Deeper

This week we look at chapter 2 of "Honest Evangelism" by Rico Tice, and then we chat about walk-up evangelism with Ken Davies, one of the pastors of Wollongong Baptist Church, and Tim Lowth, a member of WBC and one of our interns.

In our podcast this series we'll be doing things a little different! Rather than follow on from the sermon, we'll instead spend the first part discussing the book "Honest Evangelism" by Rico Tice, and then we'll discuss a different means of doing evangelism each week. This week I'll be chatting with Rod Bayley, the senior pastor of Wollongong Baptist Church, and Sam Mahdavi, a member of WBC about Christianity Explored.

Deuteronomy 31-34 records the end of Moses' ministry and life. Because of Moses' sin, he was unable to defeat sin and death. Because of this, although he was a prophet to be honoured, Moses was always pointing Israel forward to one who would come to deliver them. Moses therefore points us to Jesus, the one who truly obeyed the Father, and who was able to defeat sin and death, and only through Jesus can we be raised to life - and eternal life with God in his eternal Kingdom. Rod Bayley helps us think deeper through these passages in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 30 asks the question: How are God's people to grow in obedience to his word? We grow by choosing life, and by knowing our failure is not the end. A warning we need to hear is that sometimes a series of seemingly small decisions can be the difference between life and death! This is not a scare-tactic to make a point, but a reality. Rod Bayley helps us think deeper through these passages in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 26:1-15 asks the question: What does God want of us? God wants our joyful thanks for his grace, and he also wants our wholehearted obedience. But we can't do this... So what do we do as God's people when we fail and our delight in worship becomes duty? Well, we look to the one who could say with wholehearted conviction the words of Deuteronomy 26. We look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and we delight, we rejoice in our worship for the glory of God the Father, through God the Son, by the power of God the Holy Spirit. Mark Roberts helps us think deeper through these passages in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 commands God's people pursue justice. Deuteronomy 24:19-22 commands God's people to be generous towards the needy. But what if justice, which we all long for in this broken world, begins with being generous ourselves towards those in need?! This change of mindset helps us better answer the question: How does God expect his people to treat those in need? Ken Davies helps us think deeper through these passages in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 18:9-22 lists a number of practices that the LORD finds detestable - sacrificing children, divination, interpreting omens, casting speells, witchcraft and more! They are detestable to the LORD because they are a turning away from God, not trusting Him, an act of fear and desparation to find guidance about the future  in ways that are against God - and often are demonic in their nature. God warns us against dabbling in such practices, but instead points us to a much better way - His way! We don't need to chase after signs, which only lead us astray and to confusion, we need Jesus, His wrds, and His Holy Spirit. Rod Bayley helps us think deeper through Deuteronomy 18:9-22.

500 years before Israel would ask God for a king, God set the boundaries for what they must look for in a king: 1. Where from - he must be one of them 2. Weapons - he must not put his trust in his military might 3. Wives - he must not have many wives nor marry foreign women lest they tempt him away from God 4. Wealth - he must not put his trust / pride in his wealth As we read through 1 and 2 Kings we see king after king fail in this. So why did God set these boundaries? It wasn't to make Israel fail, but to show their dependence upon Him alone, and point us to the one true King who will fulfill these conditions perfectly - Jesus! Ken Davies will helps us think deeper through Deuteronomy 17:14-20.

For all who have out their trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, you are secure in God's love! God loves us, because he loves us! We are his treasured possession, not because we earned it, but because he chose us. And in loving us, he sets us apart as his people. Do we live as God's treasured possession, a city on a hill, a light to the nations? The gospel calls us to live radically different lives as his people - the gospel is therefore necessarily missional. But there was a particular period in Israel's history when they were to go and take possession of the land God had given them - and in doing so, they had to destroy the inhabitants of the land. Mark Roberts will help us unpack Deuteronomy 7 and give us some tools to help us read what are some uncomfortable verses, but in the midst we see God's clear and amazing grace and love for his people.

The Ten Commandments of Deuteronomy 5 and the Shema of Deuteronomy 6 are two passages for God's people. The Shema (6v4-5) reads: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength." This is the command that follows from the the Ten Commandments, but preceding these commands are the words of grace in 5v6: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Our God is a God of grace who not only rescues us, but shows us how to live in relationship with Him. Rod Bayley helps us dig Deeper into Deuteronomy 5-6.

The book of Deuteronomy begins with the words "These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan..." Having spent 40 years in the wilderness in what should have been an 11-day journey, Israel are on the verge of entering the Promised Land. Moses is therefore preaching to the next generation that they're to remember all that God has done for them, and trust God in all that he will do for them. In other words, because God is good his words are good and so God's people should listen to them, for it is in obedience that we choose life. Mark Roberts helps us dig deeper into Deuteronomy 1-3 and Ken Davies helps us dig deeper into Deuteronomy 4.

What do we do during the delay before Jesus returns? The Kingdom of God, that we're pledging our lives to, has an upside down dimension - it's now but not yet, those who we think will be in are out and those we think will be out are in! If we're pledging our lives to be in this Kingdom, then what we do with our lives now matters - so what will we do during the delay before Jesus returns? In our podcast this week we dig Deeper into Luke 19:11-27 with one of our  pastors, Mark Roberts.

How can the spiritually lost be found? By seeking them out, and by the lost truly repenting. This passage about Zacchaeus might be a familiar one to many, but it is one that challenges us in many ways. Firstly because it is Jesus that seeks us (the lost) out, not we seek Jesus out. But also is asks if we have Jesus' heart for the lost! Do we truly understand that how we love others may be a matter of life and death... In our podcast this week we dig Deeper into Luke 19:1-10 with one of our pastors, Rod Bayley. 

How can our spiritual blindness be removed? It's a big question, but the healing of the physical blindness of the man in Luke 18:31-43 highlights our spiritual blindness. And our spiritual blindness can only be healed by recognising Jesus' true identity, and accepting his crowning as King. Recognising Jesus as both Lord and Saviour is essential, as the crowds will try to sway us, and when we go through trials we need to know who to look to for help. This week Rod Bayley helps us dig deeper into Luke  18:31-43.

We believe everything we have is ours, but it isn't! It belongs to God and we're just managers of it on behalf of God. Knowing who Jesus is helps us understand how we can follow Jesus and have a right mindset about our possessions. This week Ken Davies helps us dig deeper into Luke 18:18-30 to see Jesus' investment strategy for us - it is important to provide for our families, and also to plan for our retirement, but do we also plan for eternity?

We're all in danger of putting our confidence in the wrong things or in the wrong people. Jesus warns us in Luke 18:9-17 of not only how we evaluate ourselves, but how we evaluate others. Do we take centre-stage? Or do we realise that the kingdom of God is for those who know they don't deserve it? This week Ken Davies helps us dig deeper into these verses to see that it is because Jesus is good that we are welcomed into his kingdom, not because we are good - and we should extend that welcome to others. What walls do we need to stop putting up? And what welcome signs can we be putting out instead?

Jesus ended his parable in Luke 18:1-8 with a question: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" And what kind of faith will Jesus, the Son of Man, be looking for when he returns? Last week we looked at what it means for God's people to 'wait', that it is active and not passive. This week Mark helps us see one key aspect of what waiting faith looks like - one where we always pray and don't lose hope. We need to see the world as God sees it - and grieve. And this should drive us to long for God's justice and to pray to our loving heavenly Father. 

This is our second podcast in our "Upside Down Kingdom" series looking at Luke 17 - 19. This week Clayton Ryan and Ken Davies are discussing Luke 17:20-37 and what Jesus is calling his people to do as we wait for Him to return. Waiting, in this sense' is anything but a passive activity. There are a lot of things about Jesus' Second Coming that can distract us from what's really important, and in this episode Ken helps us think biblically how we get on living our lives until He comes. 

This is our first episode for 2021 as we begin a new series titled "Upside Down Kingdom" looking at Luke 17 - 19. This week Clayton Ryan and Mark Roberts are discussing Luke 17:1-19 and the subject of forgiveness, especially forgiveness towards brothers and sisters in Christ within the church. Mark helps us think biblically about rebuking others that we see in sin, forgiving those who sin against us, what do we do when others won't repent, and perhaps most importantly, what can we be doing now to prepare our hearts to be ready and able to forgive others.

Join us for the final podcast of 2020 as our pastors Rod Bayley, Mark Roberts and Ken Davies come together to spend some time in reflection thinking back over the year that was. Tune in as the pastors recap the various series we’ve worked through in 2020, and share how God has been at work during a year that did not go to plan! Be encouraged as we reflect on the fruit that has been born through the challenges of this year, and celebrate God’s faithfulness to our church.