Preaching to Reach the City

Weekend encouragement:

On November 26, 2016, William Taylor spoke on Preaching to Reach the City – at the City Bible Forum in Brisbane.

Audio of his talks is available from Ann Street Presbyterian Church. Direct links to audio files:

Session 1 – Preaching to Reach the City.

Session 2 – Training to reach the City.

Session 3 – Q & A. Partnering to reach the City.

Special Religious Education in NSW and “grooming”

“Over the course of three days the local Herald newspaper here in Newcastle (NSW) has been publishing a series of misleading and inflammatory articles designed to put pressure on the NSW Government to stop offering the Special Religious Education program (SRE, or sometimes popularly called ‘Scripture’) in public schools.

Here I want to address a particularly inflammatory accusation implied or made in these articles, that SRE material somehow supports ‘grooming’ of children for sexual purposes. These accusations are completely false and should not have been made in the first place. …”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Associate Professor in Law, Neil Foster, provides essential background. Important reading.

See also: Post-truth hits NSW – Murray Campbell.

500 years on – does the Reformation still matter?

“When all is said and done, the fundamental question for every human being is, ‘How can a sinner like me stand before God on the Day of Judgement?’

Does this still matter? There is only one answer. …”

– In the first of a series of posts on the Reformation, Dr. Peter Jensen writes on the sinfulness of the human race and the danger of the soul.

Preaching as a Means of Survival

“The church’s only recourse in a secular city is to continue to do what it has always done, preach the Word.

We cannot hope that somehow we might stumble upon a third epistle to Timothy, which gives alternative ministry options to what Paul exhorts his protégé to do in Second Timothy. Our only hope is to continue to do what Jesus and the Apostles’ commissioned us to do. Whether we find ourselves in circumstances of cultural acceptance or cultural hostility, we must preach the Word.”

– The third and final post in a series on Preaching in a Secular Age, by Albert Mohler, is essential reading.

See also Part 1 and Part 2.

Related: Why I value expository preaching – Murray Campbell at GoThereFor.com.

Authentic Ministry: Style or Substance – Preaching 2 Corinthians.

William Taylor is speaking at the John Chapman Preaching Clinic at Moore College on Wednesday 8th February. 

We understand that today is the last day to register at the standard rate.

The inviting nature of Christianity

“‘Albert McMakin’ is not a name familiar to many today, yet this man has significantly influenced your life. He worked on a farm in Charlotte, North Carolina, back in the 1930s—but it is not by virtue of his agricultural prowess that his influence has extended your way. The reason Albert still rates a mention in books and can be easily found via a Google search is because of what he did in 1934.

That year an evangelist was conducting a series of meetings in Charlotte, and Albert persuaded a young 16-year-old man to attend one of the gatherings. As incentive, he said that the younger man could drive his vegetable truck into town for the meeting. The teenager went and, before long, was converted. The teenager’s name was Billy Graham—the man who went on to preach the gospel to more people in-person than anyone else in human history. Albert’s simple invitation was used by God to play a key role in the conversion of this future evangelist. …”

– To start the working week, here’s an encouraging article from Stephen Liggins, at GoThereFor.com.

Why proposed same-sex marriage balancing clauses would be constitutional and right

“Last week I had the privilege of giving evidence to the Australian Senate Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill.  … The Committee was considering the terms of an Exposure Draft Bill which had been released last year by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, as the sort of legislation which might be introduced were Australians to support change of the law in this way in a plebiscite. …

While the proposal for a plebiscite on the issue was defeated in Parliament last year, the Senate obviously considers it worthwhile discussing the merits of the Exposure Draft, as it represents to some extent Government thinking on what the change might look like. …”

– at Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster argues that “balancing clauses protecting the religious freedom of those involved in solemnising and celebrating same sex marriages must be an important part of any legislation introducing same sex marriage into Australia”.

Annual Moore College Lectures 2015 published

“Moore College rejoices in Kevin Vanhoozer’s publication of his book based on the material he presented at the Annual Moore College Lectures 2015.

The publication is: Biblical Authority after Babel: Retrieving the Solas in the Spirit of Mere Protestant Christianity.”

– Read the full post here.

D.B. Knox: The Authority of the Bible — Pt 1

From a lecture to the Evangelical Union, Sydney University, as appeared in The Australian Church Record, November 18, 1948.

“The subject I have chosen is the authority of the Bible, and I propose to deal:

1. Content of Authority.
2. The reasons for giving the Bible that authority.

The first part can be dealt with in a sentence or two. As the Presbyterian Confession of Faith has it: ‘The Bible is given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life,’ or as the Church of England puts it in her Articles ‘Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary for Salvation,‘…”

– Read Part 1 at The Australian Church Record.

(Photo: D. Broughton Knox in Sydney in 1956.)

Impossible to Believe — Preaching in a Secular Culture

“When people identify as believers in Jesus Christ they are making a far more individualistic statement than was possible in years past. Furthermore, they are doing so in the face of alternative worldview options that were simply unavailable until very recently.

In fact, as I was doing research for my book on atheism I learned that the very first use of ‘atheist’ in English came from Miles Coverdale who invented the word during his time translating Scripture.

The remarkable thing to notice is that Coverdale had to invent a term for someone who did not believe in God because he did not know anyone who actually held that conviction. No one in the Elizabethan age would have denied God’s existence.…”

– In his second article in a series on Preaching in a Secular Age, Albert Mohler makes some very worthwhile observations. Read it here.

New Women’s Ministry Stream at Moore College

The Australian Church Record chats with Jane Tooher about Moore College’s new women’s ministry study stream in its Advanced diploma of Bible, ministry and mission. 

Who is this study stream for?

“Any Christian woman wanting to be better equipped to serve Jesus Christ and His church in a variety of settings. We are anticipating a range of ages, personalities, backgrounds, and gifting. Some women may not have studied for many years or not at a tertiary level before. Others may have just finished university. Women are able to study the Advanced Diploma either part-time or full-time, as little as one subject at a time with only one day at College per week, so it’s flexible to suit as many women as possible.”

– Read it all here.

Luther: The Life and Legacy

This forthcoming documentary on Martin Luther features contributions by R.C.Sproul, Robert Godfrey, Steven Lawson, Carl Trueman and other reformed theologians. 

It looks to be well worth promoting, and is now available for pre-order. It’s due for release in April 2017.

40th anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Janani Luwum to be observed

“The Government of Uganda and the country’s Anglican Church will join forces next month for a major commemoration to mark the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Janani Luwum. Archbishop Luwum was murdered by Uganda’s then-president, Idi Amin, on 16 February 1977. …”

– Report from the Anglican Communion News Service.

The Archbishops’ Statement on the Reformation

“The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have released a joint statement on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The statement recognises that ‘many Christians will want to give thanks for the great blessings they have received to which the Reformation directly contributed’. Furthermore it includes among those blessings, ‘clear proclamation of the gospel of grace, the availability of the Bible to all in their own language and the recognition of the calling of lay people to serve God in the world and in the church’. The Archbishops make clear that the Church of England will be participating in the celebrations of this anniversary, ‘including sharing in events with Protestant church partners from Continental Europe’.

So despite how some of the more popular press might try to spin it, this statement is not a repudiation of the Reformation nor of its doctrine. …”

– At Theological Theology, Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson asks if “the departures from biblical truth that occasioned the split at the time of the Reformation have been addressed by the Roman Church”.

Dying with dignity

“Recently, the South Australian Parliament debated and rejected the Death with Dignity Bill, which proposed to legalise euthanasia. It was the 15th time a euthanasia bill had been rejected by the house.

The bill’s proposer predicts that this is not the end of the debate, referring to the overwhelming public support for “the right to choose and have a dignified death”. With Andrew Denton regularly advertising his desire for legal euthanasia with evangelistic fervour, I agree that we have not seen the end of the debate. But I still hope for a more honest one. …”

– This is an important article by Dr. Megan Best, bioethicist and palliative care doctor who works for HammondCare. She serves on the Social Issues Committee of the Diocese of Sydney.

From SydneyAnglicans.net.

(Dr. Best is also the author of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, from Matthia Media.)

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