Daniel 9 - Prayer & Prophecy
- Details:
- Written by Chris Appleby
Prayer & Prophecy audio (6MB)
Daniel 9
The Stimulus to Prayer
The vision of ch8 is long past, the Babylonian Empire has been overthrown and a new ruler, Darius, is over the captive Israelites. They’re still in exile but now in Persia.
Daniel has been reading the words of Jeremiah in his daily Bible study, and he comes across Jeremiah’s prophecy that Babylon will rule for just 70 years, then God will bring them back to Jerusalem. (Jer 29:10) And he thinks to himself, “That’s about now”.
But he also knows that the state of his people hasn’t improved much. Nothing seems to have changed with the change of ruler, apart from geography. In fact they’re even further from home now than they used to be. But the fact that God’s word tells him that the time is near for their return stimulates him to hope; and to pray that God would indeed do what he’s promised.
Daniel 8-12 - The End of All Things
- Details:
- Written by George Hemmings
The End of All Things audio (6MB)
Daniel 8
Well, it wouldn’t just be great, it will be necessary for you to keep your bibles open, because we’re going to be looking at the whole of Daniel 8 and also delving into chapters 10-12. With so much to cover we won’t be able to answer every question you might have about these passages. But if you like you can come up and ask after the service. We’ll do our best to answer, or even better help you join a small group, find a commentary or go to Bible College!
We’re going to focus though, on the vision that Daniel has in chapter 8. This vision takes place in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar. It’s then, two years after the vision in Daniel 7, which we looked at last week.
Micah 5:1-5 Christmas Peace - 2014
- Details:
- Written by Ruth Newmarch
The Prince of Peace audio (4MB)
If you could have anything for Christmas, what would it be? It would be peace, right? Peace in the CBDs of the world's cities to have a coffee, peace in our homes - the beating-heart of our nation, peace in neighbourhoods instead of the consequences of ice addiction, peace in every school so innocent children can learn, peace to travel by air without fear, safety on public transport ('stand with me'), peace in our jobs from workplace bullying, peace about our health or our future - just peace...peace on earth.
As we look closely at Micah 5v1-5, we're going to find the way to this level of peace is not quite what we might think.
The way to peace on earth is found in at least three ways here in Micah: firstly – we're not to look for it – the state of peace, like in Buddhism, but for a person. Secondly, the way to peace is not by wresting power but receiving it. Thirdly, the way to peace is to understand its timeless quality.
Daniel 7 - The Son of Man
- Details:
- Written by Ruth Newmarch
The Son of Man audio (7MB)
Daniel 7
I’m excited to be returning to the second half of the book of Daniel. The first 6 chapters contain dreams and exciting stories set in the courts of Babylon, and the second 6 contain visions, which Daniel receives, away from bustle of court life.
In the first half, big statements were made about God’s sovereignty, human power and history, but from the human perspective. The visions however, reveal things from an end of time or eternal perspective, showing us how God sees human power and history! And how we need that perspective to interact with our own!
Daniel 7 is the pivotal chapter of the book and it sheds light on three things:
Micah 6:1-8 - The Kingdom Lived
- Details:
- Written by Ruth Newmarch
Kingdom Lived audio (6MB)
Micah 6:1-8
A grim statistic haunts South Africa. The South Africa Medical Research Council reports that a woman is killed by an intimate partner every eight hours. In response, a development agency has a program called Channels of Hope, tackling gender inequality. Recently two young academics, one a Melbourne woman, have been evaluating the success of this program. They've found themselves wrestling with the argument that religious and secular spheres don't mix. This is not true to the lived experience of people they've interviewed.
