Partakers Christian Podcasts

  A Tale of 4 Christians     Today I want to introduce you to four friends of mine. They all would say they are Christian disciples of a sort. I wonder if you will recognize any of them! Every church has people like these four characters. Which one of these are you like? Which do you think is the committed disciple? For more to read and think about, please read Matthew 25:31-46.   Fenster Fe-elgood First we have Fenster! He runs around to every meeting he can find that has some aspect to do with Christianity. He believes in God and likes to always feel good, regardless of anything else! When he goes to a Church worship or prayer service, usually twice on Sunday, it’s for a good entertaining time! He has no time for doctrine and thinks sermons and teaching in Church are utterly mundane and pointless, and sees no point in acting out his faith, coz they don’t make him feel good. As you can probably tell, Fenster’s prime reason to live is to feel good. The way to holiness for him is by going to as many r

  The Story of Rachel (Genesis 29v14-30) Rachel had a fairly complicated family structure, so lets try to unravel it! Rachel's sister Rebekah was Jacob's mother. Rebekah trained Jacob to scheme in order to gain his father's blessing and promised him that she would take the results of the deceitful act upon herself. Rachel became Jacob's wife, but only after Laban had tricked him into marrying Leah, the older daughter first. We can wonder if Rachel encouraged Jacob in his trickery, or if she was influenced by him to think first of herself at the expense of others. Whether his mother and/or his wife influenced Jacob, or indeed if he influenced them, both Rebekah and Rachel serve as examples of the outcome of sinful deceit and discontent. Introducing Rachel's personal details So, who was Rachel? Born in Aramea (Syria) Daughter of Laban Second wife of Jacob, her first cousin. Mother of Joseph & Benjamin. Ancestress of three tribes of Israel- Benjamin, Ephraim & Manasseh (Sons of Joseph). Possessed great

Think Spot 10 March 2025 What we say, as well as what we don’t say, as Christians is very important. The Bible is very clear on that. 1 Peter 2:1 “Therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind.” James 4:11-12 “Brothers do not slander one another...who are you to judge your neighbour?” The definition of slander is words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another or an abusive attack on a person's character or good name or to attack the good name and reputation of someone.So next time you go to say anything negative about someone or to criticise their actions, think again, you might be disobeying God and breaking a command. The Apostle James powerfully shows how a small thing such as the tongue is able to cause much damage. He says that the tongue is a world of evil that corrupts the whole person ...and is itself set on fire by hell (James 3:3-8). Christians are very good at gossiping but disguising it as prayerful concern. We pass on a juicy bit

Saturday Story People meeting Jesus  A story of Richard We continue apace into the twentieth century and hear the story of salvation and healing coming to the life of Richard. Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file~

  Sermon: Church: Past, Present and Future (Matthew 16:13-20) Today we investigate the Church and the role we have to play in Jesus Christ building His Church, referencing Matthew 16. Jesus is building it, not us, but He does use us to do so! Come on in! Right Mouse click or tap here to save this as an audio mp3 file 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ 14 They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ 16 Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17 Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19

Christian Disciple and Evangelism (Part 3)   Right mouse click or tap here to save/download this as a MP3 file For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10v45 Jesus Christ was the man born to die – this is what we celebrate at Christmas – when God who is outside of both time and space, entered history in the form of a human baby. His purpose as explained in Mark 10v45 was “to give his life as a ransom for many.” The Apostle Paul also preached this, but what was his methods and his message in full? Paul’s Method Reasoned from the Scriptures Paul knew that Scripture had been revealed, inspired and illuminated by God Paul knew that Scripture equipped for service Paul knew that Scripture helped get to know God more Paul knew that Scripture revealed God’s programme Paul knew that getting to know Scripture was vital in order to be used in Evangelism. Meet where people are Synagogue (Acts 18v4,

Christian Disciple and Evangelism (Part 2) Right mouse click or tap here to save/download this as a MP3 file   But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4v5 Dealing with Evangelism All Christian Disciples are called to do the work of evangelism. Not everyone will be an evangelist, yet we are called to tell and show others about Jesus – that is evangelism. a. Overcoming barriers. There are at least six main reasons why Christian Disciples do not evangelise: · Do not know the bible well enough to answer questions · Entire friends are already Christian Disciples · Testimony is perceived to be dull and tedious · Others will wonder what took you so long, if you evangelise them now · Don't know if my friends are true Christian Disciples or not · There is no easy way to tell the Gospel Christian Disciples overcoming these hindrances, are then libe

Christian Disciple and Evangelism (Part 1) Right mouse click or tap here to save/download this as a MP3 file Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 2v1-5 regarding his first contact with the city of Corinth: “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.” When he was going the 50 miles or so from Athens to Corinth, Paul was alone. He had left the intellectual centre of the ancient world, Athens, and entered Corinth, the cultural capital of the ancient world. Do you sometimes think that Paul was like a superman, always brash and utterly confident when engaged in evangelism? According to

Bible Reading - 3 John   Today on Partakers we are listening to a reading of 3 John! Come and listen! Click or tap here to download this as a mp3  

Bible Reading - 2 John   Today on Partakers we are listening to a reading of 2 John! Come and listen! Click or tap here to download this as a mp3  

Bible Reading - 1 John   Today on Partakers we are listening to a reading of 1 John! Come and listen! Click or tap here to download this as a mp3  

Rotten Royals In the podcast today, we take a whistle stop tour through the Old Testament Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Hezekiah, Josiah, Jeroboam, Ahab, Hoshea. Our Bible readings are: Deuteronomy 17:14-20; Leviticus 18:1-5; 1 Samuel 8:1-9; John 1:1-5 We investigate together the following questions: Why was there a king of Israel? Why was asking for a king wrong? What was the job of the King? What are some of the common themes for failure amongst the Kings? What can we learn from the kings? Through all of this, God’s faithfulness is in clear evidence, despite human failure. Despite the majority of Kings causing chaos, God still preserved the line of David, as promised, leading to that time when He would come as Messiah as promised. Even when kings and people fail, God remains faithful to His promises. What can we take away from all of this? We see that God, who is the ultimate reality in all this earth, has called each of us, if we call ourselves a Christian, by name to follow him, and

The False Witness The book of Proverbs is a collection of writings, mainly by King Solomon, who was endowed by God with the extraordinary gift of wisdom. These writings are wisdom which reveals how a person can live a godly and God pleasing life. It provides God’s people with a way to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life, living God’s way, as they listen to Him. We will look at the topic from Proverbs about being a witness. This theme runs throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. We can be a true witness or a false witness. Let’s start by looking at being a false witness. The false witness is part of the very first sins committed by humanity. “Don’t be a false witness” is indeed one of the very 10 commandments that were given by God to Moses (Exodus 20). In regard to being a false witness, in a simple desert community as ancient Israel were, nearly all such crimes were seen as capital offences. If for somebody was to be a successful “false witness”, that person woul

Conclusion As a way of concluding, let us take a look at what some people have said about this Psalm. We are going to engage with the minds of Augustine, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon and CS Lewis: and they will give us some insight into this magnificent Psalm. Augustine - "You will not labour long in listening to it, nor will the labour you devote to practicing it be without fruit. As its title indicates, it is a "song of steps." Steps are either of ascent or descent, but as used in these Psalms, steps signify an ascent. Let us understand them, therefore, as ascending steps, and let us not seek to ascend with our feet and in a carnal manner but as suggested in another Psalm: "He has prepared ascents in his heart, in this valley of tears, in the place which He has fixed" (Psalm 83:6-7). Where then are these ascents? In the heart. From what should we ascend? From the valley of tears. In designating the place, the human tongue somehow fails us; one knows not how to speak of it nor even to think of it. You have

Taw 169 May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word. 170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. 171 May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. 172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. 173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. 174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. 175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands. Once again, in verse 169, David the Psalmist repeats his inner desire to understand God's word, law, decrees, statutes and wisdom!  He is full of zeal for God and is earnestly yearning His God to reveal His promised wisdom and understanding to him. The Psalmist is in a relationship with God and seeks to get to know His God better and God has promised him that He will pass on wisdom to David throu

Shin 161 Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word. 162 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil. 163 I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law. 164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. 165 Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. 166 I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands. 167 I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. 168 I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you. We only have to read of David's life in the Scriptures to know that he had enemies and persecutors from all walks of life. He was betrayed by close friends and attacked by people from both those within his own nation and those outside it.  Here the people that are persecuting him are princes. Princes usually protect the innocent and bring justice to the oppressed. Princes usually act with honour, decorum and nobility - but not these ones! No! These princes are out to cause David, th

Resh 153 Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law. 154 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise. 155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees. 156 Your compassion is great, O LORD; preserve my life according to your laws. 157 Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes. 158 I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word. 159 See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love. 160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.   Once again the Psalmist is in danger of losing his life!  He is seeking to be delivered from his pains and rescued!  He is one of God's servants and seeks to show that by remembering God's law, God's words and behaving as one of God's servants, devoted in fear, reverence and love of Almighty God!  And because he hasn't forgotten God's law, he pleads for God to consider and remember him. He is

QOPH 145 I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. 146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. 147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. 148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. 149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws. 150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law. 151 Yet you are near, O LORD, and all your commands are true. 152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever. Here the Psalmist starts this section with two impassioned calls or loud cries!  These are not necessarily loud audible cries but rather the inner desires of the heart and a bending of the will calling out to God.  The first time is for God to hear him! His whole begin - body, mind and soul - are crying out go God, pleading with Him with full mental, emotional and spirit

Tsadhe 137 Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right. 138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. 139 My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words. 140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them. 141 Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget your precepts. 142 Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. 143 Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight. 144 Your statutes are forever right; give me understanding that I may live. The very first word in the NIV translation introduces the dominant theme in this stanza. It's about God and things being ‘right' or ‘righteous'. Cast your eyes over verses 137, 138, 142 and 144. Then, looking at them more closely, we get to see something like this. v137. God is righteous. ‘Righteous are you, O Lord. This may be understood in terms of God's relationship with his people. He keeps his promises. He provides for their needs. H

Pe 129 Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. 131 I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. 132 Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. 133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. 134 Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey your precepts. 135 Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees. 136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed. Today we are looking at the Hebrew letter ‘PE', which makes us consider the role of the word of God in bringing understanding to our minds, moral and spiritual direction to our lives, and heart satisfaction in our relationship with the Lord. To ease us into this, we look elsewhere in Scripture first. In Numbers 6:24-26, we read of the Aaronic Blessing. As the High Priest of the people of Israel, Aaron was instructed to bless them in the Name of the Lo