[{"id":15557,"order":0,"imagePath":"https://admin.ezystream.com/static/images/article/96a3c8c9-8826-45f8-9ac2-65bed335d9e9.png","type":"image","content":"https://admin.ezystream.com/static/images/article/96a3c8c9-8826-45f8-9ac2-65bed335d9e9.png"},{"id":15558,"order":1,"contentText":"Mike Crudge works at the Baptist National Support Centre, helping connect the u2018Team of 40,000u2019 in the Baptistu2019 tribeu2019 of Christians in Aotearoa. He has had ten years being on the staff team at Carey Baptist College in two five-year stints over the last two decades. He has a PhD in Communication and is part of Royal Oak Baptist Church.
Three weeks ago, I was walking to work listening to a bootleg (not officially released) recording of a chapel sermon from our Carey Baptist College. It was Jonny Weir preaching from 1 Timothy 2:8-15 u2013 you know, where Paul-the-Apostle writes, u201c...I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man...u201d At the start of the sermon, Jonny preps the listeners sitting in the chapel at Carey with: u201cSevere weather warning, people. These verses are forecasted for lightning and significant thunderstorms.u201d
Iu2019ve never preached on this text myself, so have never had to open myself up to that challenging process many people go through every week before they stand up in our local churches to preach on Sunday. As I clomped my way through the suburbs that morning, I realised how much I was paying attention to what I was hearing. I heard stuff I had never thought about before, such as the women Paul was not talking about in that particular church where Timothy was u2013 For me, that point alone reframes some of the tension around this passage.
My office at the Baptist National Support Centre is on the same site as the Carey campus. When I arrived at work, I marched straight to the principalu2019s office. It was early, and John Tucker was either asleep or praying u2013 I suspect the latter. u201cI just heard the best sermon since I worked at Carey!u201d I said. u201cThis needs to be shared wider in the family than just Carey students!u201d I said with my Baptist Union comms hat on, wanting the best content for the u2018Team of 40,000u2019 Baptists. u201cCan these Carey chapel sermons become a podcast?u201du2026
And here we are: Carey is the college of the 250 Baptist churches and faith communities throughout New Zealand u2013 theu2019 40,000u2019 people that make up these churches now have an opening into their college to hear our world-class biblical scholars and theologians preach short biblical sermons.
The podcast is called CareyOPEN.
This year, Carey students gather each week during teaching time to hear lecturers and guests open up the scriptures on the theme u2018Mentored for Ministryu2019. They are working their way through the New Testament pastoral letters of Timothy and Titus. There will be at least 20 of these sermons preached and now dropped onto the CareyOPEN podcast for us all to learn from.
The line-up so far
1 Timothy 1:1-11 u2013 Jonathan Robinson: Lecturer in New Testament (30 minutes)
1 Timothy 1:12-20 u2013 Christa McKirland: Lecturer in Systematic Theology (22 minutes)
1 Timothy 2:1-7 u2013 George Wieland: Honorary Research Fellow in Biblical Studies and Mission (24 minutes)
1 Timothy 2:8-15 u2013 Jonny Weir: Director of Ministry Training (33 minutes)
1 Timothy 3:1-6 u2013 Michael Rhodes: Lecturer in Old Testament (29 minutes)
Never before has there been such an opportunity to binge-listen to so many Carey lecturers preaching from the bible. u2018Followu2019 on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you know when future/weekly sermons become available.
5-star biblical preaching
Iu2019ve listened to them all so far, and from me, this podcast gets a 5-star rating u2013 Iu2019ve even written a review for Apple Podcasts u2013 as we often hear at the end of podcast episodes: if you write a review, it helps the algorithms get this in front of more people.
With one-in-five New Zealanders listening to podcasts, my hope is that the fifth of people in our Baptist churches who are listening to podcasts will find CareyOPEN for this taster of what our college produces every week. Please share this in your churchu2019s Facebook groups and newsletters. I reckon it would even make great small-group material. I might suggest it to my own Lifegroup: listen to the sermon before we meet up and use it as the basis of a group bible study.
How to listen
Listen on the Baptist NZ app, baptist.webmad.dev website, carey.ac.nz website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Thank you, Carey Baptist College, for the work you do for and among us, as your website says:
u201cStudying with Carey will transform you from the inside out, deepen your understanding, widen your perspective and energise you to make a difference in your communityu2026u201d
This new podcast lets all of us experience something of this transformation.
Carey also produces a podcast called Word, World, Work that highlights research that weaves together Godu2019s Word, the World we live in, and the Work we are called to do.
Photo by Charis Fotheringham: Mike walking down the road listening to a podcast.
","type":"text"}] 
