Word In Song Conference Sydney West — 21 June 2025
Here’s something which may well be of interest to churches and church musicians in Sydney’s west –
Emu Music’s Word in Song Conference for Sydney’s west. Saturday 21st June 2025.
Being prepared
American astronaut Butch Wilmore who, along with fellow astronaut Suni Williams, had an unexpectedly long stay on the International Space Station, was ready for a question in a press conference in space. (The two returned safely to Earth last week.)
Related: 1 Peter 3:15.
Prayer update from Cobar — March 2025
If you are praying for parishes in the Diocese of Bathurst, you’ll want to see the latest brief video update from James Daymond in the BCA-supported parish of Cobar.
Earlier:
New Resident Minister for Cobar after 20+ years – November 2022.
Can we remain silent? — a ‘Must Read’ post
From SydneyAnglicans.net, writing about a proposed bill coming before NSW Parliament,
“As the NSW Parliament considers widening access to abortion and forcing doctors to facilitate it – regardless of their conscience – two medical professionals urge Christians to speak out.”
‘I’ve been a doctor for 15 years and I love my work – I just love it. In general practice I’m in the privileged position of doing something I love, helping people and caring for them through all stages of life. …
if the Bill being considered by the NSW Parliament passes unamended … Christian GPs will be faced with the alternative of compromising either their faith and beliefs or their medical qualifications, and that’s a fairly nasty position to put people in.’
And this would be very good for congregations to know about / pray about this weekend. Image: SydneyAnglicans.net. Bold added.
See also:
Statement on Abortion Law Reform proposals – Media release from the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, 20 March 2025.
I bought a globe. You should too.
“I bought a beaten-up second-hand globe from a charity shop for $12.
It looks a bit faded and fragile, but it does the job. It sits in my office as a reminder that the world doesn’t end on the corner of the Google Maps screen. It doesn’t end at the diocesan or state border.
We are connected with people around the world, in ways both beautiful and powerful…”
– Michael Kellahan, Executive Officer of Gafcon Australia, encourages you to go out and buy that globe.
The Church Record’s Easter Recommendations
From The Australian Church Record:
“A few of the ACR team share some top picks for a Jesus-focussed Easter.”
– on the ACR website.
Videos from Nexus25 available
Thanks to the team at Nexus25, the videos of the talks from Monday’s conference are now available for your edification.
Talks by Dave Jensen, Dominic Steele, Chris Braga and Phil Colgan.
– See them here. Very helpful and challenging for ministry teams, small groups and individuals.
When Should a Pastor Preach Through Romans?: Thoughts from Sinclair Ferguson
The Banner of Truth has released this helpful 4 minute video excerpt from a longer (audio only) interview with Sinclair Ferguson.
Doctors’ conscience protection under threat
An important alert from SydneyAnglicans.net:
The New South Wales Parliament is considering a bill to force medical practitioners to facilitate abortions, against their conscience.
At present, doctors can object and not take part in referring patients for abortion. But the Greens party has put forward a bill that would scrap that protection for doctors and force them to refer women for abortion in violation of their conscience.
The bill is designed to expand access to abortions, especially in rural and regional areas.
Christians are being urged to voice their concerns about the bill to MPs, with the Archbishop of Sydney and the Social Issues Committee of the Diocese (SIC), expressing strong objections to Premier Chris Minns and the Opposition leader, Mark Speakman.
The letter from the SIC, signed by its chairman Dean Sandy Grant, said many will find the measures ‘morally compromising’.
“Should these amendments be passed into law, many Christian health practitioners, services, organisations and hospitals may feel forced either to break the law, or to act against their Christian convictions, or else to leave their job to avoid both of those two alternatives,” the letter says.
“No government should put any of its citizens in a position where they are required to make such a decision. Furthermore, the proposed expansion of the categories of people eligible to perform abortions up to twenty two weeks to include nurses and midwives will increase the number of individuals likely to be faced with such an unjust moral dilemma.”
The bill is in the NSW Upper House with the option for MLCs to make amendments there, and if passed it will go to the Lower House, so there is opportunity for Christians to contact MPs of both houses to express their oppiosition.
Please share and check sydneyanglicans.net regularly for updates.
– Source. (Emphasis added.)
Image: Anglican Media Sydney.
The Minister Imposter Syndrome — TPH with Archie Poulos
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“Pastors facing up to our imposter syndrome – navigating the noise that leads us to make bad decisions.
As Pastors, we feel the pressure to have the right answers to people’s questions.
We want to be able to navigate the complexities of life and church and land everyone safely at the other end.
People share with us and the hardest parts of their lives, they trust us with their most private issues, and time and their money.
And they trust us that we will handle the most complex relationship difficulties with wisdom.
We end up feeling like imposters. Who am I to lead the people of God? And how can I have wisdom here?
Archie Poulos from Sydney’s Moore Theological College has found the secular book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment helpful as he has addressed these issues.”
Words and Relationships
Phillip Jensen writes:
“On Peter’s recovery, I thought it would be good to hear his views on the topic of words and power that Genesis 1 so importantly illustrates. So, we return to the topic of words and see how they create and operate in relationships. This brings us to how they are distorted and politicised by suspicious people.
I’m sure you will appreciate coming back to the two voice podcast as Peter and I struggle through this important and highly contemporary issue of words.”
– Listen to the latest Two Ways News podcast here.
Melbourne election synod: Board members step down
“On 12 March the Board of Nominators sent a communication to synod members. The update, from the Chair of the Board Dr Jenny George, addressed five matters. …
What was very clear in the three-page update was that this task of selecting potential candidates to bring to the election synod was onerous and time consuming. Dr George wrote that a number of board members had stepped down ‘for a variety of personal reasons’. The board initially consisted of 18 members. As of 12 March, there are 14 members, who are listed in the update. …”
– Report from Penny Mulvey at The Melbourne Anglican.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
In 2013, Phillip Jensen wrote about “St. Patrick – The Irish Evangelical” –
“St Patrick’s Day is a Saint’s day. There is nothing wrong with celebrating saint’s days, though there is nothing particularly right either. As our Apostle says: ‘One man esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind’ (Romans 14:5). …
Legendary stories make it hard to know the truth about early saints. …
However, the problems of saints and saint’s days should not stand in the way of remembering, with gratitude, those whom God has used in the past to spread the gospel and contribute to the welfare of the world.”
How Marriage Vows Work
“One profound privilege of pastoral ministry is officiating weddings. It’s always an honor to be asked by a couple to perform their ceremony and help shape one of the most significant moments of their lives. Yet there are five words I dread hearing: ‘We wrote our own vows.’…”
– While Anglican ministers don’t have latitude when it comes to customising wedding vows, it’s a common enough request. At The Gospel Coalition, Joe Carter has some helpful thoughts.
Old Preaching
“The greatest challenge in writing about preaching with older people is the sheer diversity of older people, their needs and backgrounds. So, this blog provides some thoughts, you will need wisdom to apply them to your context. As preaching requires both exegetical content and public speaking skills, I will start with the question of content and finish with some quick public speaking with older people tips.
The greatest content danger for sermons for older people is assumption. …”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, Aged Care Chaplain Ben Roland shares some help and encouragement.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…