An Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity
Posted on January 2, 2025
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From Mark Powell at AP, the Australian Presbyterian national journal:
“Glenn Davies, the current bishop for the Diocese of the Southern Cross and former Archbishop of Sydney, discusses why he helped to produce an Australian creed for sexual integrity.
This document seeks to faithfully uphold the teaching of the Bible and provide a positive vision for human flourishing.”
See The Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity.
Also mentioned:
Diocese of The Southern Cross.
Presbyterians extend hand of fellowship to Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross – August 2022.
2025 Summer Prayer Diary
Posted on January 1, 2025
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Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net has produced a very helpful resource:
“It’s summertime and we’re getting out into the sunshine, sharing the good news of the gospel and diving deep in understanding the word of God.
With the weeks packed with camps, conferences and missions, we’ve put together an eight-day prayer diary featuring some of the great kingdom initiatives that we can bring before the Lord. …”
– Find it here.
The God Who Does Not Wipe Out Rebels
Posted on January 1, 2025
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From The Gospel Coalition, part 2 in a series of 14 talks from Don Carson about the message of the Bible:
“In this lecture, Don Carson examines Genesis 3, focusing on the Serpent’s deceit and humanity’s rebellion, which leads to shame, guilt, and broken fellowship with God.
He discusses the curses placed on Satan, Adam, and Eve, highlighting the introduction of sin and the long-term effects on creation. Carson emphasizes the need for reconciliation with God, pointing to the promise of redemption through Jesus. …”
– Listen (or read the transcript) here.
Photo: Don Carson speaking at The Next Level conference in Sydney in 2016.
Albert Mohler remembers US President Jimmy Carter
Posted on December 30, 2024
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In a special edition of his The Briefing broadcast, Dr Albert Mohler reflects on the life of former US President Jimmy Carter, who has died at the age of 100 years.
The edition includes reference to President Carter’s understanding of Biblical Authority and Evangelical Identity.
I was adopted twice
Posted on December 30, 2024
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“I always knew I was adopted. Growing up, my parents were open about it – they had fostered children before adopting my sister and me.
On my shelf, I kept a book titled You Are Adopted. Whenever I had questions about my identity, I would pull it off the shelf and read it, trying to make sense of my place in the world. I remember many tearful moments with my Mum and Dad, asking, ‘Why didn’t my birth parents want me? Who am I? Where do I fit in?’ …”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Matt Redmond speaks of his own experience, and a book (The Forgetful Prince) he hopes will help children and adults to understand the most wonderful adoption of all.
Photo: SydneyAnglicans.net.
The Problem with the King’s Gospel — David Robertson
Posted on December 29, 2024
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“In a year when the Archbishop of Canterbury was forced to resign, and with continued decline in attendances in the Church of England and yet more scandals, I listened with interest to the titular head of that Church, King Charles, giving his Christmas message. Would he speak of the real challenges the Church and society are facing? Would he offer some kind of meaty message, rather than the saccharine sap we are so used to hearing? Would his message stimulate thought or provide hope to those who are in great need of it? …
I was particularly disappointed at this speech because it came only a few weeks after the King attended a church I used to belong to – St Thomas’s Anglican in Sydney – and heard a sermon from the excellent evangelical Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel. …
We continue to pray that King Charles would come to know and love the King that his mother so clearly loved and served. We need the Good News, not the wishful thinking of a fanciful ideology which ultimately helps no one.”
– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson gives his take on King Charles’ Christmas Message.
(See the full message from King Charles here.)
Why did Saul change his name to Paul? — Tyndale House Podcast
Posted on December 28, 2024
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A podcast from Tyndale House in Cambridge:
“Steve Walton and Tony Watkins discuss why Saul changed to Paul in the book of Acts.
In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul is referred to as Saul up until chapter 13, where he begins to be referred to as Paul. Steve explains how names worked in the Roman world to shed light on this name change. He also shares about some of the research he has done in the book of Acts over several years.”
– If you are reading the Book of Acts, you’ll find this most interesting. 29 minutes on YouTube.
Taking his own medicine
Posted on December 26, 2024
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“Friends in Christ, Christmas Eve is the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy, which hit Darwin at about 10pm, December 24, 1974. …
Boxing Day is the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, which hit on 26 December, 2004 … It is the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century so far. …”
– Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant reflects in the Cathedral newsletter.
Image: USGS Preliminary Earthquake Report, 26 December 2004.
Hoping Christmas is Good News
Posted on December 25, 2024
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“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.
Bishop of Canberra-Goulburn’s Christmas message 2024
Posted on December 25, 2024
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“Light in the Darkness
Even down-under, where the days are growing longer and hotter, we find ourselves drawn to the imagery of candles as Christmas approaches. That’s because light shining in darkness is a powerful picture of what Christmas can mean for us.
One of the four New Testament accounts of Jesus life, the gospel of John, doesn’t begin with the events of Christmas. There’s no Joseph and Mary, no baby, no shepherds and certainly no donkey. Instead, the gospel begins with a profound meditation and reflection on the significance of these events and how they fit into God’s purposes for humanity and the whole of creation …”
– Read Bishop Mark Short’s Christmas message from the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn for 2024. (PDF file.)
GSFA Chairman’s Christmas Message and Year-end Review
Posted on December 25, 2024
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“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
Isaiah 9:6-7a.
My dear brothers and sisters,
At Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of God’s promise. The long-awaited Messiah has come and where he is present the curse of sin is broken and the reign of God breaks in. Isaiah prophecies that ‘the government shall be upon his shoulder’ and while we shall not see its fulness until he returns in glory, wherever Christ is proclaimed faithfully we see the blessings of his kingdom. Men, women and children of every nation are born again to a living hope, sin and evil lose their power, and relationships are restored. …”
– Archbishop Dr Justin Badi, Chairman of the GSFA Steering Committee, shares this message and review.
50 years on: Santa never made it into Darwin, but Christian journo Ramon Williams did
Posted on December 24, 2024
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Fifty years ago, in the early hours of Christmas morning 1974, the city of Darwin was devastated by Cyclone Tracy.
At John Sandeman’s The Other Cheek, Jon Guyer at Panania Anglican Church shares some recollections from Ramon Williams, the grandmaster of Christian journalism, on his lightning trip to Darwin, a city ravaged by Cyclone Tracy.
Also see Ramon’s account of his trip to Darwin in this 2018 interview with The Rev Keith Garner at the Wesley Mission:
Top photo with thanks to Anglican Media Sydney.
Ramon has generously shared many of his photographs with us over the years and we are immensely grateful. See some of them in these posts.
New edition of “The Link” from Armidale — Dec 2024-Jan 2025
Posted on December 24, 2024
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The latest issue of Armidale Diocese’s magazine The Link is now available for download form their website.
On the cover is the Rev. Julie Cook, just announced as the new Diocesan Deacon for Women.
Download your copy here (PDF file) – and do pray for the continued ministry of the gospel in the Diocese of Armidale.
That You May Believe
Posted on December 23, 2024
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Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31)
“I feel so strongly that among those of us who have grown up in church and who can recite the great doctrines of our faith in our sleep, and yet who can yawn through the Apostles’ Creed — that among us something must be done to help us once more feel the awe, the fear, the astonishment, the wonder of the Son of God, begotten by the Father from all eternity, reflecting all the glory of God, being the very image of his person, through whom all things were created, upholding the universe by the word of his power.
– In the Desiring God devotional for Sunday 22nd December, John Piper wants to encourage us to recapture the wonder which we may have lost.
Image: John Piper via Desiring God.
O Come, All Ye Wokeful! Now CAROLS are censored by Church of England so they don’t upset other faiths
Posted on December 22, 2024
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“Priests have been told to edit popular carols this Christmas to avoid upsetting other religions.
The Church of England has been accused of ‘losing the plot’ after it urged clergy to alter Advent hymns so that congregations can celebrate the festive season ‘without causing unnecessary offence’.
Christian hymns such as O Come, O Come, Emmanuel have been singled out for depicting other faiths as being ‘outside of God’s grace’. …”
– Story from The Daily Mail.
Image from the Diocese of Birmingham website.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…