Partakers Christian Podcasts

Glimpses 52

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Today in the Church Calender we celebrate one of the greatest Saints of the 20th Century Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His books and writings have never been more influential than they are today. His fight to stand for the cause of Christ cost him his life. We do well to honour and remember him as an example to us all. http://www.dbonhoeffer.org/

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Beginnings

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born on February 4, 1906 in Germany. He was a a Lutheran pastor and theologian and had spent time studying in the USA and pastored two churches in London, England in the early 1930s.  He returned to Germany to lead an illegal training centre for pastors during which time, he also called for more vocal and active opposition from the churches towards Hitler's treatment of Jews. Because of this, he was forbidden from preaching, teaching, and all speaking in public to gathered audiences. Dietrich was ultimately arrested and imprisoned for his part in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. What we will concentrate on in this study is how he viewed and lived Christian discipleship.  In doing so we will look at some excerpts from two of his published writings "The Cost of Discipleship" and "Letters and Papers from Prison"

Discipleship

Jesus Christ, when He talked about the cost of following Him and being His disciple said this: "If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me." (Matthew 10:38; 16v24-25)

Echoing these words, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote "When Jesus Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.  ...  Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Jesus Christ, nor is it hero worship, but intimacy with Christ."   (The Cost of Discipleship). He knew that as a Christian, a person has to take up their own cross in following Jesus and count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Dietrich also wrote "Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected. ... The Christian disciple must receive his portion from God every day. If he stores it up as a permanent possession, he spoils not only the gift, but himself as well, for he sets his heart on accumulated wealth, and makes it a barrier between himself and God. Where our treasure is, there is our trust, our security, our consolation and our God. Hoarding is idolatry." (The Cost of Discipleship)

In a Sermon on 2 Corinthians 12v9, he said that "Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians adjusts themselves far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense and shock the world far more  than they are doing now. Christians should take a stronger stand in favour of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong."

A Cost of Following Jesus

These are strong and powerful words I am sure you would agree! So did Bonhoeffer's life match his words? In one extreme example, we look at his first days in prison "For my first night in prison I was locked up in an admission cell.  The blankets in the camp had such a foul smell that in spite of the cold it was impossible to use them. Next morning a piece of bread was thrown into my cell; I had to pick it up from the floor. The sound of the prison's staff vile abuse of the prisoners who were held for investigation penetrated into my cell for the first time; since then, I have heard it every day from morning to night. The first night in my cell I could sleep very little because in the next cell a prisoner wept loudly for several hours. Nobody took any notice. After twelve days the authorities got to know of my family connections. While this was of course, a great relief for me personally, from an objective point of view it was most embarrassing to see how everything changed from that moment,. I was put in a more spacious cell which was cleaned for me daily by one of the men. When the food came round I was offered larger rations, which I always refused, since they would have been at the expense of other prisoners." (Malcolm Muggeridge, The Third Testament)

So, after just twelve nights in atrocious conditions, because he had good connections on the outside of prison, he was moved to a more spacious, cleaner and quieter cell.  He probably had no choice about the cell he was given. He could have just eaten the extra food given to him there.  But he decided not to, because to eat that extra food, he would have robbed somebody else.  For him, material possessions and food were part of his Christian discipleship - part of the cost of following Jesus Christ faithfully.  Just as they are of your Christian discipleship - whether you are aware of it or not.

Speak Out!

But another facet of the cost of Dietrich Bonhoeffer following Jesus was speaking out for those who had no voice. In the case of Bonhoeffer, the Jewish race undergoing systematic persecution and extinction under Hitler and the German Nazis.

He wrote those: "We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds; we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretence; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; ... Will our inward power of resistance be strong enough, and our honesty with ourselves remorseless enough, for us to find our way back to simplicity and straightforwardness?" Letters and Papers from Prison

He ultimately paid the price for his speaking out for those who had no voice.  His life motto could be summed up in these 2 sentences from his writings: "One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons ... Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility,"

He was eventually hanged on April 9, 1945 following the failure of an assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944.  His life actions echoed his words. 

How are you counting the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ?  What do your material possessions and consumption of necessities of food say about your being a Christian? Are you willing to speak up for those who have no voice in your local community, national community and global community?

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Think Spot

Monday Think Spot

7 April 2014

Blessings of the Christian

G’day! Welcome to Partakers Monday Think Spot!

In Romans 5:1-11, Paul elucidates 8 blessings for those who would call themselves Christian – those who have taken up God’s free offer of salvation and are justified by faith in and through Jesus Christ alone!

Here are those 8 blessings:

1. We have peace with God.
2. We have access into God’s grace.
3. We have a glorious hope.
4. We develop Godly character.
5. We have God's love.
6. We have the God the Holy Spirit living within us.
7. We have salvation from God’s future wrath.
8. We have reconciliation with God!

What are we to do with these blessings?

We can remember them as we engage in spiritual warfare & overcoming temptation by our old nature, by the world and by satan. When we are faced with these, we remember the blessings we have because we are in a relationship with God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, despite what the world says, despite what satan whispers to us. We, if we are Christians, are fully justified by Almighty God.

We are to take great joy in our God! That doesn’t mean we go around with a big silly grin on our faces at all times! Joy is that inner confidence of knowing that you are God’s treasured possession and He is yours. When somebody we know who is a Christian is not feeling the joy, we as a body are to help encourage and build up that person. Not to stomp on them as we often do. The strongest amongst us is to help the weakest amongst us. That is an act of worship.

As God’s people here, we should be making a positive impact for God in our communities. People should be able to see why we Christians are different and want to join us. Being assured of God’s love should inspire us to reflect that love to all those we come into contact with, exhibiting our transformed character before a watching world. Being assured of God’s love for us should spur us on to tell others about this wonder! When was the last time you told somebody?

Here in Romans 5, Paul uses the words “we”, “our” and “us”, and not the words “I” or “you”. Whereas in the earlier chapters he has mixed them up! This reflects the unity of the church! Each person makes an individual commitment to God but then is drawn into the wider group of all Christians! Each person is loved by God, and if you have taken up that salvation offer from God, then you are in a relationship with other people who have done likewise. Whether you want to be or not! Those outside the church are watching to see how we act towards each other. Do they see Christians being over generous, reflecting an abundantly generous God. A God who gave all He had to those who were undeserving? Or do we exhibit our love only to those whom we respect esteem and think deserve our generosity, hiding under the banner of “good stewardship”? When God loves, He gives generously to those who are undeserving... Jesus always had time for the outcast of his society. That is grace...

When we as Christians give anything - money, possessions, wisdom, time - we are to emulate that love - giving generously even to those who we think are undeserving. And we all neglect to give to people who we think don't deserve it! How is your giving and loving? What do you need to change? As a Christian you are blessed! When undergoing hard times, reflect on those 8 blessings from Romans 5 and remember who you are because of Jesus Christ! Go into this week knowing who you are in God because of Jesus Christ and the work He has completed for you.

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Sunday with Sammy

6th April 2014

Questions... Questions...

Questions, questions… Life is full of them. The Bible is full of them. We, ourselves, are full of them, and children, well…anyone who’s ever had a four year old will marvel at just how many they can come up with! But with every question there is a real thirst to know more. Of course, not all questioners are seeking the truth, some are just plain nosey; while others skirt around the edge’s causing confusion and difficulty rather than coming straight to the point. Nod if you can think of someone like that! And Wise King Solomon had more than his share of awkward questions.


One person who always set out to alleviate awkwardness and be uncomplicated, and generally managed it was Saint John, and for the next few weeks we will look in more depth about what we know about him, his writings, and learn more about the Jesus he knew as he saw him. There is a wonderful saying that ‘John is like a magic pool in which an infant can paddle and an elephant can swim’. His language is generally uncomplicated, and the syntax and vocabulary he used are simple but oh so powerful.


His Gospel, the fourth, fell out of favour in the 19th century, as the search for the ‘real Jesus’ continued, and people favoured Mark’s writings, being more historical. Thankfully, contemporary interest in the early church has restored him and his works. John is credited with not only that 4th gospel, but also a series of epistles which were placed almost at the end of the Bible. You might hear someone reading in church say, ‘herein endeth the epistle’. An epistle is simply a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually in the form of an elegant and formal letter with emphasis on instruction and information.


Even though at the time of writing, John was between 50 and 60 years of age, he would have been one of the youngest followers at the time Jesus was alive on earth. So, having written a fairly comprehensive gospel, why would John have felt the need to write these letters to people?

Well, it was written to counter docetism, which is the posh name for a heresy declaring that Jesus did not come "in the flesh", but only as a spirit. The letter also outlined how Christians are to discern true teachers: by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love. We can assume that John was living in Ephesus at the time of the writings, as that was where he died around the year 100AD and much like St Paul, John wrote his letters to encourage Christians. He wanted them to know the truth. Then they would, hopefully, recognise false ideals, subsequently then knowing how to turn back to Christ. Some people in these churches believed wrong things. The people who had taught them these wrong things had been members of the church. However, they had moved away from the faith and they had left the church (1 John 2:19). So John intended to correct these wrong ideas in his letter.


One wrong idea was that Christ was not really a man, back to docetism. It was thought that He seemed to be a man but was not a real man. John taught quite clearly that the Son of God came as a real man. He lived his life here on earth as a man. The Christ actually died as a man. The man, Christ Jesus, rose again from the dead.


Some people taught that Jesus was merely a man. They taught that he was not really God. They did not believe that God could die. They said that the Christ came upon Jesus. Then the Christ left him again before he died. John answered this. He showed that Jesus is one with God. He is the Christ, who gave his life for us. No mere man could take away our sins as the Lord Jesus Christ has done.


As I said, John wrote this letter to encourage the Christians. He wanted them to know the truth. Then they would recognise false ideas. The letter shows that Christians are children of God. They know God as Father. If God is their Father, then they are all brothers and sisters. John shows them the kind of life that the children of God should live. They all share the life that the Lord Jesus gives to them. This is eternal life, which has no end. John wants all Christians to know that they have this life. He wants them to be sure about this.


John wrote about the truth. This is how we know the truth. We know it because we have met Jesus. We know Jesus, so we know the truth.


This is what the letter says to the Christians.

• They can be sure about Christ (1 John 5:20).
• They know what is true about God and Christ. 1 John 2:21; 5:7, 16, 20
• They know that the Son (Jesus Christ) has come. 1 John 5:20
• They know that Jesus came to take away their sin. 1 John 3:16

Let’s look at the letter in more detail, this week we will start with the 1st verse through to verse 4. It reads…

1 John 1:1-4  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Verse 1 - John wrote this letter about Jesus, who is the Word of life! We use words to communicate with people. Jesus is God’s way of communicating with us. Therefore, the ‘Word of life’ is the Lord Jesus. And the ‘Word of life’ also means the message of the gospel. John wrote about the Lord Jesus. And he wrote about the life that Jesus gives. This life is for those who believe. The Word produces life. This is about the good news of Jesus Christ who is the life. The Word, that is the Lord Jesus, always existed. He was alive before time and the world began. Christ and the message of life came from God. This was God’s purpose from before creation. The Lord Jesus came into the world to achieve this purpose.

John and those who were with him knew the Lord Jesus. They had heard what he said. They had listened to what he taught. They were with him. They actually saw him. They watched him. They saw all that he did. They lived with him for 3 years. They knew that Jesus was a real human person. Some people denied that God really came as a human person. But he did come. He is Jesus Christ. John says that they have had a real experience of him. Jesus Christ was God with them here on earth.


Verse 2 - Jesus came from God to show us real life. The Lord Jesus came from God. He became a real man. He showed us what real life is. Real life is life in the spirit. He has that life and he came to give it to us. This is eternal life. God gives it to those who believe in his Son. John was a witness to this life. The life was with the Father. Jesus showed that life to us. John and those who believed in the Lord Jesus saw this real life. They had received it. They proved that the message is true.

What they saw was eternal life. God gives this life. John knew that he had this life now. And this life will never end. John wants to share this life with the readers of his letter. This life is in the Lord Jesus. Those who know Jesus have this life. The Lord Jesus, who is life, was with God the Father. But he came to us and he showed us this life. These witnesses have received this life from God. Eternal life comes from God the Father.


Verse 3 - When we believe God’s message, we join God’s family. Those who first believed spoke and they described what they had seen. They repeated what they had heard. The Word of life (that is, Jesus) appeared to them. And we need to believe in him. They heard what he said. We too need to hear what he says. And we need to believe it. The message of life in the Lord Jesus was not only for them. John declares it to those who read his letter. All people can now see and hear God’s truth in Jesus. To know Jesus is to receive the life that God gives by him.

The message of the gospel is that people may believe in Jesus. Those who believe will receive eternal life. That life comes from God. They will share the same life that John and his friends had. They will know that they have a new life with God. They also can become good friends by having the same life. They will join with John and his friends in the family of God. This life unites Christians with God who is the Father. It unites them with Jesus the Son of the Father. Jesus is one with the Father. Therefore, he also is God as the Father is God. There is one God but three persons. The third person is the Spirit of God.


Verse 4 - John wrote this letter as if he were an agent for all those other witnesses. ‘These things’ are all that is in the letter. He writes so that both he and the readers may have much joy. It would give them all much joy if they believed the message of the gospel. The purpose of the letter is that the readers would share the same life as John and his friends. God gives this eternal life to those who believe in his Son. The people living in the time that John was writing his letters could not go and find the man Jesus, he wasn’t there, they were living in another time – much like we are now – in another stage of the Kingdom, that of the Holy Spirit. John desperately wanted the people that he had come to know and love, his brothers and sisters in Christ not to forget their teachings, and that even though he was no longer living on earth with them, he was very much alive, in the Spirit, and alive in those who truly believed.


I leave you with, of course, a question. If a light bulb when switched off is still there and very much a part of the lamp, why therefore is Jesus Christ not very much a part of us, even though with him it is the Spirit (light) that remains and the shell which is gone to the Father? The answer of course, is He is!  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Amen.

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Think Spot

Monday Think Spot

31 March 2014

A Heart Of Service

Good morning! Welcome to Partaker’s Think Spot. I am Regina from South Carolina in the United States. It is my honor and privilege to be here with you this morning. I thank you for taking your time to be with us.

Do you have service in your heart? Do you have a heart of service? When someone mentions serving another what emotion does the question evoke in you? Did you realize that service is found 132 times in 116 verses in the KJV Bible? And the word “servant” is found 491 times in 452 verses in the KJV.

Today I want to focus on just one of those many verses.

Mark 9:35 And he sat down and called the twelve, and said unto them, if man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

With the words “servant” and “service” being found so frequently in Scripture it has to make us realize that this is something that is very important to God. During creation week when He created man, He created Adam, before He created Adam, with each thing that He created He said, “It is good. It is good.” But when He created Adam, although it was good that He created Adam, He said. “It is not good for man to be alone.”

So, that tells us right there that we have to have connections with other people. Our health tells us that we have to have connections with other people. Some of the most depressed people are shut-ins who can’t get out to be with other people, who have limited interaction with other people. And so, it is important for us to not just be self-serving but to be serving to others.

I am reading a book, “Thou Shall Prosper” by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, and he has so much wisdom in this book that it is just profound, and I would like to make a couple of quotes from this book, if I may. One is, “If you cannot wrap yourself around the notion that other humans are worthy of your committed service and that you are not diminished but are instead elevated by providing that service, you will never excel at what you do. There is nothing shameful in being a servant or a people who serve.

Only humans worship God and only humans serve their fellow humans. Not out of blind animal instinct but out of love, altruism, and a commitment to an idea just like those firefighters on September 11, 2001. Giving of one’s self to another is at the core of what it means to be human.” And it’s at the core of everything you do; your quest for career success, your quest for ministerial success is all the core of giving service to another!

As I close this morning, I would just like to ask you, where do you stand with serving others? Do you have a lot of friends? Do you offer your services to them? Maybe you’re in business and you provide a service for your customers. Or you’re in a church that you do some work for...there are a lot of avenues that we can serve others, even telephone ministry is providing service to another. It’s giving them a call letting them know that you are thinking about them. For some it’s easy, they just have a servant’s heart so it’s easy for them to give of themselves to another. For others it’s not so easy. But it’s something that we work for because we know that it is something that delights God.

Prayer

Let’s bow our heads: Father I thank you for the message that you have provided this morning. I thank you for explaining to us the importance of being a servant. I thank you that we have the opportunity to serve someone else. I pray that we count it as a privilege and an honor and that we realize that it brings glory and honor to you.

Father, when we have a difficult time serving someone or when we just don’t feel like we are in the mood to do it that day, I just pray the Holy Spirit comes and speaks to us and gently nudges us and that we continue in that servant’s walk that You have brought us to. I thank you for each one that is listening this morning because that means that they chose to set aside some time to hear your word. And I pray that this word encourages them and if they haven’t been serving others, if they just felt like they were too busy then I pray that they will find time, 5 minutes here or there, 10 minutes here or there; whatever it takes; whatever You desire for them to do, Lord, impress it upon them. May Your will be done.

I ask that you bless each one this week, bless them abundantly and may they have an abundant life, an abundant life which serves others. Father, I just thank you. I just come to you with a heart of gratitude for this opportunity, for being a part of Partakers.

And I ask you to bless Brother Dave as he puts all of this together and he encourages each of us along. I just thank you, Lord. I thank you for the tremendous blessings for the doors you are opening for this ministry. I just pray that the harvest comes in for you. That you are blessed through all of this. And father, I just ask you now to hear our prayers and answer our prayers so that all may know that YOU ARE GOD.

And I ask you now, father, to just love on us, just love on us a little bit more. Blessed are you, Adonai, God who hears and answers our prayers. Blessed are you, Adonai, who gives us the opportunity to serve others and serve you. Blessed are you, Adonai, God who provides for all of us. Amen.

Thank you for being with us today. I pray that you will come back each day this week and be blessed by a new message and may this help carry you through your week. Make your week much more meaningful, much more successful, and help you to be a blessing to others in the process. Thank you again. Good bye.

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WOW Word 53 - New Nature

WOW Word 53 - New Nature!

Today, Alphy the WOWChurch cat shares with us about our New Nature - what it is, what it is not, who, why, where? Come see and hear Alphy the WOWChurch Cat explain more!!

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:1-7)

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Think Spot

Monday Think Spot

24 March 2014

Experience The Blessings

Good Morning! Welcome to Partaker’s Think Spot! I am Regina. I will be your host for today and I am from South Carolina in the United States. I would like to bring you a warm, humble welcome and thank you for being with us.

Receiving from God in faith the answer with perfect assurance that it has been given, is not necessarily the possession of the gift we have asked for. At times there may be a long interval before we have it physically. In other cases we may enjoy at once what we have received. When the interval is long we have need of faith and patience. We need faith to rejoice in the assurance of the answer bestowed and to begin to act upon that answer though for the present there is no visible proof of its presence. We can apply this principle to our prayer for the power to be faithful intercessors. Hold fast to the divine assurance that as surely as we believe, we receive. Rejoice in the certainty of an answered prayer. The more we praise God for it, the sooner will the experience come. We may begin at once to pray for others and the confidence grace will be given to us to pray with more perseverance and more faith than we have done before. If we do not find an immediate increase in our desire to pray, this must not discourage us. We have accepted a spiritual gift by faith; in that faith we are to pray, doubting nothing. We may count upon the Holy Spirit to pray in us, even though it is with groanings which cannot find expression. In due time we shall become conscious of His presence and power.

Wow, what a message! We continue to pray even though we may not see it, we may not know the length of time that it is going to take for us to receive it, but we pray, we consistently pray, we persevere and we believe; and we go ahead and thank God for it. "Thank you, Father for the blessings that you are giving us! Right now, thank you for answering our prayer!"

And you know, He is going to answer it! Remember there are creation power in your thoughts and your words! So, don’t allow that doubt to creep in. Don’t allow it to steal your blessing, to steal your gift from God, to steal your abundant life. When that inner mean voice starts talking to you and trying to put doubt in your head just tell it to go away that you are only listening to the Holy Spirit. Pray and ask God to quiet that inner mean voice and to let his Holy Spirit speak more loudly to you, more clearly to you than you have ever heard before. He will do that. He will allow you to hear Him, to know He is there with you.

I pray that as you move forward this week that you are blessed. I pray that you pray often, if not for yourself then for others but also include yourself. I pray that you have a week of peace, a week of solitude with God, just one on one time with Him. Maybe you can’t do it for the whole week, every second of every day, but you can have your quiet time with Him in the morning or the evening or whenever you do it. Take that time and as you pray, don’t forget to be quiet and listen and allow Him to speak to you during that time. Let’s close now in prayer.

Prayer

Father, I thank you for each one that has come out to be with us this morning, that’s turned us on on their computers. That’s taken the time to receive this word. And I just ask you to bless them in an abundant way. Allow them to feel your presence. Allow them to hear your voice and know without a doubt that it is you speaking to them. I ask you to bring clarity of mind, Lord, and to unplug their ears so that they are able to hear you clearly. I ask you to prompt them and encourage them to pray for others for that is what we are called to do and that is one way that we can love our neighbor as ourself is to pray for them. In Jesus name I pray and ask these things. Amen.

Thank you for joining Partaker’s Think Spot. If you have Twitter, Facebook, Google+, any of the social media share us with them as well. Until next time, this is Regina, have a blessed week! I pray that you will come back tomorrow and each day this week, and be blessed by the wonderful words that are brought to you. Have a good week.

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Think Spot

Monday Think Spot

17 March 2014

I Will Not Cease To Pray For You

Good Morning! Welcome to Partaker’s Think Spot! I am Regina. I will be your host for today and I am from South Carolina in the United States. I would like to bring you a warm, humble welcome and thank you for being with us.

This morning let’s look at 1 Samuel 12:23 "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way"erse 11.
Psalm 34:11 "Come you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the LORD."

So what we see here in Samuel is that Israel has asked God to provide them with a king, the king of their choosing, not the king of God’s. And this hasn’t worked out so well for them. So Samuel tells them, “Look, OK, this is what we are going to do. I’m going to call upon the Lord and He is going to send thunder and rain. He is going to let you know about your wickedness; the things that you’re doing that’s not right.” And so, that’s what Samuel did. Samuel called to the LORD and the LORD sent thunder and rain and all of the people greatly feared the LORD and they feared Samuel because Samuel called to the LORD and the LORD answered him by bringing these things.

So all of the people come to Samuel and say, “Please pray for you servants, pray to the LORD your God so that we may not die for we have added to all of our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”

You know, and Samuel could have said, “You’re right! That’s right! You did! You brought this all on yourself!” But instead what Samuel tells them is this:

“Do not fear. Yes, you have committed all this evil, but you do not turn aside from following the LORD. You serve the LORD with all of your heart, even though you’ve done this evil; you’re still serving the LORD. And you must not turn aside from serving the LORD because if you did, you would then go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver because they are futile. For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for HIMSELF.”

You know, up until this point God has really been happy. “You know, I’ve got My people, I’ve got Israel. They’re wonderful. They make mistakes but you know, no matter what mistakes they make, they serve Me whole-heartedly.”

And Samuel continues, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. But I will instruct you in the good and right way. “ In other words, Samuel says, “I’m going to continue to pray for you. I am going to continue to lift you before God and I am going to listen to what God tells me to tell you. And as I listen to what He tells me I’m going to instruct you. I’m going to tell you what God says. And this is going to be leading you in the good and right way so that you don’t go off and do these foolish things.”

You see, we have to pray. We have to pray for one another, we have to pray for ourselves. And if we ask God to reveal to us the things that we do that are not pleasing to Him, and if we will be quiet a moment and listen to Him...He will reveal those things to us. And then the choice is ours, what we will do. Will we obey God and stop doing those things or start doing different things that He instructs us to do or will we just cross our arms say, “It’s going to be my way. I’m in control of my life.”

My prayer, as I pray for you all, is that we choose to follow God’s instinct. We choose to follow His leading, because He will lead us. He will reveal things to us. He’ll not only reveal our sin, but He will reveal the things that we are doing right. Because God loves us and so His final word to us doesn’t have to be a negative thing, but is always something wrapped in love. Because he does love us and He will continue to love us and instruct us. The important things are that we CHOOSE to listen to Him. We choose to pray for ourselves, we choose to pray for others; and did you know that blessings come to you, and protections come to you, and good health comes to you, when you lift up your brothers and sisters in Christ, when you lift up other ministries in Christ. God blesses you for the prayers that you pray for others. That doesn’t mean that we should pray just to get something, it has to come from our heart; it has to be sincere. But it does mean that God rewards us. He knows our heart, He knows the intent of our heart. He knows when we mean what we’re saying. And it’s his honor to bless us and to embrace us in his love and say, “Well done my child. You followed me, you listened to me. And you loved yours brothers and sisters because you prayed for them, and that shows me how much you love them.”

Prayer

Father I just thank you for each one that pulled up this podcast and listened this morning. I thank you that they took the time out of their busy schedule to come here your word. Father I pray that the word spoken here this morning brings into them abundant life. May our words always encourage and uplift them and show them the right way, the right path to walk down.
Use us, LORD, as your vessel. Let your words come through my mouth as I bring these messages here. I don’t want any glory, I don’t want any credit, Father, but may you receive all glory, all honor, and may you just lift each one father, and embrace them. Pick them up like a father does his child and spins them around in love and, father, just bring healing to their bodies that need healing. Heal their finances. Restore their fortunes as your word tells us.
Lord, we know that you have good plans for us. And all we have to do is listen and obey and pray for one another. Father, I ask you to enlighten us, let us know who we need to pray for, what we need to pray, put those things in our heart, in our mind, and out of our mouths, Father. Now I ask you to bless each one with health, with financial blessings, with peace, love, and joy. And continue to bless them throughout the week. In Jesus name I pray and ask these things! Amen.

Again, thank you for being here with us. I pray that you will come back tomorrow and each day this week, and be blessed by the wonderful words that are brought to you. Have a good week.

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Sunday with Sammy

16th March 2014

Paul and Potholes

They say that when something is going on in your life then you see it EVERYWHERE. The car you bought because you had rarely seen one in that colour is suddenly parked everywhere you go. Everyone else is having a baby it would seem to the couple struggling to conceive. You hear nothing but the bright future of the school you have just decided to take your child from early as you thought there was a better chance for them elsewhere! The list is pretty endless.

Personally for me, it’s a word or phrase at the moment and that is…calling. During Intercessional Prayers on Sunday the person was asking for prayers of those exploring vocation to the priesthood – ‘woah that’s me!’ I thought.

In a home group yesterday, Brian Wilson from HIllsong said, ‘You must walk worthy of the calling for what YOU are called.’ Again, I wondered if he was talking directly to me. Of course he wasn’t, but my mind is tuned to that word and turn of phrase at the moment due to my circumstances.

Now, something that effects every single one of us at the moment is potholes! Whether you drive and need to avoid them, or you don’t and walk around praying that the cars avoid the ones still filled with water.

I have to admit, and this won’t be the last time you hear this from me, but I have an immense respect for St Paul. Not only because of the way he continuously admitted what he had done wrong – not to get forgiveness after forgiveness, because I hope you know that when you ask God with all sincerity for His forgiveness and Grace you get it, and you don’t then need to feel any guilt about what you have been forgiven for. You must not, however, go and do it again. As I wrote last week when Jesus dismissed the adulterous woman he said, ‘Go, and sin no more’.

Paul’s main writings in the Bible are his letters to various Churches in Christendom. Paul set up the church of Ephesus as described in Acts 19 and its urgency in his detailed explanations of that congregation’s relationship with Jesus Christ could be due to it having been written not long before his death around AD62. Let’s have a look.

Paul writes in Ephesus 4 ‘In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.’

So in his typical style he starts with a firm instruction. Get going you lot! Stop messing around, you know what to do, what are you waiting for? If I get out of here, I’m going to come over there and give you a good shake!! But I can’t so you’ll have to read my words and do as you’re told – through me – by Christ Jesus. Paul never took any credit for his work, he always said it was the work of our saviour Jesus he did. Paul also talked in verse 3 about being quick to mend fences. This is hugely important, and as Christians we must take the initiative. I speak from very recent experience when I say you WILL be nervous, you will want to back out, and yes, you may have the door slammed in your face, you might even be verbally abused, but God knows you did it for the right reasons and He loves you all the more for it. Also, as was in my case this week, you might not get the door slammed in your face, in which case you have a win-win scenario.

Paul continues with ‘You were all called’ oh here we go again ‘to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.’ ‘But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift.’

But what, you are thinking, does this have to do with potholes??

Well. Not much to be honest, but we do have them in common and probably will do for a while yet!

However, everything, as we’ve discussed previously happens for a reason, and when I stopped the car earlier today to avoid a rather large pothole I looked to my right and saw a minutes old new born lamb taking its first tentative, wobbly steps. Had I been driving I would have missed that sight. That wonderful sign that Spring is on her way, that through all the trials and tribulations, rain and darkness, there is new life springing forward, new hope is on the horizon…and together, in oneness, with our heads held high (being careful if we’re running of course) we can all reach the goal that Paul talks of, through commitment to God and in loving one another. The road is the same, the potholes may make us stumble, but by wearing the whole armour of God we may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil!

Prayer

Thank you Father for new life shown to us in your wonderful creation. For the buds on the trees, the daffodils and crocus’ for the lambs and piglets and for each one of us, born because of you and saved because of the birth of your precious son. As we continue to draw closer to you this Lent, remind us quite how wonderful your world can be, and bless each one of us every day. Amen

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Sunday with Sammy

9th March 2014

What say you?

John 8:2-11
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered round him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

‘No one, sir,’ she said.

‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’


The Ash Wednesday reading for this year is from John 8:7… What is interesting about this passage is that it didn’t actually make it into the Bible until the 3rd century. It is unlike the usual way that the rest of this gospel is written – ignoring the pro and epilogues, we will cover those another time, but if you get the chance do have a look at the ending of John’s Gospel…all three of them! It is thought that the copyist who inserted it here was possibly trying to illustrate Jesus saying that he will pass judgement on no-one later in the chapter, in verse 15.

Anyway, Jesus had returned from the Mount of Olives, and is being harassed yet again by the Pharisees. They have bought a woman to him who they claimed had been caught committing adultery (nothing is ever said about the man with whom the alleged crime took place you’ll notice!) This married woman knows there is very high chance of being killed by the then common practice of stoning under the guise of the Law of Moses, as written in Deuteronomy 22. The Pharisees tell Jesus this has to be the outcome, and are trying to test him, again. They want him to either go against the word of Moses, and as a teacher of the Jewish faith of course he could not, or they want him to go against the authority of Rome, as Roman law had deprived the Jews of their rights to stone people to death – they thought they had him!

The gospel says, When they persisted in questioning him, he straightened up and told them, "Let the person among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." In the same situation now, knowing what we do, as the woman, you would be petrified! It is a wonderful thing to say, and it should be said more nowadays if you ask me – ok then, the one of you who is without sin and has NEVER done anything wrong can judge… that would make people stop and think before acting in certain ways! Of course, there WAS someone there who was without sin – Jesus – and he and only he had every right to cast that first stone…and we can only imagine the carnage that would have occurred after that.

What would have happened if one of the Pharisees had cottoned on to this, picked up a stone, handed it to Jesus and said ,’here you go then…’ But they didn’t. Thankfully. Because they understood not a jot of whose company there were truly in. There is a wonderful part when Jesus seems to simply ignore them, and starts to write on the ground with his finger. We’re not told what or really why., and there are many, many schools of thought about this, but in Jeremiah 17:13 in some translations it is written, ‘Those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth for they have forsaken the Lord’ …but in the Pharisees’ trying to get Jesus on the back foot and make a mistake, his calm demeanour must have had them all hopping from foot to foot in madness – how funny! So, Christ neither found fault with the law, nor excused the woman's guilt; nor did he tolerate the pretended zeal of the Pharisees.

People are actually self-condemned who judge others, and yet do the same thing. All who are any way called to blame the faults of others, are especially concerned to look to themselves, and keep themselves and their lives in order. In this situation, Jesus did precisely what he came into the world to do, and that was, to bring sinners to repentance; not to destroy, but to save. He aimed to bring, not only the accused to repentance, by showing her his mercy, but the prosecutors also, by showing them their sins; they thought to ensnare him, he sought to convince and convert them. Check mate to Jesus! AND he declined to meddle with the magistrate's office. Many crimes merit far more severe punishment than they meet with; but that isn’t for us to concern ourselves with. When Christ sent the woman away, it was with this caution, Go, and sin no more. If you help to save the life of a criminal, you must also help to save their soul with the same care. They are truly happy, whom Christ does not condemn.

And as we moan that our lives could be so much better, they could, remember, be so much worse. When I think about when Jesus was writing in the dust the following Lenten poem by George Herbert springs to mind…

Lord, who hast form’d me out of mud,
And hast redeem’d me through thy blood,
And sanctifi’d me to do good;
Purge all my sins done heretofore:
For I confess my heavy score,
And I will strive to sin no more.
Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,
With faith, with hope, with charity;
That I may run, rise, rest with thee.
May God bless and keep us all safe,
healthy and though able to cast a stone
be always unwilling to do so.
Christ's favour to us
in the forgiveness of past sins
should prevail with us,
So, Go then,
and sin no more. Amen

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WOW Word 57

WOW Word 57 - Sin

1 John 1:9 - “Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Today, Alphy the WOWChurch cat shares with us about sin - what it is, what it is not, who, why, where? Come see and hear Alphy the WOWChurch Cat explain more!!

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