I Talk Back to the Devil 4: Jesus Himself
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- Written by: Garrett Edwards
audio (4MB)
In reflecting on what kind of topic could be one that could not only stand by itself, but also sum up all we’ve been talking about in the past year, I was driven to think about what is central to our faith. What is it that we need more than anything to be able to talk back to the devil? And the answer came quite easily actually, who other than Jesus Himself? He is all we need, he is the only one we need in order to talk back to the Devil.
The passage we read this morning testifies to that, please open your Bibles with me to Hebrews 10:19 again. Therefore brothers & sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most Holy place ... how? By the blood of Jesus. And then in verse 21, ‘And since we have a great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God, with a full assurance of faith. Nothing else is needed, nothing else is required. There is no other way we can come before God, the author, creator, sustainer of all things, but through Jesus. And if we come before God through Jesus we can trust he will hear and listen to our requests. He is our Great High Priest, says Hebrews. No one else can appeal to God on our behalf no other power is good enough. The only way to be made right before him and the only person to go to, to get to God. Nothing else is needed, it’s that simple and it's beautiful don’t you think?
Judgement on the Oppressor
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- Written by: Adam Cetrangolo
audio (5MB)
Well let me begin by saying this is a difficult reading.It’s a difficult reading not only because we need to understand something of the complex history between Assyria and Judah and the covenant relationship between God and the people of Israel … but even more fundamentally it’s difficult because it deals with human pride, death and destruction and where God is in all of that.
And both individually and corporately these are issues that all of us have to deal with at some stage in our lives.
If we think about our own community here … we have seen the building at St Theodore’s DESTROYED … there’s just a plot of land there now … and … hopefully … in the next few months we are going to see part of this site redeveloped as well. As a community we’ve also experienced the passing of loved ones in the past couple of years … and at some point or another, we’ve probably all been prideful in some way … we’ve thought … well … ‘we’re OK … we’ve done pretty well for ourselves.’
When building permits get granted and sites get sold and local residents have no complaints about our plans … we can say ‘God’s in this!’ … ‘God is blessing our work!’ … ‘We’ve been faithful!’And don’t get me wrong … I’m not suggesting that this is not the case, what I am suggesting, following today’s reading, is that things are not always what they seem and that we have to keep coming before the Lord in prayer lest we neglect God in our planning.
The Prince of Peace
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- Written by: Heathere Cetrangolo
audio (6MB)
Israel was a divided nation during Isaiah’s life … and the two kingdoms were under threat of foreign invasion. That threat became a reality in Isaiah’s lifetime.
By 722 BCE the Assyrians had conquered the northern kingdom and ten tribes (of the 12) had been relocated and scattered throughout what is today Syria, Iraq and Turkey (predicted in chapter 7 of Isaiah)
In 586 BCE (as predicted by Isaiah) the southern kingdom was also conquered and the people exiled by the Babylonians.
The result of war and exile: mass cultural genocide. It meant that even after return from exile, only a remnant remained of what was once the Jewish nation … a people set apart by God to be a holy people. In a sense, it’s not unlike the remnants of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that remain in our nation today. The damage that was done was so significant that culture, language and story were lost forever:
- The people were murdered
- Raped
- Pillaged
- Used for slave labour
- Forced to scatter, in the hope that their culture would soon be bred out of them
Well, that’s the history behind today’s passage (in brief) … and it’s shocking for two reasons:
1. On a human level violence and war is always shocking and distressing;
2. But from a faith perspective there’s another level …. It’s shocking because God had promised peace to this people.
Seeing the King
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- Written by: Heather Cetrangelo
audio (7MB)
There are moments in life that make us quake. There are moments that make us tremble on the inside … and sometimes we tremble on the outside.
We tremble when we’re nervous, when we’re afraid, when we’re overwhelmed by emotion, and sometimes when we’re very sick, or in a lot of pain.
When I was 18 I went through an experience that made me think that there was something really wrong with my health. You see within the network of friends that I hung out with at that time, was a young man whose name was Adam. I’d known him for a number of years and he was a mutual friend. It was around June 2001, when I began to notice, that every time I was around Adam, my heart would beat a little faster than normal. On the inside I would tremble, in his presence. At first I thought maybe I just had an iron deficiency, but over time I noticed, that it was getting worse. It got to the point that every single time this young man came near me, my heart began to pound so hard, that I thought it was going to burst through my chest.
I remember crying out to the Lord one day, ‘What is wrong with me? I can’t calm down. My heart won’t slow down. I can’t breathe properly. I’m completely unsettled. What is wrong with me?’
A little sentence came into my mind … ‘Maybe you’re in love with Adam.’ I thought, ‘shut up shut up shut up! I don’t want to know that. If it’s an iron deficiency, I can fix that … but if I’ve fallen in love, well, then what am I gonna do?’
Isaiah 5
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Song of the Vineyard audio (5MB)
I grew up in the 60’s listening to the Beatles. If you know anything about their music you’ll know that most of it was love songs: ‘I want to hold your hand’, ‘She loves you’, ‘From me to you’. And it was a winner because everyone loves a love song and everyone can relate to them. Of course not every love song is a happy one. Sometimes they’re more like a lament. That boy took my love away but this boy, wants you back again. She’s ignoring him, he comes to her door and there’s No Reply. I can’t sleep at night since you’ve been gone, ... I call your name.
Well Isaiah gathers the people of Jerusalem together and sings them a love song which turns out to be a parable. It starts out very happy like a good love song
The Hope of a Harvest
You can imagine the people settling down to hear this song of love and devotion. “My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it.” If you’ve been out along the Yarra Valley lately you can imagine the scene. Rolling hills, green fields, rows of vines lining the road as you pass by. A stone farmhouse in the middle. It’s an idyllic description isn’t it? The watchtower indicates that he’s here for the long haul. And he’s dug a wine vat to store the wine so he must expect a great harvest. Everything that could be done for the vineyard has been done. The best position, the best soil, the choicest vines.
But then like every good parable we come to the sting in the tail.
Series: 23: Isaiah
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Isaiah
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A King Forgotten and Foretold |
Is 1:1-7; 2:1-5; 2:6-11 |
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The Song of the Vineyard |
Is 5:1-7; 5:8-17 |
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Isaiah’s Commission |
Is 6:1-5; 6-13 |
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Light in the Darkness when a King is Born |
Is 8:19-9:1; 9:2-7 |
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Executing Judgment on the Executioner |
Is 10:5-19 |
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Devastation and Restoration |
Is 24:1-8; 24:14-16 |
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One King Mocks while another Prays |
Is 36:1-15; 37:14-20 |
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See Your King is Coming |
Is 40:1-11 |
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Fear Not for I have Redeemed You |
Is 43:1-13 |
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False God and True |
Is 46:1-13 |
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Life for all who come to the Lord |
Is 55:1-13 |
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Arise, Shine for your light has come |
Is 60:1-12; 61:1-3 |
Isaiah 1-2
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
A King Forgotten and Foretold audio (5MB)
A King Forgotten
It’s a tragic story isn’t it? A nation chosen, indeed created, by God to be his special possession. A nation nurtured and helped along at every point. Rescued from captivity in Egypt, given the law to direct their daily lives, given priests and kings to guide them; and it’s all been for nothing. They’ve failed so badly that it seems there’s no longer any help for them. In a mere 400 years they’ve gone from being a flourishing nation to being under siege, about to be abandoned by God.
Or is it the other way around? Has God abandoned them or have they abandoned God? You see this book isn’t primarily about Israel. It’s really a book about God. And the problem with Israel is that they’ve forgotten who God really is.
