Launching the ‘Jesus brings’ campaign
The ‘Jesus Brings’ campaign (foreshadowed here) has now been unveiled by the Department of Evangelism and New Churches in Sydney.
It is hoped that ‘Jesus Brings’ will be a season of focussed and united mission in 2014 across Sydney and the Illawarra.
Watch Archbishop Glenn Davies explain why ‘Jesus Brings’ is such a great idea.
See the resource website here – and be sure to download a copy of the “Vision for Mission” document (PDF file).
Bishop Nazir-Ali on the situation in Egypt
“There is considerable anguish and hand-wringing amongst the armchair orientalists and strategists over the situation in Egypt. Those who thought that the “Arab Spring” was a harbinger of secular, Western-style democracy can now see it is nothing of the kind…”
– Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali writes in The (UK) Telegraph.
Why Expository Preaching Matters
“If preaching is central to Christian worship, what kind of preaching are we talking about? The sheer weightlessness of much contemporary preaching is a severe indictment of our superficial Christianity. When the pulpit ministry lacks substance, the church is severed from the word of God, and its health and faithfulness are immediately diminished.”
– Albert Mohler continues to write about the key place of expository preaching. Encouraging and challenging.
CMS Summer School 2014
Registration is now open.
Mediocrity Is Not ‘OK’
Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman links to this encouraging article by Ajith Fernando. (Dr. Fernando has been a guest at several CMS Summer Schools in recent years.) –
“I was once at a meeting of preachers, and they were discussing the problem of having inadequate time to prepare their sermons.
One person said that given all the things he had to do, it was impossible for him to give much time for preparation, and therefore he usually went to preach without much preparation. I was shocked by what I heard, but I did not say a word. This happened more than a year ago, and I have suffered much since then. Thoughts have been rolling over and over again in my mind as to what I should have said that day. I have finally decided to put my thoughts on paper …”
– Read it here.
Free New Testament offer
As the screening in Australia of The Bible ‘epic mini-series’ comes to a conclusion tonight, those who want to learn more are being offered a free copy of The New Testament.
Story from the Bible Society.
The Antidote to Anaemic Worship
“In far too many churches, the Bible is nearly silent. The public reading of Scripture has been dropped from many services, and the sermon has been sidelined…”
– Even though Albert Mohler writes in an American context, this is a good reminder.
Annual Moore College Lectures — Daily lectures
At this year’s Moore College Annual Lectures (daily lectures August 20, 21, 23, 23), Vice-Principal Bill Salier is aiming “to survey the whole Bible’s teaching on the ‘world’ as the context for God’s people living lives filled with faith, hope and love”.
The Puritans
Over the the last few weeks, Tim Challies has published biographical sketches to introduce several of the key English Puritans. Each includes a list of their most important works.
They include Matthew Henry (author of the much-loved Bible commentary), and Richard Sibbes (from whom Mark Dever has been reading in public at Capitol Hill Baptist Church).
So far in this series:
John Owen (1616–1683)
Jeremiah Burroughs (1600–1646)
Richard Sibbes (1577–1635)
Thomas Brooks (1608–1680)
Matthew Henry (1662–1714)
William Perkins (1558–1602).
Mark Dever heading to Sydney
“Over the next two weeks Dr Mark Dever is going to be speaking in Sydney.
Mark is the senior pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC. He is also the President of 9Mark Ministries. … He is one of the most important voices in North American Christianity today.”
– Phillip Jensen with news of Mark Dever’s engagements at the Cathedral.
Moore College Overview Video
With Moore College Sunday coming up this weekend, this 5 minute 30 second video is a great resource to show to your congregation or in small groups.
(The shorter Moore College Sunday Video can be found here.)
Finally Free — book review
“Unless you have been deliberately avoiding any discussion of contemporary issues, you must know that pornography is one of the major challenges to the church today. Carl Trueman is not exaggerating when he says ‘Internet pornography is probably the number one pastoral problem in the world today’ …
Porn is so significant a concern today that if you are not struggling with it yourself, you must know someone who is. In either case, this book will equip you for the fight.”
– Tim Challies reviews Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace by Heath Lambert. Availability.
Themelios Volume 38 Issue 2
The latest issue of Themelios is now available for (free) download.
Ethics at the beginning of life
Dr Megan Best (author of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made) is interviewed in the Spring 2013 edition of Australian Presbyterian.
The issue focusses on abortion and related questions. It’s a 5MB PDF download from their website.
Earlier posts. (Photo: Ramon Williams.)
The Proclamation Bible
Here’s a soon-to-be launched resource from the Hodder & Stoughton in the UK that’s worth checking out.
Includes introductory articles by Christopher Ash, Graham Beynon, Gerald Bray, Simon Gathercole, David Jackman, Karen Jobes, Dick Lucas, Douglas Moo, Peter O’Brien, Adrian Reynolds, Vaughan Roberts, William Taylor, and Chris Wright.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…