http://theupperroom.podbean.com Weekly messages from The Upper Room, a church community based in North Sydney (Australia) Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:53:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In John 16:16-22, Jesus anticipates his death and resurrection and compares it to a woman giving birth, a rather unexpected analogy to say the least... See also http://adventconspiracy.org Original songs from The Upper Room available on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/this-is-our-call/id331392059 http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/11/23/the-upper-room-22-november-09-dying-to-be-born-mick-martin/ This week as we move into chapter 16 of John's gospel, we bring together a number of themes we have been considering in recent weeks and ask the question, what might it look like to bear witness to the truth of who Jesus is as we anticipate celebrating the Incarnation ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/11/16/the-upper-room-15-november-09-pointillism-fractals-the-gospel-of-john-mick-martin/ Perhaps the major overarching theme of the whole narrative of Scripture, from Eden to the new Jerusalem, is that of "God with us". God's 'here-ness' is not merely a theological concept to which we choose to give mental assent. God wants us actually to experience him in our day-to-day lives. "For ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/11/09/the-upper-room-8-november-09-experiencing-god-mick-martin/ What does it mean to be 'baptised with the Holy Spirit'? Related link NOOMA Breathe | 014 Rob Bell http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/10/26/the-upper-room-25-october-09-holy-spirit-mick-martin/ This week's text is John 15 in which Jesus juxtaposes the love that flows from God to the world with the "hate" that the world has for God. What does it mean for those of us who live in the tension of being in the space where these two opposing ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/10/20/the-upper-room-18-october-09-when-worlds-collide-mick-martin/ At our gathering this week, coinciding with the start of Anti-Poverty Week, Meredith Downey reflects on her personal journey of engagement with the issue of extreme poverty. Her story begins with her experiences living in Manilla for a number of years as a young child to her current role ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/10/14/the-upper-room-11-october-09-on-poverty-meredith-downey/ In the first part of John 15, Jesus takes us to the very essence of what it means to call ourselves his disciples. http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/10/07/the-upper-room-4-october-09-true-vine-mick-martin/ Unfortunately, the recording of this week's gathering failed so we are unable to post the report made by Mick Martin and Julian Martin on their recent trip to West Timor with Opportunity International Australia. We apologise to those who were hoping to listen to this podcast. http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/09/28/the-upper-room-27-september-09/ This week we launch our first album of home grown worship songs entitled This Is Our Call and Mick Martin discusses music, corporate worship, songwriting and the album with the Upper Room music team (Chris Bradley, Julia Schmidt, Pete Downey, Dominique Maurice and Dee Teal). The album can be downloaded via ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/09/24/the-upper-room-20-september-09-this-is-our-call-tur-band/ Picking up where we left off last week, we look at how the six conversation types discussed in Peter Block's book Community: The Structure of Belonging relate to the development of a church community. http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/09/13/the-upper-room-13-september-09-conversation-part-2-mick-martin/ What if, instead of reading the utterances of God in Genesis chapter 1 as declarations of a divine singularity into a pre-cosmic void, we read them as conversations among the persons of the triune God? This week we consider the creative power of "Let there be..." conversations. LINKS Video  - 'A Small Group' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGB0ZFceebw ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/09/08/the-upper-room-6-september-09-conversation-part-1-mick-martin/ Continuing with our discussion of John 14, this week we look at verses 12-14. http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/09/02/the-upper-room-30-aug-09-working-in-his-name-mick-martin-andrew-baartz-clive-dale/ What do you do when crisis or tragedy comes your way and God is nowhere to be found? (The video clip played at the start of this message can be seen on YouTube: http://bit.ly/Wl5FO ) http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/08/27/the-upper-room-23-august-09-the-one-you-didnt-see-coming-marg-martin/ Much of what Jesus has to say in the 'Upper Room discourse' in John's gospel (chapters 13-17) provides us with insight into God's triune nature. This week we focus on one particular facet of the Trinity - the relationship between the Father and the Son. http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/08/19/the-upper-room-16-august-09-father-son-mick-martin/ This week, we experiment with a new format (a 'polyhomily') where three speakers share their thoughts on the first six verses of John 14. http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/08/13/the-upper-room-9-august-09-john-141-6-mick-martin-andrew-baartz-clive-dale/ Human beings were created by God to eat food. We consider the implications of this fact for our spirituality. http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/08/04/the-upper-room-2-august-09-sacred-meals-mick-martin/ Sometimes we can be more caught up in the idea of being a follower of Jesus than in the actual business of following him. Peter's story of denying Jesus sheds light on this distinction and shows how Jesus makes up whatever might be lacking in our discipleship, as long as ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/08/04/the-upper-room-19-july-09-follow-2-mick-martin/ 1 Peter 2:5 tells us that we are "like living stones...being built into a spiritual house" in which God himself dwells. (See also Ephesians 2:22.) At our gathering this week, we watched a segment of the documentary 'Rivers and Tides' as a kind of audiovisual parable of this scriptural metaphor. (The film ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/08/04/the-upper-room-26-july-09-living-stones-mick-martin/ Andrew Baartz revisits the first three chapters of Genesis and poses the question, what was Adam doing when Eve was deceived into taking the fruit from the tree? http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/07/16/the-upper-room-12-july-09-the-silence-of-adam-andrew-baartz/ Whenever we experience any kind of betrayal or breach of trust, our natural response is to want justice or revenge and to see the person who betrayed us exposed. In John 13, however, Jesus gives us a radically different and hugely challenging alternative pattern for dealing with betrayal. Check out the ... http://theupperroom.podbean.com/2009/07/06/the-upper-room-5-july-09-betrayal-mick-martin/