G‘day! Partakers Christian podcasts of Bible Teaching, Bible Readings, Worship, Prayer and Church History on Podbean to help enable and encourage you! Come listen and interact.
Episodes
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 04: Transformation
When you became a Christian, if you are one, is that God is transforming you into the image of Jesus Christ. That is part of what the Apostle Paul has been saying and in the preceding verse 1, had encouraged them in response to this news, to worship God with all their minds and their bodies. It is transformation of mind and body! That is worship! How do we do that, you may ask? It is a fundamental of living a Christian life – transformation! WOW! The process of transformation starts with the Holy Spirit who lives within you, who is your seal of salvation and is the agent of change in your life. This transformation starts in the mind through reading the Bible and praying! Listening to God is part of prayer! Are you aware of that?
Of course the world we live in has many different values to that of the Christian or indeed the universal church. People will try to get you to not change and get you to compromise and adopt or maintain habits and behaviours that are distinctly not Christian. But we, as the Church, are to resist this. We can resist in the power of the Holy Spirit. Because if we resist in our strength and confidence in ourselves, then we are destined to fail. But by using the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you remember, we can prevail, overcome temptations and be transformed into the image of God the Son, Jesus Christ…
What are you personally struggling against? What is your church struggling with? Accede to the impulse of the Holy Spirit who is quietly urging you, prompting you and encouraging you. Then as you learn to listen to His urges, you will as Paul acknowledges, know what God’s will is for you in your life – not only transformation but also what you are to do and how you are to go about it to the praise and glory of God – Father, Son and Spirit.
We hand not just our bodies over to worship Jesus, but also our minds! What you input to your mind will dominate your mind! Sins start in the mind, then transfer to your will. Remember, if you are struggling with sin, confess it quickly to the God and ask to be continually filled and controlled by the Spirit! If the church were to be a lighthouse to the world, this world would be changed to the glory of God and God alone! Worship God – body, mind and will. Part of living life wholly for God in the 21st century.
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Sunday Sep 03, 2023
Sunday Sep 03, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 03: Worship and service
Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Here in this first verse of chapter 12, of that magnificent letter of Romans in the New Testament section of the Bible. As they are now Christians, their old life and old bodies have gone! That is what the letter writer Paul has been leading up to and saying. Paul, that great Apostle of the early church, now starts to elucidate about living life for God and for God alone. As Christians they have a new life and new bodies! Paul exhorts these followers of Jesus to worship Him with their whole bodies – not just their minds or their hearts! This is the new transformed person as living sacrifices in response to God’s mercy, justice, grace and love! Jesus sacrificially died for the person, so the person must also sacrifice their old ways of life – thoughts, desires, attitudes and actions – and proceed to live a whole life which is pleasing to God – pleasing in their thoughts, desires, attitudes and actions…
Why? Because that is part of whole life worship of Jesus, the Son of God. Because the whole body of the individual Christian is, in the point of view of God, been declared holy through the death of the Son Jesus Christ on the cross.
As Christians, we are to worship with our whole bodies and minds. As Christians we have been marked and sealed with the Holy Spirit who lives within the Christian –helping, counselling, consoling, comforting and empowering. It is not just worship, but also to be our service of God. Jesus, the Son of God, was the servant of humanity. It is our responsive worship to therefore be of service to God in all things that we do, as we go about our daily lives – work, rest and play.
If you are struggling in some area of life, encumbered with a perpetual sin, then confess to God that sin, ask Him to cleanse you afresh and to fill you with His Spirit. Keep on being filling with His Spirit. Not just on Sundays but every day of the week and in all areas of your life! By being filled with the Spirit, I mean be controlled by the Spirit and let Him guide your thoughts and actions. If the church and Christians were to do that, this world would be changed!! How can we do that? Well, that commences in v2 and tomorrow!
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Click on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!Saturday Sep 02, 2023
Saturday Sep 02, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 02: Keys to Romans
Some Key verses to this letter of Romans are:
- Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
- Romans 3:23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
- Romans 8:38-39 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Click on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Born Again!
Come hear the explanation of today's WOW Word "Born Again"! It confused an ancient and educated Jewish leader, Nicodemus! It continues to confuse some people even today! Perhaps you?
Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’ Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’ ‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” (John 3:3-7)
Monday Aug 28, 2023
Monday Aug 28, 2023
Faith
People always say that faith is blind! However the Bible says that faith is a total confidence in God’s faithfulness, which leads to reliance, trust and total obedience to Him (Hebrews 11v6). We see this faith in the Godly obedience of those around us and from the Bible and church history.
Faith in Salvation
For salvation, faith is a voluntary change of mind and heart in the sinner in which the person turns to God, relying on and accepting His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.
- Mind - recognition of your need of salvation. Acknowledging Christ’s death on your behalf and your need of forgiveness.
- Emotional (Heart) – your personal assent to the gospel. You ask yourself, “What must I do to be saved?” and then you agree to make salvation a part of your life.
- Will - Personal trust in Jesus Christ.
Now as a follower of Jesus, you are to continue having faith in Him. Four things at least you are to have faith in Him for:
By faith - He is praying for you
Jesus Christ is making intercessions for His followers (Romans 8:34). He knew the disciples troubles (Mark 6:48), just as He knows your troubles now. He feels your cares and knows what you are going through (Hebrews 4:14-16).
By faith - He will come to you
Ever felt like God is far away? Well you aren’t alone! King David often felt God was far away and unconcerned. However he also knew God would ultimately rescue him. Jesus always comes to you through difficult times, although He may not come in the time you think He should come, because He knows when you need Him most.
By faith - He will help you grow
When the disciples were in the storm and Jesus came to them walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33), the purpose of this incident was to show that Jesus would be leaving them soon, so they had to learn to trust in Him when He wasn’t physically present. Peter wrote later on in his life, “for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers” (1 Peter 3v12).
By faith, He will see you through
At the same event, Jesus said “Come” and Peter went with Him. This must have encouraged the other disciples, for upon seeing Jesus’ power they worshipped him. Whatever troubles you are undergoing are temporary, and Jesus will see you through.
By faith, you have salvation. By faith Jesus is praying, will come to you, grow you and help you through troubles. By being obedient to God, you are showing others your salvation and showing that faith, is not blind, but active!
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Friday Aug 11, 2023
Friday Aug 11, 2023
A Strategy to Cope
Hebrews 3
1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice,8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.'
11 So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.15 As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
The first thing we do is to consider Jesus or as the NIV here puts it “fix our thoughts”. Now remember, that these are Hebrew believers. I guess we would call them Messianic Jews today. They believed that Jesus was their Messiah, Saviour and Lord. They were obviously coming under pressure from their Jewish friends and leaders to deny this Jesus and return to the fold. They would have been told how great Moses was.
In the previous chapter we read how Jesus is greater than the angels, because He is God, but was made a little lower than the angels when he became a man.
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Saturday Aug 05, 2023
Saturday Aug 05, 2023
Sharon, a Chinese believer, talks about her journey of faith, from Daoism to Christianity and how Jesus Christ is relevant to her life today.
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Friday Aug 04, 2023
Friday Aug 04, 2023
PulpTheology Book
Church History - Heroes And Heretics Abound
I know what you are probably thinking! History is boring! Was I right? I have heard it a million times! I think history can be fascinating, particularly Church history. Why do I think that? Because how can anything with heroes and heretics be boring? More than that, the story of the Christian Church is your story! Yes! You, dear reader! Your story, regardless of where you are from and who you are. Your story, regardless of your belief or non-belief. Perhaps you know very little of it. No worries! This book is written with you in mind.
Before Jesus Christ ascended back to heaven, he commanded his 11 followers to go and tell others about Him and His work. They did, and we stand here today as a product of their obedience. But how did the Church get here today? Together we explore her birth, growth and development. Development to the point where today, she is worldwide and has at least 2 billion people who identify as a Christian, of one kind or another. All the while, striving to avoid the mistakes and embrace the joys of her history.
We also interact with some people of today, who tell about their relationship with the Church. Finally, we also interact with some of the great minds of Church history, looking at some of the prayers of the Church. As the Church of today and tomorrow, we can all learn something from this exciting story. Come on in!
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Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Partakers PulpTheology on Amazon God's Two Words For You!
Straight talk about God's Two Words - Jesus Christ and the Bible...
Amazon have reduced the price of this #Partakers #PulpTheology paperback to only £2.58 in the UK.
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Friday Jun 30, 2023
Friday Jun 30, 2023
Atonement 5
Conclusion: Atonement is At-One-Ment?
Today we continue our series of 5 podcasts concerning that big Bible Word, Atonement. We seek to explore what conclusions we can make concerning Jesus Christian, Atonement and people today.
We will look at 6 blessings and consequences because of the atonement and our acceptance of it: Atonement sealing; Atonement peace; Atonement reconciliation; Atonement salvation; Atonement gathering and Atonement life to come.
Come and listen to find out more!
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