January sale at Matthias Media

Matthias media has a number of terrific books on sale – the sale “ends 11:59pm 31 January 2023, unless a product sells out first. Our standard generous quantity discounts don’t apply.”

John Chapman’s A Foot in Two Worlds is available for just $5.

“This book from John Chapman helps us understand both the joys and the hardships that we experience as part of the normal Christian life.”

Many would find it a great help and encouragement.

See what else is on offer here. (This is not an advertisement – we just thought you might like to know.)

A weary pilgrimage

“I remember going to a weekend conference some eighteen months after I was converted, and a girl there asked me if I was a Christian. I answered, ‘Yes’.

‘Tell me’ she said, ‘what I have to do to become a Christian’.

I didn’t have the faintest idea where to begin.

As I write this now, I remember well the mixed emotions that swamped me. First, joy—because more than anything else I wanted to see people converted. Second, shame—because I didn’t know what to say. Third, anger—(with myself) for allowing such a situation to arise. All these emotions muddled together produced the only possible answer: ‘I’ll take you to someone who can tell you’.

So I did that, and she was converted—but not by my words or witness.

That incident left an indelible imprint on my memory, and that day I vowed that such a situation would never happen again. In the future I would know exactly what to say.

So I set out to learn the gospel. Which I did. …”

– from John Chapman in his book Know and Tell the Gospel. Extract published by Matthias Media.

Sydney Church History — repost

We first posted this link in August 2020. As CMS Summer School at Katoomba concludes for 2023, here are even more reasons to give thanks to God:

“In 1965 John Stott, the Rector of All Souls Langham Place in London, visited Sydney to preach on 2 Corinthians at the CMS Summer School.

‘I heard only one of those Bible studies but I was so taken by the way he stuck to the text and stayed with it. He could show you the logic of the argument in the Scriptures, prior to that I had tended to get an idea from the passage and to leap all over the Bible supporting the idea from other parts, so that the people I taught knew the ‘idea’ but not the passage from which it came or how that passage fitted into some overall argument from the Scriptures. It is to John Stott I owe what ability I have to expound the Bible.’

Those were the words of the esteemed Sydney evangelist and preacher, the late John Chapman…”

– David Cook writes to remind us of our history, and how God works. At The Expository Preaching Trust.

(David Cook has served in parish ministry, as the Principal of SMBC, and as the Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.)

Evangelism in Tough Times?

Here’s the talk Phillip Jensen gave to mark the 10th anniversary of John Chapman’s departure to be with Christ.

His topic: “Evangelism in Tough Times”.

Looking at our context in Australia, he argues –

  1. These are not tough times.
  2. The has been no substantial change, and
  3. The difficulty evangelism faces is seduction and persecution.

It’s a challenging talk and is very much worth your time. Good to share too.

Recorded at Moore College, 22 November 2022.

Remembering Chappo with affection and thanksgiving

Ten years ago today, on 16 November 2012, John Chapman (‘Chappo’) was called home.

Not many are blessed with the gifts of evangelism and preaching that Chappo had – but all Christians are blessed to have the same saving message to share.

Here are a few reminders of Chappo, and we pray that they will serve to draw our hearts to Jesus:

Phillip Jensen interview with John Chapman – Part 1 and Part 2.

John Chapman: Encouragement for Evangelism – 7 minute cassette tape to encourage Christian students at Sydney University to believe and act on the gospel, prior to the SUEU Mission in June 1977. Right-click the link above to download, or listen below.

 

Phillip Jensen on Chappo, March 2013. – The Briefing, Matthias Media.

The preaching of John Chapman – Simon Manchester, The Briefing.

John Chapman – a personal reflection from Mark Thompson.

John Charles Chapman (Chappo) – by David Cook.

Chappo’s contribution to the Anglican Diocese of Armidale – Tim Stevens.

Dick Lucas gives thanks for Chappo.

1980 Photo: AFES.

The past, present and future — Southern Cross October-November 2022

From Russell Powell at Anglican Media Sydney:

“Southern Cross should be in your churches by this weekend [or next], seeking to encourage Sydney Anglicans about the past, present, and future.

The past is the great impact of John Chapman, through a new book on his ministry and influence from Dr Baden Stace.

The present includes stories on what happened at Synod and the new Album by Sydney’s own City Alight, with great new music for our churches.

The future is the new ministry areas in the Greenfields (as well as the changing face of Brownfields).”

You can download your PDF copy now at magazine.sydneyanglicans.net.

Scripture Alone — David Cook

Even if you haven’t, David Cook has seen the preaching and the damage done –

“Coming from a Presbyterian background I had personally experienced the destructive effect of modernism or liberalism; preaching was hesitant, indefinite, and unclear. There certainly was no sense of authority. All one could say, after hearing a sermon, was that the minister believed in some sort of divine being!”

He writes at The Expository Preaching Trust:

Attending Bible College in the 1960s involved a two-year course, each year having three terms.

This meant that six areas of Systematic Theology were covered, the first being the foundational Doctrine of Revelation—what we believe about the Bible.

Entering Moore College in 1973 meant attending the transformational lectures of DB Knox as he led us through TC Hammond’s, ‘In Understanding Be Men’, the first chapter of which is entitled, ‘Final Authority in Matters of Faith’.

All other doctrines flow from a right understanding of what we believe the Bible is, its source, its nature and its purpose.

Coming from a Presbyterian background I had personally experienced the destructive effect of modernism or liberalism; preaching was hesitant, indefinite, and unclear. There certainly was no sense of authority. All one could say, after hearing a sermon, was that the minister believed in some sort of divine being!

The available Presbyterian Theological Schools, with a non-commitment to the inspiration of Scripture, its supremacy, authority and sufficiency, had produced a generation of preachers with nothing to say, apart from vague, theistic, positive psychology.

When Paul urges Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 to understand the times, avoid the alternatives and preach the word, all these imperatives are based on a firm conviction about Scripture’s divine source (2 Timothy 3:16).

Abandon the foundation of what God tells us about Scripture and the pulpit, and all true pastoral ministry will be lost!

Fifty years on and we need this reminder because fewer of us have experienced those empty, powerless days.

Scripture’s inspiration means that its authority is supreme, over church and culture.

Scripture’s inspiration means that it is sufficient, we need not, and should not look for any other special word from God, that extra word is at best a hunch.

Scripture is God’s word, not yours or mine, therefore we have no right to add to it or subtract from it.

Scripture is the instrument God uses to bring the lost to life and to bring the believer to maturity (Isaiah 55:11; Acts 12:24; 19:20; 20:32; 1Cor 1:18;1:21; 15:2; Eph 1:13;  2Timothy 3:15-16).

As disciples of the Lord Jesus, we share his conviction as to the authority and centrality of Scripture (Mark 12:10; John 10:35).

Thus all Christian leaders must be awake to what our recent history has taught us, and actively resist any influence to water down the central and supreme authority of Holy Scripture.

As our old friend John Chapman used to say, ‘The authority is in the text, brother. Preach the text’.

‘It is at the very root of the Evangelical position that the supremacy of Holy Scripture be held in its fullest sense… no words can too strongly express the importance of securing, beyond doubt, the unsuperseded authority of the Sacred Scriptures in all religious discussions whether of doctrine or practice’. (TC Hammond, ‘In Understanding be Men’, p.39).

First published at The Expository Preaching Trust.

Hoping Christmas is Good News

“If you regularly preach at this time and if, like me, you have been at it for forty years there aren’t too may Christmas-type verses left to preach on.

For all that, it is hard to beat the account of the announcement to the shepherd by the angel of the birth of the Lord Jesus. …”

– Short but sweet classic advice from Chappo – at The Australian Church Record.

Related:

“Do you really believe the gospel can convert your friends?” – John Chapman.

Photo: Matthias Media.

Sydney Church History

“In 1965 John Stott, the Rector of All Souls Langham Place in London, visited Sydney to preach on 2 Corinthians at the CMS Summer School.

‘I heard only one of those Bible studies but I was so taken by the way he stuck to the text and stayed with it. He could show you the logic of the argument in the Scriptures, prior to that I had tended to get an idea from the passage and to leap all over the Bible supporting the idea from other parts, so that the people I taught knew the ‘idea’ but not the passage from which it came or how that passage fitted into some overall argument from the Scriptures. It is to John Stott I owe what ability I have to expound the Bible.’

Those were the words of the esteemed Sydney evangelist and preacher, the late John Chapman…”

– David Cook writes to remind us of our history, and how God works. At The Expository Preaching Trust.

(David Cook has served in parish ministry, as the Principal of SMBC, and as the Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.)

The Sins of Old(er) Christians – Especially Pastors

“John Chapman, the gifted evangelist now with the Lord, would often say two things as he moved into his senior years: (i) Getting old is the pits, and (ii) Another year, another specialist.

He was no fan on the ageing process and, as an active man, found the breaking-down of his body frustrating and he refused to ennoble it.

I don’t mean he complained about it. He remained thankful and faithful to the end. Chappo was only doing what Ecclesiastes does in chapter 12 – being honest about the brevity of life and the pain of drawing closer to the end of it. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Ray Galea has some sobering encouragement for older Christians, and pastors in particular.

Theology or Evangelism?

“James Denney, the late 19th, and early 20th-century Scottish theologian is quoted as saying, ‘The church is healthiest when its evangelists are its theologians and its theologians are its evangelists’.

In my lifetime I have known two evangelists who were effective evangelists because they were able theologians. One was John Chapman …”

Encouragement from David Cook.

Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane remembers the beginnings of the SUEU

In 1980, members of the Sydney University Evangelical Union were thanking God as they remembered the founding of the SUEU back in 1930.

They marked the jubilee by proclaiming Christ in ‘The Jubilee Mission’. John Chapman and Phillip Jensen were invited to speak at the public meetings.

As part of the preparations, on 30 April 1980, then Archbishop of Sydney, Sir Marcus Loane (1912 – 2009), addressed the SUEU’s End of Term Service, held at the Chapel of Wesley College.

In his 19 minute address, Sir Marcus recalls the beginnings of the Evangelical Union, fifty years earlier.

Former and current members of the SUEU, as well as others, will find this a great encouragement. Listen below:

 

 

Or download the audio by right-clicking on this link.

Related: AFES History.

Photo: Sir Marcus Loane at the service, by Dane Courtney.

Chappo – Jesus claims to be the only way to God

Forty years ago, in July 1979, John Chapman spoke at a one-off evangelistic meeting for the Sydney University Evangelical Union. His topic was “Jesus Claims to be the Only Way to God”.

John had a heavy cold, but that didn’t stop him preaching Christ with his characteristic clarity and humour.

Hear his 40 minute talk here (9.7MB mp3 file). The audio quality is poor, but this recording will bring back many memories of a dear brother.

It’s also a great talk to pass on – and there are many road-tested illustrations which you could use yourself! (1980 Photo: AFES.)

Evangelism and the Sydney Diocese: Our DNA


“At the 2017 session of synod a report was given in relation to diocesan mission and church growth. While there were some positives, the general tenor of the discussion was fairly bleak.

Church leaders might be tempted to despair at the apparent fruitlessness of their efforts and perhaps withdrawal into a ‘holy huddle’. Spending all our effort on current members may seem like a more rewarding enterprise.

To take this course, however, would not only be a dereliction of the gospel mandate entrusted to all Christians, it would be a radical departure from one of the most enduring and significant aspects of our diocesan identity: evangelism. …

Evangelism in Sydney Diocese has never been easy. It was not easy for Richard Johnson. It was not easy for D.J. Knox. It was not easy for John Chapman. Yet, evangelism is an essential aspect of Sydney Anglican identity. Our society has changed radically over the last 230 years, but our mission remains the same.”

– Ed Loane calls us back to our great task – at The Australian Church Record.

Related:

In 1988, Dudley gave this address to the ACL’s Annual General Meeting – Reaching Out In Difficult Situations.

Preaching the Word, rarer than we think?

There is nothing confusing or surprising about Paul’s dying exhortation to his younger partner in ministry, Timothy : ‘Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction’, 2 Timothy 4:2.

It is not confusing, Timothy is to see that his ministry revolves around the public, open proclamation of the Word, the Word which God breathed out, 2 Timothy 3:16.

Timothy was a Pastor at Ephesus and he would have been very familiar with Paul’s pioneering work there. When Paul rehearses his method in planting the church to the elders of the Ephesian church, he speaks of preaching, teaching, declaring, testifying and proclaiming, all Word proclaiming words.

The explanation and declaration of God’s revealed Word was at the heart of first century apostolic ministry and must be at the heart of twenty first century apostolic ministry.

This is not confusing, a pastor today exercises his pastoral role by preaching the Scriptures, by correcting, rebuking and encouraging the flock with this Word.

Cut the modern day Pastor and he must bleed Bible!

Neither is this surprising, because Paul has already reminded Timothy that it was this breathed out Word of God which, ‘gave him wisdom for salvation’ and is ‘useful for teaching rebuking correcting and training in righteousness’, 2 Timothy 3:15-16. The Bible is God’s word, it’s origin is God Himself, not to preach it therefore and preach our own ideas is perverse.

The faithful preacher must set about the task of explaining and applying a passage of Scripture, be it a verse, a paragraph, a chapter or a whole book, it will always be the Biblical text which is the focus of the preacher’s attention. This is unfortunately, rarer than we think!

Instead we may have preaching which takes the idea of the text and preaches the idea in isolation from the text. We may have sermons which are addressed to all sorts of contemporary issues, which tell much more about the issue than what God says in the Bible. We may have sermons about a theme which follows the theme through the Bible in a doctrinal way, ‘flipping preaching’, which does not settle down in one passage and explain and apply that passage to hearers.

One Pastor said recently, does this mean I have to expound a passage every week? No, but realise that the week you don’t expound a passage is the week the sheep will go home hungry.

Does this mean we never preach on topics? No, it does not mean that, it means that we will never take a topic and not expound a section of Scripture in relation to that topic.

Let me give an example. Recently in the light of that very emotional confession of Australia’s cricket captain Steve Smith, I might have preached a sermon on the topic of, Why the world is in such a mess.

I would preach on the dynamics of Genesis 3, Adam and Eve receiving God’s word, but the contrary voice of the Serpent tells the lie and the lie is believed. The reason the world is the way it is, is because a lie has been believed.

I would cross reference just once, to Jesus’ description of the Devil as a liar and murderer, John 8:44, to show that the contrary voice is always the voice of the Serpent. I would warn the church to always be aware of two voices, one which speaks truth the other the lie, don’t follow the lie! Steve Smith listened to the lie that, the end justifies the means, don’t you listen to the lie, which always causes us to doubt that the Word of the loving God, cannot be trusted.

I have thus preached on a contemporary topic of why the world is the way it is, I have done it from Genesis 3, probably in a series on these early chapters. The Devil speaks the crafty lie; our parents believe the lie; God judges the serpent, the woman, the man and the earth. Therefore trust the Word of God, rightly understood and don’t believe the Devil’s lies.

John Chapman would often say in critiquing a sermon, ‘the authority is in the text brother, preach the text!’

Do you make the text of Scripture the object of your explanation and application, thus feeding your sheep?

David Robertson is quoted as saying, ‘A preacher who does not preach the Bible is like a comedian who is not funny, you wonder, what is the point’.

– David Cook.

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