6 responses so far ↓

• 1 Trev Voltz // Feb 19, 2008 at 8:43 am

  Steve it was a great talk but why did you finish at verse 25 when the rest of the chapter i think was vital to the talk, i know you will use them for the talk on boasting but to me they really would have finished the talk of better .Don’t worry about time as to me listening to the word of God far out weighs the cricket or whatever may be happening .

• 2 Steve Cree // Feb 20, 2008 at 7:14 am

  Hey thanks Trev. I think you’re right that it would have flowed on nicely to get to the end of the chapter - especially verse 31 about boasting. It was tricky working out the ‘units of text’ for this series, especially as we’re moving a bit slower through the book than often might be the case. Paul’s logic is so tight and his argument so flowing, that knowing where to stop is like knowing the right moment to jump off a moving train - you just kind of want to keep going! In reality, the whole section from 1:18 to 2:5 hangs together: a weak message (1:18-25); weak receivers (1:26-31) and weak messengers (2:1-5). Having divided that section for the series into 2, the challenge was whether to put 1:26-31 with 1:18-25 or 2:1-5. Either way there were pros and cons - but I went with isolating 1:18-25 for a whole talk so we could really sit with the cross as God’s power and wisdom in salvation - and then bring it together this Sunday in terms of our response to that. Hope that makes sense.

  Regarding the length of talk - thanks for your encouragement brother! I do feel like I’m pushing the limits for some a bit when we get to the half hour mark … and although I’m greatly encouraged that some like yourself are keen for more - I’m conscious of not alienating newcomers, for example (see 1 Cor 14:22-25) - so there’s a always a balance to strike. Some prefer twenty/twenty to being there all day. Mind you, the cricket’s been pretty ordinary this season anyway…

  Thanks for your feedback!

• 3 Trev Voltz // Feb 20, 2008 at 7:54 am

  It makes sense Steve thanks for your explanation of why you finished were you did.SO how as a church can we fill the needs of those who want to here more, beside going to small groups ? I guess this is what NCCC is about.

• 4 Graeme // Feb 22, 2008 at 9:53 am

  If you want to hear more then you could go to listen to various sermons on the net. Wife and I (well wife actually, I just do the downloading) have been listening to sermons from these sites (maybe you should vet these Steve) on itunes

  Desiring God (John Piper)
  Mars Hill (Mark Driscoll)
  Sydang:latest (Various)

  Wife got an ishuffle for about $100 with which she can listen to them. There are other options such as burning them to rewritable CD’s and playing them on an appropriate CD player or just cranking up the sound on the computer as you are doing your dishes or whatever.

• 5 BG the Polar Bear // Feb 29, 2008 at 11:59 pm

  Thanks Graeme for recommending these sites. I am astonished at how many free to download talks the Sydney Anglican site had (http://your.sydneyanglicans.net/media/audio). I would add that these ipod, itune files are also in mp3 format for those of us who have a humble mp3 player (not blood-line-descended-from-Steve-Jobs and his Apple) that we bought for $1.50 in the Coles electrical isle. Not really… but soon.

  Of course at these websites I immediately fell into the trap of looking for the “good speakers” rather than the talks faithful to the cross of Christ. Um, but, hard when you haven’t heard the talks yet. Should have a 5 star rating. 1 star = didn’t touch the Bible before speaking … 5 stars = probably a direct blood-line descendant of an apostle.

  Just out of interest, Tony Payne in the recent Briefing article “Fight the good fight” (Feb 2008 #353 p. 14) makes this assertion regarding what is essential to contend with people about: “the key criterion should be whether it is a ‘gospel issue’. This intuitively sounds correct, but some care is required in defining what a ‘gospel issue’ is. It will not always be obvious.”

  I actually find this a real nagging worry in a church family. Do we all agree and know each other agrees with Southern Cross’ doctrinal statement? Do most of us even remember what is written there and what is left out because it is not a “gospel issue”?

  What do you think (christian cybernerds…) of, upon encountering an issue that may not be so easily classified as a central or side, inviting people to explain where in our doctrinal statement this fits.

• 6 Mitch // Mar 1, 2008 at 11:48 am

  I havent given your contending for gospel issues question much thought yet Bev. But in regard to you looking on net for ‘good speakers’ rather than people who are faithful to bible. Wouldn’t it usually be the case that the ‘good speakers’ you are looking for are usually ones that both speak faithfully to Gods word AND communicate it effectively to their Audience (though that doesn’t have to be through ‘beautiful speech’ as we are seeing in 1 corinthians.)

  I guess what I’m trying to say is that you are probably justified in looking to listen to the ‘good speakers’.

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