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
6 days ago
6 days ago
Psalm 6 to Psalm 10
Often we hear the Psalms one by one, but today we offer you the chance to hear a group of Psalms read as a collection!
Psalm 6
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, Lord, how long?
4 Turn, Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from his grave?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
Psalm 7
A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands –
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil or without cause have robbed my foe –
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust
6 Arise, LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies.
Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather round you,
while you sit enthroned over them on high.
8 Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure –
you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts.
10 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day.
12 If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword;
he will bend and string his bow.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 Whoever is pregnant with evil conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
their violence comes down on their own heads.
17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.
Psalm 8
For the director of music. According to gittith A psalm of David.
1 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 9
For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Death of the Son’. A psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
7 The LORD reigns for ever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.
13 LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may declare your praises
in the gates of Daughter Zion,
and there rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
16 The LORD is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.[c]
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
all the nations that forget God.
18 But God will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will never perish.
19 Arise, LORD, do not let mortals triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.
20 Strike them with terror, LORD;
let the nations know they are only mortal.
Psalm 10
1 Why, LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, ‘Nothing will ever shake me.’
He swears, ‘No one will ever do me harm.’
7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, ‘God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.’
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
‘He won’t call me to account’?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
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6 days ago
6 days ago
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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7 days ago
7 days ago
Psalm 96 to Psalm 100
Often we hear the Psalms one by one, but today we offer you the chance to hear a group of Psalms read as a collection!
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Psalm 96
1 Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous deeds among all peoples.
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Psalm 97
1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
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Psalm 98
1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvellous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
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Psalm 99
1 The Lord reigns,
let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
let the earth shake.
2 Great is the Lord in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name –
he is holy.
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Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
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7 days ago
7 days ago
A God Of Love
We live in a world that is in love with love. Love, according to some people, is what makes the world go around. Valentines day and the endemic materialism associated with it is evidence of that! There are more songs written about all kinds of love than perhaps any other subject! In the Bible, God’s love is revealed. The Apostle John in 1 John 4 does not simply say that God loves, but rather that God is love. Remember that God is the Holy Trinity, three persons in one. The Trinity is a living, vibrant community of love, and every activity of the Trinity, is an expression of love. God loves because that is His very nature. 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? It is seen in two ways.
Firstly, it is shown supremely in that He has given His Son to be the Saviour of the world, so that if a person takes up that opportunity, they can know and enjoy God in a personal relationship. God had only one Son, Jesus Christ, and He sent Him on a rescue mission to seek the lost and to reconcile people to God. This is love in action. The lover dying for the ones He loves.
Secondly, God’s love is shown when Christians love. As a Christian, you are a child of God, so you should want to be like your Heavenly Father, by showing the world your love for others and your transformed character. The Christian Church should be a community of love, for this is how the world sees God
If people see Christians that are not loving and kind, rightly or wrongly, the whole Church is branded as a bunch of fakes and hypocrites. Worse still, God is seen at best as nothing more than a distant uncaring irrelevant figure. The love between Christians is seen as a visible showing of the invisible God. The very character of the church should always be to reflect God in all aspects. The ultimate example of showing people God, is for you as a Christian, to love and be love. People should be seeing God’s love, through your love. For as Jesus said, “All men will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another” (John 13:35).
His love releases us from the things that so easily entangle our daily walk with Him. The more you hold onto His love, the more you will desire it and the more it will be revealed in your daily life. Your love in action today, reflects God’s love in action on the cross. How will you reflect this God of love today, to the world around you? Go and love - to the glory of God! Maranatha!
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Sunday Aug 03, 2025
Sunday Aug 03, 2025
Psalm 128
A Song of Ascents.
For you will eat the labor of your hands.
You will be happy, and it will be well with you.
Your wife will be as a fruitful vine,
in the innermost parts of your house;
your children like olive plants, around your table.
Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears Yahweh.
May Yahweh bless you out of Zion,
and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Yes, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel.
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Sunday Aug 03, 2025
Sunday Aug 03, 2025
Freedom To Live!
Romans 8:18-30
In the Bible, all roads or paths seemingly lead to Romans. Paul here in chapters 5-8, is giving glimpses from different angles about the Christian living under and within grace – God’s unmerited favour to undeserving sinners. It’s like he is creating this fabulous stained glass sphere depicting life for the Christian believer who is now under grace and has Jesus as their master and Lord.
In our passage from Romans 8, we come to another angle with another scenario. This passage of the Bible is diamond encrusted gold. The purest of gold and clearest of diamonds! Some people consider that speaking about this passage is akin to somebody trying to describe Beethoven’s 9th symphony with mere words. If that were true, then tonight we have the Ode to Joy!
We live in a troubled world. I am sure you are aware. As did the original recipients of Paul’s letter. Now Paul is assuring his Roman readers that even when the troubles of life hit them, God is secure and their salvation is assured – despite what anybody can do to them or what troubles they may have to endure. Paul is assuring them that God will not separate Himself from them during their pains and trials of life.
I wonder what you are undergoing currently in your life. Suffering comes to us all in one-way or another. John! Cathie! Suffering of varying degrees is common to all people of all time and of all cultures. Whether self-inflicted or inflicted by others, troubles and sufferings unite all of humanity. It is a common denominator. And of course there are no easy answers. With that said, let us look together at this most wonderful piece of Scripture.
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1. Freedom from pain and suffering.
a. Creation groans (Read vs. 18-22).
However, this groaning is not a useless thing. Why? Paul goes on to compare it to a woman giving birth. There is pain, but the pain will end when the child is born. One day creation will be delivered, and the groaning creation will become a glorious creation! As people of the kingdom, Paul exhorts his readers to not focus on the sufferings of today; but look forward to the coming glory. Today's groaning bondage will be exchanged for tomorrow's glorious freedom.
b. The Members of the Kingdom groan (Read vs. 23-25).
The creation groans as do we. The reason we as Christians groan, writes Paul, is because we have experienced what he calls "the first-fruits of the Spirit!" That is a foretaste of the glory to come when we shall live with our King in glory. Just as the nation of Israel tasted the first-fruits of Canaan when the spies returned (Numbers 12:23-27), so we Christians have tasted of the first blessings of heaven through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This should encourage us to want to see the Lord, receive a new body to live with Him and serve Him forever in everlasting life. We are waiting for "the great adoption," which is the redemption of our bodies when Jesus returns again. This is the thrilling climax to "the adoption" that took place at our conversion when the "Spirit of adoption" gave us the standing of an adult in the Kingdom of God. When Jesus returns, we shall enter into our full inheritance.
Meanwhile we wait and hope as Paul writes here in Romans 8v24. What hope is this we ask? It is "The blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). The best is yet to come!! As Christians, people of the Kingdom of God, as God’s children, we should not get frustrated as we see and experience suffering and pain in this world as we live in the Kingdom. Paul exhorts that Christian believers should know and remember that the suffering of today, will one day give way to eternal glory.
c. The Holy Spirit groans. (Read vs. 26-30)
So creation groans. God’s Kingdom people groan. What about God? Is He a distant God who is not concerned with the sufferings of His creation or His people? By no means!! Our God is not a distant God but a God actively concerned for His creation and for His people! God is concerned about the sufferings we go through and the troubles we endure. He desires for the redemption of His creation and His people!
When Jesus walked the earth, He saw what sin was doing to men, women and creation (Mark 7:34; John 11:33-38) and this happened. Jesus wept. Isn’t that profound?
Paul writes that God the Holy Spirit groans with us and that He feels the burdens of our weaknesses and suffering and lifts us. He is the Comforter. He is the Counsellor! He is the Helper who lives within us. As we struggle to persevere as we sometimes do, is it because forget to ask for His help, His comfort and His wisdom?
But the Spirit does more than groan: He prays for us in His groaning so that we might be led into the will of God. We do not always know God's will. We do not always know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for us so that we might live in the will of God even though we are suffering in some way. The Holy Spirit shares the burden with us as we endure and persevere.
2. Freedom for God!
I would like to concentrate here on verse 28 and I like the way The Message translation of the Bible paraphrases it “That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”
“For your good” is a recurring theme throughout the Old Testament. Joseph, Moses and Jeremiah were surely in Paul’s mind! For example, from Genesis 50, Joseph after he is reunited with his brothers said this:
Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Moses as he tried to get Israel into shape, while they whinged and whined about the Law frequently told them it was for their own good.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
Or take Jeremiah, as the ancient Israelites were in exile
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Millions of Christians over the centuries have taken great comfort and hope from Romans 8:28. I wonder if any of the recipients of this letter, recalled Paul’s words to them when that horrible little man, the Emperor Nero butchered the Christians in Rome just a few short years later. I wonder what their response was and I imagine that they were comforted.
Paul writes here “In all things God works for our good.” Now the phrase, “all things” includes not only the good, the happy and the pleasant things in life, but also the bad, the unhappy and the unpleasant things as well. It includes evil, sickness and death. At the times when we are happy and things are going well, it is very easy to agree with this verse. But in times of trouble, this verse is hard to understand and still harder to believe.
For the millions, of Christians who have spent their lives in jail, or have been killed for the faith, we cannot possibly say that all things have been for their good in this world. If that is so, how then are we to understand this verse?
Perhaps we should understand it this way. All the things that happen to us here on earth, God will work for our good in heaven. In the previous verses, Paul teaches about our future hope and future glory. Therefore, in this verse the good that Paul talks about is heavenly good, not earthly good.
But having said that, it is also true that God is concerned for our welfare in this earthly life. He cares about our bodies, our health, even our food and clothing. When God allows trouble to come into our lives, He usually uses that trouble to bring about some good result in our lives here on earth according to both our writer, Paul and to the Apostle James (Romans 5:3-4; James 1:2-4). For example, I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t had that stroke back in 2003. It is through troubles that our faith is tested and strengthened (1 Peter 1:6-7). Through various kinds of trouble God disciplines us, so that we might become more that is more like His Son, Jesus Christ, according to the writer of the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 12:7,10-11).
The most important thing to remember about this verse, however, is that the promise given here is only applicable to those who love God - those who are his children and in His kingdom. That is those have been called according to His purpose and are therefore members of the kingdom of God. If we love God, called according to His purpose, and therefore members of the Kingdom of God, then we can fully trust Him to work for our good in all things. Our hope is in God; He is faithful and able to fulfil all He has promised. If this does not describe you, then please do see somebody after we finish in a short time.
As those who are in the Kingdom of God, that would call themselves believing Christians, Paul exhorts us to never give up in times of trial and suffering because God is at work in the world (Romans 8:28). Paul encourages us that God has a perfect supreme plan (Romans 8:29) and that He has two purposes in that plan: our good and His glory.
Ultimately we will be transformed into the Lord Jesus Christ – that is God’s ultimate goal for us – to be like His Son. Best of all, God's plan will succeed – He has the victory and that victory was gained at the Cross of Calvary. It started in eternity when He chose us in Jesus Christ. God predestined that one day we would be like His Son. The word predestination here applies only to those in the Kingdom of God, not to those outside the Kingdom. Nowhere in Scripture are we taught that God chooses who will remain outside the kingdom.
If people remain outside the kingdom, it is because they choose to, by refusing to trust and believe in Jesus Christ. Those whom He chose, God called (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)' when they responded to His call. He justified them by taking away their guilt and sin, and He also glorified them. This means that the believer has already been glorified in Jesus (John 17:22); the revelation of the glory awaits the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Recapitulate
So let’s recapitulate and then conclude. There is no point somebody speaking up here if there is no application given to us to go on with as we walk the Christian life under grace.
We have seen together that God is not distant but is close and personal and that we know He Himself has suffered. He cares for His creation and for His people through the ministry of the God the Holy Spirit. Times of trouble may come, and we are being transformed into the image of God the Son, Jesus Christ.
We have seen that we will one day have freedom from pain and suffering. Freedom to truly live! We also saw that there is to be no fear from separation from God. God is for us. Christ died for us. God the Holy Spirit lives within us, praying for us, guiding us, empowering us and is the seal of our salvation. God has declared us His sons and daughters if we choose to follow Him. Jesus Christ prays for us and He loves us.
Do you sometimes get discouraged and frustrated in times of trouble as I do sometimes? I have to ask myself questions. Questions such as how can we believers ever be discouraged and frustrated when we already share the glory of God? Our suffering today, guarantees much glory for us, when Jesus Christ Himself returns in glory!
How can we be discouraged when the God we love and serve, who has called us to follow Him, who Himself had great anxiety the night before He suffered and died on the cross? How can we be discouraged, when we know that this Jesus rose from the dead and ascended back to the Father. Jesus still had his scars when he ascended. How can we be discouraged when this Jesus will come back again one day to gather us?
Where is God? What does He have to do with it? God does not shelter us from the sufferings and hard times of life because we need them for our spiritual growth (Romans 5:3-5) and for our transformation into the image of Jesus, God’s Son. As we read in vs.28, God assures us that the difficulties of life are working for us and not against us. God allows trials and sufferings to come that they may be used for our good and His glory. We endure trials for His sake (Romans 8:36), and since we do, do you think that He will abandon us? Of course not! Instead, He lifts us through the hard times.
Conclusion
Folks, we all have troubles. There are no easy answers to most of them. I don’t even have answers for my own troubles. My memory some days is like a sieve. Other days it is more like a funnel. But I know God is there – I may forget many things but I have not yet forgotten that. It is God whom I depend upon and personally know to be totally reliable in every way. For those in the community out there, we need to be God’s hands and feet. We need to radically show people out there and in here, that God radically cares and loves for each of them. Too often people in need, both within the church and outside it, are shown care and concern for a little while. But gradually as time goes on, the caring and loving of that person diminishes and ultimately ceases. Dogged persevering to love and care is required. We can love and care for all using the power and imagination of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
All sorts of excuses are given for not showing care and love, but in reality, there can be no excuse or reason. Not caring means not loving. Love is to be for all people, regardless of personalities, conflicts, opinions, gender, sexuality, prejudice and bias. You don’t have to agree with people’s choices but you do have to show you love and care for them.
Lots of people leave churches through the back door, because they don’t get the care they need and desire. Lots of people won’t even listen to us because they see that churches and Christians are not showing love towards them or others they know. Too often, I would say.
Too often a church can be too interested in its own little world, concerned for its own little programme, rather than God’s programme of love and care for all people. They are churches that look after only the interest of select people within its walls and community. The church is to look after all interests of all members of its local community and those who come within its walls. .
If you are a Christian here tonight, the troubles and suffering we endure, are all part of living in the kingdom of God. Part of life. It is, as we look to the future, as we see that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus and to the supreme glory of God. Not for our own glory. In any pain or suffering we endure, we shouldn't give up, we persevere. God perseveres with us because God has not given us up and neither has He given up on us. God the Son died on the cross and rose again from the dead so that you may have new life! God the Holy Spirit lives within you! For it is when we are weak, that God is strong. Hold on to Jesus. The Jesus who said “Come to me all who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
The Jesus that will one day take our face in His hands and wipe away our tears. Oh what a day! We will say, it was all worth it. And yet, even though I know this, I still have the impudence to often cry out with frustration and confusion to the Father “Why Dad?” And then He assures me that he loves me with an everlasting and enduring love.
As CS Lewis once wrote: “If God is wiser than us, His judgement must differ from ours on many things, and not least on good and evil. What seems to us good may therefore not be good in His eyes, and what seems to us evil may not be evil.”
Let’s go and radically love and care for others that we meet or others that we know who need to see God’s radical love and care in action.
However, if you happen not to be a Christian, you are separated from God. He doesn’t have you in His hand. To be in the kingdom of God, you simply have to trust in Jesus, and believe in Him for your future. If that is you, please do not leave here tonight without talking to somebody such as Chris and Sue about how you can take that step. They would love to help you.
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Saturday Aug 02, 2025
Saturday Aug 02, 2025
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...
Friday Aug 01, 2025
Friday Aug 01, 2025
Psalm 31
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
don't let me be disgraced.
Save me, for you do what is right.
2 Turn your ear to listen to me;rescue me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,a fortress where I will be safe.
3 You are my rock and my fortress.
For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
for I find protection in you alone.
5 I entrust my spirit into your hand.
Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.
6 I hate those who worship worthless idols.
I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love,
for you have seen my troubles,and you care about the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to my enemies
but have set me in a safe place.
9 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.
Tears blur my eyes.My body and soul are withering away.
10 I am dying from grief;my years are shortened by sadness.
Sin has drained my strength;I am wasting away from within.
11 I am scorned by all my enemiesand despised by my neighbors-even my friends are afraid to come near me.
When they see me on the street,they run the other way.
12 I am ignored as if I were dead,as if I were a broken pot.
13 I have heard the many rumors about me,and I am surrounded by terror.
My enemies conspire against me,plotting to take my life.
14 But I am trusting you, O Lord,saying, "You are my God!"
15 My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.
16 Let your favor shine on your servant.
In your unfailing love, rescue me.
17 Don't let me be disgraced, O Lord,for I call out to you for help.
Let the wicked be disgraced;let them lie silent in the grave.
18 Silence their lying lips-those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly.
19 How great is the goodnessyou have stored up for those who fear you.
You lavish it on those who come to you for protection,
blessing them before the watching world.
20 You hide them in the shelter of your presence,
safe from those who conspire against them.
You shelter them in your presence,far from accusing tongues.
21 Praise the Lord,for he has shown me the wonders of his unfailing love.
He kept me safe when my city was under attack.
22 In panic I cried out,"I am cut off from the Lord!"
But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you godly ones!
For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him,
but he harshly punishes the arrogant.
24 So be strong and courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord!
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Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Thursday with Tabitha
8. Habakkuk by Tabitha SmithThis week we’ve reached the book of Habakkuk. There’s an awful lot of wisdom and truth packed into the three short chapters of Habakkuk’s prophecy.
We don’t know much about the man Habakkuk himself. The way he writes his prophecy is unusual. It reads like a personal diary or journal and it takes the form of a conversation between Habakkuk and God. The intended audience was the people of Judah, but they are not directly addressed. The time of writing was around 620 BC so Habakkuk was a contemporary of Zephaniah and Jeremiah.
The book opens with Habakkuk crying out to God with a desperate question. The Message translation says it like this:
“God, how long do I have to cry out for help
before you listen?
How many times do I have to yell, “Help! Murder! Police!”
before you come to the rescue?
Why do you force me to look at evil,
stare trouble in the face day after day?
Anarchy and violence break out,
quarrels and fights all over the place.
Law and order fall to pieces.
Justice is a joke.
The wicked have the righteous hamstrung
and stand justice on its head.”
So Habakkuk asks the age-old question - God, why don’t you do something? Why are the bad guys getting away with it?
God comes right back at him with an answer he isn’t expecting. This would also have been something of a nasty surprise to the people of Judah who would have read Habakkuk’s words. God tells him that he is raising up the Babylonians (also known as the Chaldeans) to be his instrument of judgement on the people of Judah. The Babylonians were a nation of awesome and ruthless military power and an invasion by their army would have been an utterly terrifying prospect. God paints the picture of the dreaded and fearsome Babylonians setting their faces towards Judah.
Habakkuk replies to God with a sense of disbelief about what he’s just heard. He asks God how he can possibly use such an evil nation as the Babylonians to judge another people who are less evil. Habakkuk then sits and waits for God’s response. God replies again and tells Habakkuk to write the vision down as a mark of its importance and the certainty with which it will come to pass.
In the oracle that follows, God reveals to Habakkuk the bigger picture. He says in effect, yes, the Babylonians will come and yes, they will be my instrument of judgement on Judah. BUT, they will go too far in their punishment of Judah and so they too will be judged and held accountable for their deeds. The Babylonians are described as those who plunder, cheat and kill unscrupulously. They get drunk and take pleasure in the sadistic humiliation of their defeated enemies. Well, says God, they will reap the due rewards of their deeds and they will be judged.
In Habakkuk 2:16, God declares to the Babylonians: “The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory!”
The second chapter ends with the words “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” I imagine Habakkuk sitting, or perhaps lying face down, in stunned silence at the revelation he has just received.
In the final chapter we see Habakkuk going on an amazing journey of spiritual growth. God’s words have seized his faith and imagination and he now pours out a dramatic description of the image of God he sees, coming in awesome power and majesty to judge the earth.
In Habakkuk 3:16 - “I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will wait quietly for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.”
Habakkuk is overcome by strength-sapping, gut-wrenching fear when he thinks about what lies ahead but he chooses to sit and wait for God to do what he has promised.
Firstly, that it is OK to ask God questions and to cry out to God about what we see happening in the world. When we don’t understand we need to ask God to help us. The answers God gives us may not be what we expect! Secondly, we learn again that God is sovereign and in control of all the events of history. He is just and good and he will not leave any evil unpunished. Nobody is getting away with anything. Thirdly, we learn that God can use even the most evil people and the most terrible circumstances to bring about his plans. God does not engineer the evil - people are responsible for their own decisions and actions, but God is always in control of the events of history. Joseph summarises this principle well at the end of the book of Genesis when he addresses his brothers: “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:19-20)
The crux of the book of Habakkuk is found in Habakkuk 2:4 - “the righteous shall live by his faith”. This verse is quoted no less than 3 times in the New Testament by different authors to illustrate different aspects of the life of faith (You can find it in Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). Habakkuk learns that the secret to finding security and true joy in life is to trust in what God has promised. Faith is not a feeling, it is a deep confidence in what God has said. The writer of Hebrews expresses the same truth in Hebrews chapter 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
This does not mean that faith guarantees comfort or safety. Faith may have to survive in situations of complete desolation and want. And this is the place Habakkuk is able to reach at the end of his prophecy. In his final prayer he says: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18
So Habakkuk says, if God never does another good thing for me, and never provides me with any other provision for the whole of my life, he is still absolutely worthy of my praise for the rest of eternity. And this is the key for us too. If God never blessed us with another thing in the whole of our earthly lives, Jesus would still be enough to rejoice about for the rest of eternity. We have more than enough to give thanks to God for to allow us to find joy in all circumstances. If we can trust in his purposes, even when we cannot fathom them at the time, we will discover the way to irrepressible hope and strength, which is the essence of joy. It doesn’t mean we’re always happy, or that we cannot mourn and weep when terrible things happen. Distress and sorrow are absolutely appropriate responses to evil and disaster. But joy is a deeper undercurrent that can co-exist with even the deepest sorrow. It is the knowledge, in the depths of our souls, that God is good, there is hope, death is defeated and Jesus is alive. There is purpose and meaning in our lives because we are made to live in relationship with God for eternity.
Like Habakkuk we will then discover that God can lift us above our earthly perspective and give us a glimpse of the bigger picture. As Habakkuk says in his final words of the book: “GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:19)
Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Sacrifice
In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were to make sacrificial offerings to God, in order to worship and have fellowship with Him. For without sacrifice, nobody could enter God’s presence! But what does all this have to do with us in the 21st century.
In the book of Leviticus, God commanded that the cleansing of a defiled house required sprinkling with a mixture of blood and ‘living’ water, the bird having been slain over the water (Leviticus 14v51). Elsewhere we read of the ‘water of cleansing’ (Numbers 19), which is also called ‘living water’. This was water that had been sprinkled with the ashes of a young cow, and was kept aside for purification by sprinkling those who had touched a dead body. In both cases, this water had been cleansed by the shedding of blood and sacrifice. The cleansing was to be through the blood of sacrifice, applied through the sprinkled water. For there is no cleansing without the shedding of blood.
At the time of Ezekiel, Israel was in exile due to their sin and idolatry. They needed to be cleansed before being allowed back into their own country. Ezekiel 36v24-25 tell us that “God will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols.” This pointed forward to One, the Messiah, who would be slain as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
This One, was Jesus Christ who died for sin, the just for the unjust (1 Peter 3v18). That is how God is both the Just and the Justifier of sinners. That is why if Jesus was not simultaneously fully God and fully human, His death on the cross would not be the full substitutionary sacrifice that was necessary to deal with the permanent consequences of sin! This substitution was the sin offering sacrifice, required so that Jesus as the Lamb of God could take away the sins of the world (John 1v29). Jesus became sin for people (2 Corinthians 5v21) and it was His blood as the lamb without spot or blemish (1Peter 1:18-19) that permanently fulfils God’s righteous requirements.
If you are a follower of Jesus, you are no longer defiled and you have no need to make sacrifices to God, in order to enter His presence, worship Him or have fellowship with Him. Jesus, who is your living water and your sacrificial lamb, gives you permanent access to God. You may no longer be called to make sacrifices, but you are called to be a sacrifice. You are to be a living sacrifice that continually offers sacrifices of praise to God! You do this, through a whole life totally devoted to God, doing good and sharing (Hebrews 13v15-16)! By doing this, you help Jesus’ church revolutionise the world! May it be so. Thank you.
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