How new laws could impact believers

“A new podcast from the Freedom for Faith group aims to keep believers informed of looming threats to religious freedom in Australia.

Freedom Matters features Bishop Michael Stead, the chairman of Freedom for Faith and diocesan spokesman on religious freedom in conversation with Monica Doumit, the director of public affairs and engagement for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and a fellow board member of Freedom for Faith. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell highlights an important new podcast.

Watch the podcast at Freedom for Faith.

Repeat the Sounding Joy: Advent devotionals with Christopher Ash — Part 1

From Tyndale House, Cambridge:

“In this four-part series for Advent, Tony Watkins talks to Christopher Ash, Writer in Residence at Tyndale House, Cambridge, about Luke chapters 1 and 2. These chapters are the focus of Christopher’s book of Advent devotions, Repeat the Sounding Joy (pub. Good Book Company).

In this first episode, Christopher and Tony discuss the birth of John the Baptist.…”

– Watch here.

Advent account a salutary reminder in self-centred times

“The Prayer Book Bible readings and Collect for Advent Sunday are a powerful reminder that the Jewish Messiah who was crucified in Roman Judea will one day return to the judge the world.

The reading from Matthew’s Gospel stresses the humility of Jesus when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy in Zechariah 9:9…”

– Julian Mann writes at The Conservative Woman. (Published in 2024.)

500 Years of Books — at Moore College

“During Sydney Rare Book Week, the Donald Robinson Library hosted ‘500 Years of Books,’ an evening that allowed attendees to handle and closely examine significant works from the library’s rare books collection.

The response in the room was remarkable. As each volume was introduced, guests leaned forward, eager to see the fine details, bindings, illustrations, marginal notes, early type, and the physical evidence of centuries of use. Many found themselves leaving their seats repeatedly, drawn toward the tables to observe the craftsmanship up close. …”

– Erin Mollenhauer Senior Archivist & Special Collections Librarian at Moore Theological College shares highlights of the event.

Bathurst Diocese Newsletter for Advent 2025

Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder has published the Bathurst Newsletter for Advent.

Please be encouraged to use it to inform your prayers: for the churches of the diocese, that they may be strengthened and encouraged – and also for the people of this large region of NSW, that many may hear the words of eternal life this Christmas, and find salvation in Christ.

Bishop Calder writes with much encouragement in the newsletter:

“Dear friends,

As we prepare to observe Advent again, I wanted to share a few thoughts. It is a time in our church calendar which has been misunderstood AND come under increasing secular influence. Advent reminds us that Christians are people who wait. We live with the reality that the world is not as it should be BUT we cling to the promise of Jesus’ return when everything will be put right. Advent doesn’t ask us to be cheerful or sentimental. It asks us to watch, to pray, and to recognise our deep need for the One who will come again.

We look around and see conflict, sorrow, failures, and tragedies. Advent puts to us that we can face these things without despair. It invites us to hold them before God, trusting that he has not forgotten his promises. Jesus will come with justice and mercy. He will heal, restore, judge and renew. That is our hope — not a vague wish, but a sure and certain expectation.

And so, Advent urges us not to be anxious or frantic. But steady. Prayerful. Grateful for every anticipation of all that Jesus’ return will mean.

Only at the end of Advent do we turn to Christmas. And when we do, we are reminded that our Advent hope is not hope against hope but is gloriously grounded in the historical reality that Jesus has already come among us as a real human being. The child of Bethlehem is the Lord of glory who will return. His first coming assures us of his second.

May this Advent renew your hope and steady your heart as you wait for him.

Mark.”

– Read it all here. (Looking for a pre-loved car? The newsletter might contain the answer.)

A Fresh Look at Romans

“Commentaries on Romans often begin with a short justification as to why the author thinks we need yet another commentary on Romans. Rosner does not need to justify his contribution, as his volume is a genuinely fresh approach to the letter. His book is not a commentary, and it does not cover every detail, but it gives readers a comprehensive overview of the letter.

For preachers and bible study leaders, this kind of theological overview can often be as helpful as a commentary which is stronger at the detailed, exegetical level. This volume will be helpful for any reader who wants to grow in their knowledge of Romans.…”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Peter Orr reviews Brian Rosner’s Strengthened by the Gospel.

MOCLAM in Mexico

“When Sarah and I arrived as CMS missionaries in Mexico in 2009, my long-term task was clear: learn Spanish, get to know Latin American culture, and see what I could do to grow the ministry of MOCLAM beyond the solid base that had been established in Chile. …

I was continually reminded that reading the Bible as a whole book with Jesus as the focus was a new concept for many of my students …”

– At Moore College, Peter Sholl, currently International Director of CMS, reminds us of the blessings of MOCLAM and the PTC.

Image: CMS Australia.

The Birth of Multiculturalism

From Phillip Jensen:

“The Australian government glories in the development of multiculturalism. However, Australian society is now straining to maintain social harmony. Consequently, the government is trying to regulate freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of religion. For while migration can enrich a country, the concept of a nation celebrating and encouraging many cultures is a recipe for failure.

In the Bible, the creation of multiculturalism was God’s judgement at the Tower of Babel. In this episode of Two Ways News, we turn back to that great event recorded in Genesis 11.”

– Hear Phillip and Peter Jensen at Two Ways News.

Centre of gravity shifts from Canterbury to Abuja – with Paul Donison

From The Pastor’s Heart, a special edition featuring an interview with Gafcon General Secretary Bishop Paul Donison –

“Paul Donison responds to global reaction to Gafcon’s reset of the Anglican Communion and its declaration that Canterbury’s time is over.

The Lord is removing his Spirit from the Canterbury–Lambeth lampstand, and the centre of global Anglicanism is shifting from London to Africa.

The average Anglican today is not English, not Western, not male — she’s a young African woman in her twenties, probably Nigerian. The Anglican Communion is now catching up with that reality.

Since the Gafcon Primates’ announcement on 16 October 2025 — declaring that Canterbury is out and that the Bible will be the foundation document for a reordered Global Anglican Communion — reaction has been electric: claims of schism, conflict in Ireland, tensions in ACNA, questions about women’s orders, realignments in England, silence from some primates, and fresh courage from others.

And what does this mean for a blended province like Australia?

Gafcon General Secretary Paul Donison joins us with an update on plans for the Global Bishops Gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, 3–6 March 2026.”

– Watch or listen here.

Bishop Donison is speaking at Moore College on Wednesday night at 7:30pm:

Fifty children escape after mass school abduction in Nigeria

“Fifty of the 315 children kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria’s Niger State on Friday have escaped.

The Christian Association of Nigeria says they have been reunited with their families. A major military-led search and rescue operation is under way for the remaining 265 children and 12 teachers who were taken with them. …”

– Report from BBC News.

Archbishop-elect looks towards a ‘new season’ in Melbourne

“Melbourne’s Archbishop-elect Ric Thorpe wants Anglicans to engage with but also challenge the collective culture on matters that might be controversial both inside and outside the church, including same-sex marriage, gender identity and divorce.

Speaking ahead of his installation, Bishop Thorpe believed his involvement with the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process taught him what worked well and what didn’t in dealing with differences of view. …”

– This report from The Melbourne Anglican gives observers outside Melbourne some idea of what to expect from the new Archbishop, to be installed next Sunday, 30 November 2025.

Image: Bishop Ric Thorpe at The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication in the United Kingdom.

Meals, missionaries, and the ‘Israel of God’: fresh light on the crisis in Galatia

From Dr. Lionel Windsor:

“Galatians is a letter with sharp edges. It addresses fundamental doctrinal issues. Yet behind Paul’s forceful rhetoric lies a very human, very concrete social situation. It’s a situation that sheds light on the theological debates about justification, circumcision, and Paul’s relationship to the law. My academic study, published as Chapter 16 in the book Paul in His Jewish and Graeco-Roman Context, offers a fresh account of this concrete situation.

I argue that the crisis in Galatia needs to be understood in light of early Christian missionary practices, hospitality, and the dynamics of table fellowship.

This new angle helps illuminate a passage at the end of the letter that has long been contested: Paul’s blessing of ‘as many as will conform to this rule … and mercy also upon the Israel of God’ (Gal. 6:16). …”

– If you are preaching through Galatians, or simply want to understand the Galatians better, do check out this latest post at Forget the Channel.

Time to book for Launch 2026

Launch 2026, the camp for school leavers, is approaching –

“Launch is the camp for school leavers keen to live for Jesus, where you will

  • Meet others who have just finished school
  • Listen to great Bible talks from Phillip Jensen
  • Equip yourself for University/TAFE alongside leaders and staff-workers

Our leaders are an awesome group of young women and men just a few years ahead of you! They are keen to help you work out what it means to align your priorities to God’s in this next phase of your life whilst having a fantastic time meeting others doing the same thing. Launch camp truly is the best investment you can make to think through how to live for Jesus!

Your Launch registration payment includes accommodation and all meals.

There will be a bookstall on camp so bring some extra money to take home some good reading :)…”

– See the link for more details and registration. Phillip Jensen asks us all to uphold the camp in our prayers – and to encourage school leavers to attend.

Living water – John 7:14-53 – Moore College final Chapel service 2025

Moore Theological College held its final Chapel service for the academic year today, 21 November 2025.

Principal Dr. Mark Thompson turns to the Lord Jesus’ words about Living water in John 7:14-53.

Watch and listen for your edification.

Everything you always wanted to know about Gafcon

From Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net –

“The General Secretary of the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon), Bishop Paul Donison, has embarked on a speaking tour of Australia, with stops in capital cities including Sydney.

‘Sydney’s really been part of the Gafcon story right from the beginning,’ said Bishop Donison in a brief call from Melbourne Airpport during his whirlwind tour. ‘One of the opportunities for coming out to Australia is to help Australians realize how much love there is for Australia and how Australia can be such a key part of Gafcon moving forward.’

Bishop Donison has already spoken in Melbourne and Hobart and is on his way around the rest of the country before the Sydney meeting at Moore College on November 26. …”

– Read here. (Emphasis added.)

Image courtesy Gafcon Australia.

After Sydney, Bishop Donison will be speaking in Brisbane and Christchurch.

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