1 Kings 17
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- Written by: Bill Stewart
Elijah the Prophet
I. GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY?
In the church we often use outdated language or terms that are not generally used by other people. We sometimes talk about God as "sovereign" and often speak about the "sovereignty of God." My dictionary (The Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus) defines a "sovereign" as "a person exercising supreme authority, especially a monarch", and "sovereignty" as "supreme and unrestricted power." While kings like Henry VIII exercised enormous power, with all due respect to Queen Elizabeth II, for example, she does not exercise that kind of power. So what does it mean to speak of the "sovereignty of God" today?
I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm a huge fan of Eugene Peterson's The Message translation of the Bible. It seems to me that he's not just translating the Bible but preaching it at the same time. He has also written some brilliant short introductions to each book of the Bible which I think speak straight to us. In his introduction to the books of Kings, Peterson talks about the "sovereignty of God" today. [Hopefully in the spirit of Peterson's Bible translation I have translated a few of his words from American speech into Australian in the following quotations].
1 Kings 16
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly audio (4MB)
1 Kings 16:8-34
‘In breaking news this morning an assassination has taken place in the city of Tirzah, capital of Israel. Reports from the city say that King Elah was at the home of the palace steward, where he’d been drinking heavily, when the commander of the country’s northern cavalry, Zimri, came in and killed him in an unprovoked attack. Elah had been king for less than two years. Zimri is also reported to have murdered the entire royal family, ensuring that when he proclaims himself king, there will be no rivals.
‘In a further complication, the army has chosen to support their commander Omri as king rather than Zimri. We will bring you further reports when they come to hand.’
It’s a familiar story isn’t it? It comes from the pages of our text but it could equally well have come from CNN reporting on Nepal, or Burma or Fiji, or any one of several African States. A military coup kills or deposes the rightful ruler and the country is thrown into turmoil.
Not that Elah was that much of a loss. After all a king who gets drunk with the steward of the palace isn’t much of a leader, is he? What’s more he was the son of Baasha who had been cursed by God because of all the evil he’d done as king.
1 Peter 5:1-14
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- Written by: Bill Stewart
Humility And Hope audio (4MB)
1 Peter 5:1-11
I hope all of us can think of times when someone has done something to encourage and support us when we were doing it tough. Perhaps it was a phone call? or an invite out for coffee and a chat? or perhaps it was a letter? or an email? or even just a text message? I don't think I’d be wrong in saying that sometimes it was a more mature Christian who took the time to support and encourage us. What comes to mind for you as you think about this? Who was it? What was it that they did to encourage you? (Take a few moments silence to think about a time when this happened to you).
1 Peter 4:7-19
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Living in the End Times audio (4MB)
Repent! The End is Near! It’s one of those cheap laughs that people get at the expense of Christians. Some Christians at least. You see it in cartoons, usually on a sign-board held by a man with a long beard wearing a white robe and sandals. And of course there are many variations of the mad man predicting the end.
But in fact it’s no laughing matter is it? We don’t believe the end is coming because we’re out of touch with reality. On the contrary, we believe that God is involved with the world in a real way, that God is in control of his creation. We believe that He’s revealed his intention to bring judgement and justice on this world and to bring in a new creation at a time that he’s set.
And we believe that if the end really is near then we’d better get ready for it before it’s too late. That’s what Peter has to say in this passage that we’re looking at today. He says: “The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.”
1 Peter 3:13-4:6
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- Written by: Bill Stewart
Living for God audio (4MB)
1 Peter 3:13-4:6
"I've been baptized." Have you been baptized? When? I was baptized on 28 January 1968 in the Holy Cross Anglican Church in Albany in New Zealand. I don't remember it happening; some of you will. But my parents and godparents were there as witnesses. And this certificate tells me that it's true. The great church reformer Martin Luther was baptized on 11 November 1483 in St Martin's Church in Eisleben in Germany. As you probably know, Luther stood up for the Gospel against the most powerful people in the world. He was banned from the Catholic Church by the Pope. And then he was put on trial in front of the Emperor for his beliefs. And he was asked to change his mind. He is reported to have replied: "Here I stand. I can do no other".
1 Peter 2:11-3:12
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- Written by: Garrett Edwards
‘The People of God: Submit, not Submerge’ audio (4MB)
1 Pet 2:11-3:12
This first letter and this passage is a very clear and powerful summary of Christian belief and practice isn’t it? But its also long isn’t it, I really struggled trying to tackle everything in this in one talk, but I’m going to try without glossing over too many things.
So lets get into it. If you haven’t got your Bible open, and perhaps you would like to do that so you can follow along.
In this passage, Peter is appealing to his readers, it’s an appeal to us and what’s his appeal? The central verse I want to focus on this morning is v.17. How does this fit with the topic of ‘Submit not Submerge? The way I see it, Peter breaks it down into these 3 areas, Submit to God, Submit to Authority and Submit to each other. And I hope that through this talk I am able to explain a little of each but also show how in the end, we aren’t doing 3 separate things, but only one.
The core of this passage lies, as it does with the whole Bible, in whether or not we will voluntarily submit ourselves to God. When we become believers, we become God’s people on earth. His people to tell others about him, to explain his will and to live the way he wants us to.
1 Peter 2:1-10
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Built Upon a Living Stone audio (4MB)
Picture a team of stonemasons, preparing to build a great temple; perhaps it’s the replacement for Solomon’s temple that was destroyed by the armies of Babylon. They pick up all the stones that look the right shape to fit into the wall of a building and put them in a pile, ready to use later. Every now and then, though, they find one that’s been broken off in such a way that it’s too crooked to use in a wall. Those ones they cast aside. But then when the construction begins the master builder comes along and sorts through the rejects to find a stone that’s just the right shape to form the cornerstone of the foundation. This is the stone that the rest of the building will be aligned with. It’s the critical stone in the foundation because everything else gets it’s alignment from it.
It’s a great story isn’t it? The reject that becomes the most valuable member. There’s something there that appeals to our Australian love of the underdog, isn’t there? And I guess it’s something we all dream about. Going into an op shop, as I do every now and then, and discovering some treasure - not that I ever do - though I did get a coffee plunger for $2 the other day. But of course this isn’t a picture of some everyday occurrence. No, Peter here is talking about the spiritual temple of God: the replacement for Solomon’s temple, yes, but a spiritual replacement. And notice what he says about it.
