Partakers Christian Podcasts

  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! Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file

Church Birth Pains G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 27 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days - from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! The birth of the church has come! The Holy Spirit has come to live within believers in Jesus Christ as the Messiah as part of the fulfilment of the New Covenant we have looked at. The early church was dynamic and seen to be exercising the authority of Jesus Christ.  But a couple of problems arise, just as Jesus warned about, which could have caused the early church to die young. 1. Prejudice! Let's read Acts 6v1 "But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food." So there is good news and bad news! Good news - they were growing! Bad news - but this had caused a problem as some widows were not

Church Birthday G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 26 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days - from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Jesus has died, rose again from the dead, ascended back to the right hand of the Father - all just as he said he would. The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ was the catalyst for the beginning of the church but the empowerment was to come, as promised by Jesus! Since his resurrection he has given his disciples instructions, including the command to go make disciples of all nations with the message he gave them! Then he told them to wait in Jerusalem! But for who? Remember they were still hopeful of Jesus returning to defeat the Roman Empire and install a political kingdom of God! But they were wrong and soon found out they were wrong! So they waited, but for what, or rather, who? Waiting! Acts1:12-14 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusale

King Ascends and a Final Command! We are now on day 25 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days - from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Jesus has died, just as he said he would. And what's more, He rose again from the dead, again, just as he said he would.  Appearing to both individuals and groups of people, at various times of the day, engaging in conversations and even eating! Today we look at what happened next! Matthew 28:16-20 - Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Jesus' resurre

Thursday with Tabitha 7. Zephaniah by Tabitha Smith This week in our series on the minor prophets we are looking at the book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum and possibly Habakkuk and his prophecy was written during the reign of king Josiah of Judah. Josiah reigned between 640–609 BC. The prophecy includes reference to the future destruction of Nineveh, capital of Assyria, so it was likely written before the date of this event, which was 612 BC. The little territory of Judah was the only surviving part of the original people of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel had been overthrown and Judah was under the control of the Assyrians. King Josiah was a good king who undertook significant religious reform in Judah, trying to turn the people back from worshipping idols to worshipping their God. Josiah’s father, Amon, had been a wicked king, and his grandfather, Manasseh, was one of the worst kings in the history of Judah, doing evil in God’s sight and turning the people away fro

Jesus the Risen King The story so far! Jesus Christ has died as a common criminal and been buried in a garden tomb guarded by Roman soldiers. His followers, his disciples have abandoned him, no doubt in fear for their own lives.  They had given up everything to be with this Jesus, following him in his 3 years of ministry. What would they do now? Go back to the lives they had before they followed this man, Jesus Christ.  He was just another false messiah and there had been plenty of them.  Or was he? Each of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark Luke and John, tell us that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried in a tomb. What do these four Gospels say about what happened next? Firstly, what did Jesus predict about what would happen, as he often talked about his death! An example of this can be seen from reading Mark 8v31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would

Wednesday Wisdom Proverbs 13 1 A wise son hears his father’s instruction: but a scorner hears not rebuke. 2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence. 3 He that keeps his mouth keeps his life: but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction. 4 The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. 5 A righteous man hates lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and comes to shame. 6 Righteousness keeps him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthrows the sinner. 7 There is that makes himself rich, yet has nothing: there is that makes himself poor, yet has great riches. 8 The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor hears not rebuke. 9 The light of the righteous rejoices: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. 10 Only by pride comes contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. 11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathers by labour shall increase. 12

Moses, Jesus, Old Covenant, New Covenant G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 23 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Last time we looked at the beating, humiliation, scourging, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ - . Today we look at the significance of Jesus' death. As we have seen through this series, throughout history, God had made covenants with: Adam & Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the nation Israel through the New Covenant. From the time of Adam & Eve's disobedience, God had promised through these covenants, that He would make things right once more and people could be restored to relationship with Him on an individual basis. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, that was the fulfilment of those covenants. That's why he yelled "It is finished! Into your hands I commend my Spirit!" Can you remember back and see what promises God made concerning in each of

Psalm 106 to Psalm 110 Often we hear the Psalms one by one, but today we offer you the chance to hear a group of Psalms read as a collection! Psalm 106 1 Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures for ever. 2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? 3 Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.   Psalm 107 1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story – those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.   Psalm 108 A song. A psalm of David 1 My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. 2 Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 3 I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let y

The King Dies G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 21 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Last time we looked at Jesus at prayer. Today we look at the events leading to his death and burial. Jesus has been arrested and bought to trial before the High priest. All the disciples have abandoned him, but Peter follows on from distance, even denying he knew Jesus 3 times! The guards then beat Jesus. Caiaphas the High Priest condemns Jesus and Jesus is taken to the Praetorium for trial by the Romans. That is where we will pick up the story... 1. Jesus was Condemned So firstly lets look at Jesus' condemnation before the Romans. Reading from John 19v1 to 16: Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him

Jesus' Last Night Right mouse click here to download as a MP3 audio file G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 21 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Last time we looked at Jesus at prayer. Today we look at the events of his last night, before his death. In Luke 22, we come to Jesus' last night before He goes to death on the cross. It's the time for the Feast of Passover! Jerusalem was filled with people come to celebrate this great event! Passover was a time to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and it was a time for remembering and rejoicing with families (Exodus 11-12). 1. Plans of His enemies In Luke 22v1-6, we read that Jesus' enemies plotted to kill him (Luke 22v2) and arranged for Judas to betray him (Luke 22v3). Of course, satan is involved, just as he was at the beginning of time and his purpose was to destroy Jesus (Luke 22v3, Luke 22v31). What about Judas th

Jesus' Final Prayer G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 20 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Last time we met with two people who encountered Jesus! The rich young ruler went away disconsolate and in sadness! The female outcast went away celebrating her new found freedom and told many others of this Jesus! Now today we come to Jesus' final prayer with God the Father.  Jesus has shown throughout his life on earth that God yearns to be in relationship with humanity. That is part of the New Covenant we looked at earlier in this series! So what can we learn from this prayer? 1. Jesus prays for Himself John 17v1-5 - Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life-to know you,

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... Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file

Encounters with Jesus We are now on day 19 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! We have seen how Jesus is the ‘I AM’, and by doing so, equates himself with God! Today we look at how two particular individuals reacted when they each encountered this great ‘I AM’! A rich young ruler encounters Jesus! Our first one is found in 3 of the gospels, Matthew 19:16-26 and Luke 18:18-27, but we will look only at the passage in Mark 10v17: As Jesus started on his way; a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.'" "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I

I AM 4 Jesus' teaching continues to be met with amazement yet also some misunderstanding and bewilderment! Today we complete looking at one particularly aspect of his teaching - himself - and the last two ‘I AM' statements. I AM the Way Truth and Life Reading from John 14v1-9 "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going." "No, we don't know, Lord," Thomas said. "We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!" Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied."

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 J

I AM 3 We are now on day 17 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Jesus' teaching continues to be met with amazement yet also fury, hatred and ridicule! Today we continue looking at one particularly aspect of his teaching - himself - and 1 more I AM statement. We have already seen that Jesus is the bread of life, the light of the world, the gate and the shepherd - all the things the nation of Israel was to be but failed to do so. John 11:17-40 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you

Wednesday Wisdom Proverbs 12 G’day! Welcome to Partakers and to Wednesday Wisdom, where we are listening to what the Bible has to say through the Wisdom literature of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Come on in! Today we are listening and learning from Proverbs 12 1 Who ever loves instruction loves knowledge: but he that hates reproof is brutish. 2 A good man obtains favour of the Lord: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn. 3 A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. 4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that makes ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. 5 The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit. 6 The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them. 7 The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand. 8 A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be

I AM 2 G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 16 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Jesus'  teaching has been met with amazement yet also fury and ridicule! Today we continue looking at one particularly aspect of his teaching - himself - and 3 more I AM statements. Light of the World Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." The Pharisees replied, "You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid." Jesus told them, "These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don't know this about me. You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sen

I AM 1 We are now on day 15 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! The long awaited for king is here, his public ministry has begun in earnest. His teaching is met with amazement yet also fury and we looked at last time, how Jesus taught; what he taught; his methods and who he taught? Today we start looking at one particularly aspect of his teaching - himself! I AM Introduction It may come as a surprise to you but Jesus talks about himself - a lot! But, not only just talk about himself but always put those words into action. In other words, he backed up his claims with action, which even a cursory look at the Gospels will reflect. John Stott says this about it: ‘The self-centredness of the teaching of Jesus immediately sets himself apart from the other great religious teachers of the world. They were self-effacing. He was self-advancing. They pointed away from themselves, saying "This is the