1 Peter 1:13-25
- Details
- Written by: Bill Stewart
Living Holy Lives audio (4MB)
If you were watching TV on the April 12, 2009, you may have seen pictures like this one of Captain Richard Phillips shortly after his rescue.
According to CNN.com:
U.S. Navy snipers fatally shot three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain hostage after seeing that one of the pirates "had an AK-47 leveled at the captain's back," a military official said Sunday. The captain, who'd been held in a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean since Wednesday, was rescued uninjured ... Adm. Rick Gurnon stressed that while Phillips was rescued, more than 200 mariners remain captives at sea. "The pirates have a great business model that works for them: See ships, take ransom, make millions," he told reporters.
In Captain Phillips case he was rescued without a ransom being paid. But, as the report said, many sailors have only been released through the payment of a huge ransom. The idea of being "ransomed" was a very powerful image in the world of the first Christians. In fact, if was a life-changing idea! The language of ransom was standard biblical language for "salvation". Jews would have been immediately reminded of their ancestors being released by God from slavery in Egypt. But in the biblical world "ransom" was also a powerful image for Gentiles. They would have been immediately reminded of slaves whose freedom was purchased by the payment of a ransom. But how is that image powerful for us? We know, don’t we, that around the world today millions of people, especially women and children, still live in slavery – much of it secual slavery! But this morning I want you to imagine for a moment that you were Captain Richard Phillips taken captive by pirates off the African coast. ... And someone paid the million-dollar ransom to set you free – without any expectation that you would pay them back? ...
How would you feel?
What would you do once you were released?
How would your life change?
Series: 60: 1 Peter
- Details
- Written by: Chris Appleby
1 Peter: Living Hope
|
1. Living Hope |
1 Peter 1:1-12 |
|
2. Living Holy Lives |
1 Peter 1:13-25 |
|
3. Living as the People of God: Built upon a living Stone |
1 Peter 2:1-10 |
|
4. Living as the People of God: Submit not Submerge |
1 Pet 2:11-3:12 |
|
5. Living for God |
1 Peter 3:13-4:6 |
|
6. Living in the End Times |
1 Peter 4:7-19 |
|
7. Living in Humility and Hope |
1 Peter 5:1-11 |
1 Peter 1:1-12
- Details
- Written by: Chris Appleby
Living Hope audio (4MB)
I was watching the replay of the Wimbledon final last Monday morning at the gym. Andy Roddick had fought back to be 2 all at the end of the fourth set. At that stage he must have felt like he had a real hope of changing history. Maybe this was the year that Roger Federer could be beaten and he’d be the one to do it. At least that was what he hoped. Sadly, at the end of another 30 games of tennis his hopes were dashed - and you could read it on his face. Hopes shattered. There he was holding the runner-up plate as though it were not worth having.
Hope’s an interesting word isn’t it? We use it in all sorts of situations. I hope my team will win this week; I hope I get a car park when I get to church/the shops; I hope the lights are all green or I’m going to be late. We even use the phrase: ‘hope against hope’. Which usually means it’s a hopeless situation.
Millions of Australians bought tickets in Powerball last week hoping to win $90 million dollars but of course there were only two winning tickets. For all the rest it was a lost hope.
So the question today is where does your hope lie?
Building For Community
- Details
- Written by: Chris Appleby
audio (2MB)
I wonder do you realise what a miracle we experience every time we meet together as a single congregation? Here are people from all over the world, from every sort of background, age, educational level, you name it. And yet we meet together as members of a single family, a family called together by God himself.
That’s the miracle Paul celebrates as he writes this letter to the Ephesians. In their case you might say the miracle is even greater. There the people have overcome an even greater obstacle than those of culture and language. Look at what he says they were like.
1 Once Alienated from the People of God and without hope
1 Kings 12
- Details
- Written by: Roy Hamer
The Divided Kingdom audio (4MB)
About thirty years ago Jo and I were involved in Youth Adventure camping. In fact you could say it's how we met. You see we had mutual friends who where rock climbers and Jo and I often went climbing with them. Jo was a great climber: nimble flexible and brave. On the other hand my style was one more of brute force and great fear not to fall. One of the things you learnt very quickly when climbing was to rely on the protection you use to secure you to the rock face. One was to rely on the rope; the other was to rely on these little nuts and blocks that you’d wedge into the cracks. This protection meant that if you had a fall these things would hold you and stop you from wiping out on the valley floor.
This morning I want you to look at our reading and review the sorts of protection our two leaders of the Hebrew people put in place and what it says to us today.
First let’s look at Rehoboam.
1 Kings 9-11
- Details
- Written by: Bill Stewart
The Foolishness of Solomon audio (4MB)
I’m not a betting man. In fact, I hate the way gambling usually takes from the poor and gives to the rich. But if you were talking odds, you’d have to say that Solomon was a sure bet. Solomon was a winner. Solomon the wise ruler;Solomon the great temple builder;Solomon the famous king.
1 Kings tells us that when the Queen of Sheba had observed all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his valets, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her. So she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. Not even half had been told me; your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard. Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” (1 Kings 10:4-9)
How could something so right go so wrong? When we first read the history of Solomon’s failure it seems almost unbelievable. How could the king who decided so wisely bring disaster upon his family and his country? I believe we can only really understand Solomon’s fall if we understand ourselves and our own weaknesses. In chapter 11 we discover that despite all his wisdom, power, and fame, Solomon had a fatal weakness. He had 700 wives and 300 mistresses (v. 3). Surprisingly, the number of Solomon’s marriages is not condemned. In the ancient world it was common practice for a king to have arranged marriages to create political alliances. (Not that I am suggesting that it’s okay for us to have 700 husbands or wives, even if we could afford them during the Global Financial Crisis!) Solomon’s marriages are condemned because they led him into idolatry.
1 Kings 8
- Details
- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Dedication of the Temple audio (6MB with Cantonese translation)
We were living in Canberra in 1988 when the new Parliament house was opened. What an occasion that was! The Queen was there to open the building. People came to Canberra from all over Australia. There was a huge march and rally by Christians from all over the country who came to march around Parliament House and pray for the government of our country. The highlight for Di and me was when our daughter Katherine walked out from the crowd to give the Queen a rose that some friends who were staying with us had given her and the Queen actually stopped and talked to her.
Well, today we’re thinking about another great occasion: the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem; as Bill pointed out last week, not a particularly large building; nothing by comparison with our Parliament house, but the thing is, its significance derived not from its size but from what it represented. The Temple was the sign that God was dwelling in the midst of his people. Up until then the presence of God had been represented by the Ark of the Covenant which had been housed in a tent. But now Solomon had built this permanent structure as a focus of the nation’s worship of the living God.
