Nexus 2025: Post-conference reflections on personal and team-based evangelism

“With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, said Jesus.

It’s so often like that, isn’t it?

What you bring to a thing is very often what you end up getting out of it. The questions and attitudes you have at the outset usually determine how you hear, what you hear, and what you come away with.

So in the following reflections on the Nexus Conference that was held a couple of weeks ago, I must ask the reader to bear with the questions I turned up with. They have been on my mind for some little while, and they no doubt determined why I found the conference to be a vastly encouraging and stimulating day. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Kirsten McKinlay shares her reflections on Nexus 2025.

Thanks to the Nexus team, you can hear the talks yourself!

Taking the gospel to communities consumed by the here and now

“When I’m at the beach, a phrase I often hear is, ‘Where else would you rather be?’

For a lot of people, living by the beach is their idea of paradise. There is a strong secular hedonism that is pervasive in the culture around suburban coastal contexts. Gripped by lifestyle and materialism, you get a clear idea of where people’s hearts are, and what their idea of heaven might be …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Rich Wenden has some suggestions on connecting with “communities consumed by the here and now”.

Chris Braga: ‘I believed therefore I spoke’

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“That’s what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:13. And yet it’s a verse hardly referred to in the last few decades in discussions over who is responsible for evangelism.

Chris Braga of Grace West Anglican Church Sydney told the Nexus Conference in Sydney that 2 Corinthians 4:13 shows that there’s a spiritual reflex that internal faith (in the death and resurrection of Jesus) will challenge fear and lead to speech.

Not because we’re commanded, but because we can’t help ourselves.

Chris Braga says implications are that proclamation is for every Christian, one’s Christian faith is always public and a command is not needed to link faith to speech.”

– Watch or listen here.

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.

A pod for God

“Before Steve Jobs at Apple invented the iPod, podcasts were called radio shows. As someone who made radio shows for 30 years, perhaps I am not the best person to review podcasts. But then again, maybe I am. Because the basic rules haven’t changed much.

Rule number one is to say something interesting. Rule number two is to be listenable. Sounds simple, right? But not every podcast follows these rules, as just about anyone with a microphone and an internet connection can now be a podcaster. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell introduces a new podcast he has discovered.

The Evangelism and New Churches podcasts page has links to the Fire Up podcast and all the previous episodes on Apple or Spotify.

More than Moralism: Reflections on The Joe Rogan Podcast with Wesley Huff

“Until recently, I had never listened to The Joe Rogan Experience – one of the world’s most popular podcasts, hosted by American comedian Joe Rogan, who interviews an extensive variety of guests at length. I had also never heard of one of Rogan’s recent guests, Christian apologist Wesley Huff. Despite my unfamiliarity with both, I nevertheless decided to listen to all three hours of their conversation (admittedly with a few breaks).

Their discussion was wide-ranging, covering everything from Mesopotamian mathematical conventions to physics and cosmology, but I want here to reflect on one key issue that emerged at the very end of the episode: the distinction between a moralistic view of Christ and the worship of him, especially in our evangelism…”

– Andy Jansen writes at The Australian Church Record.

Bringing Hope to the Illawarra

“March 2025 will see one of the largest evangelistic campaigns for many years in the Illawarra region.

‘Hope For The Illawarra’, a partnership between the US broadcast ministry Leading The Way and churches in the Illawarra, will culminate in outreach events. …”

– Russell Powell has news of good news for the people of the Illawarra.

At SydneyAnglicans.net.

Bishop of Bathurst’s HOPE25 Newsletter

The Bishop of Bathurst, Mark Calder, has released his HOPE25 Newsletter.

Many churches around Australia are planning to take part in the HOPE25 “intentional season of sharing hope in Jesus” between Easter and Pentecost.

Find your copy here – food for your prayers.

Richard Johnson’s Address to the Inhabitants of New South Wales

 

This Australia Day, give thanks for the Rev. Richard Johnson, Chaplain to the First Fleet and first Chaplain to the Colony of New South Wales.

In 1792, Johnson wrote a tract designed to be distributed widely in the Colony. He gives his reasons for doing so:

“My Beloved,

I do not think it necessary to make an apology for putting this Address into your hands; or to enter into a long detail of the reasons which induced me to write it.

One reason may suffice. I find I cannot express my regard for you, so often, or so fully, as I wish, in any other way.

On our first arrival in this distant part of the world, and for some time afterwards, our numbers were comparatively small; and while they resided nearly upon one spot, I could not only preach to them on the Lord’s day, but also converse with them, and admonish them, more privately.

But since that period, we have gradually increased in number every year (notwithstanding the great mortality we have sometimes known) by the multitudes that have been sent hither after us. The colony already begins to spread, and will probably spread more and more every year, both by new settlements formed in different places under the crown, and by a number of individuals continually becoming settlers. Thus the extent of what I call my parish, and consequently of my parochial duty, is enlarging daily. On the other hand, my health is not so good, nor my constitution so strong, as formerly. And therefore I feel it impracticable, and impossible for me, either to preach, or to converse with you so freely, as my inclination and affection would prompt me to do.

I have therefore thought it might be proper for me, and I hope it may prove useful to you, to write such an address as I now present you with…”

Johnson’s warm pastoral tone, and his urgent call to trust Christ and to turn from sin, are clearly evident in this Address.

Download An Address to The Inhabitants of The Colonies Established in New South Wales and Norfolk Island as a PDF file here.

(Photo: Richard Johnson’s Address – copy held by Moore College.)

Indigenous Australians and the Christian Gospel – with Michael Duckett

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“As we approach ‘Aboriginal Sunday’ (19 January) we focus on the progress of the gospel among the indigenous in Australia.

What are the cultural changes and what openness to Jesus Christ among Indigenous Australians?

Where are we seeing growth? What are the roadblocks and opportunities for the growth of the gospel among the indigenous communities? How much has to do with the soil.  How much has to do with things that we can change?

Michael Duckett leads the Anglican Indigenous Ministry at Macarthur/Campbelltown in the far south west of Sydney and Chairs the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Ministry Committee.”

– Watch or listen here. Food for your prayers!

Related:

William Cooper – Wikipedia article.

The Lost Coin

“In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of a woman who has lost a coin and sweeps her entire house looking for it. It’s clearly not a large coin. It’s clearly not laying in the middle of the floor. It’s probably a smaller coin – somewhere in a corner.

Reflecting on that lost coin, I am left wondering about the lost souls in the world today. Particularly those whom none of us are trying to reach. …”

– 9Marks has republished this article by Mark Dever which encourages us to think about how we might reach those in minority language groups.

Related:

A very useful resource – the 5Fish app – from Global Recordings Network.

A Primer on Roman Catholic Apologetics Targeting Evangelicals

“In the late 19th century, liberal theology predicted the end of apologetics as the child of an entrenched, defensive, and doctrinaire faith. It was wrong. Apologetics is alive and well, especially on the web, where initiatives aimed at comparing different interpretations of the gospel (e.g. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, evangelical) flourish.

It can be said that YouTube has become the encyclopedia where one can find apologetic comparisons and confrontations of all kinds. The field that is emerging as a growing reality is that of Roman Catholic apologetics, especially targeting evangelicals. This seems to be primarily a North American phenomenon where religious discourse has always been characterized by religious pluralism, strong passions associated with religion, and multiple changes of religious affiliation in people’s lives.

Traditionally, American evangelicals have been proactive in evangelizing Catholics with a specific intentionality. The result is that so many American evangelicals were born Catholic and became evangelicals later in life, thanks to Billy Graham’s campaigns and the many parachurch initiatives dedicated to evangelism in universities, for example.

This is no longer the case. …”

– At Vatican Files, Leonardo De Chirico alerts evangelical Christians of something relatively new.

Related:

Same words. Different worlds. Reaching Roman Catholics. – On the Pastor’s Heart, Dominic Steele speaks with Leonardo De Chirico and Rachel Ciano on understanding our Roman Catholic friends and sharing the saving news of Jesus with them.

Image: Leonardo De Chirico spoke at the NSW & ACT CMS Summer School in January 2023.

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.

A wonderful gospel resource you might not have seen

We first posted this in 2022, but it’s worth revisiting since so few people seem to know about this valuable (free) resource:

“Have you ever been in a situation where you would love to leave a gospel message with someone but had nothing with you to give? Or the person didn’t read English and that’s the only language you have available?

Global Recordings Network has a unique solution to this dilemma: 5fish! …

The International Orality Network tells us that 4 out of 5 people in the world communicate primarily or exclusively through oral, not textual means. This means that only 1 out of 5 people are happy when you give them something to read – regardless of whether it is a book, magazine, or tract. Everyone else wants to listen or watch!

The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey in 2006 that informs us that approximately 7 million (46%) Australians aged 15 to 74 years did not reach the minimum standard required for individuals to meet the complex demands of everyday life and work in the emerging knowledge-based economy. Almost half of the Australian population would struggle to read and understand the Bible if you handed them one.”

– At AP (The Australian Presbyterian), Global Recordings Network’s Christine Platt makes a case for 5fish.

Watch the 75 second video below to see how 5fish works.

Consider sharing the video, and links to 5fish, with members of your church.

(We understand the app will soon be updated to add even more functionality.)

The Increasing Value of Christian Testimonies

“Traditionally, apologetics has been concerned with defending and commending the truth claims of the Christian faith. In the 1990s Christian apologist Alister McGrath, in response to changing social attitudes, suggested that apologetics should not just be interested in establishing the truth of the Christian faith, but also its relevance. People wanted to know whether the Christian message had any impact on their lives.

Today, the world has moved on again and we find ourselves needing to address a new situation: the view that Christianity is harmful. We now need to commend the Christian faith in terms of its truth, relevance and its goodness. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Stephen Liggins has a helpful suggestion for our own personal interactions – and for church gatherings.

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