Grahamturner.org articles

Study 14 – Future of the children of Abraham – Part 2

Graham Turner — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:55:02 +0300

Study 14 – Future of the children of Abraham – Part 2

Study 13 – Future of the children of Abraham – Part 1

Graham Turner — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:50:30 +0300

Study 13 – Future of the children of Abraham – Part 1

Study 12 - Firstfruits

Graham Turner — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:46:29 +0300

Study 12 - Firstfruits
This was the second of my Easter talks to Turku Free Church and was given on Easter Sunday 2010. It continues from Study 11 and shows that the third Jewish feast that is fulfilled at Easter is the Feast of Firstfruits. It then takes us through the scriptures from the resurrection of Jesus to the very beginning of eternity when the Father comes to earth. This shows the climax of what we know of God’s purpose, far beyond the time of the Messianic Kingdom described in earlier talks.

Study 11 – Why did Jesus die exactly at Easter time?

Graham Turner — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:56:10 +0300

Study 11 – Why did Jesus die exactly at Easter time?
This talk and the next were given Turku Free Church at Easter 2010. This first talk was on the Wednesday of Easter week. It continues the theme of the group study on Jewish roots and shows that to better understand the significance of the death of Jesus we need to understand the Jewish feasts in this case especially Passover and Unleavened Bread. I also share my questions about whether the traditional idea that Jesus died on Friday fits best with the gospel records. The subject of Jewish feasts continues in Study 12.

Study 10 – Jewish roots

Graham Turner — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:51:09 +0300

Study 10 – Jewish roots
This study outlines some of the consequences for the Church of its loss of connection with its Jewish roots and its rooting in Greek and philosophy instead. It is a plea to get back to understand our Jewish (or more correctly Hebraic) roots.

Study 9 – Land for peace?

Graham Turner — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:46:55 +0300

Study 9 – Land for peace?
The main points in the struggle over the land between the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea are described. The question is “land for peace” a viable option is raised.

Study 8 - Zionism

Graham Turner — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:38:10 +0300

Study 8 - Zionism
This is a study on the origin of Zionism, both Christian and Jewish from the middle 19th century onwards resulting in the foundation of the modern state of Israel. It looks at the consequences of this also for the children of Abraham through Ishmael.

Study 7 – Development of anti-Semitism

Graham Turner — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:41:48 +0300

Study 7 – Development of anti-Semitism
This lists the main events in the suffering of the Jews from the time when the Church and State became connected beginning with Constantine. It also covers the rise of Islam and the attitude of Muslims to Jews. This study ends around the time of the foundation of the modern state of Israel.

Study 6 – Roots of anti-Semitism

Graham Turner — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:40:01 +0300

Study 6 – Roots of anti-Semitism
This talk outlines the origin of anti-Semitism in the early church and the writings of the church fathers in the period up to Constantine.

One New Man

Graham Turner — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:24:01 +0200

Introduction to “One New Man”

New Generation - Raising up

Graham Turner — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:22:31 +0200

Introduction to “New Generation – Raising up”

This is the second of two talks I gave to Turku Free Church in February 2010. Based on Ephesians 4 it focuses on the “raising up” part of church vision to “raise up a new generation that will change our city”. It suggests some ways in practice that we can encourage each other to become part of the new generation to change our city. This talk is also related to the “One New Man” talk which was given at the same time and was also based in Ephesians.

New Generation - Vision

Graham Turner — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:21:00 +0200

Introduction to “New Generation - Vision”

Additional study – Children of Abraham

Graham Turner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:59:14 +0200

Additional study – Children of Abraham
I gave this talk to a Friends of Israel group in Hanko, southern Finland, in autumn 2009. It summarizes a lot of the material in the first five studies and challenges us to take our responsibility to understand and share the gospel with descendents of Abraham through both Isaac and Ishmael.

Study 5 – God’s eternal purpose

Graham Turner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:46:34 +0200

Study 5 – God’s eternal purpose
This study based on Ephesians 1- 3 looks at God’s purpose and show that he always intended to have a kingdom ruled over by his Son Jesus. Both Jews and Gentiles who have the faith of Abraham will share in this kingdom.

Study 4 The New Testament church and the Gentiles

Graham Turner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:44:58 +0200

Study 4 – The New Testament church and the Gentiles
It was extremely difficult for the Jewish early church and the apostles to accept that Gentiles could be children of Abraham as the Holy Spirit had showed Peter and as Paul was teaching. It took the visible baptism of the Spirit to convince them as we see in this study.

Study 3 Abraham in the New Testament

Graham Turner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:42:59 +0200

Study 3 – Abraham in the New Testament
We see here what the Jews thought about the importance of Abraham as their biological ancestor and father of Isaac. They were proud of this ancestry. John the Baptist and Jesus begin to challenge this pride and show that others can also be children of Abraham.

Study 2 Children of Abraham - Galatians 3

Graham Turner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:40:07 +0200

Study 2 - Children of Abraham – Galatians 3
This second talk looks at Paul’s teaching in Galatian3 showing that Christians are children of Abraham through faith. If this is true then we share the inheritance of our father. This is the kingdom but the foretaste of it is the Holy Spirit.

Study 1 Children of Abraham - Romans 4

Graham Turner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:36:44 +0200

Study 1 - Children of Abraham – Romans 4
This section comprises talks that I gave to a study group in Turku Free Church in autumn 2009 and spring 2010. The aim was to learn about Abraham and his descendents through faith, through Isaac and through Ishmael. This first talk looks at Paul’s teaching in Romans 4 showing that Christians are children of Abraham through faith.

Nicodemus - from fear to faith

Graham Turner — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:12:56 +0300

Nicodemus – from fear to faith

I preached this sermon in Turku Free Church in July 2009. I tell the story of Nicodemus through his own lips drawing on material from the New Testament. This was the second of this type of talks, the first being the story of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist - living with questions

Graham Turner — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:54:23 +0300

John the Baptist – living with questions

I preached this sermon in Turku Free Church in June 2009. I tell the story of John the Baptist through his own lips drawing on material from the New Testament, Church tradition and the book “The Cave of John the Baptist” by Shimon Gibson (Arrow Books 2005). It was a new step for me to speak through the lips of a Bible character rather than just tell the story from the position of an outside observer. I found it made the story live. The next one in this series is about Nicodemus.

God's purpose for the Church and the Jews

Graham Turner — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:19:33 +0200

Introduction to “God’s purpose for the Church and the Jews ”

This is a talk I prepared for a visit to a conference in St. Petersburg in spring 2009. I show that in fact there is not a separate purpose for Church and Jews but a single purpose for the descendants of Abraham, some biological and some not but all who share in the faith of Abraham.

Heavenly worship

Graham Turner — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:00:24 +0200

Introduction to “Heavenly worship”

This is a sermon I preached in Turku Free Church in July 2008. It is based on Hebrews 12 verses 22 to 29. I share my understanding that worship in the New Testament church was considered to be a sharing in spirit with the worship going on in the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem. This is a very different concept than the inward looking one that I used to have, which has its roots more in Eastern religion than in the Hebrew worldview.

Virgin birth

Graham Turner — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:44:13 +0200

Introduction to “Virgin birth”

This is a sermon I preached in Turku Free Church in December 2008. I look at the evidence for the virgin birth and its significance according to the Bible writers. It gives insight into some otherwise obscure passages of the Bible.

Five lectures on God's purpose

Graham Turner — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:13:40 +0300

Introduction to “God’s Purpose”

A letter to men

Graham Turner — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:07:32 +0300

Introduction to “A letter to men”

I wrote this article a few years ago for our church magazine. It is especially written with Finnish men in mind and tries to help them to see their good qualities as well as the issues they face in modern society and churches. It would be interesting to know if it is valid for other cultures as well?

The dilemma of the wounded protector

Graham Turner — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:03:44 +0300

Introduction to “The Dilemma of the Wounded Protector”

This was written about a year after my study on God’s plan for men and women (1999). It is a rather personal article born out of my own struggles to fulfill my masculine responsibilities while struggling with my inner wounds. How can a man support his wife when he himself is broken? The article looks at the question on a broad canvas considering how our problems, especially with the male identity, have arisen out of the distortion of our society that has come from our loss of contact with our Jewish roots.

God's plan for men and women

Graham Turner — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:02:05 +0300

Introduction to “God’s plan for men and women”

This study focuses on how men and women need each other and how their differences complement each other. It shows that this was God’s purpose. Since this study was done ten years before the other ones in this section it is interesting to me to see the consistency in my ideas over that time. The recent studies were done without reference to this earlier one. The new studies add additional insights.

Men's responsibility to women

Graham Turner — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:59:32 +0300

Introduction to “Men’s responsibility to women”

This was a sermon I preached in Turku Free Church in April 2008 based on the study I had done on “Paul’s teaching about women”. The main emphasis is to encourage men to lift up women into positions of leadership in the church and to support and encourage the women in that role while not becoming passive themselves.

God's purpose and women

Graham Turner — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:57:14 +0300

Introduction to “God’s purpose and women”

Paul's teaching about women

Graham Turner — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:53:07 +0300

Introduction to “Paul’s teaching about women”

How Jesus coped with stress

Graham Turner — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:09:04 +0200

Introduction to “Jesus and Stress”

This in an article I wrote for my colleagues at work who were suffering from stress. It is based on a study of the life of Jesus in the gospel of Luke. It shows how he coped with stress and draws conclusions that can help us.

Addictions

Graham Turner — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:49:19 +0200

Introduction to “Addictions”

This is the second of two sermons I preached to our church in about 2001. It is follows on from the talk entitled “Outer and Inner Driven”. That talk showed the importance of living a life driven by the Holy spirit from the inside. As we all know, there is much more than the Holy Spirit that can drive us from the inside! This talk shows how we can make sure we really are driven by the Holy Spirit and not by other impulses. I hope this talk could be helpful to anyone struggling with compulsive behaviour patterns.

Outer and Inner driven

Graham Turner — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:47:13 +0200

Introduction to “Outer and Inner driven”

This is the first of two sermons I preached to our church in about 2001. It is based on insights that I gained from my own struggles during the “Dark night” period. It is based on the concept that God does not want us to live a “religious” life in which we strive to obey eternal laws, but to live a life that arises from the Holy Spirit in us. See the following talk on Addictions for the second part.

Exposition of 1 John

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:53:54 +0200

Studies in 1 John

When God is silent

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:47:19 +0200

Introduction to “When God is silent”

This short talk I gave to a Lutheran congregation in 1996 just a short time before I passed into a seven year “dark night of the soul” in which I felt God had totally disappeared from my life.

Loving God

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:46:07 +0200

Introduction to “Loving God”

This talk was given in 2004 when I had passed out of the seven year “dark night of the soul” and found that I could once again love God with my feelings whether or not I actually felt Him.

If no Holy Spirit

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:42:38 +0200

Introduction to “If no Holy Spirit”

This talk was given to an international congregation in Finland in 1995 when Finnish churches were being touched by what was often called the Toronto Blessing. The talk raised the question of how did the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost affect the early church and what difference does his presence (or absence) make today.

Gifts of the Spirit

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:41:21 +0200

Introduction to “Gifts of the Spirit”

Body, soul, spirit,PC

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:38:54 +0200

Introduction to “Body, soul, spirit and PC

This is a short speculative article about how the analogy of a computer can give us some insights into the concepts for “Body, soul and spirit” and the difference between Hebrew and Greek ways of thinking of that.

Gazing on God

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:36:48 +0200

Introduction to “Gazing on God”

This was an article I wrote in the middle 90s after doing my study on 1 John (see the Bible exposition studies). I explore the question of why we cannot see God. I consider it one of the most profound studies I have done.

Divine Dance

Graham Turner — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:32:26 +0200

Introduction to “The Divine Dance”

This was a talk I gave in 1996 to an international congregation in Finland. In the previous year we had been experiencing in Finland what has been called the “Toronto Blessing”. I took an idea from CS Lewis about the “Divine Dance” to help people to see the role of the Holy Spirit in helping us worship and serve God.