Thursday 3th November - Paul and John's writings

 Ephesus Videos from The Bible Society - set 2 video 5

And here's the link to the video and the commentary that follows.

Music... two rather solemn items to start

Men's choir version of 'Abide with me' - lovely harmonies - click on 'show more' for the words

St Patrick's Breastplate, set by Arvo Part (again, click on 'show more' for words)

and something different...

He's got the whole work in his hands - Duncanville High School Choir

Saturday 29th October - Miletus - Paul's tearful farewell

 

Here is the Link to this week's video and commentary.

Paul meets up with all the elders at Miletus before leaving - forever.

(If you want to recap on any of the videos in Part 2, here's the link to the complete set) 

Music;

Forth in thy Name O Lord I go (one of my favourites!)

 Gloria Gloria, Taize

Thursday 13th October - The Fish - Ancient Christian Symbols

 

And the link to the video and commentary on the Bible Society Website  

We are all very familiar with the fish symbol below in all its many forms. But this shape is NOT the one in the video!

This site has more to say about the symbol that is scratched into the stones at Ephesus. There is a story that the shape scratched into the stones was used to play a game called tabla. What a wonderful way to spread the story of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire - if the story were true...

Jesu, joy of my desiring (Voces 8)

Alleluia alleluia for the Lord God Almighty reigns

Psalm 23 - You restore my soul

Thursday 6th October - The Shopping Mall

This is the link to video and commentary.

I was struck by the way the ruins in Ephesus remind me of the ruins of so many cities and towns in Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan.... the list won't be comprehensive.

I haven't been inside a shopping mall for years (think Covid!). My appetite for 'materialistic culture' has been partially satisfied by on-line shopping. However there is nothing to beat going round the shops, touching the real good rather than relying on pictures and description.

Music;

Locus iste a Deo factus est, inaestimabile sacramentum irreprehensibilis est. This place is made by God, inestimably sacred, irreprehensible.

When the music fades - Matt Redman

The Lord's Prayer in Swahili

Another version with words in Swahili and English

 

Saturday October 1st - The Second Set of Bible Trek Videos on Ephesus

 Last week we watched the final video from the first set of Ephesus videos, so here's the link to the second set.

First up is The Riot!

This is video with accompanying commentary - click on the link above and scroll down until you find the video with this picture. 

Acts 19 gives the full story.

As for music - here we go...

From the Iona album 'Beyond These Shores' - This song is called Edge of the World - click on 'read more' for the lyrics which are so beautiful 

I'm Gonna Trust in God - 1999 Stoneleigh Band

 

Friday 15th September - The one about Nike

 The video of Ephesus for next week is here and is called 

In view of how busy and involved we all are, can I recommend reading Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 onwards? It's the 'Put on the whole armour of God' bit;

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 

Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  (Good News Bible)

Here are some STRONG SONGS

Simon Cowell is pretty cheeky to this Pastor, but then the song starts....

and a lullabye (I know it is not a 'religious' song, but I always imagine Jesus singing it to me... )

Paul's Missionary Journeys

 This is the site where I found this map.

It is worth following the link to read the text on the page as well.

The other pages on the website have photographs of various places associated with St Paul's life.

12th July - Ephesus (1)

The previous posts were by way of catching up on what we have looked at so far.

Now we are returning to the New Testament, and Acts chapters 19 and 20 when Paul was in Ephesus.

Over the next weeks, the plan is to watch the Bible Society Bible Trek videos.

For the next three weeks we will use the first set of videos on Ephesus - videos 1,2 and 3. If you are using a phone or tablet, use this link to click on 'show more' under the video for all the extra information! I am not sure if this comes up if you use the links below;

The videos are just a couple of minutes long, and are of the places in Ephesus that Paul might have seen, with a commentary by Dr Andrew Ollerton. At the same time, we can read through (or listen to!) Acts Chapter 19 a couple of times.

Make sure you click on 'show more' under the video for all the extra information! 

There's also Paul's letter to the Ephesians which we we could read at the same time - it's up to each one of us to do as little or as much as we want.

We can decide next week how slowly or quickly we plan to do this. 

Short Books in the New Testament

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manuscript_Leaf_with_the_Opening_of_the_Epistle_of_Saint_Paul_to_the_Ephesians,_from_a_Bible_MET_sf1998-538-2d1.jpg

Our next 'project' was to read through a selection of the shorter books in the New Testament, starting with Onesimus (of course!)

Then Titus, Colossians, Galatians, and Philippians. I may have left some out.

I've lost the links for the Music.

We also used the Bible Society Notes