Partakers Christian Podcasts

Gems in the Gospel of John - Part 44

Gems in the Gospel of John

Part 44 - John 10:16–18
Other flocks – the Gentiles.

Jesus goes on from talking about himself as a Shepherd to give a very clear, if not very long, indication that he knew that his word would go out through all the world. By ‘other sheep not of this sheepfold’ he clearly meant those who were not of the ancient people of God, the Jews. Us! The Gentiles (though perhaps a few ethnic Jews may hear or read this. If so – welcome.) This is perhaps the clearest indication we have in all the Gospels that Jesus knew his words and their effects would spread through all the world. Because he only had a man’s body he was limited to how many people he could actually contact and influence himself. After his death and resurrection his people would be able to do ‘greater works’ than he could do because they would spread through all the world in ever widening circles.

There was an explosion of activity after his death and the giving of the Holy Spirit all across the then known world. An Ethiopian returned to Ethiopia with the Good News; the apostle Thomas almost certainly reached south India with it; Paul probably reached the furthest western end of the Mediterranean area, to Spain, with it; and these are only the ones we know about.

What does it all say to us? The divide between Jew and Gentile that was the subject of what Jesus actually said is not likely to be of much significance to us. But what about all the other divides that people are so good at making between themselves and other people who are slightly different from them? The most obvious difference is between black and white and all the differing shades of brown in between. The divide between rich and poor can be just as deep if less obvious. Between accents. Between ethnic backgrounds. Between those who live one side of the tracks and those who live the other side. Between this cultural background and that one – even sometimes between generations. Between those who wear these sorts of clothes and those sorts. We have many, many ways of dividing people up and, to its deep shame, the Christian church has sometimes been at the forefront in drawing the distinctions. Yet all are clearly wrong in the eyes of Jesus. He said he had other sheep from the other side of a very deep divide. He promised to bring them in, that they would listen to his voice, and be part of his one flock. We might say, in a common English idiom, that ‘that is all that matters’. Particularly at the end of the day ‘that is all that will matter’.

The clear challenge to us is to accept all manner of people into our fellowship and friendship. If you live in a situation where there are long held and deeply rooted divisions among people that is not easy. I was going to go on to say that it is easy for those of us who do not face those particular problems to talk like this, but I wonder. Do any of us live in situations really free of divisions? Or is it just that some of the divisions are much less obvious, more subtle, harder to see? Think carefully about it – for yourself, where you are, not for other people.

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Friday Prayers 26 August 2016

Partakers Friday Prayers

for the Persecuted Church Worldwide

We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity! Come! Let us pray together!

Prayers for the Persecuted Church

Sovereign God, we worship you and acknowledge that you know all of those who suffer in your name because they follow you. We remember those who are imprisoned for their faith and ask that they would join with the Apostle Paul to see that even though they remain captive, their chains have furthered the gospel, not frustrated it. May they inspire and embolden their fellow believers to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Amen

God of all comfort, for those who are tortured both in body and mind, give them the grace to endure and to see their suffering as part of following in Christ’s footsteps. Merciful God, for those asked to pay the ultimate price; who are martyred because of their love for you, may they truly know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Amen

Father God, for those who are widowed and orphaned may they know the comfort that comes from your promised presence even when they walk through the valley. May they be strengthened by your Spirit, enabling them to rejoice with the psalmist as they proclaim that the LORD will not abandon them in death. Amen

Heavenly Father, we ask that you would make us ever mindful of our brothers and sisters around the world who need us to stand with them as they suffer in your name. Teach us what it means to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony; we pray that we would not love our lives so much as to shrink from death.

We ask these things O Father, through the name of Your Son, Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
Amen

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Think Spot 22 August 2016

Think Spot - 22nd August 2016

G'day! Welcome to Partakers Think Spot at the start of new week!

Romans 1:1-5

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God- the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name's sake.

Jesus is Unique

The first word I would use for Jesus is that He is unique - totally unique! Never before and never to be repeated again - ever! Jesus Christ is the standout person from all of history! In all of human history, Jesus Christ is incomparable!Yet in human form, we read that during his earthly ministry he had no physical beauty that would draw people naturally to himself. We read that Jesus' body on the cross was disfigured and tortured beyond that of human likeness. His perfect life, His salvation work on the cross and His subsequent rising from the dead, is what makes Jesus Christ unique - a once and for all lifetime Messiah or Saviour for the entire world! This great God of creation, stepping into His creation as a human, with the purpose of reconciling the world back to Himself! WOW!! Jesus' uniqueness meaning I can have an active and dynamic relationship with God.As you go into this week may your relationship with God be active and dynamic! Go and thank Jesus Christ for his uniqueness which allows this to occur.

Prayer

Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ your Son! We thank you that because of Him, we can enter into a dynamic and active relationship with you! We ask this prayer and give you praise, through your Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside all those who are following! Amen!

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Gems in the Gospel of John - Part 43

Gems in the Gospel of John
Part 43 - John 10:11-15
I am the good shepherd

Now we come to one of the most well-known things Jesus said. He compares himself to a shepherd: a good shepherd. From what he goes on to say he uses the word ‘good’ mainly because he is prepared to die for the sheep. This is the first time Jesus has made any allusion to his death in John’s gospel.

We have to be careful here. We may be so used to thinking of the leaders of Christians as shepherds - which is what pastor means - that we tend to think of Jesus here as simply the top shepherd, the boss shepherd, but Jesus is using the imagery here to emphasize his relationship to his people. He even equates his relationship to his people - that is to you and me - to his relationship to his father, to God. That is amazing! Once again we are seeing the difference between their way of thinking, dominated by the significance to them of the small group to which they belonged, and our (Western) way of thinking where the individual is much more important than anyone else or any group of people. We are, of course, fully entitled to our culture and there is nothing much we can do to escape from it but we must make every effort to grasp hold of the full import of this teaching of Jesus. We have seen it again and again in many different sorts of comments and metaphors throughout John’s Gospel.

Jesus says ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ and then goes on immediately to say that he will lay down his life for the sheep. This leads us to some important made up words for the way the Gospel should be presented. First we get ‘Christocentric’ which clearly emphasises that our Gospel must be centred on Christ. Then we get Cruco-Christocentric which says that our Gospel must be centred on the Crucified Christ. This is important. We must not place the emphasis on the Social Jesus by seeking to emulate him in his many good works - important though those are and our imitation of them is; we must not place the emphasis on his work in outreaching to other people which we copy in evangelism; not even on his divinity as that would lead us to try to emphasise his Glory in pageants of glorious worship and praise. No! Our sole emphasis is to be on the great work that he accomplished on the Cross, for our redemption, our salvation, our growth in purity and holiness, and our eventual glorification with him in the eternal kingdom. There is nothing in what he did that we can emulate at all. He alone did those things and achieved those purposes. That may seem to be an almost useless abstraction. Should we not concentrate on doing things to the glory of God and the benefit of his Kingdom? No! Our central core emphasis must always be on Christ and him crucified. We must be Cruco-Christocentric. Only Jesus, his death and the resurrection that validated that death, are to lie at the centre of our thinking and all our activity. Only then will our motivations be right and acceptable to the Lord God.

Then will we be good and obedient sheep at the centre of his flock, following his guiding, living the sort of lives as we go in and out to the Kingdom pastures that are the best and greatest of all lives to live. Note here how much in this Gospel the emphasis falls not so much on sin, though it is a consideration, but on the importance of the continuing life that is opened up for the Christian as they set out to follow him. Jesus was always looking forward to his follower’s futures, not deeply concerned about their pasts. His was an orientation to the future not the past. Even to the woman caught in adultery he said “go now and leave your life of sin”. As we saw last time .‘Jesus is the gate’; he is about us going in and out to find pasture - it is our continuing lives that are now the prime concern of our most gracious Lord. To keep them strong we must always centre and focus all our beings on Christ and him crucified. We must be Cruco-Christocentric in everything.

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Friday Prayers 19 August 2016

Partakers Friday Prayers!

19th August 2016

We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity! Come! Let us pray together!

Today we are praying a prayer of Clement of Rome - for those in authority over us.

You, O Lord, have given the authority of the kingdom to them through Your almighty and unspeakable power,
so that we, knowing the estimation and honour given to them by You,
might submit ourselves to them,
in no way opposing Your will;
to whom give, O Lord, health, peace, concord, stability,
so that they may discharge the rule given to them by You without offence;

For you, heavenly Master, King of the ages, give to the sons of men glory and honour and authority over those upon the earth.

Lord, direct their plans according to what is good and pleasing in your sight,
so that by devoutly administering in peace and gentleness the authority which you have given them they may experience your mercy.

You, who alone are able to do these and even greater good things for us,
we praise through the high priest and guardian of our souls, Jesus Christ,
through whom be the glory and the majesty to you both now and for all generations and for ever and ever.

Amen

(A prayer taken from 1 Clement 61.1-3).

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Think Spot 15 August 2016

Think Spot

15th August 2016

As I reflect upon the life of Jesus as given to us through the Gospels, I see that in his interaction with people he exhibits his loveliness. An example of this is found in Matthew 20:29-34 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

See how Jesus exhibited his loveliness to those two men, through an act of compassion and mercy! Jesus gave those two men great joy in receiving their sight and enabled them to overcome the rejection by the crowd! Those two men could testify that Jesus is altogether lovely and lovely altogether!Jesus is beyond compare for the things He has done and the things He will do. Jesus Christ is altogether lovely in regard to his divinity, humanity, birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, exultation, glorification, grace, protection, tenderness, power, wisdom, vengeance, judgement, majesty, redemption and pardon! Jesus' loveliness means I can have His incomparable inner joy when I feel defeated, dejected and discouraged. Jesus oozes loveliness!

As you go into this week, remember that when you are feeling defeated, dejected or discouraged, that Jesus joy is inside you. Joy is not necessarily loud and obtrusive but also quiet and peaceful. Allow that joy of Jesus to carry you through. Let His loveliness embrace you and allow Him control over your circumstances.

A prayer to help you into this new week:

Father, we thank you for sending Jesus.
We thank you Jesus
that you are altogether lovely and lovely altogether.
We thank you that you are with us when
everybody else rejects, despises, defeats or discourages us!
Amen.

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Gems in the Gospel of John - Part 42

Gems in the Gospel of John
Part 42 - John 10:7
Jesus is the Gate.

When we move on to the second picture in this sequence on Shepherds in v 7 - 10 we find that Jesus says he is the Gate. In fact he says I AM the Gate for the sheep, one of the seven I AM statements with a description following. This one is often overlooked because it is so close to the next I AM statement – I AM the Good Shepherd – which is both more striking and more easily understood. In fact it is quite surprising that he does not call himself the ‘gatekeeper’ that he mentions in the previous verses. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is the ‘gatekeeper’.

What Jesus did say about himself was “I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture … I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” He is clearly moving towards his striking statement in chapter 14 “No one comes to the Father except through me.” There is only one way to a full life worth living and Jesus is that way.

Neither the word ‘focus’ nor the word ‘centre’ appear in the New Testament. It is this statement here that has to stand in place of them. Jesus is the focus of all that goes on in the life of a Christian, a true Christian who follows Jesus. He is there when we go out and he extends the ‘going out’ metaphor to include grazing in the green pastures that he leads us to. He is also there when we ‘come in’ to be saved. All that happens in a Christian’s life, or a Christian church, is to be centered and focused on him.

That is not quite as easy as it might appear to be. People can invent hundreds of ways to concentrate on something else other than Jesus. We can emphasize being good, being regular at church, being careful to evangelize at every possible or inappropriate opportunity, enjoying all the most exciting special gifts of the Spirit, going to every big event that a great many people are at that we ever hear of, and so on.

But if you think about those things, what might you find? Being good is more about the individual’s smug goodness than anything else; being regular at church only demonstrates to other people the consistent loyalty of the person; evangelizing at every opportunity is another way of holding oneself up in front of other people; enjoying all the special gifts of the Spirit is simply exciting; going to special events is an attempt to get an extra jag of spirituality; and so we could go on. There is virtually no human activity which cannot be used for the holding up of a person to an admiring world!

The only thing that should possibly compete with Jesus for the Christian’s attention is the Bible, the Word of God.

If we are to enjoy the rich presence of Jesus throughout our daily living we must concentrate on him. We can do many other things to keep ourselves occupied and to help other people but one, and only one, person and no thing must stay at the centre and the focus of our thinking and our whole lives. That person is Jesus.

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Friday Prayers 12 August 2016

Partakers Friday Prayers!

12th August 2016

We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity! Come! Let us pray together!

Today we are praying a prayer of Benedict (480-547).

Gracious and Holy Father,
please give me:
intellect to understand you;
reason to discern you;
diligence to seek you;
wisdom to find you;
a spirit to know you;
a heart to meditate upon you;
ears to hear you;
eyes to see you;
a tongue to proclaim you;
a way of life pleasing to you;
patience to wait for you;
and perseverance to look for you.

Grant me:
a perfect end,
your holy presence,
A blessed resurrection,
And life everlasting.

Amen

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Think Spot 8 August 2016

Think Spot - 8th August 2016

G'day! Welcome to Partakers Think Spot at the start of new week on Monday the 8^th August 2016!

Obedient Life

As a Christian you are to be a little Jesus! In your local communities, wherever you happen to live, work, study or be! You are to live a life of obedience, of and to, Jesus Christ! For you are being transformed by the Holy Spirit who lives inside you! You are to be totally and willingly obedient to Him! Obedience, not out of some kind of slavish duty or ritual, but obedience borne from willing loving God and loving others.

Imagine

People will know you are a follower of Jesus, if you are obedient to Him, practically showing love to all! Imagine the community where you are transformed for Jesus Christ! Imagine your community filled with people seeking to know about our Jesus, because you and other Christians were sacrificing their time and possessions! Imagine the communities you are involved with wanting to give Jesus the glory and honour in every aspect of life!

Transformation

Transformed communities of people devoted to Jesus and experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in bringing people back to God the Father! Loving God and loving each other as He commanded would help do this in your local community!

Be Obedient! Be bold! Be strong! Be courageous!

But you need to be obedient to Jesus Christ in both small and large things.

Jesus said in John 14:21 "Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."

You will face pressure to disobey Him, even sometimes from those within your church. But if He has commanded you to do something for Him, you are to obey Him. It is far better to obey God and disappoint people than to obey people and disobey God.

Go into this week, lovingly willing to be obedient to God! Trust in Him and ask Him for the strength to be lovingly obedient to Him. He will help as you ask! It can sometimes be very difficult to be obedient to God, particularly as some people, even other Christians, will try to get you to disobey. Be strong in the Lord! Be bold! Be courageous! Need help? Then ask somebody to pray with you! Then be prepared for opportunities to be lovingly obedient to Jesus – in small and big things!

Prayer

A Prayer to help you this week.

Father, help us to live obediently to you.
May the Holy Spirit encourage us
as we seek to live worthily of Jesus Christ,
in obedience to Him.
Father, it is in His name we pray
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

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Gems in the Gospel of John - Part 41

Gems in the Gospel of John
Part 41 - John 10:3
Who are the true shepherds?

We come now to the passage about shepherds. The NIV labels all of 10: 1 – 18 as ‘the good shepherd and his sheep’. But any even half critical look at this passage will leave one puzzled by its apparent inconsistencies. That is because it is actually four different passages put together because they all feature shepherds even although they are about very different uses of a shepherding metaphor (notice too how the ‘Pharisees’ of v1 have become ‘Jews’ of v19 suggesting that Jesus did not say all this one just one occasion). They are:

1. v1 – 5 - - who are the acceptable sub-shepherds of the Lord’s people?
2. v7 – 10 - Jesus is the Gate who controls the lives of the shepherds and the sheep.
3. v11 – 13 - Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is prepared to give his life for the sheep.
4. v14 – 18 - who are the sheep in the flock the Good Shepherd cares for?

They are closely linked to the story in the previous chapter about the blind man who was healed, which ran into so much opposition from the Pharisees because Jesus had carried out the healing on a Sabbath day. Jesus said in that story that they were blind to the realities of what the Lord’s work was really all about.
Now he goes on to say they are like thieves and robbers who break into a sheepfold to steal some sheep. This was a very challenging thing to say because of the many places in the Old Testament where many prophecies promise bad things for shepherds who fail to look after their flocks properly.
Typical of these is Ezekiel 34 where we read, “Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, … Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.”

So, when Jesus talks about shepherds who break into the overnight sheepfold to get some sheep he is clearly referring back to passages like that. No wonder he wasn’t popular amongst the leaders of the people in Jerusalem!

When he goes on to talk about the sheep following the shepherd he is talking about the standard Middle Eastern practice of the shepherd leading the sheep, as opposed to the Western practice of driving them from behind, usually with sheep-dogs. He also talks about the sheep following the known voice of their shepherd. The voice here refers to a particular call or whistle that each shepherd will have had. The difference arises because the Eastern shepherds lived with the sheep so that as soon as they were born they saw him and heard him. They grew up as close to him as to their mother sheep. They knew what he looked like and sounded like.

The whole picture fits the situation Jesus is describing very well. The shepherds that were ‘thieves and robbers’ were the Pharisees who were so concerned about the religious detail of Sabbath observance but not interested in the wonderful miracle that had given the man his sight. Or, to bring it into our day, those pastors (the very word means shepherds) who consider their job to be just a job and who have no real interest in the people they are supposed to be looking after. They just want to be looked up to. They like to be able to tell people what to do. They like to preach without contradiction from high in their pulpits. It might be it is one particular set of character traits, not very desirable ones, that take people into the ministry.

Beware of such people. Avoid them if you can. You have this word of Jesus to justify doing so

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