G’day and welcome to Partakers Christian Podcasts! Join us for uplifting Bible teaching, inspiring readings, heartfelt worship, powerful prayers, and fascinating church history. Whether you’re new to faith or growing deeper in your journey, we’re here to encourage and equip you. 🎧 Tune in, interact, and be inspired—wherever you are in the world.
Episodes
Sunday Aug 28, 2022
Sunday Aug 28, 2022
Martin Luther
Study 10
The Ten Commandments
The Second Commandment likewise in four strands, like this: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," etc.
First, I learn that I must keep God's name in honour, holiness, and beauty; not to swear, curse, not to be boastful or seek honor and repute for myself, but humbly to invoke his name, to pray, praise, and extol it, and to let it be my only honor and glory that he is my God and that I am his lowly creature and unworthy servant.
Second, I give thanks to him for these precious gifts, that he has revealed his name to me and bestowed it upon me, that I can glory in his name and be called God's servant and creature, etc., that his name is my refuge like a mighty fortress to which the righteous man can flee and find protection, as Solomon says.
Third, I confess and acknowledge that I have grievously and shamefully sinned against this Commandment all my life. I have not only failed to invoke, extol, and honour his holy name, but have also been ungrateful for such gifts and have, by swearing, lying, and betraying, misused them in the pursuit of shame and sin. This I bitterly regret and ask grace and forgiveness, etc.
Fourth, I ask for help and strength henceforth to learn this Commandment and to be preserved from such evil ingratitude, abuse, and sin against his name, and that I may be found grateful in revering and honoring his name. I repeat here what I previously said in reference to the Lord's Prayer: if in the midst of such thoughts the Holy Spirit begins to preach in your heart with rich, enlightening thoughts, honor him by letting go of this written scheme; be still and listen to him who can do better than you can. Remember what he says and note it well and you will behold wondrous things in the law of God, as David says.
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Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
An Almighty God
of Almighty Love
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 4:16 We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Did you note that the Apostle John in does not simply say that God loves, but rather he writes “God is love.” There is s a difference! God is love and God loves because that is His very nature. We love God because He first loved us! Throughout the Bible, God’s love is described as an unfailing, everlasting, intimate, sacrificial, unbreakable, conquering, immeasurable and all-knowing. How is God’s love seen? Download the mp3 to find out more!
Reading 1 - Mark 12:28-31"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?’‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’"
Reading 2 – John 14:15-21- ‘If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’
Reading 3 – 1 John 4:13-20 - This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
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Monday Jun 06, 2022
Monday Jun 06, 2022
Has your love gone cold?
That figure is the risen and ascended Jesus Christ! The one we Christians down through history have proclaimed as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He was the greatest gift of all, freely given, in order to save the world! Salvation, as a gift of grace, imparted to all those who would accept Jesus Christ as saviour! And one group of people had taken Him up on that offer, a church we read about in Revelation 2:1-7
Sunday May 29, 2022
Sunday May 29, 2022
Food Sacrificed To Idols (1 Corinthians 8)
1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.
4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘An idol is nothing at all in the world’ and that ‘There is no God but one.’ 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling-block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. (1 Corinthians 8)
Ancient Corinth was one of the largest, wealthiest and therefore most important cities of the ancient world. It had a large mixed population of Greeks, Romans and Jews. The streets of Corinth were lined with temples to all manner of gods. Not only Greek gods but also because Greece was now under the Roman empire, temples paying homage to Roman gods. This of course included those giving homage and worship to the Roman Emperor, who at the time this letter was written, was probably the Emperor Nero. More than that, some of the Greek gods were merged with Roman gods, in order to make new gods and therefore more temples were constructed.
In these temples, sacrifices were made to appease these gods and were acts of worship to and of them. For if the gods were not appeased then it was thought that all manner of things may happen to a person, internally and externally, for the gods would be angry and send their demons and spirits to inflict all manner of ill on a person. The meat from these sacrifices was then, in part, given to be eaten by the priests conducting the sacrifice, and the rest sold to the general public for consumption.
We see therefore, from a Christian perspective, Corinth was a city deeply immersed in idolatry and immorality. What of the Church there in the midst of such a place? Paul had helped start the Church about 6 years ago. You can read about that in Acts 18.
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Thursday May 19, 2022
Thursday May 19, 2022
Partakers Bible Thought
19 May 2022
Daniel 8 - Worlds In Conflict
We are looking today at an intriguing piece of Scripture - Daniel 8! In Chapter 7, the prophet Daniel had a dream of 4 animals, which were a winged lion, a bear, a winged leopard and a beast.
v1-4 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai. Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no animals could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
v27 I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.
Here in Daniel 8, we look together at the bear, which is described here as a ram, and a winged leopard that is described as a goat. Unlike his previous two visions which occurred at night, this one occurs during the day. Daniel was transported in the Spirit to Susa, a major city of the Babylon & Persian empires. He sat down beside the Ulai canal, nine hundred feet wide and connected two large rivers so that boats could easily pass from one to the other. Spiritually seated by the river, he lifted up his eyes. He saw a ram, a male sheep, that had two horns, and as he watched, one of its horns became larger than the other.
Grab your Bible, and listen to the podcast to find out more about this intriguing and wonderful piece of Scripture!
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Tuesday May 10, 2022
Tuesday May 10, 2022
Acts 20 - Guided by God to serve…
1. Overview
Acts 20 breaks down into 3 sections.
- v1-6 - Paul in Macedonia and Greece
- v7-12 - Paul in Troas
- v13-39 - In this section, Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian leaders.
2. Guidance - How are Christians guided by God?
- Controlled by the Holy Spirit
- Convictions and Conscience
- Counsel and Circumstances
- Lessons from the past
3. Service
Paul’s Service - How did he serve
- Spiritual Gifts
- Words
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Thursday Feb 17, 2022
Thursday Feb 17, 2022
A Devotional Life
What do we mean by a devotional life? A good place to start is the question: what do we mean by a “Devotional life”? For the Christian, it can be defined as the obedient submission in all facets of life to God. That is the historical meaning. That means the use of our time, money, energy along with prayer, worship, Bible Study, and other religious activities that are done in private rather than with other people.
As Christians, we are called to be God’s light into the world. A world, a community, where we Christians work, rest and play with other humans. In doing this, we need to have a devotional life where we spend time each day in simple prayer and Bible study. A time where God encourages and energizes us. This devotional life of Bible Study and prayer which goes on to affect every aspect of our life, as God the Holy Spirit who lives within us, helps, encourages and transforms us. Bible Study and prayer which are used by God to develop our lives, both as individuals and as a Church, into showing God to a society which is apart from God.
To be a Christian is to be in a relationship with God. It is a developing and maturing intimacy between God and the Christian. Could the same be said of you and me? We develop our intimacy with God through simple prayer – both speaking and in listening. The major way we can hear God speak, is through the Bible. That is why prayer and reading the Bible go hand in hand. How is your prayer life and your reading of the Bible?
A devotional life shows the Christian to be in a dynamic and living relationship with God and has a developing intimacy with God. Intimacy with God which is going on with the Christian life, developing that relationship and refining that unique bond between God and yourself. It is a reminder to me constantly that I am loved by God, regardless of how I am feeling and how other people treat me. Could the same be said of you? How is your devotional life with God going? Let's have a look at prayer and the Bible.
Part 1. Prayer
12 One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ 13 If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”
14 The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”
15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”
17 The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”
18 Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”
19 The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,[a] before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. 20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 The Lord continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. 22 As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.” Exodus 33:12-23
Part 2 – The Bible.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:10-18)
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Monday Feb 14, 2022
Monday Feb 14, 2022
Sermon
Romans 12 - Love in Practise
Paul is speaking a letter to the Church in Rome, those he calls “God's beloved”. He has not yet been to Rome and is currently in the great Greek city of Corinth, and it is about AD57-58. A man we know as Tertius is acting as his scribe and writing down what Paul is saying. Tertius would later go onto be a Bishop in Iconium.
So far in this letter, Romans 1 to 11, Paul has been drawing a word picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel which demonstrates that God gets his hands dirty. The Gospel which tells us that God has done all He could do, in order that humanity could be saved, be in a living and dynamic relationship with Him, if they choose to be so. Paul then goes on to investigate in depth about this Gospel, the nation of Israel and the Gentiles.
That is where we are up to with the passage before us, Romans 12. Now, just as Romans 1-11 shows us that God got his hands dirty, in the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, so must all those who call themselves His followers and children. As we will hopefully see together, if you are a Christian, you also must put your faith into practice, exercising it as you do your muscles. If muscles aren’t exercised or used, they wither away. The same can be said concerning our faith. How we live our life as Christians, is to reflect the life and love of the God whom we declare openly that we follow and love.
This morning, we will look at this chapter before us in two sections. Firstly, in v1-8, then we will have a break for a song before concluding with our second section in v9-21
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Thursday Nov 25, 2021
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
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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Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Partakers Bible Thought
23 November 2021
Jesus Cares for the Christian
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’
28 ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’
29 ‘Come,’ he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
(Matthew 14:22-33)
In his gospel, the Apostle John, records the reason why the disciples were in the boat. The crowd wanted to crown Jesus as a physical king. Jesus didn’t want this to happen and so withdrew by himself and the disciples went back into the boat. The experience of the disciples in the storm can be an encouragement to us when we go through the storms of life. We all go through storms and troubles. When we find ourselves in these storms, we can rest on these 4 assurances about Jesus if we are Christians.
In the podcast today we complete our look at 4 distinct ways that Jesus shows His care and concern for his followers, those who are Christians. Please do listen or download the mp3 podcast to find out more about this aspect in the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Christian.
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