G‘day! 🌟 Welcome to Partakers Christian Podcasts! Tune in for Bible Teaching, Bible Readings, Worship, Prayer, and Church History. Our mission on Podbean is to enable and encourage you on your faith journey. Come listen, interact, and be inspired!
Episodes
Thursday Oct 07, 2021
Thursday Oct 07, 2021
Dave's Story
"Why am I a Christian?"
The Apostle John, writing in 1 John 5:9-12 - "We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
Why Is It So?
Why I am a Christian?
Now I could say that at the age of 12, we moved to a town on the coast of Australia, and was invited along to a local youth group and several weeks later, gave my life to Christ and became a Christian. Of course that is partly true. I can't even claim to be a Christian because I was raised in a Christian country. Australia was and is probably the second most secular country on this planet. Sure Australia has its moral base grounded in historic Christianity, but for the latter part of its history, Australia has been thoroughly secular and non-religious. Even if I had been raised in a country such as England, with Christian parents, that would also, only be partly true and I could have rejected Christianity as many people do. The reason that I am a Christian is not because I chased God, but rather He chased me. Unknown to me at the time, God was chasing me and following my every path with the urgency of a lover after the beloved, just as described in the Song of Songs 2:2-14.
This piece of poetic Scripture speaks about the love that God has for his people, and the energy He puts in to calling his people to Himself. He is always reaching out, for all to return to His arms. As for me, it wasn't until I was a 12 year old that I heard that I needed to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Before that I didn't know I had to do anything with this Jesus. Jesus was only a curse word for me at the time. That or was just someone or something that the RE teachers bored me with at school. We are primarily Christians, not because we come to church services or just happened to have been born in a supposedly Christian country. We are primarily Christians, because God first chased and harried us into His arms. We are Christians, if you are one, because God first loved you. And as a tremendous lover, He beckons and calls people all the time to respond to His call, and back to Him.
How does He chase us with His love? He chases each person differently, just as each Christian testimony is different. Take for instance the Apostle Paul in Acts 8 & 9. God chased him through Paul's mind and his religious upbringing and education. Paul had known about God from his childhood. Paul was a righteous Pharisee who saw persecuting these ‘Christians' as his religious duty, so that he may somehow find favour with God. As Paul was gloating over the death of the martyr Stephen, God was pursuing Him, probably raising doubts in Paul's mind as to why Stephen would say at the point of death "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and forgive them for what they do" (Acts 7:54-60). Surely doubts must have been raised in Paul's mind as he approved of this death (Acts 8:1). Paul was also wrestling with his conscience. Externally he was a righteous man, a Pharisee of Pharisees.
Yet when he internally examined himself and his heart, he found himself failing regarding covetousness, which is the last of the Ten Commandments. Then finally, Jesus himself makes a sudden and dramatic appearance before Paul and confronts him directly, "Why are you kicking against me? Why are you rejecting my advances?" (Acts 9) Paul's conversion to Christianity is often described as being sudden. But the only thing sudden about his conversion was this climatic appearance of Jesus.
Just as that was true of Paul, it is true of me, just as it is true of all those who profess to call themselves a Christian Disciple. I am a Christian Disciple not because of anything I have done, but rather because He first chased me, and because He first loved me. Jesus himself said "I came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).
For more to think about please do ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.
Q1. What were the events leading up to my choosing to be a Christian disciple which symbolize God running after me?
Q2. How am I, as a Christian Disciple, continuing to listen to God's voice?
Q3. Will I be ready to give my testimony the next time somebody asks me as to why I am a Christian?
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Wednesday Apr 28, 2021
Wednesday Apr 28, 2021
John RW Stott
Pioneer Outreach Worker
Today on Partakers Podcasts, we are looking back on the life of one of the most influential leaders of the Christian Church in the 20th Century. 27th April 2021 was the centenary of his birth. That leader, was John Stott. Come on in!
Introduction
G'day and welcome to Partake! Tonight I want to give a reflection somebody who is indeed a servant of the Lord and took great delight in all of Scripture. That person, is John RW Stott. By necessity, this is just a very brief introduction of the life of Reverend John Stott, and I concentrate mainly on his role as an evangelist. John Stott holds that he is more "an activist than a thinker", which is certainly evident in his ministry as a pioneer outreach worker. From the evidence of his life, we can see that has indeed fulfilled this thought.
Together we look briefly at:
His life and ministry
Being a pioneering outreach worker
His outreach theology
Outreach locally
Outreach globally
Influence
A lesson to be heeded
Conclusion
John Stott's life exemplifies radical outreach and innovation, blended with a desire to serve Jesus Christ as Lord. He is truly one of the twentieth centuries master servants of Jesus Christ. To the staff and many members of the congregation of All Souls Langham Place down through the years, he is simply known as "Uncle John". He is unique in the Anglican church in that he has always been associated with the one church throughout his life and ministry. As we have seen here briefly, he was certainly one of them, and it is all to the glory of God that He raised up his servant, Uncle John.
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Friday Aug 21, 2020
Friday Aug 21, 2020
Testimony - Life from the Faroe Islands
This is the story of Life, from the Faroe Islands sharing about her encounter with Jesus, how he saved her physically and spiritually and what she wants to do with the rest of her life after graduating from University - fighting injustice.
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Saturday Feb 29, 2020
Saturday Feb 29, 2020
Saturday Story
People meeting Jesus
The story of John
We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of a friend of mine. His name is John and he is from Hampshire in the United Kingdom! Come on in, and listen to his story about his own Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to his life.
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Saturday Feb 22, 2020
Saturday Feb 22, 2020
Saturday Story
People meeting Jesus
The story of Milly from the USA...
We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of Milly... She is from Mississippi in the USA... So come and listen to her story about her Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to her life today...
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Saturday Feb 15, 2020
Saturday Feb 15, 2020
Saturday Story
People meeting Jesus
The story of Adele from Australia...
We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of a friend of mine. Her name is Adele and she is from my home country, Australia. Come on in, and listen to her story about her own Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to her life! Come and listen to her story of faith...
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Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Thursday Story
People meeting Jesus
The story of Greg from Scotland...
We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of a friend of mine. His name is Greg and he is from Scotland. Let's look together at how and why he started his Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to his life! Come and listen to his story of faith...
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Thursday Jan 24, 2019
Thursday Jan 24, 2019
Thursday Story
Sheena
We continue apace into the twenty first century. Today, Sheena shares with you about her life and her ongoing relationship with God! Come, listen and be inspired!
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Thursday Jan 03, 2019
Thursday Jan 03, 2019
Thursday Story
People meeting Jesus
The story of Life from the Faroe Islands...
We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of a friend of mine. Her name is Life and she is from the Faroe Islands. Let's look together at how and why she started her Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to her life! Come and listen to her story of faith...
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Thursday Oct 04, 2018
Thursday Oct 04, 2018
Thursday Story
It gradually dawns on Angie - God loves her!
A story of Angie... We continue apace into the twenty first century and hear the story of how Angie came to a gradual realisation of all that Jesus Christ had done for her and changed her life around!
Come and listen!
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