The Judges of Jesus
“Luke brilliantly plots the intersection of the eternal with the temporal (Luke 3:1–2). It was in Tiberius Caesar’s fifteenth year, AD 28, that John the Baptist began proclaiming the word of God.
He also remarkably captures the political complexity of Palestine. Pontius Pilate was military governor of Judea, Herod’s son Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee, and Caiaphas was high priest of the temple city, Jerusalem.
In the narrative that follows Luke traces the movements of Jesus within the jurisdictions of those three men. …”
– At his blog, Bishop Paul Barnett reflects on the legacy of the three judges of Jesus.
Jesus never directly said “I’m God!”: Answering our Muslim friends (Part 1)
“A common objection we hear from our Muslim friends regarding the deity of Jesus is this: Jesus never directly said “I’m God”.
How would you defend the deity of Jesus using his own words? …”
– At The Australian Church Record, Ryan van der Avoort provides some very helpful resources.
There’s no need for an epic moment every Sunday
“If you measured church life only from the tweets of some pastors, you’d assume church services are awesome for every other congregation but your own. Phrases like, ‘Killer praise band,’ ’Home run sermon,‘ and ‘Amazing stage design’ fill Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds on Sunday afternoons.
Meanwhile, at your church, the lapel mic stopped working halfway through the sermon, the Scripture verses on the screen were in the wrong version, and the date for the church picnic was incorrect in the bulletin. …”
– Maybe your church isn’t an epic church. Here are three reasons it doesn’t need to be. (Link via Gary Ware.)
Five things I learnt in Birth class about welcoming people to church
“Everyone else looked right at home. I probably did too, but in reality, I was terrified. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Dave Chiswell shares wisdom you can use this Sunday.
(Photo: GAFCON media.)
Expecting to repent
“It is a humbling experience to be faced with your sin –many of us don’t cope well with it.
We may respond with defensiveness, bewilderment, and denial. …“
– Food for sober reflection, from James Chen at GoThereFor.com.
Also see: A Soul-Refreshed Life (David Brainerd) – Reformation21.
Moore College Open Events coming up — Sept 2018
Moore College has an Open Night on Monday 3rd September, at the start of its Open Week.
Considering finding out about Moore College? This is your opportunity!
Or perhaps there is someone you could encourage to think in that direction.
See the College website for details.
‘My Body, My Choice’
“What do we worship?
If aliens from another planet were to conduct a research expedition to earth, tasked with answering this question, what would they come up with?
They might ask people, but I doubt the answers would match up with what the aliens saw all around them. Various gods would be offered up as objects of worship. Some would say, “I’m spiritual, just not religious.” Others would claim to worship nothing.
But the evidence speaks louder than words. …”
– What does “My body, my choice!” say about us? Martyn Iles from the Australian Christian Lobby takes a biblical perspective.
Four ways Christians can support our farmers
“Take a drive into the country and you’ll see rolling hills of red dirt and crispy yellow grass. The drought is crippling farmers and rural economies, and it doesn’t look like relief is coming any time soon.
‘The short version is that it’s pretty tough,’ says Rev Ted Brush, the Bush Church Aid’s NSW & ACT Regional Officer. Since stepping into the role in January, Mr Brush has seen the toll that the drought is taking on towns.…”
– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.
See also:
Archbishop of Sydney calls for Prayer for the Drought.
The confidence and hope of our calling
He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thess 5:24)
“These few simple words sum up some of the essential fundamentals of Christianity. They tell us three things about God: that he has called us, that he is faithful, that he will do. …”
– Biblical encouragement from The Rev. Alan Stubbs, via The Australian Church Record.
Passing it on
“Earlier this year I was driving my youngest son home from a school event. Not long into the trip he asked me, ‘Dad, how did you become a Christian?’
Naturally that was a question that I was more than happy to answer, and we had a wonderful ride as I shared my story with him and as he probed me with further questions. It was a precious father-son moment.
However, I must confess that I was also a bit taken aback by the question.…”
– At GoThereFor.com, David Mears shares a great reminder about passing on the saving gospel to our children.
Spirit-inspired Christian Living — Phillip Jensen
“What does the Spirit want Christians to do? What does the Spirit enable Christians to do?
There are two common errors in answering these common questions:
at one extreme, the humanistic Christians have no place for the Spirit, but lay burdens of morality upon us;
at another extreme, the mystical Christians expect the Spirit to magically solve all our problems.
But what do the Spirit-inspired Scriptures tell us to expect about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives?”
At Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living, Phillip Jensen is speaking about “Spirit-inspired Christian Living” on Monday 20th August, from 7:30pm.
The Burden for Missions Begins at Home
Encouragement from Mark Dever in this brief 9Marks video.
Being salty in a secular world: An interview with Os Guinness
When Os Guinness was in Sydney recently, Steve Tong spoke with him for The Australian Church Record.
Os spoke about the need to connect evangelism and apologetics, and the responsibility of Christians to engage with our world by holding out the light of the gospel.
Read it at The Australian Church Record.
Simon Manchester on Getting the Message Across
Late last year, Nancy Guthrie spoke with Simon Manchester about how to engage listeners.
Mark Jones ‘meet the author’ at Reformers Bookshop
Mark Jones, author of several books, including the well regarded Christian’s Pocket Guide to Jesus Christ: An Introduction to Christology, is visiting Reformer’s Bookshop in Stanmore next week (Thursday 16th August) for a ‘Meet the Author’ event.
In other news from Reformers, they have recently introduced four Pastors Packs which may be of interest to our readers.
Reformers also has some copies of Reformation Worship, edited by Jonathan Gibson and Mark Earngey, at their reduced price. (Use this link. Click through to the checkout to get the 30% discount, while available.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…