Last Sunday, we started our Advent series where Sam and Lachlan preached from Isaiah 11:1-10. 
Tune in to this week's episode as Candy and Lachlan addresses the question 'What is the role of the Spirit from Isaiah 11?'.

S5EP40 - Advent: What is the role of the Spirit?

Happy New Year everyone!
We started our new year with a clear and sober reminder in Psalm 1 that we are ultimately blessed through God's son, Jesus. Mike also shared practical tips on how we can keep reminding ourselves of this great truth. You can re-watch the sermon on our YouTube channel.

Join Candy and Mike as they tackle your questions for Psalm 1. Questions include:
- What is the fruit referring to in verse 3?
- Could this Psalm have been truly sung by Israelites like Simeon, which Luke 2 describes as ‘righteous’?
- How would the saints of the OT have sung this without Jesus?

S6EP1: Psalm 1 – What is the ‘fruit’?

The first words of Psalm 22 are heart-wrenching: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 
In this follow-on from Sunday's sermon, we answer questions about how this Psalm points to Jesus, what Jesus and the Father experienced on the cross, and what impact all this has on our experience of suffering and death.

S6EP4: Psalm 22 – Did God the Father really abandon his Son? Will he abandon us?

At church on Sunday, we looked at Hebrews 2:5–3:6, and were encouraged to fix our thoughts on Jesus. That's what we did this week on the Extras, as we considered your questions about Jesus, perfection, atonement, and more.

S6EP6: The book of Hebrews - "Jesus was made perfect...?"

This week on the Extras, we answer your questions on Hebrews 4:14–5:10, mostly revolving around the identity and role of Jesus as the priest we need. Questions include:
- Who is Melchizedek? 
- Should we pray to Jesus? 
- Why do we need pastors if Jesus is our priest? 
We pray that our discussion would encourage you in your love for Jesus.

S6EP8: The book of Hebrews - "Do I need a priest?"

Hebrews 5:11–6:12 issues a stark warning – those who should be teachers are still drinking milk like babies, and they are at risk of regressing even further to the point that they deny Christ altogether! So what is the Christian maturity that the author of Hebrews wants for them, and for us? Join Raj and Lachlan as they tackle your questions on this week's episode.

S6EP9: The book of Hebrews - Christian maturity and when people fall away

This week Raj and Josh spent time in Hebrews 9 answering questions such as:
- Why didn’t God skip straight to the new covenant?
- Why did God use blood so much for salvation?
- How did the Israelites pick up the Most Holy Place without being killed?

S6EP11: The book of Hebrews - 'Why didn’t God skip straight to the new covenant?'

Join Kelly and Raj as they discuss the many questions that came through from last Sunday's sermon on Hebrews 10:19-25. Some questions included were:
- What does apostasy mean and can you provide an example?
- What are the importance of meeting together?
- How do we encourage people who are not at church to 'keep meeting'?
- What can we do when we want to continue in Christ but we don't feel connected or cared for?
- What can teenagers do to communicate with their non-Christian parents the important of coming to church regularly?

S6EP12: The book of Hebrews - 'The issue of meeting together'

In this extra episode of The Extras, Peter and Lachlan explore some of the questions that were raised during our Stretch events, where we came together to stretch our thinking about what the whole Bible says about perseverance in Christian salvation. 
We couldn't tackle all the questions, and wanted to encourage those who came along to continue thinking about these issues, so here are some other resources you might like to turn to as you continue wrestling with God's Word:

- Handout from the Stretch Event (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mfBWYfcCdnQhtNtj0TdfVg1D9XoU6DFd/view?usp=sharing)

- God's Sovereign Mercy: a teaching series on Romans 9–11 at St Paul's, from 2021 (https://stpaulsanglican.org.au/romans-9-11/)
Included in this series are three extended episodes of The Extras on questions about predestination, alongside sermons in Romans 9 that taught on this topic

- Andrew Heard, Can Christians Fall Away? (https://evchurch.info/can-christians-fall-away/)
This is a relatively brief article, outlining one synthesis of the warning passages in discussion with some alternative options.

- J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (IVP, 2010). This 136 page book is a classic. It helps you grapple with what the Bible teaches on God's sovereignty in salvation, and some of the implications that has for evangelism but also for the broader Christian life.

- Thomas R. Schreiner, Run to Win the Prize: Perseverance in the New Testament (Crossway, 2010). A brief 128 page book to which Peter referred at the Stretch event and in this episode

- The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands (or The Canons of Dort) (https://crca.org.au/about-the-crca/beliefs/the-canons-of-dort)
For those who want to read something detailed, nuanced, precise and systematically structured, you can try tackling some of these Canons. Most relevant to the discussion at the Stretch events is the section entitled ‘The Perseverance of the Saints’.

S6EP14: Stretch – Running with Perseverance

The book of Ezekiel has been raising many questions, and chapter 5 seems to have particularly prompted reflection.
- How do we cope with this teaching about God's judgment? 
- Are children also under God's judgment? 
- Were the remnant righteous? 
- How can we love our enemies? 
- And how can we repent of comfortable, affluent, Christianity? 
Listen as Lachlan and Sam discuss these significant questions.

S6EP20: Ezekiel 5 – The judgment of God, the love of enemies, and the sin of greed

Join Sam and Lachlan as they tackle your questions from Ezekiel 7. Questions include:
- What is Jerusalem’s conduct?

- In light of the New Testament, can Ezekiel 7 show hope before the New Testament was written? Could people take any hope out of that passage?

- God’s judgement is on the nation except for a remnant. To relate the lesson of God’s punishment more clearly to our world, should we view the doomed nation as also having people of faith in their midst, and those will suffer the punishment brought on the collective ‘nation of Israel’?

- Is there a link between Ezekiel 7 and the Kingdom of Jesus? Noting the similarities of Mark 1:15 and the passage today in "The time has come" 

- If we are to be patient in the injustice of being under paid should we be advocating for reducing the wage gap or for people in positions that are being underpaid or their payment does not equate to what they do? 

- What routine is helpful to overcome spiritual forgetfulness?

S6EP22: Ezekiel 7 - 'The Time is Up.'

Join Lachlan and Peter on this episode as they work through your questions from Matthew 20:17-34.
Questions included:

- Why does the mum of the two disciples ask Jesus the question, instead of the disciples themselves?

- Jesus could see the 2 blind men and knew what they wanted so why did he ask "what do u want me to do?" (v32)

- Would it be different if the sons said “No” to their ability to drink the cup? The “yes” answer seems to have been glossed over by Jesus, where I would have expected him to pull them up for this… why did Jesus not pull them up?

- In Matthew 20:23, Jesus said it is for those whom has prepared by the father. Is that people? or the holy spirit? Or…?

- Believers have been released from the power of sin because Jesus has paid for our ransom. We are not enslaved by sin anymore and we now serving King Jesus (v28). Who did Jesus actually pay the ransom to?

- How can we as modern day people and Christian’s make sense of glorifying being a “slave” in terms of serving one another given the history of how humans have traditionally treated slaves – horribly? And thinking through the concept of being a slave in servitude of Christ, in a way that is not degrading or encouraging the treatment of slaves that has occurred throughout history?

S6EP29: Matthew 20:17-34 - 'Who did Jesus pay the ransom to (v28)?'

On Sunday September 24, we had the great joy at St Paul's of celebrating the baptism of three babies at our Carlingford Morning Church. With all the kids in the service that morning, Peter Baker and Josh Everett helped us understand Jesus's story of two sons in Matthew 21. It was great! But Peter had prepared a preached more broadly on Matthew 21:28–22:14 at our other congregations, so we wanted to make a recording of that sermon available for those who were interested to hear more.

S6EP33: Matthew 21:28-22:14 - Promotion and Relegation in God's kingdom (Full sermon)

We’ve reached the last chapter in Matthew’s Gospel. In this episode Sophie meets with Raj to talk about the Great Commission. We dig into some of your exegetical questions including whether the command to ‘go and make disciples’ is for us or only for the disciples. We also talk about what this would look like practically in our lives.

S7EP09: Matthew 28:11–20 – The Great Commission!

Join Sam and Soph as they continue to answer your questions on Deuteronomy. This week: the second half of the Ten Commandments!

S7EP20: Deuteronomy 5:16–33 – The Ten Commandments (Part 2)

This week Liam joins the Extras Podcast! In this episode, we explore what 'loving the world' means. We discuss practically how to identify love for the world and how we can replace it with a great love of God.

S7EP23: 1 John 2:15–17 – You Cannot Love God and the World

Sophie sits down with Pip to discuss the questions you sent in:

1. What’s the difference between “faltering lips” (NIV) and “uncircumcised lips” (ESV)? (0:52) 

2. What is Exodus 4:24–26 about? Why did God want to kill Moses? (5:34) 

3. Is Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” contradict Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross.”? (13:02) 

4. Is there anything in the slogan “dependence is the goal” that we shouldn’t embrace? (19:32) 


Exodus 5:22–6:12 – Why did God want to Kill Moses?

Raj and Sophie seek to respond to a plethora of questions that came through. Apologies to all those who sent in questions that we didn’t get to. 
1.	Is it God or Pharaoh who hardens Pharaoh’s heart? How can both be true at the same time? And Is God unjust to punish Pharaoh? (1:53)
2.	Is Moses being deceptive when he asks Pharaoh if he and the Israelites can take a three-day journey into the dessert to worship God? (26:45)
3.	Why did Raj talk about ‘wild animals’ when talking about the plague of the flies? (30:41)
4.	What is the significance of the numbering/ordering/grouping of the plagues? (33:50)
5.	Should we be on the lookout for signs from God today? (40:14)
6.	How do we diagnose our hard hearts and how do we go about un-hardening them? (44:44)

Exodus 9:13–35 – Who hardened Pharaoh's heart?

Priest:
1.	In Leviticus 16, why are two goats used? Was one not enough? (0:39)
2.	If Jesus’ sacrifice was ‘once and for all’, why does he still need to intercede for us? (6:08)
3.	Can Jesus be sinless and yet still become sin/the embodiment of sin for us? (9:03)
4.	Was God unjust for crucifying a sinless man? (12:19)
5.	How does our Priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9) relate to Jesus as high priest? (14:58)

King: 
1.	A modern idea of a king is someone who sits in power and makes decisions. But is the biblical idea of a King more like a warrior? (17:53)
2.	How can Jesus and God have different wills if Jesus is also completely God? Why would he pray “not my will but yours”? (22:31)

Prophet:
1.	In Deuteronomy 18, are v20 and v22 prescribing different consequences for false prophets? (29:22)
2.	Do you have some practical advice about how we can be better listeners of Jesus? (32:18)


How can Jesus ‘become sin for us’ and yet remain sinless?

1 Corinthians 1:1–3: Pip and Sophie Witheridge

1.	Who is Sosthenes? (0:49)

2.	How should we think about male and female speakers? Does it matter when the message is more important? (3:23)

3.	How can we not be judgmental about a sermon or speaker when sometimes the delivery muddles the message/makes it harder to engage with? How can we improve our own delivery of the message / encourage others to do so, so it doesn’t be a “stumbling block” to the message? (7:42

4.	How can Paul call the Corinthians sanctified, if the Corinthians are so far from holiness, so far from God’s character? (19:55)

Can the messenger muddle the message?

Sophie and Peter – 1 Corinthians 1:4–9

1.	What does v5 mean in terms of 'all kinds of speech and knowledge'? Was this particularly relevant for the Corinthians or to us too? (0:51)

2.	In v7 why did Paul say "revealed" at the end of the verse instead of something like return? (4:20)

3.	What are the spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 1:7 and how is it linked to verse 6 confirming our testimony about Christ? (7:58)

4.	What does it mean for God to be faithful to a Christian who has fallen away? (11:55)

5.	If I don’t feel enriched is that due to my own sin or am I not looking and open to seeing Gods riches? Or is it that I have no spiritual gifts/am not confident in my gifts? (18:18)

Is God faithful to Christians who have fallen away?

Sophie W and Peter B – 1 Corinthians 1:10–17 

1.	The Corinthians seem to be divided over a speaker/leader's style, but what if the substance isn't there? Which can range from outright heresy to "not quite theologically sharp." Is it wrong to have preferences over theology? Or what should our attitude be when listening to a theologically poor sermon? Or doctrines we disagree with? (1:38)

2.	We don’t want to be “following Paul” or “following Apollos”, but following Christ. Historically we have named Anglican churches St Paul’s, St John’s, St Stephen’s etc.  Should we be doing this, or should they all be “Christchurch” or something similar? (10:49)

3.	Since we are encouraged and follow life in Christ and not divide ourselves between leaders but God alone, what are our attitudes towards Catholics, is it more important if their lives focus on Christ? (13:00)

4.	How do we know when assimilation is happening at church and not just engaging with the culture? / What’s the line between a church which culturally assimilates to be attractive (the ‘cool’ church that is still evangelical) and appealing to the community so people would come, feel welcome and hear the gospel? (24:28)

Is it wrong to have theological preferences?

Pip and Sophie Witheridge – 1 Corinthians 1:18–25

1.	Why does Paul alternate between the terms “Gentiles” and “Greeks”? (1:14)
2.	The cross is meaningless without the resurrection, so wouldn’t it be more accurate that the victory comes with the resurrection rather than with the cross? (5:13)
3.	You touched on stoicism, is there such a thing as biblical stoicism? (10:37)
4.	What are some top tips for living a cross-shaped life? (17:57)

Is there Biblical Stoicism?

Sophie Witheridge & Peter Baker – 1 Corinthians 2:6–3:17

From Chapter 2:
1.	True knowledge of God does not equal perfect knowledge of God. Can someone have true knowledge of God yet choose to reject this knowledge? (0:37) 
From Chapter 3:
2.	What does it mean to be saved "but only as one escaping through the flames" in verse 15 mean? (5:16)
3.	If one builds but is left with nothing after the refinement BUT saved still, then is it better not to build and not suffer loss? (9:55)
4.	Is the refining fire kind of like purgatory? (12:02)
5.	Doesn't only counting people with teaching ministry roles as 'builders' discount the responsibility of ALL of God's people to be growing the kingdom of God? (17:35)
6.	What does it mean to grow God’s kingdom? (23:54)


Is it better to not build and so not suffer loss?

1 Corinthians 4:1–17 – Sophie and Peter

1.	Why was verses 3-5 not focused on? (0:44)
2.	What does it mean to suffer as we live a cross shaped life (6:41)
3.	Does the way we live need to look like what Paul described, do we need to wear ‘rags’ or is there an equivalent for us today? (10:57)
4.	In the world of increase cost of living and financial pressures, what does it look like to follow Paul and Christ's example in the way we live? (16:24)

How do we follow Paul’s example amidst cost-of-living pressures?

Richard Wilson serves as a missionary in Italy. He developed LaParola.net – one of the biggest (if not the biggest) ways people access the Bible in Italian. Pip sat down with Richard to learn about his work as a missionary and as a Bible software developer.

Interview with Richard Wilson

Raj and Pip answer your questions from our Term 4 2025 sermon series in Mark 1–8.

Going deeper into Mark's Gospel

This week on the Extras, Sam and Jack are tackling your questions from Genesis chapter 25! 
We’re answering:

- Is there anything special about the colour Red with Esau?
- Does Jacob grow in holiness after experiencing the grace of God?
- What happens to Esau?
- What’s the difference between positional and progressive holiness?
- and more!

Episode 57 - Is holiness something we grow in?

This week on the Extras Sam and Jack are answering your questions out of Genesis chapter 25! As God commits himself to bless Isaac no matter what, lots of questions come up – like:

- If God is sovereign, and loving, why does he cause some people to born in places where there is little chance of being saved?
- What role does Abraham’s obedience (25:6) play in God’s decision to bless him?
-  Why does the Old testament suggest wealth is a blessing, while the new testament says wealth is futile?
- How does being obedient lead to opportunities to share about Jesus?
- And more!

Episode 58 - Do I have to be obedient to be blessed?

This week on The Extras, Sam Russell and Jack Day are diving in to a great set of questions flowing out of the story of God’s decision to bless Jacob, the deceiver, rather than his older and favourite brother Esau.

We’re tackling:
- What is a ‘blessing’?
- What is the difference between the ‘blessing’ and the ‘birthright’?
- Why does Isaac require food before giving his blessing?
- Did Jacob and Esau have other brothers? (verse 29?)
- Why does God use deceitful ways to bless?
- Is God responsible for the trouble, given that he chose the younger brother?
- and more!

Episode 59 - Why does God bless the bad guy?

This week on the Extras, Sam and Jack are tackling your questions out of Genesis 30. 
Lots of big questions this week!

Episode 60 - How does the promise hold up in the mess?

This week on the Extras,

Sam and Jack are joined by Kara Hartley – the Archdeacon for women in the Sydney Diocese to answer your questions out of a difficult passage – Genesis 34.

We’re answering:

•	"Shechem" is also the name of the city (33:18) - is there any significance to Shechem the character sharing his name with the city?
•	Dinah was Leah's daughter (v. 1) - if she had been Rachel's daughter, would Jacob have responded differently?
•	Why was Dinah going out to see "the women of the land" (v. 1)? Is there anything significant about that phrase? Was Dinah doing something wrong?
•	In what sense is this act an outrageous thing in Israel (v. 7)? Doesn't Israel not exist yet?
•	What do we make of the fact that Jacob's sons use circumcision in particular in their act of deception? (vv. 15-17)
•	What happens to the women of v. 29?
•	What happens to Dinah after this chapter?
•	What about males affected by violence - sexual, domestic, otherwise?
•	Since violence and silence are not the way to work with injustice, what is a godly response? What is our responsibility when it comes to issues like BLM and racism, domestic violence, the cries of our first nations, refugees, human trafficking... the list goes on and on!

Episode 61 - The mess of sin in God's world

Got questions from the Sunday sermon? The Bible has answers! A podcast by St Paul’s Anglican Church in Carlingford.

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