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Episodes
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Christmas 2020
5. Why did Mary have to be a virgin?
34 ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’
35 The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Matthew 1:34-35)
A good question to ask now, in relation to the story of Christmas, is why did Mary have to be a virgin? We know that Jesus, as a human does not have a father and that as the Son of God he had no mother. The Holy Spirit, through whom Mary conceived, is not just any spirit, but He is God Himself, whose act must be understood spiritually and not physically.
To find out the answer to the question before us, “Why did Mary have to be a Christian?” and what that has to do with Christmas, please do download or listen to the podcast! Come on in!
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Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Christmas 2020
4. The God of Mary
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. (Luke 2:46-56)
Today, we are looking together closely at some specific aspects of God's very being, revealed through Mary in the Magnificat of Luke 2:46-56.
God is Almighty: Mary knows that her God is called Almighty. But how is God, Almighty? God being Almighty, can be summed up in 3 words: Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscience
God is holy: The biggest barrier that exists is the one which separates this Almighty God we heard from His creation. This barrier is God’s holiness, for God is a holy God.What is holiness and why does Mary attribute this to God?
What does all this have to do with Christmas? Download or listen to the podcast to find out more!
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Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Christmas 2020
3. Mary’s Song – The Magnificat
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
(Luke 2:46-56)
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John Calvin, says about this passage - “Now follows a remarkable and interesting song of the holy virgin, which plainly shows how eminent were her attainments in the grace of the Spirit.” Isn’t that a beautiful thing for him to say about Mary?
The reformer Martin Luther said: “In order properly to understand this sacred hymn of praise, we need to bear in mind that the most blessed Virgin Mary is speaking out of her own experience, in which she was enlightened and instructed by the Holy Spirit.”
In this passage of Scripture, Mary spontaneously bursts into song in response to God’s message to her through the Angel Gabriel! A song seemingly of renewal, revolution and reformation. God is on the march and God is going to do something new! Some scholars believe Mary is looking back on all the stories she has heard about how God has dealt with people in the past. Others think that she is being prophetic and only looking ahead to what God will do. I personally think it is both. Listen or download the podcast to hear more about this most amazing song in response to God’s call on the life of Mary.
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Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Christmas 2020
2. Mary visits Elizabeth
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!”
(Luke 2:39-45)
There is much to be said about this time of year we call Christmas. Worldwide there are about 250 babies born every minute.
Yet, the birth we celebrate at Christmas, is like no other birth of a human. That birth of the man Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago, caused the world to change. The birth of Jesus Christ causes more of the world today to pause amidst the busy-ness of life, take a breath amidst the noise of daily life and celebrate in many different ways and fashions.
From our reading in Luke, we find that Mary has gone to visit Elizabeth, who is also with child. She stays there 3 months before returning home. We see here that as Mary greets Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s unborn child does a leap in the womb! Not a slight nudge with an elbow or a kick with a foot. No! The child, who we know as John the Baptist, leaps joyously and Elizabeth, feels it and is filled with God the Holy Spirit. Come and listen to the podcast about the meeting of Mary & Elizabeth!
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Saturday Dec 19, 2020
Saturday Dec 19, 2020
Christmas 2020
1. Mary is called
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’
34 ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’
35 The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.’
38 ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.
(Luke 1:26-38)
Ahhh Mary. Mary, to whom was given the great privilege and awesome responsibility of carrying and giving birth to God’s Son, the Messiah. Come and listen to this podcast where we learn of the calling of Mary by the Angel Gabriel!
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Friday Dec 18, 2020
Friday Dec 18, 2020
Nativity Sermon By Isaac the Syrian (613 – 700)
Today we continue our Christmas series with a Nativity Sermon By Isaac the Syrian.
O God,
This Christmas night bestowed peace on the whole world;
So let no one threaten;
This is the night of the Most Gentle One - Let no one be cruel;
This is the night of the Humble One - Let no one be proud.
Now is the day of joy - Let us not revenge;
Now is the day of Good Will - Let us not be mean.
In this Day of Peace - Let us not be conquered by anger.
Today the Bountiful impoverished Himself for our sake;
So, rich one, invite the poor to your table.
Today we receive a Gift for which we did not ask;
So let us give alms to those who implore and beg us.
This present Day cast open the heavenly doors to our prayers;
Let us open our door to those who ask our forgiveness.
Today the Divine Being took upon Himself the seal of our humanity,
In order for humanity to be decorated by the Seal of Divinity.
Amen
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Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Christmas 2020
Today as we start our Christmas season, we are looking at three Psalms which speak about the coming Messiah. This Messiah, we claim is Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. The Psalms are Psalm 2, Psalm 110 and Psalm 22! Come on in, and as you listen to the verses being read, try and pick out the verses speaking about the coming and life of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, God's Son and God incarnate.
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Monday Dec 09, 2019
Monday Dec 09, 2019
Day 1. The O Antiphons
In some parts of the church they use as part of their Christmas worship, these seven O antiphons in use. Each of them addresses Jesus Christ using a Messianic title drawn from Old Testament prophecy. Read backwards, the initials of each title in Latin form the words “Ero Cras” or "Tomorrow I shall be (with you)" – looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ.
The seven antiphons are:
Sapientia - Wisdom
Adonai - Holy Lord
Radix Jesse - Root of Jesse
Clavis David - Key of David
Oriens - Morning Star
Rex Gentium - King of the Nations
Emmanuel - God-with-us
Download or listen to the mp3 using the links available to find out more about these ancient words of the Church regarding Jesus Christ, the promised one of God.
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Monday Dec 22, 2014
Monday Dec 22, 2014
Fulfilled 03
At Partakers, like most of the world, we are now on the countdown to Christmas! This year we will look at how the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ was fulfilment of words and promises spoken about down through the ages – through countless years as people looked to God to rescue them.
Over 300 predictions in the Old Testament look to the coming of a Messiah. That man we Christians believe was Jesus Christ. Over the next 2 weeks, we will look at just a few of them! Look up the Bible references yourself to see!
4. Prediction: Messiah would come from the line of Abraham.
- Predicted: Genesis 12:3; Genesis 22:18
- Fulfilled: Matthew 1:1 & Romans 9:5
5. Prediction: Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac.
- Predicted: Genesis 17:19; Genesis 21:12
- Fulfilled: Luke 3:34
6. Prediction: Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob.
- Predicted: Numbers 24:17
- Fulfilled: Matthew 1:2
We continue tomorrow in our series "Fulfilled!" See you then!
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Monday Dec 24, 2012
Monday Dec 24, 2012
The Spirit of Christmas
by Henry van Dyke
For Christmas 2012 on Partakers, we are listening to a short book, "The Spirit of Christmas" by Henry van Dyke, first published in 1905 and in the Public Domain. The original book can be downloaded by visiting the Gutenberg siteToday we listen to
Part 6 - Journeying
As he said this, the young angel rose, with arms outspread, from the green meadow of Peacefield and, passing over the bounds of Heaven, dropped swiftly as a shooting-star toward the night shadow of the Earth. The other angels followed him—a throng of dazzling forms, beautiful as a rain of jewels falling from the dark-blue sky. But the child-angel went more swiftly than the others, because of the certainty of gladness in his heart. And as the others followed him they wondered who had been favoured and chosen to receive the glad tidings. (Hear the rest of this part of the story by either listening to the audio stream or downloading the mp3.) Our readers have been:
- Samantha (narrator)
- Dave R (Archangel Michael)
- David C (Archangel Uriel)
- Jim A (Archangel Raphael)
- Liz B (Child Angel)
- Killian (group of angels)
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