Partakers Christian Podcasts

  Monday Think Spot Greatness and Love   To be great is to rely on your own strength, own power and own wiles with a self-serving self-seeking and self-important love. That is the wisdom of the world. But that is not true greatness. It isn’t even really love. So what is greatness? As ever Jesus overturns the wisdom of the world (including alas some in the church today!)... Matthew 20:26-28 "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your servant; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” That is biblical greatness. That is biblical love in action. Go into this week determined to serve others selflessly so that others may see Jesus in however you serve other people. Right Mouse click to save this as an audio mp3 file

Partakers Bible Thought 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:29-31) 8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Corinthians 7:8-10) I wonder what you know or think about the word “repentance”. The dictionary defines re

Walking with Jesus 4. Tender Today we glimpse together at the tenderness of Jesus. Come on in to hear what we say about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd - Matthew 9:35-36 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it - Luke 19:41 Jesus wept - John 11:35 Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file

  Walking with Jesus 3. Majestic Today we glimpse together at the majesty of Jesus: Come on in to hear what we say about this WOW about Jesus Christ of Nazareth For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty. He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 2 Peter 1:16-18 (NIV) Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file~

Church Leadership Session 12: What can God do with a leadership team that is totally committed to Him? Welcome to the final session in this series on Church Leadership. I trust they have all been a blessing to you and helpful as you continue on in your walk with God. I want to end on a positive note and look at what God can do when leadership teams are totally committed to Him and united in their service for the Boss – the Head of the Church. In the book, The Trellis and the Vine (Marshall and Payne (Matthias Media 2009) – ISBN: 978 1 921441 58 5), the writers compare the work of planting, watering, fertilising and tending the vine to that of Christian ministry. ‘The basic work’, they continue, ‘of any Christian ministry is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of God’s Spirit, and to see people converted, changed and grow to maturity in that gospel’. However, they also acknowledge the essential need to tend and maintain some sort of framework to

Church Leadership Session 11: What happens when it all goes wrong? Welcome to session 11 – probably the most difficult of all to deal with. Sadly, there are, all too often, times when things go wrong in church and I want us to think about some of those today. This is never going to be a comprehensive treatise on these matters – but I hope it will be helpful to those leaders going through difficult times and for those in churches where leaders are causing problems.   There are two main areas that I want to consider – those where the leader has served to the best of his ability but things have not worked out or illness has been a part of the situation – and those where the leader has not acted in a way that befits their office and thus damaged their calling and brought the Name of Christ into disrepute.   I have taken some “case studies” that I have been involved with to illustrate some areas where things have not turned out well – either for the individ

Church Leadership Session 10: “What are the marks of a good leader?” Or “Is (s)he a leader worth following?” We look today at the marks of a good leader. Put another way, what leaders are worth following? In trying to answer this question, there is the danger of describing “Superman” or “Wonderwoman” – so I will hopefully keep to a few practical points that will help leaders to grow and those being led to follow wholeheartedly. And, as we have said in previous sessions, some leaders are gifted in certain ways and some in others – so, just because a leader is an exceptional teacher and preacher, (s)he may not excel in pastoral ministry or children’s work. Added to that, we are all fallible human beings and get things wrong from time to time – I’ll look at this in more detail next time. The first thing we need to emphasise is that those who lead in Church must be, to be effective, men and women of God. And what does that m

Church Leadership Session 9: “How do I know I am called to leadership?” Or: “Why would I want to be a leader?” Colin Buckland in his book Freedom to Lead says: “Calling, much like guidance, seems to be an elusive business. Most of us would wish that the writing was on the wall, but it isn't. We rely on a non-exact science, such as interpreting a Scripture passage, receiving the encouragement of others, hearing the inner voice and, for some, receiving a prophetic word.” If you are already in a leadership role in church, how was it for you? I know in my case I “fell into it” (as my wife describes it). My accounting skills were the driver for the other leaders of the church we were in at the time to ask me to become an Elder. I don’t think, at that time, I felt “called” – I felt more obliged to help them out! It seems to me, as I have talked to other leaders over the years, there is no simple “one size fits all” answer to this question. That doesn’t mean to say that God does not use our faltering

Church Leadership Session 8: What can we learn from Stephen – a member of the first team of deacons? Last time we looked at Timothy as an example of an effective church leader – today I want us to consider Stephen – one of the first cohort of deacons appointed in the early church. Please do read Acts 6 – and 7. We see from Acts 6 that there was a complaint (no surprises there, then – after all this was church!). Thankfully, this one led to a positive outcome – would it were so in every case? Stephen is one of seven chosen as “deacons” – or servants – but they too had to be full of the Holy Spirit. We don’t hear much more about the others (except Philip) – but they probably quietly got on with the job they were assigned to do. And there is a lesson for all of us in that – quietly serving God and His Church without becoming grumpy. As we read about Stephen – remember his role is as a deacon (a “waiter on tables

Church Leadership Session 7: “What can we learn from Timothy – a New Testament Church leader? Today I want to look at Timothy (whose name means “honouring God” or “precious to God”) and see what lessons we can learn from what we know about him and the counsel and support he received from his “father in the faith”, the Apostle Paul. Here are just a few high points about his life that we learn from the New Testament: Timothy was a teenager when he met Paul. His family lived in Lystra so he was a Galatian. His father was a Greek man; we know nothing of his faith. But Timothy’s mother and grandmother were faithful Jewish women who taught the Old Testament scriptures to their son/grandson (Acts 16:1; 2 Timothy 1:5). In Lystra, during Paul’s second missionary journey, he learned that Timothy had an exceptional reputation among the local Christians (Acts 16:1-2); Because he came from a mixed racial background, in which his mother was Jewish and his

Church Leadership Session 5: What does the New Testament tell us about what characteristics we should expect from a church leader” Part 2 We continue today to look at the characteristics we should expect from church leaders. Last time we focussed on elders (or bishops) – today we will look at deacons. We come across the concept of deacons first in the New Testament in Acts 6 when seven men were chosen to fulfil some of the practical aspects of church leadership, leaving the apostles free to “give [their] attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). These seven were to be those who were “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). In 1 Timothy 3, Paul sets a standard for deacons which is similar to that for elders with a few variances (there is no ‘apt to teach’ for example). Again it is about being ‘worthy of respect’, which implies a bearing and lifestyle that is recognised by those inside and outside the church t

Church Leadership Session 5: What does the New Testament tell us about what characteristics we should expect from a church leader” Part 1 Over the next couple of sessions we are going to look at what the New Testament teaches about the characteristics leaders in Church should exhibit. We will draw particularly on what Paul has to say to Timothy and Titus in the letters he addressed to them and which forms the general guidance for recognising and appointing leaders today. If a church were to place an advert in a local newspaper or a well-known Christian magazine inviting applications for a leader in a church, what would be the job description and what would the person specification include? Would we see “able to lead worship” in there? What about “having a heart for evangelism”? And then there is “able to work with young people” and perhaps “good administrator” – and so the list could go on – with the hope that “superman” (or “superwoman”) – the person that can do everything - will apply. While these thi

Church Leadership Session 4: What does the Old Testament teach us about leadership?” Part 2   Last time we looked as Moses and Daniel as examples of leaders from the Old Testament – today we’ll consider two more – Nehemiah and Joseph. I mentioned last time about my management training course in which Nehemiah was the case-study. At the time I was thrilled by the use of the Bible in such a context, but I have to admit having forgotten most of what the teacher said – so I don’t know if I became a better manager as a result. But it did lead me to a deeper study of Nehemiah and his exploits. We find him in Susa – one of the principal cities of the Babylonian and Persian empires and where we also find Daniel and Esther – as a “cupbearer to the king” (chapter 1:11). He was an exile from Jerusalem and having heard of the state of his home city, he determined to do something about it. We don’t have time to go into the whole story – b

Church Leadership Session 3: “What does the Old Testament teach us about leadership?” – Part 1 Welcome to the third in this series on Church Leadership. So far we have affirmed that Jesus is the Head of the Church and that the Church is the people not a building. We have also looked at some of the terms used in the New Testament and elsewhere, that, I hope, will help us to be clear on what we are talking about as we look in more detail at leadership in the Church. In this session I want to start to look at a few brief examples from the Bible that will give us some clues as to how God called and gifted leaders. We’ll continue with this next time. As I was advancing in my career, the Director of the Department I was working in decided that I would benefit from some management training. So a one day course was chosen for me and off I went to join about 100 other people from various parts of the public sector. We were in a lecture hall, with a lectern on which was a book that looked to me like a Bible

Church Leadership Session 2: What does it mean? Understanding the jargon Welcome to the second of these podcasts on church leadership. Last time we asked the question: “Who is in charge?” The answer, of course, being that Jesus is the Head of the church – and therefore the Boss. In this session we are going to consider some of the terms that are used when talking about church and church leadership and attempt to be clear on what we mean as we go through this series. Let’s start with the word “church”. We get our word “church” from the Greek "ecclesia" which literally means "assembly", "congregation", or the place where such a gathering occurs. Over the years, “church” has come to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship (a "church"), and the overall community of the faithful (the "Church"). According to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes (Acts 17:5, 20:20, 1

Church Leadership Session 1: Who is in charge? and it’s not me – or you) I was in our local Christian bookshop the other day and found that they had about 300 books on church leadership – and I’ve got at least 25 on my bookshelves here at home. I’m Andrew Clarke and I am now happily retired from a career as an accountant mainly in the public sector. Early in my working life God impressed on me that I was to be a “positive Christian witness in a secular society”. So, despite having been a church elder for some time when God put this on my heart – and having been courted by some to be in “full time service” (by the way, that’s a daft expression – all of us who are born again of the Spirit of God are full time for the Master), I did as I was told and God blessed that obedience. And having risen to very senior positions in big multi-million pound organisations, I learned on the way up that the skills God was gifting me with were of real relevance both in the workplace and in church. As far as leadership

When Jesus returns back as King Revelation 21-22 Introduction We maybe about 2 months away from Christmas but as you know, at Christmas, we celebrate Jesus Christ coming to earth as a human. Christmas is a time where the Church and our community celebrate Jesus Christ's first coming as a baby.  The community like to think of Jesus as a baby, because a baby can be controlled. Somewhat.  Though that is coming from the perspective of somebody who has never had children!!!  Society in general, is comfortable with leaving Jesus as a baby.  However, Jesus is not a baby now, He is King and what a King.  He is coming again, not as a baby this time, but as King and judge.  Both ideas are affirmed by Jeremiah and John. Christ's reign Prepared Place! Purity (v.1-4) Pearly gates (v.21) Conclusion Be encouraged, heaven is for you if you are trusting and obeying Jesus and have Him as Lord of your life!  Remember.  Whatever your attitude and how you judge Jesus now, is how He will judge you when He returns!  Are you follow

  Joy Gets Its Hands Dirty Leviticus 18 & 19 & Mark 12:28-34 Introduction Leviticus 18 & 19 is where the rubber hits the road. Leviticus moves on to the matter of wholeness of life and personal holiness. God gives to His people, Israel, some laws of how they were to live. Laws for such things as: food & diet, foreign nationals, justice, the poor, sex, social etiquette and tattoos. Sounds very relevant for us today in Boscombe, doesn’t it?   Let’s briefly take 2 examples. Firstly, concerning the laws regarding sexual activity. The other nations engaged in all these sexual activities as given in Leviticus 18, often as part of their religious devotion and worship but also as an abusive power. But Israel was not to be like that! Sexual activity was to be between one man and one woman within marriage. Tattoos. Look in Leviticus 19:28. Why are tattoos mentioned? Primarily because the other nations tattooed and cut themselves as signs of their devotion, worship and allegiance to their gods. That wa

  A God of Joy and His people Introduction Book of Leviticus We look again in the book of Leviticus and chapter 16. Some of the words and phrases we commonly use come straight from the book of Leviticus. Words such as jubilee and scapegoat are commonly used today. And what husband hasn't offered a form of guilt offering to his wife!Leviticus does have important things to tell us about sin, obedience and holiness. Perhaps most importantly it tells of God dwelling with His people. So today we delve into Leviticus 16, which is the centre and pinnacle of the book.   To listen to the rest of this Podcast use the link below to download Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file

  Obedient Service of God Introduction How to read Leviticus today? What is the best way for us in the 21st century to read these ancient laws of Leviticus? Is it just to simply ignore them or are we to slavishly follow them? Perhaps the best way is to simply let Scripture interpret Scripture and see what the New Testament says about the Leviticus laws. Take for instance the food laws. We know in the New Testament that all food is now permissible, whereas under the Old Testament, certain foods were not permitted to be eaten. In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter had a dream in which all food was declared clean!It is also wise, not to see them as merely a list of "not do" statements, but also as "do statements". Rather, we should see them as a love letter from a God who wants to save His people from distress and anxiety in order to give them a life of peace, unity, health and a joyful life in all its fullness.All these laws were to lead ancient Israel to be a holy nation. Holiness was about being set ap