Reader: Danita O'Loughlin

Preacher: Jonathan Smith

Paul in Athens doesn't begin with Abraham or Moses. He begins

where his audience is - their religious instinct, their altar to an

unknown god, their poets - then moves from what they already

sense to what they don't yet know: a God who made everything,

needs nothing, and isn't far from any of us.

The sermon is contextualisation without compromise. Paul affirms

what's true in Athenian culture before announcing what's missing:

the God they've been groping toward (v.27) has now spoken clearly,

through a man he's raised from the dead. The resurrection divides

the room - as it always does.

The next question to ask - how do the methods Paul used apply to us in modern life?

What idols are we and modern society worshipping instead of the one true God?

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.
We exist to be a community of people helping people make all
of life all about Jesus.

Reader: John Hargrave

Preacher: Jonathan Smith

In Thessalonica, Paul reasons from Scripture that the Messiah had to suffer and rise, and that Jesus is that Messiah (v.3). Some are persuaded; others form a mob. The charge against Paul's community - these people who've turned the world upside down (v.6) - is meant as an accusation. Luke records it as a tribute. In Berea, the response is different: the Bereans receive the word eagerly and examine the Scriptures daily to test it (v.11). Luke calls them more noble, but even there, opposition follows.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.
We exist to be a community of people helping people make all
of life all about Jesus.

Reader : Amy Caruana

Preacher : Jonathan Smith

First we meet a girl who is doubly enslaved - owned by men who profit from her, and possessed by a spirit that speaks through her. When Paul commands the spirit out in the name of Jesus, her exploiters don't rejoice at her freedom; they calculate their lost revenue and start a riot (v.19). The demonic and the greedy had been in comfortable partnership, and the gospel assaulted both. Later, Paul and Silas are beaten, thrown into the inner cell of a Philippian prison, and fastened in stocks. At midnight they're praying and singing, and the other prisoners are listening (v.25). It's one of the most poignant images in Acts. The earthquake that follows frees every prisoner - but no one escapes. The jailer asks the question everyone needs to ask: What must I do to be saved? Paul's answer is the simplest in the New Testament: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you'll be saved (v.31). By morning, a suicidal man is rejoicing with his newly-baptised family.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.

We exist to be a community of people helping people make all

of life all about Jesus.

APOLOGIES: THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH PARTS OF THIS RECORDING. Some of the sound is indecipherable.

Reader : Danita O'Loughlin

Preacher : Jonathan Smith

This passage is full of surprising turns. Paul circumcises Timothy - the same Paul who just fought at Jerusalem against circumcision as a requirement for salvation - because Timothy's mixed heritage would otherwise bar him from synagogue ministry. Principle and pragmatism aren't always opposites. Then the Spirit closes doors rather than opening them. Stuck in Troas, Paul receives the Macedonian vision, sending them west into Europe - a pivot whose consequences are almost impossible to overstate. The first convert is a businesswoman named Lydia, who goes from God-fearer to Jesus-follower (v.14-15).

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.

We exist to be a community of people helping people make all

of life all about Jesus.

Reader : Jake Elzo

Preacher : Jonathan Smith

The council's letter acknowledges the unnecessary burden that had been placed on Gentile believers without their authorisation.

Regarding their direction to abstain from certain things, scholars generally read their intentions in one of three overlapping ways:

1. Leviticus 17–18 background. The four prohibitions match, in roughly the same order, the requirements Leviticus lays on the "foreigner residing among" Israel.

2. Table fellowship. These are the practices most viscerally offensive to Jewish believers - the things that would make it impossible for a Jewish Christian to sit at a table with a Gentile one.

3. A clean break with paganism. All four items cluster around the pagan temple - idol food, ritual meat, and the sexual immorality that was woven into temple culture.

The Gentiles receive the letter with joy (v.31), but the passage ends uncomfortably: a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark, who'd deserted them earlier, is so severe they part company. Luke doesn't judge - he simply reports it and moves on.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.

We exist to be a community of people helping people make all

of life all about Jesus.

Reader: Bek Hudson

Preacher: Jonathan Smith

The Jerusalem Council was the first big test of the early church’s beliefs. There were some Jewish Christians who believed that to be saved you also had to be circumcised and to follow the law of Moses. After much debate, the decision was reached that salvation only comes through faith in Jesus Christ and nothing else. This fundamental truth is one of the pillars that the Christian faith is built upon.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.
We exist to be a community of people helping people make all
of life all about Jesus.

Reader: Amy Caruana

Preacher: John Hudson

Today John takes us through Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, where there is a time for everything. We sometimes stress about the time we are in because we are going through a difficult moment, but John teaches that these moments will pass.

God has an eternal view of time and we only have a temporal view. God stepped out of eternity into our time so that we can step out of our time into eternity.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.

We exist to be a community of people helping people make all

of life all about Jesus.

Reader: John Hargrave

Preacher: Nathan Holland

Nathan Holland from Open Doors is our guest preacher today. Red Door Church partners with Open Doors by giving some of our income to them as one of the mission partners we support. Today Nathan is exploring what it’s like to live in an environment full of persecution and how Open Doors helps the church in these areas. Open Doors doesn’t actively try to stop the persecution - after all, Jesus said that the his disciples will be persecuted. Instead Open Doors works to help persecuted christians in a number of practical ways - trauma support, food, help to reestablish an income among other things.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.
We exist to be a community of people helping people make all
of life all about Jesus.

Reader: Jonathan Smith

Preacher: Josh Hennessy

Today Josh is looking at Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae. Paul reminds the people there that they have heard the gospel and its truth, and that it is bearing fruit, not just in their church but all over the world. He could just as well be writing that very same letter to us here at Red Door Church. The only reason why Red Door Church exists is to worship the Lord Jesus - he is all we truly have and all we’ll ever need.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.
We exist to be a community of people helping people make all
of life all about Jesus.

Reader: Bek Hudson

Preacher: Chris Varughese

In Romans 12, from Paul's teachings, Chris tells us that there are 3 things God is calling us to do to live out God's will together:

1. To be Living Sacrifices;

2. To use the gifts we've been given for service;

3. To live as a community God's way.

Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia.

We exist to be a community of people helping people make all

of life all about Jesus.