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Archive for October, 2008

WISE – Resurrection

Partake – Words In Scripture Explored -Resurrection

Resurrection means rising or raising up. It certainly means more than coming back to life as some people think. Jesus raised three people from the dead, but that was more a resuscitation than a resurrection – those three people would die again! So lets start by looking at Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus’ Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the central theme for the sermons and teaching in the early church (Acts 1v22; Acts 4v33, Acts 17v18). But what significance is there in Jesus’ resurrection?

Jesus’ resurrection proves and vindicates all of His teaching. It certifies His claims to be the suffering Servant, just as it attests to His being fully God and the last Judge of all mankind (Isaiah 53v10-12; Acts 2v36; Acts 3v13-15; Romans 1v4).

God’s approval of Jesus obedient service and the fulfilment of all the Old Testament promises is declared through the resurrection. The result of which, is forgiveness of sins and salvation being only found in and through Jesus Christ. In the early church this was the prime motive for evangelism (Acts 2v32, Romans 4v24-25)

As the resurrected King, Jesus now intercedes for us. More than that, He has perfected the redemption of all those who choose to follow Him (Romans 5v10; Hebrews 6v20, 1 Peter 1v21).

These facts remain for Jesus’ resurrection, despite what some people say including Islam and other detractors of historical Christianity.

The changed attitude of the disciples after seeing the risen Jesus. The disciples changed from defeated, cowardly people into victorious, brave and bold people. Nobody who could have produced the dead body of Jesus did so. This led to the survival and inordinate growth and impact of the early church. If there was no bodily resurrection of Jesus’ would people really have risked persecution and death for a known lie? Finally, there were multiple appearances of Jesus! These appearances were to various numbers of individuals and groups of people, at various times of the day and in differing circumstances.

Jesus’ resurrection is a sign of the bodily resurrection for all those who believe and trust in Him during their earthly life! This should give you a new attitude to death and the transforming of hopes (1 Corinthians 15v12-58, Romans 8v10, 2 Corinthians 4v14; 1 Peter 1v3 & 21)

Believers Resurrection

The bodily resurrection of the dead, those who are saved and those who are unsaved, is clearly taught in Bible (John 5v28-29; Acts 24v15). Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection (1 Corinthians 15v20-22)

Christian Disciples resurrected body will be:

  • Like Christ’s glorious body (1 Corinthians 15v49; Philippians 3v21; 1 John 3v2)
  • Not flesh and blood (1 Corinthians 15v50ff)
  • Not partly spiritual (Luke 24v39; 1 Corinthians 15v42, 53)

Those who are or were non-believers will be resurrected (John 5v28-29), but not entered into heaven but rather cast into the lake of fire. It makes the work of evangelism for all Christian Disciples, all the more imperative. Go tell somebody today, the good news about what Jesus resurrection means to them.

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POD – Psalm 25

Psalm 25

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1 To you, Yahweh, do I lift up my soul.
2 My God, I have trusted in you.
Don’t let me be shamed.
Don’t let my enemies triumph over me.
3 Yes, no one who waits for you shall be shamed.
They shall be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Yahweh.
Teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth, and teach me,
For you are the God of my salvation,
I wait for you all day long.
6 Yahweh, remember your tender mercies and your loving kindness,
for they are from old times.
7 Don’t remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.
Remember me according to your loving kindness,
for your goodness’ sake, Yahweh.
8 Good and upright is Yahweh,
therefore he will instruct sinners in the way.
9 He will guide the humble in justice.
He will teach the humble his way.
10 All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth
to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your name’s sake, Yahweh,
pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 What man is he who fears Yahweh?
He shall instruct him in the way that he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease.
His seed shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him.
He will show them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever on Yahweh,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me,
for I am desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged.
Oh bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my travail.
Forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many.
They hate me with cruel hatred.
20 Oh keep my soul, and deliver me.
Let me not be disappointed, for I take refuge in you.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, God,
out all of his troubles.

Newsletter – Autumn/Fall

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News from Youngmi

Anyonghaseo! I am working still at Tesco Bournemouth for 15 hours a week as a checkout chick (as David calls them).  Most of the time, David takes me in the car and collects me again.  When he is not working that is!  At other times I catch the bus for the 20 minutes journey, but can be very frustrating when waiting for a bus that doesn’t turn up. At least I get my 10% staff discount at Tesco now.
I am fine but have been to the doctor recently for a skin problem on my right cheek and also for a mysterious rash that comes and goes on different parts of my body.  Please pray for me because this annoys me a lot, although the creams the doctor gave me do work very well.
Kamsa hamnida.

News from Dave

G’day!  Well, as I write this, I currently have 2 jobs but could do with work for a couple more days a week as we are now just about out of cash.  One job is for 1 or 2 days a week, where I am a research assistant for somebody doing a PhD on the eugenics policy of the Vichy government, and includes activities such as looking through death registers of various psychiatric hospitals and asylums! This is in the middle of the New Forest and so the drive there involves dodging horses, ponies, horse apples, donkeys and cattle. One day I had to follow a pregnant mare up the road, and she disdainfully looked around as if to say “If you think I am going to go any faster, or move off the road just for you, mate – you have another thing coming!”  Eventually she moved. I am just glad she did not decide to give birth at that time!

My other job involves tutoring a lad from the church for his A-levels for Religious Studies and Modern History.   Please do pray for Luke, as he works hard to achieve the results required for his admission to university in the next year or so in order to read Theology. Last term, he managed to get within touching a B grade instead of the predicted E grade.

As I previously stated, I need work for at least another couple of days a week.  When responding to advertisements from people or companies wanting somebody on that basis, the response is either a total blank (unusual around here) or an initial letter asking me to come in for a meeting to discuss it, followed by a total blank (again unusual for a customer oriented industry).  Meanwhile, God is faithful.  We have a roof over our head and food in our stomachs.  There has been support garnered from across the world, starting not least with the Pickards who are our landlords.  Then there is the lady in the US who sends us a share of the profits from her eBay store, or the lady in London who regularly gives.  As well as this there have been one-off gifts from people afar afield as the US and New Zealand.  God is great and without His hand in and on our lives, we would be thoroughly flummoxed and lost.  For the past 12 months or so, when I query Him, all I get back is: “Wait!”  What would be the point of that I hear you say? Well, a dear friend in London recently suggested that it may well be to teach me obedience & trust, to which I could only concur.  However, recently in my prayers, I have been getting the inkling that the wait is starting to come to an end.  Of course I must resist the urge to be too impatiently eager.  I do this by submitting myself to the Spirit, to His Word and to the church elders and to my friends.

Along with our church, Poulner Baptist Chapel, we will be seeking to distribute the resources to those who do not have internet access, initially at PBC and then possibly to other churches known to us.  Part of this is creating booklets accompanied by an audio CD.  The first one is entitled “God’s 2 Words 2 You”, introducing the Living Word (Jesus Christ) and the Written Word (the Bible).  Others will include: JOG (Jesus Overview in the Gospels); and the 12 modules for the ADD (Active Daily Discipleship) Discipleship Course.
I have friends in New Zealand, Australian and Canada who are willing to act as distributors.  There will also be an online shop where both the electronic format and the hard formats will be available.
As part of the church’s commitment to Partake Ministries, there will be on 26th October at 10:30am, a commissioning service of Partake Ministries as a mission partner of Poulner Baptist Chapel.  If you can make there, it will be great to see you.  If you need directions ask or visit their website at: http://www.poulnerchapel.org.uk/

As well as the written resources, we have initiated POD (Psalms On Demand), where I have gathered people from around the world to record Psalms, and placed it on the website.  Currently over half have been recorded by people on their own computer.  This includes a group of kids in California, a 9yo autistic girl (the daughter of somebody I know) and a bunch of great people from St Pixels Virtual Church http://www.stpixels.com
.
GOSH (God’s Special Helpers): which is where different people tell in up to 100 words, about one person who has helped them in their spiritual walk.
HAHA (Heroes And Heretics Abound): which will be 3 minute Podcasts discussing Heroes and Heretics from Church History and their role in development of Christian thinking.  I recently met people who between them didn’t know anything about Anselm, Athanasius or Martin Luther!
WORD (WORship On Demand): which will be 6-8 minute audio-visual files.  This will include things like poetry, songs, artwork, other creative items and a short 3-minute bible talk.

As for the main Partake website, we have about 75 unique visitors per day who download about 150 files between them.  So far there have been over 30,000 downloads.  As you can see from the map (showing the last month), the resources are going far and wide. It is only to God’s glory that this is done.  Resulting from this, I have people praying in Germany, USA Canada, Australia and New Zealand praying that I will visit and offer some form of ministry.

If you would like to offer some form of financial support, here are some guidelines:

  • Pray about it!
  • If you are not in the UK, then you can donate using PayPal and the support link is on the main Partake website: http://www.partakers.co.uk
  • If you are in the UK, you can make cheques payable to Y & D Roberts, and if you want to create a  regular standing order, please do contact us and we will give you then bank account details.
  • You may like to contribute resources, in which case you can do so by visiting our Amazon list, and the support link is on the main Partake website: http://www.partakers.co.uk

Part of Partake Ministries, is now also to enable other people to be involved, and to encourage them to use their gifting, which may never be seen or heard by others outside of their local church community.  I know several people who write good poetry and an artist or two, who are willing to be involved.   This is the advantage of the internet in allowing people to use their spiritual gifts.  Up until forty years ago, spiritual gifts were seen as the domain of the “professional” Christians such as clergy and missionaries.   Then there came a return to the New Testament church use of spiritual gifts, whereby all Christians were encouraged to use their gifting for God’s glory.  Still though, a lot of church members are not using their gifting for the glory of God in the wider community.  The internet allows for this.  An example would be the 9yo English girl reading a Psalm that encourages the housebound woman in the United States.  God is glorified, the housebound woman is encouraged and the girl happy to have shared.  Want to be involved by reading a Psalm, poem, or a short piece of prose? Perhaps participating in any of the HAHA, WORD, GOSH programmes? Let me know! You never know who you may be encouraging or in which country or home you will be heard, but God will be glorified through you.

Our prayer for you is that you will be Holy, be Blessed and Be His

Youngmi and Dave

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13v20-21)

WISE – Spiritual Gifts

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Partake – WISE – Spiritual Gifts

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When Jesus said to His apostles “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14v12), it was through the promised Holy Spirit (John 14v17), and impartment of Spiritual gifts, that His words were fulfilled.

What are spiritual gifts?

The phrase “spiritual gifts” derives from the Greek word Charismata. They are also called grace gifts, which refer to any gift God gives out of the abundance of His grace and are given to all Christians as God sees fit (1 Corinthians 12v11). They are not all spectacular gifts such as healing and tongues, as some churches today would have you believe! The gifts quoted in various New Testament passages reflect this: “administration, apostle, discernment, evangelism, exhortation, giving, faith, healing, helps, knowledge, leadership, mercy, miracles, pastor, prophecy, service, teaching, tongues, tongues interpretation, wisdom.” Have you ever met anybody who asked for the gift of giving or gift of mercy? Paul commands that you “try to excel in gifts that build up the church” (1 Corinthians 14v12). And there are probably many more outside of that list! When the church is built up, unity will prevail, for the diversity of Spiritual gifts within each local church, helps build unity.

Who has them?

All Christians have them! As a Christian, you have spiritual gifts, for in his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Romans 12v6). God the Holy Spirit, through His infinite wisdom, mercy and grace bestows these gifts upon you to be used so that God is glorified through your service to Him (1 Peter 4v11)!

The Purpose of Spiritual gifts

The reason that the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual gifts to you it is so that the body of Christ is built up (Ephesians 4v12), for the common good of the church (1 Corinthians 12v7, 14v12) and “so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4v12). These reasons mean that God wants you to be active in service. If your spiritual gifts are not used for God’s purposes, then they are meaningless.

Your Response

All Christians are dependent upon each other, just as one part of the human body has dependence on another part. That is why we serve each other and use the gifts generously given by God. As all Christians have gifts, you have a responsibility to discover and develop them (1 Timothy 4v14)! God has called you and equipped you with spiritual gifts, and they are not to be neglected! You are to discover, discern, develop and put into effect your spiritual gifts, so that God can be glorified and His church built up! Ask God to continue their development, strengthening and opportunities to use them! Seek gifts that build up others, commands Paul (1 Corinthians 14v1-12). Ask God faithfully for gifts that give opportunity for you to serve God and others!

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