Mark 1:14-39
- Details
- Written by: AdamCetrangolo
Jesus Brings Good News audio (4MB)
Mark 1:14-39
On the 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final cease fire on all war fronts in Europe would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night. The Act of Military Surrender was signed on May 7 in France, and May 8 in Germany. In England the headline in the Daily Mail newspaper declared: "VE-Day—It's All Over." In London more than a million people celebrated in the streets. Winston Churchill appeared with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the balcony of Buckingham Palace before the cheering crowds.
I understand that in Australia we saved the biggest celebrations until 15 August 1945 when Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced the end of hostilities with Japan with the words: "Fellow citizens, the war is over." I know that there are people in this congregation who can remember VE- and VJ-Day. Some of you may even remember hearing those words. What it was like to finally hear those words, "Fellow citizens, the war is over"?
1 Kings 21
- Details
- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Last Straw audio (5MB)
Reading through the story of Ahab and Jezebel, I occasionally feel a bit sorry for Ahab. He gets a glimpse every now and then of what’s the right thing to do. You feel like he’d really like to do the right thing, but he’s made so many bad decisions in the past that he just can’t get there. His worst decision of course was to marry Jezebel and let her get away with polluting the worship of Israel with her own worship of Baal. In fact you’d have to say that he even encouraged her by building a temple to Baal in Samaria itself. He comes across as such weak character doesn’t he, particularly compared with the strong character of Jezebel? And even when he realises the truth of his situation or the justice of a matter, he allows Jezebel to overrule him. It’s ironic that Jezebel criticises him for not acting as king, but gladly overrules him when she doesn’t like what he’s doing. We saw that with the aftermath of the demonstration of Yahweh’s power on Mt Carmel. Ahab appeared to be convinced but Jezebel was unmoved and acted independently to avenge the prophets of Baal.
1 Kings 19
- Details
- Written by: Chris Appleby
Elijah in the Pits audio (4MB)
1 Kings 19
It must have been an overwhelming experience for Elijah on Mt Carmel mustn't it? In fact, to see the lightning fall from the sky and consume everything on the altar, after what was the simplest of prayers by Elijah, must have had an incredible impact not only on him but on everyone present. It certainly had an impact on the prophets of Baal who were rounded up by the crowd and executed at the base of the mountain.
Can you see the Light?
But notice that despite the clear sign of God's power and the impotence of Baal, Jezebel isn't moved. You can imagine Ahab running into the palace, breathless, and telling Jezebel everything that happened: “Honey, you should have been there. Elijah prayed to Yahweh and fire came down from heaven and zapped everything - even the water in the pit around the altar went up in a cloud of steam. And then he killed all our prophets.” To which Jezebel replies something like: “Pull yourself together Ahab. Act like a King. So what if Elijah’s pulled off this magic trick? If you think I’m going to give up my religion you’ve got another think coming.” Then she sends a message to Elijah: “I’ll teach you to kill my prophets. You’re a dead man.”
1 Kings 18
- Details
- Written by: Bill Stewart
Elijah's Mountain Top Experience audio (6MB)
1 Kings 18
As we have just heard, in today’s Scripture reading the prophet Elijah was called by God to go to Mount Carmel which is situated in the North of Israel. It is not an especially high mountain but it does have a great view. In fact, it’s a bit like the lookout on Mount Dandenong. You probably can’t make it out on this picture but on a clear day you can see the Mediterranean Sea. I had the priviledge of going up Mount Carmel a few years ago. I was really looking forward to it. However, I had only been there a couple of minutes when six busloads of tourists, pulled up, took a few snaps, got back on the buses and headed off to Burger King for lunch. I’m afraid it tarnished the occasion somewhat and now I can’t go past a Burger King without thinking of Mount Carmel for the wrong reasons!
There was a lot in the reading, wasn’t there? I want to focus mainly on the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in verses 21-40. Then I want to try and say a couple of things about some of the difficult questions I think this passage raises for many of us. For three years Elijah has been protected by God from King Ahab and then suddenly God sends him to confront the king: straight into the heart of the enemy camp, so to speak. If I could sum up in one verse what this contest is about then it would be verse 21. As we saw last week there is a bigger battle going on than just Elijah versus Ahab and his wife Jezebel and their prophets. And the big question to be decided is: Who is God?
1 Kings 17
- Details
- 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
- Details
- 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
- Details
- 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).
