Pastorals
2 Peter 2 - Be Warned
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Be Warned audio (6MB)
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
Be Assured audio (4MB)
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.”
2 Peter 1:1-15 Be Resolved
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Be Resolved audio (4MB)
I wonder what was the most precious gift you received this Christmas? Of all the gifts I was given, I think this is the one that I value the most. It mightn’t look like much, but it’s a key part of the best wedding present, possibly the most precious gift I’ve ever been given. I guess I should say we, but the truth is I use it a lot more than Sarah!
Philemon 1
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Freedom for the Captives audio (5MB)
There's something quite different about reading this letter compared with all Paul's other letters. In all the others, even those addressed to individuals, the focus is on the Church where they're ministering. But here there's a much more personal feel to the correspondence. You can feel the warmth of Paul's feelings towards Philemon and probably his wife and son, Apphia and Archippus. Paul hadn't visited Colossae but it's likely that Philemon was in Ephesus at the same time as Paul and was converted there. It certainly sounds like Paul had spent time with them and he clearly wishes he could be with them enjoying their hospitality rather than being in Rome experiencing the emperor's.
But there's a much more serious reason for writing than booking the guest room. While he's been in Rome Paul has met up with a runaway slave named Onesimus. Onesimus has become a Christian under Paul's teaching and is beginning to turn his life around. In fact he's become one of Paul's carers, probably bringing him food and other supplies while he's in prison in Rome. But his presence with Paul raises an ethical dilemma. What should Paul do? Should he hand him over to the authorities as an escaped slave or should he keep quiet and just enjoy the support he provides.
Rev 21-22
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The City that's a Bride audio (3MB)
Well, we’ve spent the last three months working our way through Revelation, so I guess we all have a pretty good idea what it’s about, don’t we? But now that we’re finally at the end, at the account of the last day, at the revelation of the new heavens and earth I wonder whether this what you would have expected? Is this your picture of heaven?
I have to admit that I have no idea what heaven will really be like. I actually think it’s so far beyond our human experience that we have no way of comprehending it until we actually get there. But God, as always, is gracious and so he gives us pictures of heaven that give us an idea, even if it’s only another set of moving images, of what it will be like.
