Partakers Christian Podcasts

Think Spot 15 February 2016

Think Spot - 15 February 2016

As Christians we are commanded to love God and to show that by loving other people - all other people including those who are our enemies. I am sure that you have people that you love, and to whom you say that you love and care for. Good!

But please don't assume you know how to show your love and care for them. Ask them how you can show your love and care for them in practise... We are also to love the whole person and to take care of the whole person. We are to care for their whole well-being: their spiritual, physical, emotional, social and mental well-being.

Quite often, we neglect one of those areas. The whole person matters to God. He cares for the whole person. Therefore so must we. How will you refine your love of other people now that you are aware? Go and love. Love others - all others - an every facet of the other person - spiritual, physical, emotional, social and mental well-being...

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Gems in the Gospel of John - Part 20

Gems in the Gospel of John

Part 20: John 5:pb
Law or Mercy

We read that, “The day on which this took place was a Sabbath”. Jesus presumably carried out this healing on the Sabbath that they prized so highly, quite deliberately. Had he wanted to he could easily have returned the next day and done it then. But he didn’t; he seems to have chosen to do it on the Sabbath quite deliberately. Why? He didn’t do things like this accidently; he had a purpose – what was it? All the rest of this chapter, and much of the rest of the book follow on from this one act.

Jewish thinking of those days had come down to three main points to identify Judaism and – as they thought – the people of God: circumcision of males, obedience to the food laws, and strict keeping of the Sabbath as a day of rest. Both most of the food laws and the details of Sabbath keeping were defined by the religious authorities. So this was very much their territory and they reacted strongly to what Jesus had done; “the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

Jesus had two clear purposes in what he did. The first was a general one: he wanted to remind them that, in the words of Micah: “what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” It is easy to miss the full meaning of those words. They say that the way to worship and serve the Lord is to treat our fellow human beings well. That is not what other religions say. They want us to carry out specific rituals directed towards their view of god. According to them we are to live certain ways, dress certain ways, pray in a prescribed format the correct number of times a day and so on. And the Jews had fallen into that trap; and many of them remain in it to this day.

Jesus says “no, that is not the way to worship and serve God the Father”, loud and clear. What really matters are relationships and we express our relationships with the Lord God very largely by our relationships with other people. That idea goes right back a long way. Of the ten commandments only the first four are concerned with us and God, the remaining six are about how we relate to other people.

Jesus’ second purpose is to announce loudly and clearly to his time and culture that he is different. He makes the rules; he has made the rules, though they did not recognize that, so he is above and beyond the often rather silly rules that they have constructed out of the Bible ( the Old Testament). He is God, walking this earth in disguise as it were. He is going to set up a new people of God in a new Kingdom, his Kingdom. That is going to cause a lot of problems in Jerusalem, particularly, and bring him to the Cross on which he would die as the one and only Son of God and true, faithful Israelite.

We will explore something of the implications of this second point – who Jesus was, and is, in following studies. The first point: the importance of relationships, all relationships, with God and other people, is there for us all to think about, take on board, and struggle with all our days.

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Friday Prayers 12 February 2016

Partakers Friday Prayers!

12th February 2016

We pray together and when Christians pray together, including across the internet and from different times, different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity!

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Amen

(A prayer of Sir Francis Drake)

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Think Spot 8 February 2016

Think Spot - 8 February 2016

I wonder what your last week was like! I know for me it was full of trial and yet with a deep-seated trust that God was in control, despite the events and discouragements I was undergoing! So, whether it was a week for you to forget or a week for you to remember, we now enter a new week! Do you claim to trust God?

One of the natural outcomes of trusting God is joy - often an unspeakable joy that bubbles within you! A joy resulting from overcoming all that life throws at you, and overcoming those hurdles! It involves taking a daily commitment to follow Jesus Christ and not just a one off. It takes commitment, not comfort, to throw off hindrances and barriers. True joy results from being willing to allow the Holy Spirit to work in you, transforming you into the image of Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God the Father.

All of these things being done daily in your life lead to what I am convinced is the key to the reality of a successful Christian life - that key being joy. As you grow closer to Jesus, living in peace, trust and obedience, then your spiritual life will be your natural life and your natural life be your spiritual life! Your joy will abound and shine a light giving people a reason to ask "Where do you get all your joyous hope from?". You will then be able to· share Jesus as your source of joy. A joy that is anticipatory, expectant and true! Joy comes from putting Jesus first, others next and then yourself! Go practise it this week!

You can show this joy by singing, laughing, smiling, shouting praises to God, lifting hands in worship', and crying, but that is only the external part of joy. True joy also incorporates an internal joy. Real joy is when you can believe in: the mountain top when you are in your deepest valley. Abundant joy is being surrounded by darkness and still believing in 'the light'. Anticipatory joy is when amidst total confusion you still believe God has a plan of love for you. It was this type of joy that Jesus had, when in the garden praying, the night before he was betrayed, when full of mixed emotions and anguish he said "Not my will, but yours, Father!"

As sons and daughters of God, we have many reasons to be full of joy. Yet how often we forget! Here are some reasons for joy!

• Psalm 51:8 & 12 - Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me-now let me rejoice. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

• Jeremiah 15:16 - When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven's Armies.

• Luke 15:8-10 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbours and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents."

• 1 Peter 1:8-9 - You love Jesus Christ even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

Do you desire to be' overflowing with joy today and this week? Go into this week with a joy that is anticipating and expectant! Do you need to hand over to Jesus a particular area of your life' where Jesus does not fully reign and have control?

I pray that the Father will reveal more of Himself to you, as you daily seek His face, overcoming all hindrances to living a successful and joyful-Christian life. May the Holy Spirit who lives within you, if you are a Christian, continue to transform you into the image of the Son Jesus Christ, and all to the praise and glory of God the Father. Amen.

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Gems in the Gospel of John - Part 19

Gems in the Gospel of John

Part 19: John 5:6
A curious question

Jesus asked the invalid man lying by the well “Do you want to get well?” which seems a very odd question. Wouldn’t anyone want to get well? One possible explanation is that this man is a sort of professional beggar; similar to those you can see in some cities to this day. They rely on the charity of passers-by to put enough money in their begging bowl each day to keep them going.

This man must have had somebody to put him there each morning and take him home at night, feed him and keep him reasonably tidy and respectable. He might even have belonged to a family of beggars; some of who even go to the lengths of deliberately crippling their young children to give them the necessary problems to justify their begging in later life. If Jesus heals him he will lose the source of his livelihood and need to do something to earn his living, upsetting the whole pattern of his life that has gone on for 38 years. Would he even be able to walk any distance? His muscles will be almost non-existent after all those years with minimal use. It is a serious step he is contemplating taking. If this is indeed the case it would also explain why Jesus, meeting him later, says, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The word for ‘sinning’ here is not the word for serious moral failure but one that can mean no more than miss the mark or be mistaken, which would fit in with the idea that Jesus thinks he is simply living a poor life which could be much better.

What about us? Does Jesus ever have to ask us if we want to get well? Or are we quite happy living a life at a much lower level that we are capable of? We are ‘born again’, OK, but perhaps talk of commitment makes us cringe away. Jesus said to a man, “Follow me.” But he got some poor answers; the last of which was “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

If we have set out to follow Jesus we must be prepared to follow him wherever he may lead us. There will be no question of ‘do you want to get well.’ We are committed - so we follow him. We are not told about how difficult this man found walking was; did he have a problem with his balance; did his legs feel like jelly under him; did he fall over after a very few steps; what did he say to the people, probably his family, who had supported him and expected a financial return from their work, when he got home that night and had to explain that they would not get any more money from his begging?

Following Jesus is not simply a way of getting an easy ride through life; it may well mean tough things to do, apparently insurmountable obstacles in front of us, a need to keep going, to persevere come what may; to follow his call wherever it may take us.

Keep at it. In the long term it is worth it; and even if it wasn’t he is the Lord of all and it is worth doing for his sake alone. These days we are often encouraged too much to ‘follow Jesus’ purely for the sake of the benefits it will bring us. Yes, it does bring us benefits but if he is, and was, the Creator of the world ought we not to be prepared to follow him for his sake – because of who he is - not because of anything for ourselves. Think about it!

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Friday Prayers 5 February 2016

Partakers Friday Prayers!

5th February 2016

We pray together and when Christians pray together, including across the internet and from different times, different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity!

O eternal Father of lights
from whom all good and perfect gifts come,
you who from whom we receive
the spiritual light and all good and perfect gifts,
and for the sake of Jesus Christ,
your beloved child,
master of heaven and earth,
who glorifies your will
and before whom all of us will one day appear to be judged,
and in whose name we must be saved,
for there is only one grace,
that of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and none other.
May the name of Christ be praised, now and forever.
Amen.

(A prayer of Mennon Simons)

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Think Spot 2 February 2016

Think Spot - 2nd February 2016

G'day and welcome to Partake! Welcome also to Monday and our Think Spot together! As you start this new week, are you as a Christian, feeling tired and lacking energy? Feel like you have to give up and can't go on any more in the battle to do what you know is right? Are you weighed down by cares or even your own sinfulness? Then be assured that God who started this new work in you, will see you through and will complete the job that He started out doing!

Start each day with a little prayer, thanking God for being with you, being in you and simply ask Him to help you. Pray that promise from Philippians 1:6 "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." and make it a reality in your life today, this week and into the future.

Write or print out that verse and put it somewhere you will see it often. Perhaps on a mirror or on your door as you go out. Be encouraged O Christian - God isn't finished with you yet!

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Gems in the Gospel of John - Part 18

Gems in the Gospel of John

Part 18: John 4:48
Signs and wonders

In this, verse 48, “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” He was not speaking exclusively to the royal official and worried father for the ‘you’ is plural. At first the words sound like a rebuke, but Jesus went on to heal the boy that was so ill so his intent was more subtle than that. These words are used quite often by big meeting preachers to justify their claimed miracles and command people to believe. But that is not the intention of these words either and a sometimes very dangerous use of them.

It is much safer and wiser to take these words of Jesus as a comment on what happens, neither particularly encouraging or discouraging those who would rely on signs and wonders. It is important to note that exactly the same phrase is used in the Bible as a pointer to deceptive practices to be avoided (Matt 24: 24; 2 Thess 2: 9). But, positively, this episode is described as a sign in verse 54, the second one performed in Cana of Galilee. Jesus heals the boy. The NIV translates the crucial sentence as “your son will live” when it should more literally be “your son lives”. The action of Jesus is strong positive and instantaneous. So is that of the man. We are clearly meant to understand that he came to a strong, positive and totally valid faith as a direct result of this particular ‘sign and wonder’.

What should we make of this somewhat ambiguous situation? Surely this is actually the danger in signs and wonders – they focus attention on what Jesus can do for us, rather than on who he is. The royal official had a considerable advantage over us: he had met Jesus and could assess who he was. He knew both what Jesus could do and who he must be.

Who was, and is, Jesus? The Son of God; the Saviour of the world; the Lord of Glory; the Judge of the ages. Is that enough to be going on with? Of course we need to become convinced of these things which are not automatically obvious. And that is where the Resurrection comes in. Peter said, (Acts 2: 32, 36)“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. … Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” Paul’s comment on that was (1 Cor 15: 20), “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,”

We are but human. We are quite capable of believing something today and its opposite tomorrow! Make sure your faith is grounded not on your subjective experience of the things that have happened to you or other people but on the objective facts of the word of God. The former may have brought you to faith as it did the royal official but work hard to transfer your true grounding to the latter, to his written word, the Bible and its sure testimony to the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Resurrection of Jesus that is the one and only sure, unmovable foundation for your faith and for mine. All other possible logical bases for our faith are secondary and derivative.

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Friday Prayers 29 January 2016

Partakers Friday Prayers!

29th January 2016

We pray together and when Christians pray together, including across the internet and from different times, different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity!

Grant, Almighty God,
that since under the guidance of thy Son
we have been united together in the body of thy Church,
which has been so often scattered and torn asunder, —
O grant, that we may continue in the unity of faith,
and perseveringly fight against all the temptations of this world,
and never deviate from the right course,
whatever new troubles may daily arise:
and though we are exposed to many deaths,
let us not yet be seized with fear,
such as may extinguish in our hearts every hope;
but may we, on the contrary,
learn to raise up our eyes and minds,
and all our thoughts,
to thy great power,
by which thou quickens the dead,
and raises from nothing things which are not,
so that though we may be daily exposed to ruin,
our souls may ever aspire to eternal salvation,
until thou at length really slowest thyself to be the fountain of life,
when we shall enjoy that endless felicity,
which has been obtained for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son our Lord. Amen.
Amen.

(A prayer of John Calvin)

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Think Spot 25 January 2016

Think Spot - 25th January 2016

G'day and welcome to Partake! Welcome also to Monday and our Think Spot together! We have the start of a new week! Its Monday! How and in what circumstances are you trusting God? How did Jesus Christ trust in the Father? Jesus knew that the Father was going to bring Him back to life after his death on the cross. Jesus trusted the Father in this area of His life, just as he did in all aspects of his life. How are you doing? Do you have concerns and areas of your life where you need an assurance that God the Father will help you?

Here are some simple steps which may help you maintain a trust in God.

1. Pray, casting all anxiety on God. He cares for you because you are His personal concern (The great apostle Peter, one of Jesus' closest friends wrote this in 1 Peter 5v7 "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.")
2. Accept and thank God that His peace has filled that area (Another great apostle, Paul, wrote this in Philippians 4v7 says "Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.")
3. Learn to be content whatever your circumstances are, resting in God (Paul goes on in Philippians 4v11-12 "Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.")
4. Allow the Spirit to control your mind for life and peace (and again from the pen of the apostle Paul, this time in Romans 8v6 "So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.")
5. Trust God to fulfil your every need (Matthew records these words of Jesus in Matthew 6v32-33 "but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." )
6. Obey and follow God's commands to love God and love others (Jesus is recorded in Matthew 22v37-40 "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.")
7. Finally, be prepared to be obedient to the Father, in supplying the needs of others you meet and therefore showing you love God and other people! One way to show you are trusting and loving God is to be the answer to the prayers of somebody else and showing that love to them! Ask God to show you, how you can help somebody else in need this week and showing your love.

Go in peace this Monday, into this week, knowing God is worthy of your trust! God will take care of you, but not always in the way you expect! Expect Him to allow circumstances and situations to arise where you are to trust Him fully! He will help you if you ask! After all, He knows you better than anybody! And don't be afraid to help somebody else because by doing that, you show you are loving and trusting in God!

Father, I pray that You would help us to trust in You and that You would supply our needs, calm our concerns and help us to love You and others more fully. I ask this through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside all those who have peace with you. Amen

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