Matt will be preaching on a passage in the Book of Acts (he is still working on which passage) at our sister church, Riverhead Presbyterian on the corner of Arthur and Gt North Rds, Riverhead, Auckland at the 10am service this Sunday 25 July.
It is a small congregation and a wee bit of a drive for most but all are very welcome.
UPDATE: It appears Matt will be preaching on Acts 6:1-7,
The Choosing of the Seven
1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Tags: Acts · Preaching · Riverhead Presbyterian Church6 Comments
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
What about Numbers 31 instead?
What about Numbers 31? simple, Midian lures the Israelites to practice sex in front of idols, despite having a commitment not to by Yahweh. Yahweh orders the participants killed: Israelites, Midianite women and boys for violating his commands. He spared the virgin girls not to enslave them sexually as is always assumed by the perverted minds of skeptics, since he specifically forbade prostitution of alien and native born under the Mosaic law, but to integrate them as household servants
End of story
Bit of a drive, but I’ll see if I can make it. Thanks for letting us know.
Richard how about, (a) you read texts in context and (b) when a fellow freethinker quotes a text you check the primary sources and not take what they say on faith.
Commentaries also help, if you want to actually understand what you criticise before you criticise it.
Note how Peter saw the cross, not as Salvation but as murder!
He was still locked into the law…preaching to jews only.
Peter re-offered The kingdom to the jews…using the crucifiction and Jewish prophecy as evidence of Christs Kingship.
He preached a future cleansing of sin at ‘the times of refreashing’…not an already achieved victory of the cross.
They kept the law…and had all things common.
Everything changes after the Jews block their ears and resisted the Holy Ghost at the stonning of Stephen.
God saves The chief of sinners Saul as the first person saved by grace without works…as a patern for those who would follow after him….a chosen vessel to reveal the mystery of the cross to the Genitles….The minister of the age of grace….
After God raises up Paul he gives Peter a new revelation….the unclean beasts lowered in the great sheet….this was to tell Peter a massive dispensational change was taking place.
Where should I start?