A New Year: Comfort and Joy…!

“With the many and varied changes around us – conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle-East and Africa, China’s aggressive acts, significant political and social divisions in the West, climate-change, gender issues, and the western disdain of Christianity – we might wonder about the future.

In the course of his ministry Jesus spoke of events that would unfold …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason helps put things in perspective.

Excellent advice from the Apostle Paul at the start of a new year

Encouragement from the Apostle Paul:

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

– Philippians 3:13b-14. (ESV)

Death Rehearsal

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)

“For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life. And 11:59 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death. …“

– John Piper shares these thoughts for the end of a year.

Evangelism in a post-Christian world – Dave Jensen

“How do we see Australia won for Christ? …

Firstly, we need to see and then remind each other that the biggest problem facing the people we know is that they are spiritually lost.

What that means is that no matter how they may present themselves to us, we must treat them with the greatest compassion possible – by telling them the gospel.”

– At the Moore College website, Dave Jensen has some real encouragement for you. A great article to recalibrate our thinking as we come to a new year.

(Emphasis added. Image courtesy Evangelism and New Churches.)

Things I wish I knew about Pastoring a Church when I was young

“I was 28 when I started in full-time ministry as associate pastor in a large Presbyterian church. I was thirty when I was called to pastor a small suburban church on my own.

I made loads of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I can’t turn back the clock but I can share these lessons. I hope they might help young men who are just starting out.

Most of these thoughts should be read in the category of wisdom or common sense, to be weighed accordingly. …”

– Campbell Markham, the minister of Scots’ Church Fremantle, Western Australia, shares a bunch of helpful reflections – providing food for thought at the end of the  year. It’s at AP, the national journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

Photo: Moore College, 1956.

Southern Cross magazine Dec 2023 — Jan 2024

The latest issues of Southern Cross magazine from the Diocese of Sydney is out now.

Copies should be available in churches, and it can also be viewed online or downloaded.

Do take the time to read your copy. Much encouragement.

Top 7 stories in 2023 (from heaven’s perspective)

“It’s the season for reflecting on the year that has been.

People are compiling lists of the biggest or most momentous events of 2023. While these lists can be interesting, I want to do something a little different here.

Rather than taking the usual perspective, I want to remind us that the Scriptures give us another view of reality and it’s one that we can easily miss or forget in the midst of everyday life.

Enjoy and be encouraged and a little bit challenged as well. …”

– Murray Campbell wants us to have a heavenly perspective on 2023.

The Sin of Selfish Ambition in Christian Ministry

“The prophet Jeremiah was inspired by God to write: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it’ (Jer. 17:9).

While it is widely applicable for many things, it functions as a particularly pertinent warning to those who would serve Christ. Even discerning one’s own motives can be a notoriously difficult thing to do. And in this regard, the words of the apostle Paul are especially apt …”

– At AP (The Australian Presbyterian) Mark Powell encourages fellow-pastors to “Take yourself less seriously, have fun, serve Christ…” – and not to promote yourself. Good advice!

Evangelistic Fire

“The Christian gospel is the most significant message ever entrusted to human beings.

It is the message of a love so strong it overcomes every obstacle in order to rescue sinful people from judgment. Jesus is God come to save us, by bearing himself all the consequences of our sin and opening up a new life of hope and joy and peace. This is breathtakingly good news, all the more so because our situation without it is so dire. The gospel of the crucified and risen Messiah changes everything. It is the powerful way God saves people (Rom 1:16). …

A friend of mine asked not that long ago where all our evangelistic fire had gone. Where’s that sense of urgency, that passion for the lost, that clarity of focus on Jesus and the salvation available only through him, which used to characterise Christians in this part of the world? It made me think. Have we become too comfortable or perhaps too fearful? Do we still believe it?…”

– Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson writes this foreword to the latest Moore Matters, Summer 2023. It has the theme of the Urgency of Evangelism.

Related:

John Chapman: Encouragement for Evangelism.

The how and why of Bible reading – and why we should do it more

“According to the recent National Church Life Survey, 47 per cent of Sydney Anglicans say they read their Bible every day and 75 per cent of them a few times a week. This is a very encouraging statistic!

During the pandemic, newspapers reported something of a revival in personal “spiritual practices”, including reading “holy texts”, prayer and meditation. No doubt many Christians also found that being forced to stay at home lent itself to reviving personal Bible reading and time with God in a more disciplined way.

The Scriptures emphasise both the importance and also the sheer joy and privilege of meeting God in his word …”

– Archbishop Kanishka Raffel encourages us to continue to hear and respond to God’s word. He writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Wanted: Catholic Pastors

“I was in a meeting not too long ago in which a pastor said that he was going to lead his church to be the first church in history that fulfilled the Great Commission.

That’s a breathtaking claim.

And it reminded me of many other such vision-casting mission statements. One of the most famous slogans has to be the watchword of the Student Volunteer Movement, from over a century ago — ‘The evangelization of the world in this generation!’ That stirring call was used by God to send thousands of evangelical Christians from the English-speaking world around the globe to share the gospel in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

But I have to be honest—I’ve always thought that famous slogan was a mixed bag. …”

— At 9Marks, Mark Dever sees the need for pastors to be more catholic.

What’s your Hope? — Revelation 21 and 22

As the Moore College academic year (its 167th) draws to a close, Principal Dr. Mark Thompson preached on Revelation chapters 21 and 22 at the last College Chapel Service.

He lifts our eyes to God’s ultimate purposes. Most encouraging.

Related:

The Summer 2023 edition of Moore Matters is now up on the College website.

Iron Sharpens Iron: An Anthology of Wise Quotations

“Sentences have the power to stay with us. They can come to mind, even years later. As I’ve prepared various talks and lectures in the last few months, I’ve been struck by this, reminding me of the power and beauty of words to deliver truth, to help us feel the truth. In God’s kindness, we can learn from the wise words of Christian brothers and sisters.

Here are some of the one-liners and longer quotations that I’ve benefitted from recently and would like to pass on to you—‘[a]s iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another’ (Prov 27:17). …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Jane Tooher shares some wise and encouraging quotations.

Meet the late starter taking up Chappo’s flag

“In Christian terms, Dave Jensen could be considered a late starter. When the figures tell us that 78 per cent of Christians turn to faith in the years up to age 19, conversion in his late twenties has made him a determined spreader of the good news.  …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell writes of Dave Jensen’s new role.

Related:

What is a Christian? — book by Dave Jensen.

Chappo?

Investment in Preaching

“With the Reserve Bank struggling to contain inflation and households facing cost of living pressure and retirees looking for return on capital, it is a good time to think about investment and preaching preparation.

There are two vital areas of investment which will yield healthy returns. …”

– Encouragement from David Cook at The Expository Preaching Trust.

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