Partakers Christian Podcasts

Psalm 94 1 O Lord, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! 2 Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. 3 How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? 4 How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast? 5 They crush your people, Lord, hurting those you claim as your own. 6 They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. 7 "The Lord isn't looking," they say, "and besides, the God of Israel doesn't care." 8 Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? 9 Is he deaf-the one who made your ears? Is he blind-the one who formed your eyes? 10 He punishes the nations-won't he also punish you? He knows everything-doesn't he also know what you are doing? 11 The Lord knows people's thoughts; he knows they are worthless! 12 Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions. 13 You give them relief from troubled times until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.

The Spirit Explodes Part 14 of 22 Who are the people of God? Acts 15:1–35. by Roger Kirby Who are the people of God? That is and was indeed the question. About 4 studies ago we heard about the problems that arose over the question of what the people of God could eat. As a result of a vision, Peter understood that there were no foods that the people of God could not eat. That was the second of the 3 requirements; circumcision, food laws and Sabbath keeping, that had come to dominate the concerns of the serious Jews who thought of themselves as the only true people of God. Now we come to the first of these and the most important – circumcision. This was a very critical question. Reluctance to be circumcised as adults would affect the willingness of non-Jewish men to become full converts and follow Jesus completely. It affected the role of women, who, not being subject to circumcision, would forever be second-class citizens in a kingdom for which that was the badge of entrance. Since not being circumcised w

The Spirit Explodes Part 13 of 22 Mixed receptions (Acts 13:42–14:28) by Roger Kirby   What happened next in Pisidian Antioch proved to be a foretaste of what would happen in city after city. With a few variations this was:they arrived, they spoke to the Jews, usually in the synagogue, a few days later those who had heard what they had said before arrived and contradicted them, stirring up a riot and having them thrown out of the synagogue and often the city. All that took a varying length of time, not noted, but probably a few weeks. They then continued on their travels, returning later, when things had quietened down to make sure the believers were meeting in a regular and controlled fashion. It would be a mistake to think they spent just a couple of weeks here and a couple there after the fashion of modern evangelists. Life went much more slowly in those days and they clearly spent long enough, or as long as they could, in each city to establish a viable church.  Read Acts 13:42 – 52. Question 1: Ima

The Spirit Explodes Part 12 of 22 Opening the door to the Gentiles (Acts 12:26–13:41) by Roger Kirby As we noted in the last study, in the sometimes surprising purposes of God, the gospel was to go to all nations, as promised to Abraham long ago. It is now clear that Antioch was to be the centre of this great movement. Acts 12:25–Acts 13:3. The 5 named leaders in the church in Antioch were a Jew from a priestly family in Cyprus, a black African, a North African Arab (probably), a boyhood friend of Herod, and a Hellenistic Jew. Question 1: What does that tell us about the early church? How does your church compare with this? Acts 13:4–12 Question 2: What reasons can there possibly be for this? Where should we expect most conflict to come from and where will it not come from? Acts 13:13–16 Question 3: How do we expect a preacher to establish contact with his audience? Acts 13:17–25 Question 4: In which direction? What would he have said to  “spin” it in the other direction? What would have been the

The Spirit Explodes Part 11 of 22 The expansion of the Church (Acts 11:1–12:25) by Roger Kirby   These two chapters record the events that led to the transfer of the significant heart of the early church from Jerusalem to Antioch. Antioch was the third largest city of the Roman world, strategically placed near the north-east corner of the Mediterranean sea.  First we read the third account (Luke’s technique for emphasis again) of how Peter came to recognize Cornelius and his friends to be true Christians. In the first verse Luke signals that another milestone has been reached: the Gentiles received the word of God. The rest of this passage adds nothing significant to what we have already heard. Note how, curiously, Luke never mentions the name of Cornelius in this passage. To ask ‘why’ would make a good question but I don’t know what the answer is so I won't! Let's continue to explore together! Listen to the mp3 and answer the questions of this study! Question 1: What does Peter say is the mark of the

The Spirit Explodes Part 7 of 22 - The Martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 6:1 – 8:3) by Roger Kirby Luke, probably guided by Paul’s memories of what happened, sees the teaching and death of Stephen as a major turning point in the progress of the Gospel. To this point opposition has come from the ruling classes in Jerusalem; the common people had approved of what was happening. From here on the believers lost the support of everybody. Consequently the focus of the Gospel is about to move outside Jerusalem. First: the background in Acts6:1–7. The “Grecian Jews” of the NIV probably means Greek speaking Jews who had retired to Jerusalem mainly in order to die there; “Hebraic Jews” probably means long term Aramaic speaking residents of the city. Each would have worshipped in a synagogue where their most familiar language was spoken. When some of each became Christian tensions arose. The seven chosen men are often called deacons but only because the Greek word for “waiting on tables” is diakonia. Their responsibi

The Spirit Explodes Part 6 of 22 - And now for the not-so-good news (Acts 4:32 – 5:42) by Roger Kirby The infant church begins to struggle with both internal problems and external ones. It is rather amazing that Luke tells us about some of the more difficult events. He clearly had a purpose in doing so. We will think about that in a few minutes. We have already commented on the problems of this sort of living. Barnabas, who is going to figure prominently in the expansion of the church, is mentioned with clear approval of what he did. There were huge differences of wealth between the landowners and the working people in those days and this is clearly a comment about how those differences should be overcome within the fellowship of the church. It also highlights the problem that we read about  in Acts 5:1–11. In this podcast we ask the following questions. To learn more, download the mp3 and listen! Question 1: What exactly did Ananias and Sapphira do wrong? Why was the punishment so harsh? Christians proba

The Spirit Explodes Part 5 of 22 - First Signs Of Opposition (Acts 4:5-31) by Roger Kirby Luke now records the beginnings of opposition from the authorities. He probably wrote Acts sometime in the late AD 70s or early AD 80s, that is after the first wave of persecution of the early church under emperor Nero in the AD 60s. Theophilus may have been concerned about the legality of the Christian witness and about the levels of opposition it had aroused. So Luke is intent on showing that these problems had arisen unfairly and how they were handled by the early church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The most important part of this passage is Peter’s speech to the court of the Sanhedrin. Luke has a habit of emphasising a particular event by giving 3 accounts of it. So he tells us about Paul’s conversion 3 times in chapters 9, 22 and 26. He tells us about the dream of Peter that led to the admission of Gentiles into the church 3 times in chapters 10 and 11. Here he records 3 very similar speeches of Peter

The Spirit Explodes Part 4 of 22 - Healing and challenging by Roger Kirby (Acts 2:41 – 4:4) Luke inserts several summaries of the developing situation into his account of which 2:41 is the first. He then continues his account of those early days of the church in Jerusalem, reinforcing by repetition the points he wants to make. It is not possible (unless you are very rich!) to live in the way described in these verses for any length of time. Sooner or later the money will run out. Somebody has to work and provide a steady flow of income as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “if a man will not work, he shall not eat”. Question 1: Why did Luke tell us about this necessarily limited period in the life of the infant church? What positive things is he stressing by doing so? His purpose must be his interest in telling us about the positively good things that were being done in that early church. There was clearly a deep concern to learn about the meaning of their new found Christian faith and to live a life

The Spirit Explodes Part 3 of 22 - Peter explains and challenges by Roger Kirby TThen Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ‘‘Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth

The Spirit Explodes Part 2 of 22 - The Gift of the Holy Spirit by Roger Kirby Acts 1:14 – 2:13 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, ‘Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.’ (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ‘For,’ said Peter, ‘it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘“May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,” and, ‘“May another take his place of leadership.” Therefore it is n

Psalm 101 (as read by Destiny) 101:1 I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises. 101:2 I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart. 101:3 I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me. 101:4 A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil. 101:5 I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won't tolerate one who is haughty and conceited. 101:6 My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me. 101:7 He who practices deceit won't dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood won't be established before my eyes. 101:8 Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land; to cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh's city. Click or tap here to save/download this Psalm as a MP3 file

God Comes To Town! Ezekiel 1:1-4, 24-28 to 2:2 Introduction I wonder if there anybody here that is 25 years old?  Anybody turning 25 this year?  How about those who wished they were turning 25 this year? Imagine you are a 25 year old and being trained for the family business.  Then suddenly your enemies invade your city and take you away to a foreign land.  That's what happened to Ezekiel 5 years before this passage of Scripture, Ezekiel 1-2, when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar in 597BC took 3000 Jews back to Babylon.  This was the first deportation. 1. Ezekiel - who was he and how did he get there? 2. How does Ezekiel describe this vision of God? 3. God is Holy God 4. God is Universal: Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Mission minded & Personal 5. What does all this mean? Worship & Tell others 6. We speak God's word Conclusion I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I am in exile.  I don't mean as an Australian living in England, the mother country! Although sometimes it does f

Psalm 95 (read by Carol) 95:1 Oh come, let's sing to Yahweh. Let's shout aloud to the rock of our salvation! 95:2 Let's come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let's extol him with songs! 95:3 For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods. 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the mountains are also his. 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land. 95:6 Oh come, let's worship and bow down. Let's kneel before Yahweh, our Maker, 95:7 for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice! 95:8 Don't harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 95:9 when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work. 95:10 Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, "It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways." 95:11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They won't enter into my rest." Right mouse click or tap here to

Psalm 19 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork. 19:2 Day after day they pour forth speech, and night after night they display knowledge. 19:3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 19:4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 19:5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course. 19:6 His going forth is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat. 19:7 Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple. 19:8 Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes. 19:9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether. 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey

Giving Time, possessions and money Giving is seemingly one of the three forbidden subjects for Christians to discuss in the 21st century! The other two being sex and power. Jesus talked about all three often! Every person has in differing quantities: time, talent, possessions and money. In relationship to giving, the Church is to be a community where the strongest members support the weakest members. This applies not only to the local church, but also at a national and international level as well. Too often, even as Christian Disciples we are found turning a blind eye to the suffering of others where the bare necessities of life are in sparse existence. Too often we gather possessions and people, instead of giving up our time and money generously to help the poor and needy of both our world and local communities. Too often we keep our time and talents selfishly to ourselves instead of giving them to others in need. Spiritual Growth Indicator Perhaps the greatest indicator of spiritual growth in the Ch

Who is He?- Messiah's Encouragement 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn't it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster? 51:10 Isn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? 51:11 The ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 51:12 "I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass; 51:13 and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? 51:14 The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die a

  3. Messiah's Obedience Isaiah 50:4 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. 50:5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward. 50:6 I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn't hide my face from shame and spitting. 50:7 For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed. 50:8 He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 50:9 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. 50:10 Who is among you who fears Yahweh, who obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in dar

2. Messiah's Mission Right mouse click to save/download this Podcast as a MP3 file 49:1 Listen, islands, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name: 49:2 and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand, he has hidden me: and he has made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he kept me close: 49:3 and he said to me, "You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified." 49:4 But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God." 49:5 Now says Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered to him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God has become my strength); 49:6 yes, he says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel:

1. Messiah's Identity 42:1 "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights- I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations. 42:2 He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. 42:3 He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice. 42:4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law." 42:5 Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it. 42:6 "I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; 42:7 to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison. 42:8 "I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not gi