Matt 26:17-30
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Lord's Supper audio (6MB)
Matt 26:17-30
The Lord’s Command to Prepare
It’s interesting to read the different accounts of the events around the crucifixion. Sometimes you pick up an interesting detail that’s in this account but not in the others. But equally instructive can be the things that are left out. In the case of Matthew’s account here, there are very few details given. In Mark and Luke the disciples are told to find a man carrying a jar of water, but here it’s just a certain man. In the other accounts two disciples, Peter and John, Luke tells us, are sent to prepare the meal. Here it’s a general command to all the disciples. It’s as though Matthew wants to cut down the detail so we’ll focus on what really matters. And what’s that? Look at the passage. Can you see what details are given?
Matt 25:31-45 - Goats and Sheep
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Sheep or Goats audio (6MB)
Matt 25:31-45A
Matthew begins his record of Jesus teaching with the Sermon on the Mount, and that sermon finishes with the parable of the houses built on rock or sand, a parable of reward and judgement. And, significantly, Matthew finishes his account of Jesus teaching with this story of the last judgement.
Jesus tells them that when the Son of Man returns in glory he will sit on the throne of his glory and the reason he sits is to judge. There’s a cataclysmic nature to Jesus return. I think we sometimes imagine a scene where people are hanging around for Jesus to call them in to the courthouse. But here the judgement is closely tied to his return. This is reminiscent of the passage in Phil 2 where we read that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he’s Lord. There’s to be a spontaneous response to his return.
Daniel 9 - Prayer & Prophecy
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- 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
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- 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.
Daniel 7 - The Son of Man
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- 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:
2 Peter 2 - Be Warned
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- Written by: George Hemmings
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If it’s not every night, then at least once a week there’s an exclusive report like this on A Current Affair. And another two or three on Today Tonight! They’re such regular features that the segments often look the same. They follow the same tried and true formula. Today’s passage would fit right in! Though it’s not dodgy builders or shonky salesmen it’s exposing but false teachers! Chapter 2 warns us that there will be those who seek to lead us astray as we strive to lead virtuous lives, growing our faith on God’s word. In graphic detail worthy of ACA, 2 Peter exposes these false teachers. It reveals the truth behind their lies, points out the error in their ways and warns us of the fate that awaits them and those who follow them. Be alert, but not alarmed, in this St. Thomas’ exclusive report.
2 Peter 1:16-21 Be Assured
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
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Di & I have been catching up on the series, Utopia, that we missed on the ABC while we were away. It’s a satire, set in the imaginary Nation Building Authority. In one of the episodes someone hires a management guru, Marvin Hudfield, to run a training course. He rattles off catch phrase after catch phrase, which in the end don’t add up to much and the upper management team aren’t very impressed. But of course everyone gets a nice certificate when the course is over.
That may be that sort of thing that Peter has in mind as he begins to talk about the validity of his own message, though more in religious terms than management training.
He wants to assure his readers that they can trust what they’ve been told.
As is true in most periods of history, there would have been many examples of people in Peter’s day who offered a solution to our human desire for religious significance. But he says he and the other apostles are not like that: “16We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.”