Partakers Christian Podcasts

What Christians Believe - Nicene Creed

This year, Christians around the world are observing the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea — an event that significantly influenced the Christian faith and continues to unify believers across centuries and traditions. Convened in 325 by Emperor Constantine in what is now modern-day Turkey, the Council of Nicaea resulted in the creation of the Nicene Creed: the first universal summary of Christian belief. We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity! Come! Let us pray and profess together!

Nicene Creed

What we believe as Christians...

 

We believe in one God,

the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth,

and of all that is,

seen and unseen.

~

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God,

Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one being with the Father.

~

Through Him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

He came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit,

He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

~

For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

He suffered death and was buried.

On the third day He rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures:

He ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

~

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son,

He is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

~

We believe in one, holy,

catholic (universal), and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come.

~

Amen

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Thursday with Tabitha - Joel

Joel

This is our penultimate podcast in the minor prophets series! This week we are looking at the book of Joel. I had some degree of dilemma about where to place Joel in the roughly chronological order of the series and that’s because the estimates of when the book was written vary widely from the 9^th to 4^th century BC. After looking at the content of Joel’s prophecies, I decided to go with the scholars who argue that Joel was written after the exile to Babylon, dating it somewhere around the year 500 BC. Joel evidently has knowledge of Judah and Jerusalem and it seems likely that he was from Judah himself. His name means “Yahweh is God” and we are told that his father was called Pethuel. Other than that, we know little about Joel himself. ~

Joel is similar in style to several of the other minor prophetic books, being written in the form of oracles of judgement and salvation, mostly in poetic style. Joel appears to have written during a time of national calamity for Judah. Key themes of his book are the Day of the Lord, the need to repent, the promise of God that he will dwell in the midst of his people, and the future promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. ~

Chapter one contains a vivid description of the invasion of the land of Judah by a locust swarm. Locusts are grasshoppers that breed very rapidly and fly in swarms when their population density is high enough. They can migrate large distances when in a swarm and they consume vast amounts of vegetation when they land. A swarm of locusts is a potential disaster for any farmer as it can decimate crops and vineyards, leaving virtually nothing behind. ~

Joel describes exactly this sort of devastation in chapter 1 verses 1-12. Everything is laid bare, even the bark of the trees is stripped. The priests of Judah are instructed to lament and fast because they can no longer offer the proper sacrifices at the temple because all the grain, wine and oil are gone. The animals are suffering from lack of food and verses 19-20 indicate that there is also a drought occurring at the same time. Joel’s prophecy warns the people that the Day of the Lord is near. This could refer to the immediate day of the locust invasion, or to a future day of God’s judgement on the nations, or perhaps to both.~

Just when it seems that things couldn’t get worse, chapter 2 reveals that it can get much worse! The second chapter contains a terrifying description of an invading army, marching unstoppably across Judah. There are a number of opinions about the nature of this army: some believe that Joel is still describing the locusts, using more graphic imagery; others say that Joel is describing a human army invading Judah; or a third interpretation is that the army described is the Lord’s army, coming to judge the world on the Day of the Lord in an epic final conflict. Whichever is the case, this army is fearsome, purposeful and not hindered by any obstacle. Joel also describes other apocalyptic signs, which are found in other parts of the Bible when describing the Day of the Lord: the sun, moon and stars are dimmed and the earth is shaken.~

Yet, even in spite of this predicted calamity, it is not too late. In chapter 2:12-17 God calls his people to repentance and entreats them to return to him. Joel describes God as a God of mercy and grace, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God desires to see real change in the hearts and souls of his people, not just outward signs of repentance (like the tearing of clothes), but a genuine change of heart. ~

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. (Joel 2:12-13)

~ 

The priests are urged to consecrate the whole congregation, even including little babies and newly weds. No one is exempt.

In response to the people’s repentance, God promises to restore Judah again, refilling the wine and oil vats and replenishing the threshing floors. God has judged his people but he has also brought deliverance and restoration to them. In chapter 2 verses 28-29 we find a prophecy about the future outpouring of the Holy Spirit.~

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

~

We see this prophecy fulfilled after Jesus’ death and resurrection when God pours out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Peter quotes from this section in his speech to the crowd on the day of Pentecost – you can find this in Acts 2. Just after this prophecy in Joel, we find the declaration that in those days,

“…everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Joel 2:32)

~

Paul quotes this in Romans 10:13 in his explanation of the universal availability of God’s salvation to anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, regardless of their ethnic background or previous religious credentials, or lack of them. ~

In chapter 3 God promises that he will judge the nations and restore the fortunes of his people. He will dwell in the midst of his people and be a source of security and refuge in the midst of the judgement to come. ~

Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. (Joel 3:14-16)

~

The picture is one of great contrasts. As in other prophetic books, like Zephaniah, the Day of the Lord brings judgement and fear to some and relief and restoration for others.

What messages can we take from the book of Joel today?

Firstly, we can celebrate the fulfilment of the prophecy in Joel 2:28-29. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on all believers, both young and old, men and women. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us - to help us, equip us, guide us and comfort us. In the early church, one of the things that helped to convince the Jewish believers that the Gentiles were also welcomed into God’s kingdom was the clear evidence of the dramatic work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Salvation is indeed available to all people, to anyone who calls on the name of Jesus.

I was particularly struck by God’s plea for the people to rend their hearts, not their garments. This reminds me of David’s prayer in Psalm 51:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

We can be so easily taken in by outward appearances, and we can spend a lot of time cultivating our outward appearance to portray the right image to the world around us, or to our fellow believers. But God is interested in the states of our hearts. He sees the real you and the real me, all of the time.

When David was being chosen from the sons of Jesse to be anointed by Samuel, the prophet declared that:

 …the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

~

David came to know this truth very deeply for himself. He tried to hide lies and adultery and murder from other people but he could not hide from God.

We may also try to hide the parts of our lives, or the aspects of our character that we are embarrassed or ashamed about, but God knows us better than we know ourselves. Nothing is hidden from his sight. As our loving Father, he longs for us to acknowledge these things before him and rend our hearts in response. Nothing will come as a surprise to him - he already knows!

We can try all sorts of things to fix our own hearts and we can sometimes convince ourselves we’ve done quite a good patching up job. But in truth, only God can perform the heart transplant we need. He is the one who can renew our hearts and clean us from the inside out. And his invitation stands open to anyone who would call on his name. So we can pray along with David:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

~

Join me next week as we look at the final book in our series – Malachi - the last recorded prophetic voice before John the Baptist!

 

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Saturday Story - Jenny

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Jenny from Taiwan...

We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of Jenny from Taiwan. Let's look together at how and why she started her Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to her life! Come and listen to her story of faith...

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Bible Thought - Faith - WOW Word 46

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.

1. Mind - recognition of your need of salvation. Acknowledging Christ’s death on your behalf and your need of forgiveness.
2. 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.
3. 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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Saturday Testimony Story - Naz

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...

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Bible Thought - Worship

 

Worship

I wonder what you think worship is! Is your view of worship too small? Worship is giving God alone (Psalm 19:2), the glory due His name in the beauty of His holiness (1 Chronicles 16:29), with reverence.

“Yes, ascribe to the Lord! The glory due his name! Bring an offering and come before him; Worship the Lord when clothed with holiness!” (1 Chronicles 16:29)

Worship is where through the use of the mind and the senses, honour and respect are directed towards God, “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24)! Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

Come and explore with us, more about what worship of God is, why God is to be worshipped and how the Christian should worship God!

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Saturday Story - Malcolm Muggeridge

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Malcolm Muggeridge...

Today we are looking into the 20th Century again, this time at Malcolm Muggeridge. He was, by his own volition and renown, a determined sceptic and vocal non-believer. Until that is, he encountered Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Come and listen to his story of faith...

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Partakers Bible Thought - Forgiveness - WOW Word

WOW Word - Forgiveness

True forgiveness is not just saying sorry!! Forgiveness is to include penitence and also a desire never to do that same thing again. Forgiveness of course is a major part of Christianity, both in the way that God forgives when approached in penitence and repentance, but also in the way Christians forgive others and themselves! In both giving and receiving forgiveness, consider Jesus Christ and the enormity of His forgiveness.

Paul writes in Colossians 3:12-14 that forgiveness is part of the being in God’s family of Christians! If God forgave you for all that you have done wrong, then you also should forgive others, regardless of how difficult that might be to do. Nobody said it would always be easy though! Forgiveness enables you to have the same openness toward the person after they offend you, as you did before the event – if not more! When you truly forgive the person who has wronged you, any hurt you have will diminish.

Receiving and Giving Forgiveness

But why do we need to both receive and give forgiveness? Apart from being commanded to, a vast number of emotional and psychological problems are caused by failure to either give or to receive forgiveness.

• There is a failure to receive forgiveness. Many people try to pay for their sin by trying to punish themselves for they're past sins. These people should let go, because God has forgiven them, just as they asked!
• There is a failure to give forgiveness. When forgiveness is not offered to a person who has done you wrong, bitterness, resentment and anger may spring up in your life. There are parents who hurt; siblings who fail; and close friends who betray and reject. Yet forgive is the command, and it can only be done as the Holy Spirit and His power is relied upon.

By receiving and giving forgiveness, you will find an ability to love God more and love others more openly. Don’t let bitter unforgiveness destroy you and others, but rather let love & forgiveness build and strengthen.

God and Forgiveness

God’s ultimate concern is your holiness and not just your happiness, as you are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ! God is concerned not just about what is happening to you, but also what you are learning and how you are responding in His workshop of life, as you are being transformed. This involves both giving and receiving forgiveness.

Tests to see if there is someone I need to forgive:

• Resentment test - Is there anyone you resent?
• Responsibility test - Do you find yourself thinking, "If only this other person or persons had done this, things would have been different!" and therefore blaming others?
• Reminder/reaction test - Do you find yourself reacting negatively against a person because they remind you of someone else?
  
  To discover more about the WOW Word, Forgiveness, download the mp3

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Saturday Story 10 - Milly

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Milly from the USA...

Today we hear the story and testimony of Milly, who is from Mississippi in the USA... Come and listen to her story about her Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to her life today...

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Thursday with Tabitha - Nahum

Thursday with Tabitha

6. Nahum by Tabitha Smith

 

Nahum prophesied about the destruction of the city of Nineveh, the capital of the nation of Assyria. If Nineveh sounds a bit familiar, it might be because you’ve listened to the first instalment in this series about the book of Jonah! In some ways, Nahum is like a sequel to Jonah.

The date of writing of Nahum can be narrowed down to somewhere between 660 BC and 630 BC. We can deduce this because of the historical events that Nahum refers to during his prophecy (unless of course you don’t believe in predictive prophesy!). Like Micah last week, we don’t know anything about Nahum apart from the fact that his home town was called Elkosh. It’s not certain where this was, but it was probably in Judah because at the time of his prophesy, the kingdom of Israel had ceased to exist.

The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians in about 722 BC. The Southern Kingdom of Judah had not suffered the same fate, despite an attempted siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib of Assyria shortly after the fall of Samaria. Instead, the Kingdom of Judah had become a sort of vassal state to Assyria. The Assyrian kingdom had been established by acts of terrible violence, torture and cruelty and forced deportations of thousands of people, under the leadership of Tiglath-pileser III. His campaigns were ruthless and highly successful, conquering most of the known world at the time.

Nineveh was a great city, the capital of Assyria. Jonah had been sent by God with a message of warning to Nineveh, telling of God’s imminent judgement on them for their evil behaviour.

At that time, much to Jonah’s surprise and disgust, the people of Nineveh did repent and God spared them. However, a century later, we see that the repentance did not last, and Nineveh has fallen back into evil, idolatry, violence and depravity.

Nahum’s key message is that God is going to judge and overthrow Nineveh. Nahum means ‘comfort’ and his message would have brought comfort to the people of Judah who were living under Assyrian oppression.

Nahum is written in the style of ancient war poetry. The first verse of the book tells us that Nahum received the prophecy in the form of a vision. The way he writes his book is like the eye-witness account of a war correspondent. God is pictured as a divine warrior, coming to judge the Assyrians for their evil deeds. God had used Assyria as a tool of judgement on his own people, but the Assyrians were held accountable for the wicked nature of their conquests and the ways they had lived their lives in alienation from God.

In chapter one, the book opens with a poetic description of God on the war-path. God is described as jealous (for his honour and his people), wrathful, righteously angry and all powerful. Even the rock-solid mountains melt before him and the seas dry up completely. Nothing and no-one can stand against him. At the same time, God is also described as slow to anger, good, knowing those who seek him, compassionate and seeking his people’s freedom from their oppressors. The message that Nahum proclaims is simultaneously terrible and wonderful, and it all depends on the reader’s perspective and relationship to God.

At the end of Nahum 1, Judah is urged to keep the feasts, i.e. the celebrations of their history that remind them of God’s salvation purposes and commemorate his saving works for them in the past. Judah will be restored once more.  We should not miss the significance of this - the Messiah would one day come from the remnant of Judah.

Nahum 2 launches into a prophetic account of the overthrow of Nineveh. The imagery is vivid and it’s almost as if Nahum is present in the city, watching the events unfold. The invading army arrives in the outskirts of Nineveh and the call goes out to ‘man the walls’ and take up arms. The invasion comes with speed and devastation, chariots thundering and swords and spears flashing and glinting in the sun. The invading soldiers are clothed in red with red shields, possibly indicating the original colour of the shields or their staining with blood. Siege towers are built and the river gates are opened to flood the city and destroy the royal palace.

It’s helpful here to consider what we know from historical accounts of the overthrow of Nineveh. Nineveh was attacked by a coalition of armies, principally of the Medes and Babylonians, in 612 BC. The city was sieged for a period of time which may have been as short as a few months. The invading armies closed the gates of the river Khoser, which flowed through the city, allowing the water to build up. The gates were then opened, unleashing a flood on the city which destroyed much of the important architecture and allowed the invaders to penetrate the city walls and finish the overthrow of the city.

Nahum 2 contains more vivid images of the invasion with graphic descriptions of the piles of dead bodies in the streets of the city. God asks Nineveh whether she has considered herself better than Thebes. Thebes was a great city in Egypt which was invaded by the Assyrians in about 664 BC. Thebes had appeared to be immune to attack with a natural sea defence and many allies. However, the Assyrians had conquered the city. They were now going to get a taste of their own medicine.

The book ends with Nahum surveying the aftermath of the siege and invasion. The final words are a taunting song declaring the finality of the destruction.

The ruins of Nineveh can be found today near the modern Iraqi city of Mosul. They were not discovered until the 19th century - prior to this all reference to Nineveh disappeared from the pages of history. When the ruins of the city were uncovered, many unburied skeletons were found. The city was razed to the ground. Nahum’s prophesies were fulfilled.

The book of Nahum reminds us that God is all powerful, omnipotent. He is not a tame god who is passive and powerless but he acts on behalf of his people. He is a God of justice who cannot pass over sin and evil but he must act justly to uphold his own honour and the welfare of his chosen people Israel. Moreover, God had promised to spare a remnant of his people, specifically from the tribe of Judah, in order that the Messiah, the deliverer, would come from his people. The future of the people of Israel often seemed under threat but God always faithfully preserved and restored a remnant to preserve the line of Abraham.

God is able to work even the most impossible of circumstances and most wicked of people into his sovereign plan. The seemingly ordinary list of names in the genealogy of Jesus described in Matthew chapter 1 encompasses accounts of infertility, prostitution, bereavement, displacement, adultery, murder and exile. God truly is able to make all things work for the good of those who love him, according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

God can even use wicked and pagan people in order to judge his own people and work for their ultimate good. In a few weeks’ time we will look at this issue in more detail as we look at the way Habakkuk wrestled with this.

Whatever opponents or battles you face in your lifetime, none of them are too big for God to handle. The military might of the Assyrians was legendary and they built one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Yet even they were relegated to the pages of history, the ruins of their prized capital city lying undiscovered for centuries. Our perspective is so limited. We struggle to comprehend the span of human history, and yet humans are such a brief vapour, like the dew that evaporates from the morning grass. Peter says in the first chapter of his first letter:

“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25

All earthly things will pass and only God will endure. Yet, incredibly, he cares about each one of us and knows every detail about us. The whole of history is centred around the life of Jesus, God in the flesh, who came to rescue us. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He stands in authority above all human institutions and authorities, both the good and the evil ones. His kingdom is incomparably greater than the most mighty of human kingdoms and yet it is established in an upside-down order where the first are last and the last are first. We pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” because Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. One day his kingdom will be unified and complete.

Then, as Paul says ‘at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:10-11).

 

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