Christ’s victory amidst discouragement, criticism, suffering and sin

From The Pastor’s Heart this week –

“Christ’s victory amidst discouragement, criticism, exhaustion, disappointment and sin.

We preach Christ’s victory as pastors. But we battle discouragement, criticism, exhaustion, disappointment and sin.

What does the victory of Christ actually mean for pastors whose ministries feel painfully ordinary? What does it mean for leaders carrying the slow weight of imperfect churches, spiritual warfare, unanswered prayers and years of costly ministry?

We speak with Phil Colgan and Adam Ch’ng how suffering shapes faithful ministry, and why Christ’s victory does not remove weakness — but gives hope, endurance and courage.

We explore sanctification, spiritual battle, pastoral perseverance and the future glory.

Phil Colgan is senior minister of St George North Anglican on the Central Coast;
Adam Ch’ng is senior minister of Cross and Crown Melbourne.

They are speaking to around 1300 pastors and leaders at the Reach Australia National Conference on the Central Coast of New South Wales.”

– Watch here.

Preach the gospel to yourself

Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant writes in his Minister’s letter to the Cathedral congregations –

“Dear Friends, Jerry Bridges was an excellent Christian author from the United States, long involved with the Navigators, who died a decade ago this year.

You would benefit from reading any of his books if you can find them, from his 1976 classic, The Pursuit of Holiness, onwards through Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God’s Unfailing Love, The Discipline of Grace, and The Joy of Fearing God.

He wrote thoughtfully, and very much for the ordinary Christian in the pews.

In a number of his books, he talks about the importance of a believer preaching the gospel to yourself every day. …”

– Encouragement here.

Photo: Jerry Bridges, courtesy Nav Press.

Expository Preaching Trust expands

“The work of the Expository Preaching Trust is expanding.

As well as Preaching clubs, workshops and conferences, we now have 50 preachers being mentored by 16 experienced preachers.

The Trust began in 2012 and we are now in need of extra help.

From 1 July Michael Leong will join us for one day per week to be the Trust’s Operations Associate. …

Michael holds the degrees of Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology from Moore.

As well as mentoring and speaking at the Trust’s conferences, Michael will oversee the promotion of our website and events and coordinate the implementation of the calendar. …”

– Read more at the Expository Preaching Trust.

Random Thoughts about Preaching and Being Preached To

Canadian Christian writer and blogger Tim Challies has put together some “random thoughts” on preaching and being preached to –

“There are few matters more foundational to pastoral ministry than preaching, and few matters more common to the Christian experience than being preached to. Most pastors will preach thousands of sermons over the span of their ministry, and most congregants will listen to thousands of sermons over the span of their lifetime. This means we should think about preaching often and well!

In this article, I’ve simply collected some random thoughts on the subject and have alternated them so that half are for the ones preaching the sermons and the other half are for the ones listening to them. …”

Here are extracts from the first four –

“In my experience, sermons tend to grow in quality more by subtraction than by addition. Often, one of the best things a preacher can do to improve his sermon is to strip away 20 or 25% of his content as a final step in the preparation process. …

—-

Being obviously attentive as you listen to a sermon can be a great gift to the preacher. The preacher gains more than you may think from your looks of appreciation (or disgust), your attentive eyes (or tired ones), and your quiet amens (or groans). …

—-

The appropriate length, style, and format of a sermon can change over time and between contexts. We should expect that sermons preached at an Anglican Church in Sydney, a Baptist Church in Topeka, and a Dutch Reformed church in Cape Town will differ in many ways. … The challenge of any preacher is to preach the sermons that are suited to his congregation and not some other.

—

It is good to listen to a sermon with an open Bible … the preacher assumes you will have an open Bible so you can follow along with him. This is difficult to do when you did not bring one or will not open it. …”

– Be encouraged to take the time to read and ponder them.

Preaching to Meet the Need

At The Expository Preaching Trust, Bob Thomas remembers the preaching of Graham Miller (pictured) as an example to consider and follow –

“Dr Graham Miller, friend and mentor of many young ministers in his day, and now in Glory, told a group of us once that he never had queues of people lining up at the Manse door to seek counselling or ask questions – and he attributed this to the fact that he was answering their questions in his preaching.

Those of us who sat under his preaching could testify that it was profoundly simple and simply profound, firmly tied to the passage of Scripture he was expounding in careful detail as he preached serially through a book of the Bible, and that it did indeed do what he claimed it did – answered peoples’ questions along the way and to their satisfaction. …”

– Read it all here.

Photo: Banner of Truth.

(Some of Graham Miller’s audio messages, recorded in 1959, can be found here.)

Fish Must Fish

Campbell Markham at Scots’ Church in Fremantle reminds us of the Great Commission –

“Jesus makes disciples who make disciples (Matthew 4:18–22).

Cruise liner or battleship? Rest home or fort? Resort or gymnasium? What is the Christian Church supposed to be?

Though our forebears rest rejoicing in heaven as the Church Triumphant, we yet labour and fight on earth for Christ as the Church Militant.

Jesus stamped this fact on his church – permanently, deeply – when he called his first followers whilst simultaneously calling them to call other followers to him. …”

– Read it all at AP, the Australian Presbyterian online journal.

Nikhil’s youth leaders persistence made all the difference

Encouraging testimony from Nikhil Kurien, Assistant minister at Narellan, via SydneyAnglicans.net –

“My parents migrated to Australia the year before I was born, and were part of an Indian Reformed denomination. In Sydney, Anglicanism was the closest, so my parents from an early stage went to Anglican churches.

I grew up with all of the benefits of being in church, hearing Bible stories, knowing Scripture, but feeling bored by it. I had all of the precious truths in front of me but never appreciated what I had.

The turning point for me was late high school. …”

– Read here.

You can find this, and other encouraging testimonies, in the March-April 2026 Southern Cross magazine.  Photo: SydneyAnglicans.net.

Moore Matters Autumn 2026

The Autumn 2026 issue of Moore College’s Moore Matters is now on their website – and printed copies will be in many churches.

Celebrating the college’s 170th birthday, this is a terrific issue – not just about history, but a number of encouraging stories about what the Lord is doing today in Sydney, and further afield.

– Download your copy here.

Satan wants you alone this Sunday

“A war is raging in your church. I’m not alluding to drama among the deacons or complaints by a few congregants. I’m talking about a battle that is not ‘against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 6:12). Satan wars against our faith, but God promises to hold us fast. And one of the ways he sustains us is through the church’s weekly assembly.

When most of us think of going to church, we don’t consider what is happening behind the scenes. …”

– Feel like skipping church this week? At Desiring God Garrett Kell encourages us to make the gathering a priority.

2026 Moore College Graduation – Occasional Address – Revd Dr Graham Cole

From Moore Theological College –

“At Moore College Graduation 2026, Rev Graham Cole encouraged graduates to consider their ambitions in ministry.

From Philippians, he pointed to Paul’s desire to see the gospel advance in every circumstance, and to the deep, lasting joy found in Christ, secure, unshaken, and not dependent on situation.

If we belong to Jesus, we are citizens of heaven, called to live lives worthy of the gospel.”

– Watch here.

Why I returned to the Middle East

“As I stepped onto the plane, it was noticeably empty. It seemed many regular travelers had decided to stay back that day. Probably because I was heading to the Middle East.

I’ve lived in this region for almost two years, having moved here for the opportunity to serve in evangelism and discipleship among university students. …”

–At The Gospel Coalition, an unnamed believer shares his or her reasons for going back.

“ My reflections aren’t only relevant to those living in this region or serving in cross-cultural ministry.”

Image courtesy adsbexchange.com showing air traffic, 29 March 2026.

The Glory of Jesus Is the Evangelism Gospel Pump

“One humid top-end wet season, we set up a pool with a pool pump to keep the water circulating. It was meant to gush water into our pool, but the pump drastically under-functioned, operating at about fifteen percent.

Imagine our evangelism like a pool pump. The gospel should be  gushing out of us, but sometimes (often!) our gospel pump is under-functioning. We might lack enthusiasm or be hindered by fear. The pump needs a fix-it job.

What is going on in your heart and mind as you think about evangelism? How do we fix our gospel pump? To have the gospel steadily and regularly gushing through us, we need our heart to be filled with the glory of Jesus. …”

– Daniel Faricy, formerly Rector of St. James’ Kununurra (picture), and now the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral Rockhampton, reminds us of why we want to share the gospel.

At The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Knowing your place – Acts 7:1-19

Moore College’s Lionel Windsor spoke at College Community Chapel on Tuesday morning.

He spoke from Acts 7:1-19 – God’s chosen place – Stephen’s speech. An encouraging reminder of the key importance of Biblical Theology.

– Watch here.

Watching a heart soften

From The Australian Church Record:

“Emma came to our church three weeks before the end of the student year. She lived across the country and was about to return home for the Christmas holidays. She told me she was a philosophy student and that she had grown up in an atheist home—which is unusual for the middle class in South Africa. This was her first time ever in church.

When I asked her why she had come, she didn’t really know. She said it just felt right. But I knew. It was the beginning of something wonderful the Lord was doing in her life.…”

– Grant Relief shares this encouragement from South Africa.

Photo: Grant and Lillibet Retief serve at Christ Church Stellenbosch.

Preaching When Opportunity Knocks

“Some years ago now, John Chapman, Sydney Diocesan Evangelist, came to Melbourne to lead a workshop for preachers. As you would expect, it was absolutely loaded with good advice conveyed with machine-gun-like speed and precision. …

Of all the standouts from that day, one thing still comes to my mind each year as Christmas and Easter approach. …”

– Bob Thomas, retired Presbyterian minister, shares brief encouragement at The Expository Preaching Trust.

Also new at their website:

Preaching Wisdom –

“The wisdom books of the Bible are Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Songs and there is a wisdom category of the Psalms, Psalm 119 being an example of a Wisdom Psalm.

The preacher of these books will never be accused of being anything but contemporary, down to earth and practical. …”

– David Cook shares opportunities to develop skills in preaching these books.

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