Advent, tyranny and freedom

“‘Free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny.’ These words come from the much-loved Advent carol, ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’. We sing it most years, and it has always moved me. The Lord Jesus comes to set me free.

Tyranny, though. Doesn’t that sound a little odd?…”

– Mike Ovey writes at the Oak Hill blog.

Digital Advent Calendar

In this 2 minute video Greg Clarke at The Bible Society introduces 25 days. 25 people. 25 words. for Christmas.

Sounds like a great idea – and ideal to pass on to your friends.

Indomitable Sydney? The challenge of Sydney Anglicanism

Michael Jensen from Moore College writes for the ABC’s Religion & Ethics –

“Evangelical Anglicans of the sort found in Sydney have good ground for claiming the Anglican heritage as their own and ought not to accept the view that they are in some way the illegitimate children of the Anglican family.”

– Read it all here.

Preaching Christmas 2012

“Suspend your disbelief, pastor. December is about to arrive on your pastoral doorstep. … Advent sermons will soon need preparing. Ere long we will stand before the old and young, the believer and skeptic, proclaiming the message that Angels once declared!

So how can we make the most of this opportunity?”

– Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman has some great advice, under these headings:

1.  Be sure the incarnation is thrilling your soul.
2.  Do not get original with your content.
3.  Keep “the packaging” of Christmas sermons fresh.
4.  Preach the full range of passages that address the Christmas theme.
5.  Consider consecutive Christmas preaching.
6.  Consider preaching individual texts.
7.  Remember to preach the Christmas narratives as fact not fiction.

Daily readings for Advent — free eBook from John Piper

“Advent is just around the corner. It starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas — this year, that’s December 2 — and is a season of preparation for Christmas Day.

The team here at Desiring God did a deep dive into our thirty-plus-year reservoir of sermons and articles, and selected brief devotional readings for each day of Advent. Our hope is that God would use these readings to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus this Advent.”

– free eBook, Good News of Great Joy, from Desiring God. Worth checking out.

Anti-Santy Ranty — Christmas resource

Check out this 3 minute video from Christian book distributors 10ofthose.com in the UK. You can probably think of ways of using it evangelistically this Christmas.
(h/t Gary Ware.)

Now keep calm and carry on

“The reaction of the British media to the result in the ‘women bishops vote’ (I hesitate to call it ‘bishopsgate’ for fear of offending William Taylor) is as predictable as the vote itself was surprising. The essence of most of the commentary I have read is: the church has voted for oppression of women and has made itself irrelevant…”

– Insightful comment from Carl Trueman at Reformation21.

The women bishops vote in the Church of England

Dr Mark Thompson writes on last night’s defeat of the Consecration and Ordination of Women Measure in the Church of England’s General Synod:

“If it had been passed, the dissenters would be excluded even further from the life of the Church of England over the next ten years and before long, as in many parts of The Episcopal Church, acceptance of women in the episcopate would be the litmus test for ordination.”

Full text below. Read more

Dick Lucas: Judgment, Salvation, the Living and the Dead

As we remember Chappo, we must not forget what drove him – and what should drive every Christian.

At The Proclamation Trust, Adrian Reynolds links to this video of Dick Lucas, recorded on November 11 in Dundee. Six minutes of your time well spent.

Chappo talks about his conversion

John Chapman speaks about how he came to Christ – in this 3 minute video recorded a couple of years ago for St Mark’s Pennant Hills. Thanks to Craig Schafer for making it available.

Trusting God — free kindle version

The Kindle edition of Trusting God by Jerry Bridges is currently available (for an unknown period of time) as a free download from Amazon. h/t Gary Ware.

American Anglican Council on the Archbishop of Canterbury announcement

Bishop David Anderson of the American Anglican Council writes:

“Archbishop Welby, in his new appointment, will have to work with the more orthodox Global South provinces, especially the GAFCON Primates who represent a huge majority of the churchgoing Anglican world. The new Archbishop will need to find a way to disengage the Anglican Communion Office and the office and work of the Archbishop from the incestuous ties with the American Episcopal Church’s money, influence and power.”

Read more

War Histories or History Wars?

From this week’s column by the Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen:

“In this last week we not only have the end of WWI to remember, but also Guy Fawkes’ failed bomb plot and Martin Luther’s courageous act that started the Reformation. The poppies may remind us of Armistice but without the bonfires and fireworks, and without any memorial to Luther – our society celebrated the absurd fun of Halloween instead.

The memory of two great acts that established the nature of our society is being lost to the tawdry commercialisation of superstition. It is why revision lessons are so important for keeping our memory fresh. …”

– Read it here.

Encountering God Together

Dr David Peterson has a new book to which we can look forward…

“In January 2013, IVP UK will publish my new book Encountering God Together. …  This paperback was written to help everyone involved in planning and leading church services think more biblically and creatively about this important ministry.” – Details here.

Reactions to the US Presidential election

“Christians must now pray for our President. As the Apostle Paul instructs us …

Christians must never see political action as an end, but only as a means. We can never seek salvation through the voting booth, and we must never look for a political messiah. Nevertheless, Christians do bear a political responsibility, established in love of God and love of neighbor. We are rightly concerned about this world, but only to a limited extent. Our main concern is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

– Al Mohler.

“If we suffer political defeat like those who have no hope but politics, we do not even commend ourselves, let alone the God who hung the moon and stars. …”

– Collin Hansen (written before election day).

 

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