Eph1:1-14
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
God's Eternal Plan - All things United under Christ audio
You may have been following the reports, over the past few months, of the State Government Report prepared by Sir Rod Eddington on Melbourne's East-West transport needs. The one thing that seems to have come out of that exercise and particularly since the Eastlink toll road opened is that the need is now and that the planning for improved transport should have started some 10 or more years ago. What's clear is that when you're thinking about major projects like that you need years and years of planning if things are going to work out.
I imagine planning for the Olympic Games was going on long before Beijing was given the nod in 2000. And look how well they've done it - apart from the fog of course. Someone suggested that the Chinese divers who've been blitzing the field were probably picked at the age of 3 to begin their training. And even on a smaller scale project planning needs to be done well in advance. So our building committee has been hard at work for the last few months working on the early plans for our new building.
Series: Theme: The Ten Greatest Struggles of your Life
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Ten Greatest Struggles of your Life (10 Commandments)
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1. Your Struggle with God |
Gen 3:1-7 |
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2. Your Struggle with Worship |
Is 44:9-20 |
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3. Your Struggle with Religion |
Is 52:4-10 |
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4. Your Struggle with Time |
Gen 1:24-2:3 |
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5. Your Struggle with Authority |
Prov 2:1-11 |
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6. Your Struggle for Peace |
Gen 9:1-7 |
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7. Your Struggle for Purity |
1 Cor 6:12-7:7 |
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8. Your Struggle for Integrity |
Amos 8:1-8 |
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9. Your Struggle with Truth |
Eph 4:17-32 |
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10. Your Struggle for Contentment |
1 Tim 6:2b-11 |
Series: 21: Ecclesiastes: Wisdom for Postmoderns
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Ecclesiastes: Wisdom for Postmoderns
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1. First and Last Things |
Eccl 1:1-11 |
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2. Working for the Man? |
Eccl 2:4-26 |
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3. Is Wisdom Enough? |
Eccl 7:1-20 |
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4. The Final Word |
Eccl 12:1-14 |
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5. Wisdom for Families |
Proverbs 4:1-27 |
Series: 52: 1 Thessalonians
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
1 Thessalonians - The Gospel and the Church
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1. How the Church Spreads the Gospel |
1 Thess 1:1-10 |
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2. How Pastors serve both Church and Gospel |
1 Thess 2:1-3:13 |
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3. How the church must live according to the Gospel |
1 Thess 4:1-12 |
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4. How the Gospel can inspire the Church |
1 Thess 4:13-5:11 |
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5. How to be a Gospel Church |
1 Thess 5:12-28 |
Series: 39. Malachi - A Call to True Religion
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Malachi - A Call to True Religion
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1. You Can’t Cheat God |
Malachi 1 |
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2. Authentic Ministry |
Malachi 2:1-9 |
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3. Be Faithful |
Malachi 2:10-16 |
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4. The Lord is a Refining Fire |
Malachi 2:17-3:12 |
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5. Take Inventory |
Malachi 3:13-4:6 |
Rev 3:14-22
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Letters to the 7 Churches 5 - Laodicea
It's interesting how we can go from the two letters we saw last week where one church thought they were alive and were actually dead and another thought they were as good as dead but actually had plenty of life in them, to the final letter of the seven where the church is neither one thing nor the other. And if you thought Sardis had problems, Laodicea takes the cake.
Just to fill you in on their context, Laodicea was 15km west of Colossae and 10km south of Hierapolis. It was situated in a fertile valley. It was just as pagan a city as any of the others. In fact it was the centre of Emperor worship for the region. It had a strong Jewish community that may well have integrated into the Greek culture to a large extent. For example, there are examples of coins made here in the 3rd century that show illustrations that mix together the Jewish and pagan versions of the flood story.
Rev 3:1-13
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Letters to the 7 Churches - Sardis & Philadelphia- Dead and Alive
Today we read about two churches with a significant contrast of characteristics. One thinks it's alive but is dead, the other feels as good as dead but is alive.
Sardis was a sophisticated city and perhaps that was the reason that persecution against Christians wasn't such a problem as it was in places like Smyrna and Philadelphia. It seems that the Jewish population of Sardis was well accepted despite the fact that they rejected pagan worship and that acceptance may have rubbed off on the Christian church since it was considered just a sect of Judaism.
In fact the Jewish synagogue in Sardis was one of the largest synagogues in the ancient world. And it may be that the Jewish people in Sardis had so integrated into this pagan, Gentile society that their tolerance of difference even extended to the Christian church unlike other cities in the region.
In any case there's no hint here of any persecution against Christians. In fact the description seems to imply that this was a flourishing church. They have a reputation of being alive.
