http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site Faith Community in North Sydney NSW Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:52:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 Podcasts of weekly sermons and discussions from The Upper Room Sydney. Meeting Sundays at 9.30am in the Independent Theatre, Miller St, North Sydney Faith Community in North Sydney NSW Mick Martin http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/wp-content/uploads/upper_room_Podcast.pnghttp://www.theupperroom.org.au/site Christianity, Emergent clean Mick Martin webmaster@theupperroom.org.au http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/20-november-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-32-michael-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/20-november-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-32-michael-martin/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:16:17 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/20-november-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-32-michael-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/20-november-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-32-michael-martin/feed/ 0 The book of Acts is set against the backdrop of a world that is hostile to the in-breaking kingdom of God that confronts and challenges its values and priorities. Time and again throughout the chapters of Acts we see examples of the conflict that arises whenever the gospel threatens the power structures of the world, whether that be at an individual, group or societal level. Two thousand years later, the challenge still stands for those of us who profess to “believe in the Lord Jesus” to reject the ways of the world and to ‘repent’ – to turn away from a self-focused life to a life focused on God and others, and in so doing to enter fully into the kingdom of God. “Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity” (1 John 2:15-17. The Message The book of Acts is set against the backdrop of a world that is hostile to the in-breaking kingdom of God that confronts and challenges its values and priorities. Time and again throughout the chapters of Acts we see examples of the conflict that [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/16-october-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-30-michael-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/16-october-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-30-michael-martin/#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:22:29 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/?p=2270 http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/16-october-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-30-michael-martin/feed/ 0 At the end of chapter 15, we come to perhaps one of the saddest moments in the book of Acts with the apostles Paul and Barnabas, who up to now have been a formidable partnership for the cause of Jesus, having a major disagreement that results in them going their separate ways. At the end of chapter 15, we come to perhaps one of the saddest moments in the book of Acts with the apostles Paul and Barnabas, who up to now have been a formidable partnership for the cause of Jesus, having a major disagreement that results in [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/2-october-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-29-michael-martin-2/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/2-october-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-29-michael-martin-2/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:24:38 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/2-october-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-29-michael-martin-2/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/2-october-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-29-michael-martin-2/feed/ 0 The book of The Acts of the Apostles is of importance to the church of today not just as a matter of historical interest (i.e. how all this got started), but also because it’s in the pages of Acts that we can discern much of what makes up the true essence of ‘church’. As we consider the episode in Acts 15 commonly referred to as the ‘Council of Jerusalem’, we remind ourselves that the (true) church was something conceived in the mind of God. As such, it is incumbent on those of us who would seek to be followers of Jesus to embrace and pursue God’s vision of church and to reject all cheap imitations. The book of The Acts of the Apostles is of importance to the church of today not just as a matter of historical interest (i.e. how all this got started), but also because it’s in the pages of Acts that we can discern much of what makes up the [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/28-august-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-27-michael-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/28-august-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-27-michael-martin/#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:58:28 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/?p=2163 http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/28-august-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-27-michael-martin/feed/ 0 When the first disciples preached the good news of Christ’s resurrection, they did so not by expounding theological precepts or moral arguments but by telling the story of Israel and showing how Jesus was the culmination of that story. This week we consider why it is important for us today to see the gospel as story and to ask the question, what story ought we to be telling as we ‘preach the good news’ today? When the first disciples preached the good news of Christ’s resurrection, they did so not by expounding theological precepts or moral arguments but by telling the story of Israel and showing how Jesus was the culmination of that story. This week [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/21-august-2011-hearing-god-panel/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/21-august-2011-hearing-god-panel/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:10:43 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/?p=2155 http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/21-august-2011-hearing-god-panel/feed/ 0 A striking characteristic of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, was the awareness of the first disciples of the very real guiding presence of the Holy Spirit in their midst. Time and again we see God speaking to the church and directing its earliest missional endeavours with unambiguous clarity and specificity through visions, dreams, angelic visitations and even at times with an audible voice (see Acts 9, for example). For many followers of Jesus today, the idea that we can ‘hear’ the voice of God personally is foreign. Some Christians – particularly those who hold to the view that everything God might ever have to say to us is to be found exclusively in the pages of Scripture – regard the claim that God can speak to us in other ways with much scepticism and suspicion. And yet for many others, having a dynamic, interactive, dialogic relationship with God is the very essence of a life of faith. This week we open up a conversation about what it means to hear (from) God and some of the ways in which the voice of God can be experienced in our lives. A striking characteristic of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, was the awareness of the first disciples of the very real guiding presence of the Holy Spirit in their midst. Time and again we see God speaking to the church and [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/7-august-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-26-michael-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/7-august-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-26-michael-martin/#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:01:21 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/7-august-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-26-michael-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/7-august-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-26-michael-martin/feed/ 0 At the start of the 13th chapter of Acts, Barnabas and Saul, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, are sent out from Antioch on the first of the great ‘missionary journeys’ by which the gospel began to spread beyond Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to the ‘ends of the earth’. As we read of the exploits of these pioneers of God’s kingdom, we are reminded of the fundamentally missional nature of the church. At the start of the 13th chapter of Acts, Barnabas and Saul, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, are sent out from Antioch on the first of the great ‘missionary journeys’ by which the gospel began to spread beyond Jerusalem, Judea and [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/12-june-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-23/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/12-june-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-23/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:47:46 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/?p=2070 http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/12-june-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-23/feed/ 0 The tenth chapter of Acts tells the story of what was to be one of the most dramatic and significant moments in the unfolding story of the church – the coming of the Holy Spirit on a group of Gentiles. In first century Judea, there was a huge cultural gap between Jews and Gentiles which was mostly due to the Jews’ notion that all non-Jews were unclean and more or less persona non grata. In leading Peter to the home of Cornelius, God challenges the early church to turn from Jewish exclusivism and to invite the Gentiles into the fullness of the gospel. In many ways, the church today still faces the same challenge. The tenth chapter of Acts tells the story of what was to be one of the most dramatic and significant moments in the unfolding story of the church – the coming of the Holy Spirit on a group of Gentiles. In first century Judea, there was a huge [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/8-may-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-21-mick-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/8-may-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-21-mick-martin/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 06:11:24 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/?p=2023 http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/8-may-2011-getting-in-on-the-acts-part-21-mick-martin/feed/ 0 The first priority for Saul following his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus was to make connection with the community of faith in Damascus. For a lot of people – including many Christians – the word ‘church’ invokes a lot of negative thoughts and/or emotions, and often for good reason. Lots of Christians who have had unhappy experiences of church have given up on it, preferring to follow Jesus in their own way on their own. But not everything that goes by the name of church is necessarily what Jesus had in mind. It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that ‘the church’ is God’s thing and being part of a community of God’s people for the world is an indispensable aspect of being a follower of Christ. The first priority for Saul following his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus was to make connection with the community of faith in Damascus. For a lot of people – including many Christians – the word ‘church’ invokes a lot of negative [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/getting-in-on-the-acts-part-20-mick-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/getting-in-on-the-acts-part-20-mick-martin/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 01:32:24 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/?p=1993 http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/getting-in-on-the-acts-part-20-mick-martin/feed/ 0 Much of the biblical narrative revolves around a number of ‘main characters’ – the likes of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Jesus, Peter and Paul. But there are also many ‘minor’ characters who play significant roles in the story of God’s involvement with his creation. This week we look at one such character, a man named Ananias, who appears briefly in the ninth chapter of Acts, but whose obedience to God had a enormous impact on the course of human history. Much of the biblical narrative revolves around a number of ‘main characters’ – the likes of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Jesus, Peter and Paul. But there are also many ‘minor’ characters who play significant roles in the story of [...] http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/3-april-2011-a-big-gospel-mick-martin/ http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/3-april-2011-a-big-gospel-mick-martin/#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:08:41 +0000 Mick http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/?p=1829 http://www.theupperroom.org.au/site/3-april-2011-a-big-gospel-mick-martin/feed/ 0 As Christians, we often have a tendency to reduce the gospel to being all about ‘me and God’. But the gospel – the good news of Jesus – is that the kingdom of God that broke into our broken world through the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth is about God reconciling all things to himself in Christ – including you and me. As well as being part of God’s new creation, we are also called to be agents of renewal, to play a part – however small – in bringing the kingdom of God to fullness.     As Christians, we often have a tendency to reduce the gospel to being all about ‘me and God’. But the gospel – the good news of Jesus – is that the kingdom of God that broke into our broken world through the birth, life, death, resurrection [...]