments over Israel like a father whose virgin daughter has been raped or become a prostitute.
In chapter 5 God declares the following: “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:21-24 ESV)
God calls the people to repent and come back to him and seek justice. In chapter 6 further sins are described which include the complacency of the people in the self-indulgence of the rich at the expense of the poor. Chapter 7 to 9 contain a series of visions which Amos has. These visions declare that God’s judgement is unavoidable if God is to be just, which he must. The judgement is imminent. The final vision pictures God standing by the altar of the temple shaking it to its foundations. This is a prophecy about the final downfall of Israel. The prophecy was fulfilled very soon after this. Assyria gained power again and conquered Israel in 722 BC.
After all the serious judgements and the terrifying reality of the impending downfall of Israel, the book of Amos ends on a tantalizing note of hope. Despite the people’s willful disobedience and the depth of their depravity and sin, God is a God of mercy and deliverance. There is a promise of future restoration of the Israelites. God promises to repair the dwellings of David and preserve a remnant of his people for the future.
So what can we learn from the book of Amos? Firstly, we learn that God is always just. God is a God of love and he is mercifully patient but he has to judge sin, otherwise he is not really loving at all.
Despite appearances to the contrary, nobody is getting away with anything. Every human being who has ever lived or who will ever live must stand before God to be judged. And the truth is that none of us can stand before him with a perfect account, with an unblemished record of our own. However, the message of hope at the end of Amos hints at the salvation that would eventually come through Jesus.
God never meant his judgements on Israel and Judah to be the last word. In mercy he preserved a remnant through the line of David through which the Messiah would come. Through Jesus, God has provided the means of our deliverance and restoration. Those who’ve trusted in Jesus’ perfect, sinless record and accepted his payment for their sin (the sacrifice of his own life) will be able to stand before God without fear.
Amos’s message also shows us that the knowledge of God comes with responsibility. Those who know more of God and his standards of holiness will be held more accountable than those who have never heard about him. God chose the people of Israel out of all the peoples of the earth, but not because they were better or more numerous or more powerful. Quite the opposite in fact! They were chosen by grace alone.
God made his covenant with the people of Israel and gave them clear boundaries of ethical and moral conduct and instructions for their spiritual worship. These were for their own protection and their own benefit.
Today, as the new covenant people of God we are no longer required to keep all the requirements of the original old Testament law that God gave to Moses. However, Jesus did not come abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17). Just because we have been freed from the demands of the law we are not simply free to do whatever we want. In fact as Jesus pointed out we are called to go above and beyond the requirements that the old law demanded. Rather than restraining ourselves to proportional revenge on our enemies we are called to love them. Instead of simply giving the bare minimum required we are called to give extravagantly. Jesus teaches us that the standard of holiness we are called to is so much higher than we would think. We should view sin with such seriousness that hating somebody should feel as bad as murder and lusting after another person should be regarded as adultery in the heart.
Amos’ words need to speak to us today, reminding us that God’s standard of holiness is so much higher than we realize. Instead of passing our own judgement on the sinful Israelites we need to look honestly at our own lives and realize just how similar to them we can be. God calls his people to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with him (Micah 6:8). Are we doing that? Do we actively look for opportunities to defend the rights of the poor in our society and our world? Do we think carefully about how we worship God? God is so merciful and patient with us – he calls us to come back to him, to abide in his love, to learn from him and to be his hands and feet in the world we live in.  

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Wednesday Wisdom 9 - Proverbs 9

Wednesday Wisdom

Proverbs 9

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 9. Download this episode using this link

1 Wisdom has built her house, she has cut out her seven pillars:
2 She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine; she has also furnished her table.
3 She has sent forth her maidens: she cries upon the highest places of the city,
4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wants understanding, she says to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

7 He that reproves a scorner gets to himself shame: and he that rebukes a wicked man gets himself a blot.
8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you: rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
11 For by me your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.
12 If You be wise, You shall be wise for yourself: but if You scorn, You alone shall bear it.

13 A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knows nothing.
14 For she sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
15 To call passengers who go right on their ways:
16 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wants understanding, she says to him,
17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
18 But he knows not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

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Psalm 56

Psalm 56

A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

1 Be merciful to me, God,
for man wants to swallow me up.
All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.
2 My enemies want to swallow me up all day long,
for they are many who fight proudly against me.
3 When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
4 In God, I praise his word.
In God, I put my trust.
I will not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?

5 All day long they twist my words.
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They conspire and lurk,
watching my steps,
they are eager to take my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, God.

8 You number my wanderings.
You put my tears into your bottle.
Aren’t they in your book?

9 Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call.
I know this, that God is for me.
10 In God, I will praise his word.
In Yahweh, I will praise his word.

11 I have put my trust in God.
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your vows are on me, God.
I will give thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
and prevented my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of the living.

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Bible Thought - The Centrepiece of Joy

The Centrepiece of Joy

Leviticus 16:1-10 & Hebrews 10:1-10

Introduction

Today, we dip into Leviticus 16, which I think is the centre and pinnacle of this magnificent book of joy.

 

The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Moses: ‘Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. (Leviticus 16:1-2)

 

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, “Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, my God.”’ 8 First he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them’– though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:5-10)

 

Leviticus 16 describes the Day of Atonement which was to occur annually on the 10th day of the 7th month. We know that God had chosen Israel to be His people and that they were supposed to be a shining beacon of light and hope to the world. As part of the covenant made with Moses, God said that He would be their God and they would be His people.

 

What a contrast to the nations around them that worshipped multiple ‘gods’, made of material such as wood or stone and often thirsty for human sacrifice. Contrast those ‘gods’, with the God of Israel, who had made himself personally present with His people in the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle. Let’s look briefly at what went on at this Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. To listen to the rest of this Podcast use the link below to download

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Bible Thought - Remember Who You Are

Colossians 3v1-4 “Remember Who You Are!”

Today, our Bible thought comes from Paul's letter to the city of Colossae! It has relevance to us today and our Christian lives.

If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

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Saturday Story - Adele

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Adele from Australia...

We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of a friend of mine. Her name is Adele and she is from my home country, Australia. Come on in, and listen to her story about her own Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to her life! Come and listen to her story of faith...

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Friday Prayers 21 June 2025

Friday Prayers

Order of Service!

Opening prayer

Praise time

Prayers for those grieving and lonely

Prayers for justice and peace

Prayers for those facing challenging situations

Prayers for churches and Christians worldwide

Prayers for healing

Time of silence for your own prayers

Benediction

 

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Thursday with Tabitha - Jonah

Thursday with Tabitha

1. Jonah  by Tabitha Smith

Hello, and welcome to the first episode in our series about the Minor Prophets. We're starting our series in the book of Jonah. Of all the books of the Minor Prophets Jonah is perhaps the one that people are most familiar with, or at least they think they are familiar with the story line. Many people will have heard about Jonah and the giant fish. But there is a lot more to the book of Jonah than this!

We going to look at some historical background to the book, the type of writing it is, the details of the plot, the major themes of the book and how we might apply these to our own lives today.

Jonah prophesied during the reign of King Jeroboam II, who ruled between 782 and 753 BC. Jonah is unusual amongst the Old Testament prophets in that his primary audience was a pagan nation, not the people of Israel or Judah.

People have debated about whether the story of Jonah is actually a historical tale or whether it might be a kind of parable or allegory. Some would argue that the episode involving the giant fish is too far-fetched to be historical. Others have argued that it is entirely possible for this to have happened, even without any miraculous intervention. However, the book of Jonah certainly bears all the features of a historical prophetic account and Jesus refers to the account of Jonah in Matthew chapter 12, treating the story as a genuine historical account of real events.

The book of Jonah is full of fascinating literary features. It contains humour, satire and irony. The basic plot is quite simple to follow but there are several complex interwoven themes that are developed in the course of four short chapters.

The book starts with God giving Jonah a prophetic assignment. God tells Jonah to get up and go to Nineveh, a very large, important city in the heart of the nation of Assyria. He is to go there in order to tell the inhabitants that God is greatly displeased by their evil behaviour and that he intends to judge them for this.

The people of Nineveh were really wicked! They would sometimes cut off the noses and ears of their prisoners of war to mark them out for life; they worshiped at pagan temples and sacrificed their children. They certainly did not worship God.

Jonah’s task was no easy one. Nineveh was over 500 miles from Jonah's homeland and the Assyrians were the enemies of Israel. Jonah finds the proposal from God abhorrent – he finds it unbelievable that God would offer the chance of repentance to this evil pagan nation! So instead of heading to Nineveh, Jonah runs as fast as he can in the opposite direction, ending up in the seaside town of Joppa. He plans to get on a ship and sail to Tarshish, in a naive attempt to escape from God. God called him to “get up!” but Jonah does exactly the opposite and “goes down” to Joppa!

Jonah hands over his cash and secures a place on board a ship heading for Tarshish. However, God has other plans and sends a great storm that batters the ship so hard that the sailors are afraid they will all die. They desperately throw cargo overboard as Jonah sleeps below deck, seemingly oblivious to their plight. Each sailor calls out to his own pagan god for help.

Finally, in desperation, the captain goes down to Jonah to ask him to call out to his God for help. The other sailors cast lots to try to establish who on board has brought this trouble upon them. And the lot falls on Jonah. Realising that he’s been discovered, Jonah confesses all and tells the men that he is trying to run away from God, the Lord God of heaven. The sailors are absolutely terrified and ask Jonah what they should do. Jonah asks them to throw him overboard because he now realizes his foolishness and he sees the hand of God in the storm. The sailors, however, are reluctant to do this, perhaps having compassion on Jonah, or perhaps fearing what God might do to them if they take his life in this way. They try as hard as they can to avoid having to throw him overboard. Finally, when the storm has reached its peak they cry out to God for forgiveness before throwing him into the sea. The sea becomes immediately calm and these hardened pagan sailors worship God in fear and trembling.

Meanwhile, Jonah is sinking further down, deep into the sea, where he is swallowed by a giant fish, sent by God for this very purpose. Chapter 2 contains a poetic prayer that Jonah prays from inside the giant fish. Jonah thanks God for saving his life although, interestingly, he does not spare any thought for the safety of the sailors. Little does he know that God has extended compassion and grace to them, rescuing them from their futile idolatry. God arranges for the fish to vomit Jonah up onto dry land and he is unceremoniously spat out onto the beach.

In chapter 3 God repeats the same prophetic call to Jonah and he commands him to get up and go to Nineveh. This time Jonah obeys! The city of Nineveh was huge and Jonah walks a full day into the city before preaching his short message: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned”. Much to Jonah’s disgust and horror, the inhabitants of Nineveh, from the smallest to the greatest, respond to the message from God. They believe in God, fasting, and repenting of their evil deeds. Even the King dresses himself in sackcloth and sits in ashes! A city-wide decree is issued that everyone should repent and humble themselves and ask God for forgiveness. Even the animals are included! God sees this incredible response of repentance and shows his compassion and steadfast love to the people of Nineveh, turning away from his plans to destroy them.

All of this makes Jonah incredibly angry. He finds it absolutely unacceptable that God would forgive the people of this pagan nation. He cannot comprehend that God’s mercy and love would extend to nations beyond Israel. In fact he is so outraged that he declares to God that he would rather die than see this city forgiven. God simply asks him: “have you any right to be angry?”  Jonah goes out of the city, still outraged, and waits to see what will happen. He still hopes that Nineveh might be destroyed after all. God provides a plant that grows quickly over Jonah’s head, giving him much-needed shelter from the heat of the sun. Jonah thinks this is wonderful, but by dawn the next day the plant withers away, attacked by a divinely appointed worm.

When the sun beats down harshly and the east wind blows on Jonah, he gets very angry again and declares that he would rather be dead than put up with the injustice of the plant having been taken from him. The book closes with God pointing out to Jonah that he has no right to complain about the destruction of the plant because he did not make it or care for it, or even deserve it. In contrast, God has every right to care deeply about the 120,000 people living in Nineveh and all the animals, whom he created and cares for.

The overriding theme in the book of Jonah is the compassion of God and his steadfast love for all people. God goes to incredible lengths to get his message out to the nations, including those who do not know him. Jonah’s disregard for the people of Nineveh stands in stark contrast to God’s compassion on the pagan sailors, the people of Nineveh and Jonah himself.

Throughout the book, Jonah demonstrates a distinct tendency towards self-centredness and hypocrisy. This was intended to be a lesson to the original readers of the book. God never wanted his chosen people, Israel, to become self-centred, self-serving and inward-looking. Israel was indeed chosen by God, but not because of any worth of their own, but only because of grace. They were chosen to be God’s instrument through which salvation would come to all the nations.

Throughout the book we also see God’s sovereign purposes being carried out. God chooses Jonah, a very fallible human being, to take his message where it needs to go. When Jonah does not obey God, and even when he runs away from God, God does not give up on him or reject him. He patiently teaches Jonah and continues to use him, despite his faults, in order to accomplish his purposes. This perhaps can give us hope too. God can and will use us to accomplish his purposes, even when we make mistakes. We may have some learning to do first and God is patient and compassionate! We would do well to pay attention to Jonah’s experience, and learn that it is better to obey the first time that God asks you to do something, even when it seems like a very challenging thing to do!

We can also learn from the dramatic response of the people of Nineveh to God’s message. Jonah did not preach a long, eloquent, all-singing-all-dancing message when he reached Nineveh. His message was very simple but it produced huge results. We should remember that the Word of God is living and active and very powerful. God promises that his words will not return to him empty but will accomplish everything he has intended them to do (Isaiah 55:11). This should give us confidence that we can declare God’s message simply, not needing to soften, embellish or alter it in any way to make it more palatable to those who need to hear it. We also learn from Jonah that God always responds to genuine repentance. He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love!

There is a symbolic foreshadowing of Jesus in the life of Jonah. Jesus is the greater Jonah who also descended to the depths of the earth (in the grave) for three days, only to rise again in order to bring salvation to all people, both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus himself draws attention to this point in Matthew chapter 12. The people of Nineveh foreshadow the great number of Gentiles who will repent and be saved when they hear God’s message.

We might need to ask ourselves whether there is any person or people whom we have foolishly considered to be beyond the reach of God. Is there any way in which we are being like Jonah, gladly accepting God’s compassion and grace but wanting to keep it for ourselves? Have we placed limits on what we think God can do? Or have we become too comfortable in our own secure position, forgetting God’s heart of compassion for those who are lost without him?

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