Partakers Christian Podcasts

Partakers Bible Thought – The Spirit Explodes 12

The Spirit Explodes

Part 12 of 22
Opening the door to the Gentiles
(Acts 12:26–13:41)

by Roger Kirby

As we noted in the last study, in the sometimes surprising purposes of God, the gospel was to go to all nations, as promised to Abraham long ago. It is now clear that Antioch was to be the centre of this great movement.

Acts 12:25–Acts 13:3.

The 5 named leaders in the church in Antioch were a Jew from a priestly family in Cyprus, a black African, a North African Arab (probably), a boyhood friend of Herod, and a Hellenistic Jew.

Question 1: What does that tell us about the early church? How does your church compare with this?

Acts 13:4–12

Question 2: What reasons can there possibly be for this? Where should we expect most conflict to come from and where will it not come from?

Acts 13:13–16

Question 3: How do we expect a preacher to establish contact with his audience?

Acts 13:17–25

Question 4: In which direction? What would he have said to  “spin” it in the other direction? What would have been the result? Why does he mention John the Baptist?

Acts 13:26
Question 5: What would your likely reaction to this statement be?

Acts 13:27–37 
Question 6: What was Paul’s main argument in these verses? Where did he get confirmation of his arguments?
Question 7: What are our main arguments in defence of our faith? Where can we get confirmation from?

Acts 13:38–41
Question 8: What did Paul want his hearers to do?

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Partakers Bible Thought – The Spirit Explodes 11

The Spirit Explodes
Part 11 of 22
The expansion of the Church
(Acts 11:1–12:25)

by Roger Kirby

 

These two chapters record the events that led to the transfer of the significant heart of the early church from Jerusalem to Antioch. Antioch was the third largest city of the Roman world, strategically placed near the north-east corner of the Mediterranean sea. 

First we read the third account (Luke’s technique for emphasis again) of how Peter came to recognize Cornelius and his friends to be true Christians. In the first verse Luke signals that another milestone has been reached: the Gentiles received the word of God. The rest of this passage adds nothing significant to what we have already heard.

Note how, curiously, Luke never mentions the name of Cornelius in this passage. To ask ‘why’ would make a good question but I don’t know what the answer is so I won't!

Let's continue to explore together! Listen to the mp3 and answer the questions of this study!

Question 1: What does Peter say is the mark of the Christian? How does he identify the true followers of Jesus?

Question 2: What does this chapter tell us about where the ultimate power lies?

Question 3: Peter walked through many gates on his way out of prison but was left standing at the door of a Christian house. Is this anything more than an incidental detail? If so, what?

Question 4: Why do you think Luke put it in here?

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Saturday Testimony Story - Naz

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Naz...

Today we are hearing the story of Naz from Bangladesh... Come and listen to his story of faith... It is in the languages of English and Bangla... It was recorded in a busy Somerset cafe, so there is some minimal background noise...

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Partakers Bible Thought – The Spirit Explodes 10

The Spirit Explodes
Part 10 of 22
A major step : welcoming non-Jews
(Acts 9:32–10:48)

by Roger Kirby

 

After introducing Paul to us, Luke switches back to 3 stories about Peter, 2 minor and one major. First the 2 minor stories. As we read them watch out for several sharply contrasting features between the first and the second.

Read Acts 9:32–43.

Question 1:  Apart from the obvious one of a bed-ridden person and a dead person, what are the major contrasts between these 2 stories? What are we meant to learn from them?

Read Acts 10:1–18.

Question 2:  What would these verses have meant to Theophilus, the guy for whom Luke wrote this book?

Read Acts 10:9–16.

Question 3:  What would his reaction have been?

Question 4:  What is the general significance of him being told this?

Read Acts 10:17–43.

Question 5:  What were the most important things in his talk? What would have been the bullet points if he had had a computer?

Read Acts 10:44–48.

Question 6:  This is a fundamentally important question. What was to replace the rules of Judaism?

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Partakers Bible Thought – The Spirit Explodes 09

The Spirit Explodes
Part 9 of 22 - The Conversion of Paul
(Acts 9:1-31)

by Roger Kirby

This story is usually called ‘the conversion of Paul’ but, as we shall see, it was a very unusual conversion. The word ‘conversion’ means a complete change of mind and actions. Paul (we will call him that although for the next four and a half chapters, until a name change is noted, he is actually called Saul) made a complete change in his actions but not in his mind. He considered his decision to follow Jesus a natural, if forced, development from his Jewish belief in God.

Question 1: Paul changed his mind about Jesus. But what exactly was it about Jesus that forced him to change his mind?

Question 2.: Which Old Testament image or images will Paul have instantly related the lights and the voice to?

Question 3: Which was it for Paul?

Question 4: Which was it for you?

Question 5: Are you confident the Lord has seized hold of you?

Question 6: What one word best describes what he did?

Question 7: Paul hit the church like a whirlwind. Apart from his natural ability and energy levels, which were clearly very high, what was it about him that enabled him to make such an impact?

Question 8: What does that imply for us?

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Thursday Testimony Story - God Said No

G'day and welcome to Partakers! Today we hear a testimony of how Partakers began! May 2007, in the final week before final dissertation submission at Moorlands College, I collapsed while at the GP. While unconscious I said "Dad, can I come home now?"

To which I was told by God, "No. Get up. We have a job for you to do." So I sat up, and the emergency paramedics came in, almost fainted and said: "You aren't supposed to be sitting up..." Collapse caused by sepsis due to ingrown hairs on my leg... Because of these events, we now do what we are doing, thanks be to God, reaching over 120 countries a year via social networks, paperbacks, ebooks, Podcasts and YouTube... Thanks for being part of our life, and I hope that I have shown in some way, that God loves you...

Come on in, listen to what happened next, how we began. By listening, you are sharing in the work that God has been doing through us!

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~

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Partakers Bible Thought – The Spirit Explodes 08

The Spirit Explodes
Part 8 of 22 - Spirit and Word
(Acts 8:4-40)

by Roger Kirby

This chapter gives examples of outreach to the outer fringes of Judaism before the start of the main effort towards the truly pagan Gentiles with the conversion and commissioning of Paul. To the north the Samaritans practiced a variant form of Judaism, using only the first five books of the OT, and so were regarded as heretics by the strict Judaists. To the south Ethiopia was a major kingdom in modern Sudan, the nearest black peoples, and the only ones they would know about. Hence it was the “end of the world” to them. So these two episodes are carefully chosen to demonstrate the spread of the good news to “Samaria and the ends of the earth”, as it was put in chapter 1 and at the same time to explain two important aspects of what that news was (and is!)

In this episode we ask questions such as:
Question 1: What was the difference between Simon’s magic and what Philip did? (Modern magic where the speed of the hand deceives the eye will mainly be a third category.)

Question 2: What should we conclude from that variety of situations?

Question 3: How do we recognise when and if the Spirit is given?

Question 4: The “power” of modern day ministry is attractive to certain personality types. To what extent can they fall under the condemnation leveled at Simon?

Question 5: Identify the two main actors in the conversion of the Ethiopian. Which is the dominant one? Which was dominant in the story about the conversion of the Samaritans? What should we conclude from this?

Question 6: What is Luke telling us through this?

Question 7: Why would the Ethiopian have found this passage particularly appealing to him?

Question 8: In what ways is that true?
 

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Bible Reading - Psalm 94

Psalm 94

¹ O Lord, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!

² Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve.

³ How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
⁴ How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast?
⁵ They crush your people, Lord, hurting those you claim as your own.
⁶ They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans.
⁷ "The Lord isn't looking," they say, "and besides, the God of Israel doesn't care."
⁸ Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on?
⁹ Is he deaf-the one who made your ears? Is he blind-the one who formed your eyes?
¹⁰ He punishes the nations-won't he also punish you? He knows everything-doesn't he also know what you are doing?
¹¹ The Lord knows people's thoughts; he knows they are worthless!
¹² Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions.
¹³ You give them relief from troubled times until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.
¹⁴ The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession.
¹⁵ Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.
¹⁶ Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ Unless the Lord had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.
¹⁸ I cried out, "I am slipping!" but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
¹⁹ When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.
²⁰ Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side - leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
²¹ They gang up against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
²² But the Lord is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
²³ God will turn the sins of evil people back on them. He will destroy them for their sins. The Lord our God will destroy them.

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Partakers Bible Thought – The Spirit Explodes 07

The Spirit Explodes

Part 7 of 22 - The Martyrdom of Stephen
(Acts 6:1 – 8:3)

by Roger Kirby

Luke, probably guided by Paul’s memories of what happened, sees the teaching and death of Stephen as a major turning point in the progress of the Gospel. To this point opposition has come from the ruling classes in Jerusalem; the common people had approved of what was happening. From here on the believers lost the support of everybody. Consequently the focus of the Gospel is about to move outside Jerusalem.

First: the background in Acts6:1–7.

The “Grecian Jews” of the NIV probably means Greek speaking Jews who had retired to Jerusalem mainly in order to die there; “Hebraic Jews” probably means long term Aramaic speaking residents of the city. Each would have worshipped in a synagogue where their most familiar language was spoken. When some of each became Christian tensions arose.

The seven chosen men are often called deacons but only because the Greek word for “waiting on tables” is diakonia. Their responsibilities do not match those described in the later NT letters. However we can learn useful lessons from them.

Question 1: What were the criteria for choosing the seven? Can we relate these to our situation? All seven names are Greek. What does that tell us about the principles used in the fellowship?
They were chosen purely on the basis of their spiritual depth. I don’t know what happens where you are but all too often men and women are chosen for positions in the church on the basis of their practical qualifications. Their spirituality is the least of the attributes considered. That all of them were Greek speaking suggests that great care was taken to resolve the problems as quickly as possible.
In Acts 6:8 – 7:1, which outline the nature of the problem, Stephen faced.
The troubles started in one particularly radical synagogue, the Synagogue of the Freedmen. This included some from Cilicia, which is where Paul came from so he was probably a member of this meeting.
Now we come to the long speech of Stephen, the longest in the book of Acts. It is not at all easy to see how what he said related to the charges against him, and what upset them so much and caused him to be lynched, so I will interrupt my wife’s reading of the speech as we go along to try and explain it.
Stephen starts his speech by referring back to God’s promise to Abraham. What he says is standard Jewish thinking and quite unobjectionable, but he is starting to emphasise the way that Abraham had no firm roots in any place.
Read Acts 7:2 – 8.
Isaac and Jacob were uninteresting to Stephen because they had secure roots in Israel.
So he moves on to Joseph who did not have secure roots. He also points out that Joseph was rejected by those who should have supported him, his brothers.
Read Acts 7:9 – 19.
Next comes Moses, again a wanderer on the face of the earth, as Stephen is careful to emphasise. He also emphasises that Moses too suffered rejection by his own people on more than one occasion.
Read Acts7:20 – 43.
He continues to trace the history of his people beginning to emphasise the tabernacle as the place where God dwelt. Although David enjoyed God’s favour he did not get building the temple.
Read Acts 7:44 – 47.
He has now set the scene for what he wants to say. He has also by his strong emphasis on Moses effectively rebutted the charge that Jesus was going to change the customs of the law. Remembering how the apostles had been treated by these people he probably had decided he was likely to die anyway and he was not going to do so without making his points. So he continues by making two points:
1) the temple was not as important as they thought it was as all these great men had lived without it, being prepared to meet and worship God anywhere they happened to be. Even if Jesus had said he would destroy the temple (as he hadn’t) it would not have mattered;
2) many of these true prophets of old had been rejected by the people, as Jesus was. They, his hearers, had acted wrongly, but that was nothing new.

Read Acts 7:48 – 53.
He was not exactly diplomatic in the way he put it! The reaction was overwhelming. The veiled argument behind the history is that God is not limited to any one place, in particular the temple. He is therefore not under the control of the Sanhedrin. Their power is finished. The true next step in the purposes of God is with Jesus and his people.

Read Acts 7:54 – 8: 1a.
Question 2: What are the practical implications today of there being no particular place where the Lord is to be worshipped? In what ways do people wrongly contradict that fact?

Cathedrals, and the like, can be wonderful places but they don’t really fit into the scene Stephen paints. The idea that the temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt, as advocated by some people, also falls before Stephen’s argument. It doesn’t matter where we gather and worship. The important things are gathering and worshiping.

Question 3: Stephen was obviously a vigorous personality who was not prepared to keep quiet, even if he was also full of the Holy Spirit! Such people are not always comfortable to live with. What place should such people have in the present day church?

There ought to be room for every personality type in every fellowship. It is important that the leadership of every group uses to the full the best attributes of everyone while curbing their less useful attributes, whether that be making too much noise or too little!
Probably it was when Stephen said that he saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God that his fate was sealed. Jesus said something similar when he said that the Son of Man would be seated at the right hand of God and that was the point at which they decided to kill him. Both were referring to Daniel 7 where one like a Son of Man approached the Ancient of Days and was given authority, glory and sovereign power.

Question 4: Why were these statements taken so amiss?
These were the clearest possible statements that Jesus was the Messiah and that he would be given the authority and power they (the members of the Sanhedrin) so much enjoyed. Beware the love of power!

Read Acts 8: 1 – 3
And so the purposes of God were fulfilled in the persecution and scattering of the church.

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Partakers Bible Thought – The Spirit Explodes 06

The Spirit Explodes

Part 6 of 22 - And now for the not-so-good news
(Acts 4:32 – 5:42)
by Roger Kirby

The infant church begins to struggle with both internal problems and external ones. It is rather amazing that Luke tells us about some of the more difficult events. He clearly had a purpose in doing so. We will think about that in a few minutes. We have already commented on the problems of this sort of living. Barnabas, who is going to figure prominently in the expansion of the church, is mentioned with clear approval of what he did. There were huge differences of wealth between the landowners and the working people in those days and this is clearly a comment about how those differences should be overcome within the fellowship of the church.

It also highlights the problem that we read about  in Acts 5:1–11. In this podcast we ask the following questions. To learn more, download the mp3 and listen!

• Question 1: What exactly did Ananias and Sapphira do wrong? Why was the punishment so harsh? Christians probably do worse things these days. Why are similar punishments not visited upon the offenders?
• Question 2: Sapphira chose solidarity with her husband over solidarity with the Lord and his people. What are the rights and wrongs in what she did?
• Question 3: What was Luke’s motive in including this account 40 years after the events recorded when he could so easily have chosen to highlight other more positive events?
• Question 4: Acts5:13 “no one dared join them” and the next verse “more men and women were added to their number” seem to be saying two contradictory things. What can they mean?
• Question 5: Apart from a record of the facts what does Luke want us to understand as the significance of what happened?
• Question 6: Where should we follow what we read here; where the teaching of the verses from Romans?

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