Reflections on Preaching at a funeral
“In 2024 I attended some evangelical Christian funeral services; an unevangelical Christian funeral service; a Greek Orthodox funeral service; a secular funeral service.
There is no doubt that the blessings of our faith are most obvious at our funeral services.
In a previous blog I have written about planning for one’s own funeral, but now I want to address the subject of the funeral sermon. …”
– Here’s some help and encouragement from David Cook at The Expository Preaching Trust.
(Photo: Funeral procession in Queen Street, Chippendale, late 19th Century.)
1700 Years after Nicaea — Credo Magazine
A new issue of Credo magazine is out, with a focus on the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity:
“Without the doctrine of the Trinity we have no Christianity. So, something is fundamentally wrong when countless churchgoers and churches today never say the Nicene Creed together on a Sunday morning. In fact, some have never heard of the Nicene Creed at all.
The year 2025 is the anniversary of the Nicene Creed, meaning this year is a strategic opportunity for pastors everywhere to put the creed back in the church where it belongs. In this new issue of Credo Magazine, we explain why the creed should not only inform the doctrine of the church but its worship, pervading its liturgy. No longer can the church afford to go without that creed which brings us into fellowship with the communion of the saints and summons us into communion with the holy Trinity. …”
– Worth reflecting on the first three sentences – and reading through some of the articles in this issue.
From the first featured article, A Map to Organise Wonder:
“The Nicene Creed, written in 325 years then ratified and expanded in 381 at the Council of Constantinople, represents a doctrinal map seeking to organize the greatest Wonder within all the cosmos: the Triune God. It is not a replacement for the Wonder itself but helps pilgrims on the journey towards the Celestial City. The Creed prompts us to marvel at True Wonder as we progressively encounter his beauty before reaching him in glory. Thus, without the Nicene Creed, Christians are in danger of being lost in a sea of doctrinal and moral confusion. Whether evangelical Christians recite the Creed in gathered worship or not, we are indebted to the theological luminaries of the fourth century. To jettison the Creed is like disabling a GPS in an unknown territory.”
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.
After 150 years of Christian compassion Leprosy is nearly defeated
“In November, people from nearly thirty countries gathered in New Delhi for the 150th anniversary of The Leprosy Mission. they thanked God for amazing progress in treating the disease and committed to strive for a world without leprosy by 2035. A world without leprosy is within sight. With improved preventative medication, diagnostic tests, and even vaccines, the tools and knowledge needed to end leprosy are in our grasp.
‘It was a marvellous time of celebrating the progress we’ve made, but also longing to finish the job,’ said Greg Clarke, the CEO of The Leprosy Mission Australia (TLMA).…”
– This article by Anne Lim at The Gospel Coalition Australia is a great encouragement. It’s also a reminder of the key work of Australian doctors such as Grace Warren.
Photo: Dr Grace Warren meeting Diana, Princess of Wales, Anandaban Hospital, Nepal, 1993. From Leprosy Mission Australia.
The new Federal privacy tort and religious freedom
Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia alerts churches to a possible legal complication:
“In the closing Parliamentary days of 2024, the Australian Federal Parliament created a new statutory privacy tort action, which may have a significant impact on churches and other religious groups. In the context of a possible disciplinary action against someone who has behaved contrary to the principles of a religious group to which they belong, it may be necessary to inform other members of the group about the person’s behaviour. In doing so the group will be in danger of breaching a right of privacy set up by the new law. The tort action (which will probably come into operation on 11 June 2025) seems to cut across important rights of religious freedom, and the exemptions under the law do not take this into account.
In this post I aim to outline some aspects of the operation of the new law, and recommend that before it commences Parliament provide specific recognition of religious freedom as an exemption to the availability of the action. …”
Image: Associate Professor Neil Foster speaking at a Diocese of Sydney Safe Ministry conference.
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.
An Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity
From Mark Powell at AP, the Australian Presbyterian national journal:
“Glenn Davies, the current bishop for the Diocese of the Southern Cross and former Archbishop of Sydney, discusses why he helped to produce an Australian creed for sexual integrity.
This document seeks to faithfully uphold the teaching of the Bible and provide a positive vision for human flourishing.”
See The Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity.
Also mentioned:
Diocese of The Southern Cross.
Presbyterians extend hand of fellowship to Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross – August 2022.
2025 Summer Prayer Diary
Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net has produced a very helpful resource:
“It’s summertime and we’re getting out into the sunshine, sharing the good news of the gospel and diving deep in understanding the word of God.
With the weeks packed with camps, conferences and missions, we’ve put together an eight-day prayer diary featuring some of the great kingdom initiatives that we can bring before the Lord. …”
– Find it here.
The God Who Does Not Wipe Out Rebels
From The Gospel Coalition, part 2 in a series of 14 talks from Don Carson about the message of the Bible:
“In this lecture, Don Carson examines Genesis 3, focusing on the Serpent’s deceit and humanity’s rebellion, which leads to shame, guilt, and broken fellowship with God.
He discusses the curses placed on Satan, Adam, and Eve, highlighting the introduction of sin and the long-term effects on creation. Carson emphasizes the need for reconciliation with God, pointing to the promise of redemption through Jesus. …”
– Listen (or read the transcript) here.
Photo: Don Carson speaking at The Next Level conference in Sydney in 2016.
I was adopted twice
“I always knew I was adopted. Growing up, my parents were open about it – they had fostered children before adopting my sister and me.
On my shelf, I kept a book titled You Are Adopted. Whenever I had questions about my identity, I would pull it off the shelf and read it, trying to make sense of my place in the world. I remember many tearful moments with my Mum and Dad, asking, ‘Why didn’t my birth parents want me? Who am I? Where do I fit in?’ …”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Matt Redmond speaks of his own experience, and a book (The Forgetful Prince) he hopes will help children and adults to understand the most wonderful adoption of all.
Photo: SydneyAnglicans.net.
The Problem with the King’s Gospel — David Robertson
“In a year when the Archbishop of Canterbury was forced to resign, and with continued decline in attendances in the Church of England and yet more scandals, I listened with interest to the titular head of that Church, King Charles, giving his Christmas message. Would he speak of the real challenges the Church and society are facing? Would he offer some kind of meaty message, rather than the saccharine sap we are so used to hearing? Would his message stimulate thought or provide hope to those who are in great need of it? …
I was particularly disappointed at this speech because it came only a few weeks after the King attended a church I used to belong to – St Thomas’s Anglican in Sydney – and heard a sermon from the excellent evangelical Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel. …
We continue to pray that King Charles would come to know and love the King that his mother so clearly loved and served. We need the Good News, not the wishful thinking of a fanciful ideology which ultimately helps no one.”
– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson gives his take on King Charles’ Christmas Message.
(See the full message from King Charles here.)
Why did Saul change his name to Paul? — Tyndale House Podcast
A podcast from Tyndale House in Cambridge:
“Steve Walton and Tony Watkins discuss why Saul changed to Paul in the book of Acts.
In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul is referred to as Saul up until chapter 13, where he begins to be referred to as Paul. Steve explains how names worked in the Roman world to shed light on this name change. He also shares about some of the research he has done in the book of Acts over several years.”
– If you are reading the Book of Acts, you’ll find this most interesting. 29 minutes on YouTube.
Taking his own medicine
“Friends in Christ, Christmas Eve is the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy, which hit Darwin at about 10pm, December 24, 1974. …
Boxing Day is the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, which hit on 26 December, 2004 … It is the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century so far. …”
– Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant reflects in the Cathedral newsletter.
Image: USGS Preliminary Earthquake Report, 26 December 2004.
50 years on: Santa never made it into Darwin, but Christian journo Ramon Williams did
Fifty years ago, in the early hours of Christmas morning 1974, the city of Darwin was devastated by Cyclone Tracy.
At John Sandeman’s The Other Cheek, Jon Guyer at Panania Anglican Church shares some recollections from Ramon Williams, the grandmaster of Christian journalism, on his lightning trip to Darwin, a city ravaged by Cyclone Tracy.
Also see Ramon’s account of his trip to Darwin in this 2018 interview with The Rev Keith Garner at the Wesley Mission:
Top photo with thanks to Anglican Media Sydney.
Ramon has generously shared many of his photographs with us over the years and we are immensely grateful. See some of them in these posts.
New edition of “The Link” from Armidale — Dec 2024-Jan 2025
The latest issue of Armidale Diocese’s magazine The Link is now available for download form their website.
On the cover is the Rev. Julie Cook, just announced as the new Diocesan Deacon for Women.
Download your copy here (PDF file) – and do pray for the continued ministry of the gospel in the Diocese of Armidale.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…