An audio lesson or sermon from various contributors
Episodes
Sunday Sep 30, 2018
Sunday Sep 30, 2018
What do you think it would be like to be king or queen?
Questions
What was the King Turtle’s problem?
What did he get wrong?
What did he forget? How did the others feel?
Was Jesus a king?
What kind of king was he?
What was he like as a king?
What did Jesus say about being “in charge”?
“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,” (Matthew 20:26 NIV11)
How did Jesus become a king?
“They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.” (Matthew 27:29 NIV11)
We love Jesus because he is a king who died so we could live.
We follow him because he is a king who serves us.
His example inspires us to serve one another, to die to ourselves for the sake of others.
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.
Do you have a question about the Bible or the Christian faith? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send us your questions or suggestions.
Thanks again for listening. Have a super day.
God bless,
Malcolm
Reading, tvcoc, Thames Valley churches of Christ, ICOC, Tim Dannatt, Malcolm Cox, ICCM, Lower Earley, Southampton, High Wycombe, Oxford, Reading University, Youth Ministry, Bracknell, Bracknell Leisure Centre, Shevvy Dannatt, Mark Abril, Rachel Abril, Churches of Christ, International church, churches close to me, Thames Valley church of Christ, faith, love, Gospel of Matthew, Dr Seuss
Sunday Sep 30, 2018
Sunday Sep 30, 2018
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Marriage has the potential to transform us
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Our marriages must also transform as we go if we are going to grow
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The renewal of the mind is the key issue
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Can get harder as we age and get stuck in our ways
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Since there are different phases in marriage we need to change as we enter a new phase, such as becoming empty-nesters.
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Change can require grieving, which creates disturbing feelings.
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A key verse in building a family is Psalm 127.
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The foundation must be God.
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Don’t lose sight of the blessing it is to be married and have children
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Beware thinking that just because we are involved, doing things for God, that all will be well.
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Need to have a spiritual approach to raising children rather than a mechanistic one.
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Honesty needed in marriage
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Desire to understand one another
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Enjoy forgiving one another
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Determine that we will come through tough times better than before
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Look for opportunities to practice mutual submission (Eph 5.21)
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Not competing, but seeking to complement one another
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Seek to understand one another
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Look after your heart, spiritually, for that’s where all other good things come from. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV11)
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Work as a team with children, in-laws and outreach.
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Intimacy comes when working as a team in life
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Intimacy thrives when we open ourselves up to one another emotionally
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“Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 9:9 NIV11)
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God designed us to enjoy one another
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“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the LORD.” (Proverbs 18:22 NIV11)
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Take responsibility for helping one another feel special
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C.S.Lewis, ‘Mere Christianity’, “Imagine [your marriage] as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
Reading, tvcoc, Thames Valley churches of Christ, ICOC, Tim Dannatt, Malcolm Cox, ICCM, Lower Earley, Southampton, High Wycombe, Oxford, Reading University, Youth Ministry, Bracknell, Bracknell Leisure Centre, Shevvy Dannatt, Mark Abril, Rachel Abril, Churches of Christ, International church, churches close to me, Thames Valley church of Christ, marriage, faith, hope, love, parenting, Joan Mankoo, Tidu Mankoo, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Epistle to the Romans, Epistle to the Ephesians
Saturday Sep 29, 2018
Saturday Sep 29, 2018
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Transformation is the vision which keeps us going through the tough times.
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Scriptures help us to stay firm in faith in marriage and parenting
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Make the most of friends who can support you
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Need safe people to be real with
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Create opportunities to communicate
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The difficulties of not ‘judging’ one another and struggling to assume the best of one another
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We are not responsible for the happiness of our spouse
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If we want our spouse to change we may want to pray to change ourselves instead
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Enjoy the phase of life you are in and do not succumb to envy of those in a different situation
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Communication barriers between husbands and wives:
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Don’t let things go unsaid - creates a barrier. Issues and feelings will build up.
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Quantity of communication will create better conditions for quality communication
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Give one another the benefit of the doubt
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Have the courage to be vulnerable with one another
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How do men feel about vulnerability?
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Don’t have to be superman
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Validation from God means do not have something to prove - gives freedom and releases us from fear
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Brene Brown books helpful
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Learning how to cry
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Counselling may be helpful
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Monday Sep 24, 2018
Monday Sep 24, 2018
Reading, tvcoc, Thames Valley churches of Christ, ICOC, Tim Dannatt, Malcolm Cox, ICCM, Lower Earley, Southampton, Winchester, High Wycombe, Oxford, Banbury, Deepcut, Frimley, Basingstoke, Salisbury, Amesbury, Sunday School, Reading University, Youth Ministry, Bracknell, Bracknell Leisure Centre, Shevvy Dannatt, Mark Abril, Rachel Abril, Churches of Christ, Christian churches near me, tv coc, International church, churches close to me, Thames Valley, Thames Valley location, Thames Valley church of Christ, the Thames Valley,
Monday Sep 17, 2018
Monday Sep 17, 2018
Friday Sep 14, 2018
Friday Sep 14, 2018
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Reflecting on where we are now after 29 years of marriage.
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Faith; Hope; Love
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The relationship began 31 years ago with sharing a smoke! 6 months later moving in together. Invited to church just before married.
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Studied the Bible and baptised in a week.
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God’s timing was perfect. It was the right time for them.
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Relationship supported them in the early days, and have continued to be so.
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Faith
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Believe you are with the right person. Working out how to make this work.
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““Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”” (Matthew 19:3–6 NIV11)
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‘Mission statement' for the Heath marriage
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Faith demonstrated by continuing to want to learn from others
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Not all advice accurate/helpful
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Be wise how listen
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Be accountable to self for how apply advice. Take responsibility for interpretation of what you hear from others.
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Goal in helping a couple is to help each person listen to the other
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Expectations of each other
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One of the most tricky areas to negotiate
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Hard to consider the other rather than self when setting expectations
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What will ‘work’? That’s what will make you happy.
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Hope
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“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3–5 NIV11)
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Vital regarding raising children. We work so hard at this.
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Help them have their own faith.
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Would have worked harder at this in hindsight
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Not lose hope for children who have drifted from faith
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Face reality
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If children not spiritual, don’t hide.
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Be happy in Christ, so as to give them their best chance.
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God wants you to have joy in any situation.
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Fight to remain proud of your children
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Love
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Forgiveness crucial
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We sin against one another more in marriage than any other relationship in life
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Forgiveness not dependant on repentance. Unconditional forgiveness a sign of a healthy marriage.
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Unconditional love.
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Lk 15 - prodigal. The son was allowed to walk away. The father did not chase the son, nor accuse him on his return. Example of unconditional love.
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“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:7–8 NIV11)
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Intimacy is awesome, but also a challenge. Harder to accept the people we know best.
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Monday Sep 10, 2018
Monday Sep 10, 2018
Monday Sep 10, 2018
Monday Sep 10, 2018
When we pay attention we notice what God is doing. When we don't pay attention we miss out. Malcolm explores the lessons on paying attention from Acts chapter 7
Context:
- Charge One: Stephen is anti-temple
- Charge Two: Stephen is anti-law
- Summary: Jesus wants to destroy the temple and the law
Summary:
- You seek to preserve a law you have not obeyed and protect a temple in which God does not dwell
- You have made an idol of the very law which forbids idols.
- You killed the people God sent to help you - including the most recent one
- Your pride has blinded you and deafened you to what God did and is doing
- You don’t keep the law and you dishonour the temple by making it an idol
How to notice: Three ‘A’s
1. Agony
2. Anxiety
3. Anger
Mistakes to avoid:
1: Don’t reject God’s messenger
2: Don’t restrict God influence
3: Don’t resist God’s calling
How to respond:
- Open heart, mind
- Listen to truth
- Act in faith
Don’t miss out on the adventure!
People who pay attention live with faith, hope, zeal, wake up eager, pray with expectation
If you don’t pay attention you’ll pay the price
If you pay attention Jesus will stand up for you!
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.
Do you have a question about the Bible or the Christian faith? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send us your questions or suggestions.
Thanks again for listening. Have a super day.
God bless,
Malcolm
Reading, tvcoc, Thames Valley churches of Christ, ICOC, Tim Dannatt, Malcolm Cox, ICCM, Lower Earley, Southampton, Winchester, High Wycombe, Oxford, Frimley, Sunday School, Reading University, Youth Ministry, Bracknell, Bracknell Leisure Centre, Shevvy Dannatt, Mark Abril, Rachel Abril, Churches of Christ, International church, churches close to me, Thames Valley, Thames Valley location, Thames Valley church of Christ, Pharisees, Abraham, Acts of the Apostle, martyrdom, Jacob, Joseph, Patriarchs, Moses, Law, Temple, Jesus, David, Solomon, tabernacle, humility
Saturday Sep 08, 2018
Saturday Sep 08, 2018
Would you like your marriage to have a healthy purpose? Obi & Peju shared openly, vulnerably and passionately about three signs of a healthy marriage.
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“Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” (Proverbs 29:18 NIV11)
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“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.” (Proverbs 29:18 MESSAGE)
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“When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.” (Proverbs 29:17–18 NLT)
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Do we have a vision for our marriage?
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Three aspects to vision….
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Fighting on purpose
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Revisit arguments
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Push past pain of past - from earlier life as well as present tension
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Understand triggers
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Vision for peace at the end of the review process
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Safe people helpful to involve in the process
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Loving on purpose
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“Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant.” (Genesis 4:1 NLT)
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“Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.” (Proverbs 5:18–19 NLT)
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“The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (1 Corinthians 7:3–5 NLT)
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“Our” needs, not "mine"
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Find a way to talk about sex
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Don’t use intimacy as a weapon
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Use intimacy as a powerful connector
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Pray the scripture promises into your marriage
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Serving on purpose
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How can we serve together?
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Value what the other brings.
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How can we be a team?
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“Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26–27 NLT)
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“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT-SE)
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“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT-SE)
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Committed to something beyond us
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Monday Sep 03, 2018
Monday Sep 03, 2018