Partakers Christian Podcasts

Partakers Bible Thought 25 November 2021 – Obedience of Ruth

Partakers Bible Thought

25 November 2021

Thanks to God for Ruth

16 But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’ 18 When Naomi realised that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. (Ruth 1:16-18)

The book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion and redemption set in the black days of the Judges. It tells the story of a pagan woman giving up everything to cling to the people of Israel and to God Himself and it shows her faithfulness when the nation was faithless.

Today we are going to learn about Ruth and her obedience. Indeed elsewhere in Scripture it says that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). The story of Ruth celebrates the gentle beauty of love and loyalty between individuals, and it shows the positive power of obedience to God for both personal fulfilment and wider blessing. By committing herself to Naomi, as well as to Naomi's God, Ruth found satisfaction in service. Instead of losing her identity by her voluntary and complete submission, Ruth's place in Israel and history is confirmed.

In the podcast today we will look briefly at four aspects of the obedience of Ruth, that we living as Christians today would be wise to copy as we seek to follow this God with obedient lives that are worthy of Him.. Please do listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about this aspect of living as a Christian in the 21st century.

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Partakers Bible Thought 7 November 2021 – Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty 7

Partakers Bible Thought

7 November 2021

Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Part 7
Concluding Reflections

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “I am the LORD your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.
30 Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practised before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.”’ (Leviticus 18:1-5, 30)

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
37 ‘“Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.”’ (Leviticus 19:1, 37)

In the last podcast, we looked at two ways Christians can be show they are obedient and faithful to God as evidence of their love of God: to carry their cross daily and to tell others about Jesus. We started these reflections in Leviticus 18-19 by looking at the ancient people of Israel, who were not to be like the surrounding nations in areas of life such as food & diet, immigration, sex and social etiquette . Ancient Israel was to administer justice fairly and make sure the poor were helped and nobody was in need. We saw that God is holy and that ancient Israel were to be holy through joyful obedience to God. That was the command from God: "Be holy as I am holy. You are to do as I would do."

We went on to see that the Church today, individually and collectively, are to do similarly. Particularly loving other people. All other people. Including other Christians. Not a plastic love but a real love. A love such as that which God shows the world – deep seated, open, honest and sacrificial.

Today we look at how we Christians can go out with joy and wonder, to love others radically and practically. Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about God and following Him.

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Partakers Bible Thought 6 November 2021 – Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty 6

Partakers Bible Thought

6 November 2021

Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Part 6
Reflect God – Love Practically (2)

 16 ‘I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Mark 10:16-20)

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:18-20)

In the last podcast, we looked at ancient Israel having to be obedient and faithful to God as evidence of their love of God. We left with a question “How can we love God faithfully and obediently?” Today we look at just two ways in which we as Christians can show our love of God?

Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about God and following Him.

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Partakers Bible Thought 5 November 2021 – Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty 5

Partakers Bible Thought

5 November 2021

Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Part 5
Reflect God – Love Practically (1)

 16 ‘I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Mark 10:16-20)

We left the last podcast with a question “How can we reflect and practise this love?” Firstly, love is faithful. In our journey through Leviticus, Israel was to be faithful to God. We have seen the ancient Israelites being given a new identity, which would have seen them stand out amongst the nations. So too with us today, as we have also gained a new identity when we chose to become a Christian.

Together we explore questions such as: How can we as Christians overcome difficulties and opposition? How can we remain faithful to God in making decisions? How is faithfulness to Jesus Christ observed? What does whole life worship entail? Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about God and following Him.

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Partakers Bible Thought 4 November 2021 – Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty 4

Partakers Bible Thought

4 November 2021

Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Part 4
Reflect God – Love God and love your neighbour

18 ‘“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.

32 ‘“Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. 33 ‘“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not ill-treat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. 35 ‘“Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. 36 Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin.] I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. 37 ‘“Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the LORD.”’ (Leviticus 19:18, 32-37)

 

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ 29 ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” 31 The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’ (Mark 12:28-31)

We left the last podcast with a question. How is personal holiness shown? Today that is what we investigate together. Leviticus 19, starts off with instructions about taking care of the poor. God was going to provide for the poor. How? The farmers were to leave some of the crop or vineyard unharvested and it was to be a symbolic act of worship, a thanksgiving and a visible sign of trusting in God to supply. It was a generous holiness in action. This whole section is summed up in Leviticus 19:18, “love your neighbour as yourself”. Neighbour being any other person, not just the person who lived next door.

Together we explore questions such as: What did it mean for ancient Israel for them to love their neighbour? Why were they love their neighbour as themselves? Who were ancient Israel’s neighbours? What makes a good neighbour? What does this mean for Christians today? Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about God and following Him.

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Partakers Bible Thought 3 November 2021 – Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty 3

Partakers Bible Thought

3 November 2021

Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Part 3
Reflect God – Be holy

44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45 I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44-45)

31 ‘Keep my commands and follow them. I am the LORD. 32 Do not profane my holy name, for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who made you holy 33 and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.’ (Leviticus 22:31-32)

G’day! In our last podcast we looked at God and discovered that while God is Almighty, that God is also personal, that God is a God of love and that God is Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit Indeed, the whole work of salvation is an act of love from a personal loving God, who is Trinity: God the Father ‘calls’; God the Son ‘redeems; and the Holy Spirit ‘seals’ people as God’s children (Ephesians 1:13-14). WOW!

Today we continue in Leviticus 18-19 by looking at Israel and how they were to respond to their God and reflect God to the surrounding nations. As commanded by God, Israel were to reflect God. “I am Holy”, declares God, “You must also be holy as I am.” In other words: “This is what I would do. So be obedient to me and you must do as I would do.” Israel were to reflect God’s holiness in a practical, down-to-earth, ‘get your hands dirty’ manner.

Together we explore questions such as: What were the main characteristics we can see of the relationship between God and Israel? How were the laws to be obeyed? What was worship to be for Israel? What does this mean for Christians today? Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about God and following Him.

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Partakers Bible Thought 2 November 2021 – Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty 2

Partakers Bible Thought

2 November 2021

Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Part 2
Who Is God?

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:23-24)

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

G’day! Throughout the book of Leviticus, God has said “Be holy, for I am holy”. But what is holiness? As we have glimpsed in recent podcasts, holiness is what separates God from all His creation, including humanity. Why? For God alone is holy and full of glory. Remember what Aaron had to do when entering the holy of holies on the day of Atonement? He had to create a wall of smoky incense, so that he wouldn’t glimpse God’s glory and holiness and be struck down dead, like his sons Nadab and Abihu. Holiness is in fact the sum of all God’s attributes. God is holiness and holiness is God.

Today we start looking at who God is from Leviticus 18-19! Together we explore questions such as: What kind of God is this? What are some of God’s attributes? How are those attributes seen in Leviticus applicable and relevant to Christians today? Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about God and following Him.

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Partakers Bible Thought 1 November 2021 – Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty 1

Partakers Bible Thought

1 November 2021

Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Part 1

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “I am the LORD your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.
30 Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practised before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.”’ (Leviticus 18:1-5, 30)

G’day! We looked recently at Leviticus 9 & 10 and saw a scene of great joy and jubilation, as well as a scene of great judgement. Then, more recently we looked together at Leviticus 16 & 17, and that great annual event in the calendar of Ancient Israel, known as the Day of Atonement and what it signified for ancient Israel. We looked at how these ancient writings applied to us today and concluding that it is because of Jesus Christ alone, every human can choose to be ‘at one’ with God and have eternal life.

Today we start looking into Leviticus 18 & 19. Here is where the rubber hits the road. Leviticus now moves on to the matter of wholeness of life and personal holiness. God gives to His people, Israel, some laws of how they were to live. Laws for such things as: food & diet, foreign nationals, justice, the poor, sex, social etiquette and tattoos. Together we explore questions such as: Why was Israel given these laws? What areas of life did these laws cover? What did Jesus Christ have to say about them? Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about Jesus Christ and following Him.

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Partakers Bible Thought 25 October 2021 – Centrepiece of Joy 6

Partakers Bible Thought

25 October 2021

Jesus Christ, You and I

29 ‘This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: on the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work – whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you – 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. 31 It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.
34 ‘This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.’ And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Leviticus 16:29-34)

1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
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 10:1-10)

 

G’day! Today we continue to look together at Leviticus and Jesus Christ. Come on in and let us look together at Leviticus 16, as we conclude our look upon the Centrepiece of Joy. Together, we started with all that occurred on that great annual event known as the Day of Atonement. Then we looked at how that applied to us today because of the cross of Jesus Christ, who was our atoning sacrifice. We can choose to have a relationship with Almighty God, because of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross, which we celebrate at Easter and remember when we take Holy Communion. Atonement meaning, that we ‘are at one’ with God. All because of God and from His wellsprings of love, grace and mercy. Nothing we can do can earn it, but simply because of His act of love toward us. WOW!

Jesus Christ - unique, majestic, tender, wise, strong, and lovely. This Jesus who is always there to help me, wipe my tears, give me joy, relieve my frustrations, give clarity over confusion and give me peace. Is this also your Jesus? That is my Jesus, whom I seek to serve and obey in every facet of life of every day. I rarely achieve it for more than moments, but I know that when I fail, I can ask for forgiveness and He will grant it from His wellsprings of love, grace and mercy.

It is this Jesus whom I depend upon and personally know to be totally reliable in every way. When people let me down, turn away from me, discourage me, think wrongly off me, incorrectly assume my motives, this Jesus always picks me up, never turns me away, always encourages and embraces me. He comforts me. He challenges me., At the end of each day, I know that all through each day, that Jesus has been dependable, going ahead of me. Amazing that somebody could love me like that. Do you know Him?

If we would call ourselves a Christian, a follower and disciple of the Jesus Christ, we know that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus and will continue to be until Jesus returns once more for us and for His body, the Church. Sometimes this transformation takes comfort and at other times we need to be challenged. Remember, our God challenges us in our comfort and comforts us in our challenges. Or is that just my experience? Do you know Him?

Lastly, if you are not yet a Christian, and you want to turn to God right now, there is no need for delay. He is ready and willing to take you as His own – right now. You only have to ask Him to forgive you and He will! God is calling you by name to be His child and His follower. He is calling you by name to come into relationship with Himself. As we have hopefully seen, being a Christian is a partnership between God and yourself. When you place your faith in Jesus, becoming utterly dependent upon Him, you turn to God.

Together in this podcast we explore questions such as: Who is this Jesus to me? What difference has he made in my life? What differences can Jesus make in your life? How can a person start to follow this Jesus, and have available to them all the riches of His love, grace and mercy? Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about Jesus Christ and following Him as we conclude Leviticus 16.

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Partakers Bible Thought 24 October 2021 – Centrepiece of Joy 5

Partakers Bible Thought

24 October 2021

Jesus Christ and Atonement Today Part 2

18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry for ever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago. (Micah 7:18-20)

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished 26 – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

G’day! Today we continue to look together at Jesus Christ, the Day of Atonement of Leviticus and the Atonement that He alone offers. We continue this by to looking together at 3 great Bible words: propitiation, redemption and substitution.

Together we explore questions such as: What do propitiation, redemption and substitution mean? What do propitiation, redemption and substitution have to do with Jesus Christ and Atonement today? With what one word can we sum up those 3 words?

Listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about Jesus Christ, the Atonement that He alone offers and regarding propitiation, redemption and substitution.

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