Politics and the Pulpit

Wise advice for preachers from David Cook. Some extracts:

“I am writing in October 2026, roughly halfway through the second term of the Albanese Federal Government in Australia.

The Federal election must be held by May 2028 and State elections are due in Victoria in November this year and in NSW in March 2027.

Newspoll, a most accurate polling group, has about 30% supporting the incumbent centre left to left Labor Government, 30% supporting the right wing One Nation and 20% supporting the centre right to right Coalition. …

The singleminded focus of the pulpit must be on the plan of God to call a people who follow Christ and live lives transformed by the Holy Spirit, to be Christlike representatives of the new creation, keeping focused on eternal reality. …

What applies to our sports stars and entertainers to stick to your sport and your art, keep your politics to yourself, applies equally to the pulpit.…

Keep your views of Trump, Albanese, Taylor, the Greens, and Hanson to yourself, it’s all so unnecessarily divisive and entices the attention of the sheep from where our eyes ought to be, firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus.”

– Take the time to read it all – at The Expository Preaching Trust.
(emphasis added)

Related:

1 Timothy 2:1-4: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – ESV.

Bishop J. C. Ryle on Christian Zeal – at Monergism.

Image: David at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.

When Trauma Comes to Church — What Pastors Get Wrong and How to Care Well

From The Pastor’s Heart this week –

“When trauma comes to church, how should pastors respond? And what happens when our well-intentioned pastoral care actually makes things worse?

How should pastors care for people whose lives are overwhelmed by suffering?

What do we say when someone asks, ‘Where was God when this happened?’ When is it right to speak of hope, and when might even that be too much?

What happens when someone’s trauma leads them to hurt other people? How do we take their suffering seriously without excusing behaviour?

We talk about lament, shame, the temptation to rush in with answers and what it means to rebuild.

Darby Strickland is a biblical counsellor with the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation and author of When It’s Trauma.”

– Watch or listen here.

Related:

Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (USA)

Remembrance Day 11 November — Last minute resources

Seeking to do something appropriate for Remembrance Day?

Defence Anglicans has some resources which may be helpful.

Always Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide?

From Phillip Jensen:

“Some topics are such a universal way of thinking that it is surprising to see how rarely they are mentioned in the Bible. Conscience is such a topic that is critical to our behaviour and mustn’t be undermined, yet the Bible’s teaching on conscience is more connected to its education than its slavish following. This is a tricky subject to explore.”

– Hear Phillip and Peter Jensen discuss, at Two Ways News.

I regret to inform you that Heaven Tourism is back

Tim Challies again sounds a warning on “heaven tourism” –

“I regret to inform you, dear reader, that heaven tourism is back. The genre possibly never went away entirely, but it did at least disappear from the bestseller lists for several years. Sadly, it has returned in Gabe Poirot’s 18 Days in Heaven, which was one of the bestselling Christian books last month and even made its way to the New York Times list of bestsellers—a feat most authors can only dream of. Out of sheer magnanimity (and perhaps a morbid sense of curiosity), I read it so you don’t have to.

Before I tell you what it’s all about, here’s a brief history of heaven tourism. Don Piper kicked off the genre in 2004 with 90 Minutes in Heaven, and it proved a surprise hit that quickly dominated the sales charts, eventually tallying upwards of 8 million copies sold. Todd Burpo’s Heaven Is for Real followed in 2010 with over 10 million copies sold. That same year brought Kevin and Alex Malarkey’s The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, which sold more than a million copies before Alex recanted his story and the publisher pulled it. …”

– You may never feel tempted to read any of these books, but you can expect that at least some people in your church will, so be prepared.

Nexus27: The end of Complementarianism?

Nexus27 – the Nexus Conference in Sydney – is planned for Monday 15th March 2027.

Registration is now open, and all the details can be found at their website.

Learn about the Mark Drama

Many of us will have seen reports of the Mark Drama being performed at Moore College (as it was recently) – but have you thought it might be a fit for your church?

The wonderful people at Mark Drama Australia have made two short videos you could use –

1. Mark Drama – Be Part of the Story (3 min)

This three minute video outlines what the Mark Drama is and invites viewers to host or act in a production of the Mark Drama.

This video is great to show at your church or Christian group to encourage people to attend an information session, or act in or support the drama.

2. Introducing the Mark Drama – Who is Jesus? Come and see the story (2 min)

This two minute video was created for a more general audience, explaining what the Mark Drama is and inviting people to come and see it for themselves.

This is ideal to show at your church or Christian group in the lead up to the performances.

See them both here – and there are links for more information.

Related

Five things to love about the Mark Drama – CMS Australia.

Blessed Assurance

From Phillip Jensen:

“As Peter and I consider different topics of Christian concern, it is sad to see how often old problems keep on being recycled through our churches. One such issue is that of assurance. Assurance of salvation is such a fundamental blessing of the Christian life and such a litmus test of authenticity. It is both sad and surprising to see it being questioned once more.

I hope this exploration of assurance will assist you not only in believing but also in caring for others who struggle with the gospel.”

– Very helpful. Do you wonder if you are right with God? Take the time to listen to the end.

Related:

The Global Anglican – Church Society.

Targeted and Engaged Evangelism to the Eastern Orthodox — “Certainty for Life: An Invitation to Those in Eastern Orthodoxy” by John Diacos. Reviewed by Archie Poulos. – The Gospel Coalition Australia.

New Creation Kids — a new resource from Youthworks

Next week, Youthworks is launching New Creation Kids, a Bible-centred children’s ministry curriculum designed to help churches teach the whole Bible as one connected story, with Jesus at its centre.

We’re glad to share this information from Youthworks –

A new creation for the next generation

It started with three questions children’s ministry leaders kept asking. Eighteen months later, Youthworks’ answer is ready for churches.

If you’ve ever led a kids’ church program, you’ll know the moment. A seven-year-old puts up her hand halfway through the lesson and asks a question so sharp you have to stop and think. Children grow as disciples of Jesus when church, home and their wider church family are all opening the same Bible with them. That conviction sits at the heart of New Creation Kids, a new children’s ministry curriculum from Youthworks Media that opens to churches on 2nd November.

Three questions

It began with listening. In the churches Youthworks partners with, children’s ministry leaders kept raising the same three questions. What curriculum should we use? How can we train and grow our leaders? And how can we better partner with families in discipling our kids?

Rather than answer them one at a time, Youthworks’ Ministry Support Team set out to answer all three together. For the last 18 months they have been working alongside children’s ministry workers in local Australian churches, building one curriculum that teaches the Bible richly, invests in the leaders who teach it and brings families into the conversation. Volume 1 is now ready for use in 2027.

“Our hope is that New Creation Kids will grow leaders who love discipling children and are equipped to create age-appropriate, engaging and Jesus-centred teaching times. From the beginning, we wanted to build in leader training and provide practical ways to partner with families — something that can often feel overwhelming for busy kids’ ministry teams.” – Annemarie Rivers (Children’s Ministry & Primary SRE Advisor)

The whole story, with Jesus at the centre

Children love a good story, and the Bible is the greatest one there is. New Creation Kids takes children through all of it over three years, with six months in the Old Testament and six in the New Testament each year. Along the way they work through the Old Testament narrative, the Gospels, the early church and some key topical series. Each year has four 12-week units, plus a holiday series and an Advent series. Year 1 begins in Luke and Acts, then heads back to Genesis and Exodus.

Each week, children see how that Sunday’s passage fits into one great story with Jesus at the centre. Youthworks is convinced that children aren’t disciples-in-waiting. They can know God, understand the gospel and grow in faith now, so the lessons are written to stretch them, not just keep them busy.

Leaders who grow as they teach

Children’s ministry in our churches runs on faithful volunteers, and many of them learned to prepare a Bible talk at Youthworks’ LIT conferences. New Creation Kids builds on that same training. Each week’s leader notes use the LIT Teaching Target, and instead of one scripted lesson, leaders get several teaching approaches, discussion guides, games, activities and craft ideas to make the week their own.

Every series opens with an overview of its theology, and a podcast episode for every week talks through the passage and how to bring it to life for children. Picture a leader listening on the drive home on a Thursday and walking into kids’ church on Sunday already excited about the passage.

“I’m excited for leaders to spend time in the Bible for themselves as they prepare. For leaders to have all the pieces they need for teaching children and then to create a way to teach the Bible to the specific kids in front of them each week.” – Cam Harte (Children’s Ministry & Primary SRE Advisor, Southern Sydney Region)

Sunday at church, Tuesday at the dinner table

Kids church has one hour on a Sunday morning. Families have the rest of the week. Therefore, every week comes with home reading cards for children, a weekly family discussion guide and a parent devotional that follows along with what children are learning. The passage a child hears at church can be the one the family opens together over dinner during the week. 

Every lesson has a primary school version and a preschool adaptation on the same passage, so the whole children’s ministry is in the same part of the story. That works whether a church has one mixed group or separate classes for every age, and it means parents with a four-year-old and a nine-year-old get to have one conversation, not two.

Ready for 2027

The New Creation Kids site opens on 2 November, and churches can start teaching it in January 2027, in time for the new ministry year.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul writes that if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. That’s the hope New Creation Kids is built around: that the children in our churches will come to know God for themselves.

Find out more at newcreationkids.org.

Institutional Captivity

Phillip Jensen writes,

“In this first episode of our series of topics, Peter and I are discussing institutional captivity. Christians, especially evangelical Christians, have been very enterprising and energetic in setting up Christian organisations and institutions. But sadly, we have not been as good in maintaining their focus or original intention.

So many of our organisations have lost their way even to the extent of excluding evangelicalism. In our conversation we try to explore why and how this takes place.

It’s a large topic which hopefully will lead to many discussions amongst our listeners.”

– Listen to this week’s discussion at Two Ways News.

Launch 2027 — 26th-29th January

Launch 2027, the camp for school leavers, is planned for The Tops Conference Centre at the end of January.

See all the details at Phillip Jensen’s website.

The First 250 Books for Your Church Library

Do you have a church library? Or a personal library?

Tim Challies has just published a suggested list.

“I am sometimes asked to help churches evaluate their libraries, and to suggest the books they should add and the ones they should take away. I thought it might prove helpful to put together a list of the first 250 books that can get a church well on its way to having a great library.

No one will agree with every book on this list. In fact, by this time tomorrow I probably won’t agree with them all either. But I think you’ll still find it a very good place to begin as you attempt to build a well-rounded, trustworthy church library. I will work on a list for the children’s portion of the library next.”

– See his selection here.

Whether or not you’re building a church library, it’s worth looking through the list to see what you might have missed otherwise.

And there will be local sources for many of these books. (Great to support local booksellers like The Wandering Bookseller and Reformers Books.)

Reformation Day 2026 event

Mark Gilbert, Certainty4Eternity and Evangelism and New Churches are running what promises to be a super helpful event.

A morning helping Protestant Christians to speak with people from a Roman Catholic background about Jesus with understanding, clarity, confidence, and wisdom.

Saturday 31st October 2026, 9:15am–2:45pm at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney.

Mark also writes,

As inheritors of the Reformation, Reformation Day is a great opportunity to celebrate our identity in Christ.

But as well as that, Reformation Day 2026 will help those that come to understand people from a Roman Catholics background better so they can have great conversations with them about Jesus.

Please consider coming and bringing a team with you.

• Bible Teaching
• Historical Theology
• Applied Theology
• Evangelistic Tips
• Wonderful Testimonies
• Stephen Shead playing the grand piano
• Curated Bookstall
• Free Food

What’s not to love?

See the promo video below – and reserve your spot.

A Toolkit for Preachers

Presbyterian Minister Dr Peter Moore (graduate of Moore College and Christ College, and well known to many Sydney Anglicans through his mentoring ministry) has begun publishing “A Preacher’s Toolkit” as an encouragement and help to preachers:

“Clarity is a great virtue in preaching. And for clarity in what others hear, we need to ruthlessly eliminate fog in what we say.

One technique that gets rid of fog is the use of antithesis. Antithesis is placing opposite terms or meaning in connected phrases. That is exactly what Paul does in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 …” (from Principle Two – Opposites.)

– See the posts already published, and subscribe to be notified of new content.

Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne – new books

From Phillip Jensen at Two Ways News –

“Dear friends,

In this episode of Two Ways News, we welcome back Tony Payne, because each of us has published a new book this year.

Tony’s book entitled Let The Word Dwell Richly helps us understand the great importance of ministering the Word of God to one another.

My new book Written on our Hearts seeks to recover the Ten Commandments for those of us who are saved and live by grace.

This episode is not simply an advertisement for these two books, but a discussion between us about the central concepts of our publications. I hope you enjoy the discussion—and that you buy and read the books.”

– Listen – or read the transcript.

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