Anglican Aid’s 2024 Prayer Diary

Have you downloaded (or obtained a printed copy of) Anglican Aid’s 2024 Prayer Diary?

“[In 2023], we praised God for answering our prayers for the rain that broke the devastating three-year drought in East Africa. Times of drought and emergency certainly drive us to prayer, but Psalm 104 reminds us that God is the good creator and sustainer of our world.

It is always God who makes things grow to bring forth food from the earth. Paul reminds the Corinthian church that the same is true for growing churches. When Corinthian church members were falling into factions and arguing about which leader they were aligned with, Paul said, ‘I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow’ (1 Corinthians 3:6).

This is why prayer is so important. Whether it is a farming or water project, school or church, we rely on God for his good gifts that bring transformation, in his good timing.

Our 2024 Anglican Aid Prayer Diary contains 31 days of prayer points for a range of projects supported through Anglican Aid to deliver emergency aid and relief, training of church leaders, income generation, clean water, education, and more. All these projects are carried out by believers, and it is our hope that God will bring tremendous growth as we pray throughout 2024, strengthening churches and transforming communities to his glory.

Canon Tim Swan
CEO, Anglican Aid.”

– Download your copy here.

Prayer diary items are also available through PrayerMate.

‘Alan Bates vs the Post Office’ contains hard lessons for the Church

Many Australians will be unaware of the huge miscarriage of justice involving the Post Office in the UK, but it’s worth learning what happened when the Post Office decided to protect its ‘good name’:

“More than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions when faulty accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their sites.

It has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, with dozens of convictions overturned and many more in line for compensation. …” – BBC Report, 22 March 2022.

Post Office Horizon scandal: ‘It’s broken people’s lives’ — Andrew Bridgen MP – GB News.

The Most Widespread Miscarriage Of Justice’ Mr Bates vs The Post Office – Good Morning Britain.

This article at Premier Christianity warns Churches against doing what the Post Office did.

Link via Anglican Mainstream.

Why You Should Attend Church (in Person) This Sunday

“Whether because of health concerns or simply out of preference for watching online in their pajamas, 30- to 49-year-old churchgoers now attend church far less often than before COVID. For some, gathering in person can feel risky or inconvenient.

No doubt online services can serve beloved homebound saints and sick members. There are valid reasons to miss church. And yet God’s Word insists individual Christians need congregational worship. …”

– While this article at The Gospel Coalition is written for a US readership, numbers are still down after COVID in many churches in Australia.

On Being a Heroic Man

“There is something deep inside a man’s heart that longs to be heroic.

I don’t know what little girls dream of, but I do know that little boys dream of carrying those girls out of a burning schoolhouse so they can be admired as strong and brave. Teenaged boys dream of fighting in a war not so much to blaze away at the enemy as to perform an act of heroism that will mark them as tough and noble and worthy of honor.

Though older men may no longer be prone to such fantasies, they, too, are drawn to heroism and are convinced that they would be equal to the challenge, that they would stand where others fall, that they would run forward when others run back. …”

– At the start of the year, Tim Challies shares some wisdom for men, urging patience and action.

Defining Moments: My Copernican Revolution (Ephesians 1)

Moore College’s Dr Lionel Windsor spoke at Auckland Evangelical Church on Sunday evening. His topic?:

“Defining Moments: My Copernican Revolution (Ephesians 1).”

– Listen here, and also see the slides.

Bathurst Diocese Prayer Diary 2024

Here’s a great resource to help you pray for the progress of the gospel in the Diocese of Bathurst.

Download your copy of the Bathurst Diocese Prayer Diary for 2024. (PDF file)

A New Year: Comfort and Joy…!

“With the many and varied changes around us – conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle-East and Africa, China’s aggressive acts, significant political and social divisions in the West, climate-change, gender issues, and the western disdain of Christianity – we might wonder about the future.

In the course of his ministry Jesus spoke of events that would unfold …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason helps put things in perspective.

Death Rehearsal

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)

“For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life. And 11:59 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death. …“

– John Piper shares these thoughts for the end of a year.

2024 Summer Prayer Diary

“Our summers are filled with camps, conferences and missions. People across greater Sydney are diving deep into God’s word and taking it out to those who need to hear it.

So we’ve put together a 10-day prayer diary featuring some of the great kingdom initiatives that could use our prayer.”

– A great resource from Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Photo: Sans Souci swimming baths, Summer 1957.

Evangelism in a post-Christian world – Dave Jensen

“How do we see Australia won for Christ? …

Firstly, we need to see and then remind each other that the biggest problem facing the people we know is that they are spiritually lost.

What that means is that no matter how they may present themselves to us, we must treat them with the greatest compassion possible – by telling them the gospel.”

– At the Moore College website, Dave Jensen has some real encouragement for you. A great article to recalibrate our thinking as we come to a new year.

(Emphasis added. Image courtesy Evangelism and New Churches.)

Things I wish I knew about Pastoring a Church when I was young

“I was 28 when I started in full-time ministry as associate pastor in a large Presbyterian church. I was thirty when I was called to pastor a small suburban church on my own.

I made loads of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I can’t turn back the clock but I can share these lessons. I hope they might help young men who are just starting out.

Most of these thoughts should be read in the category of wisdom or common sense, to be weighed accordingly. …”

– Campbell Markham, the minister of Scots’ Church Fremantle, Western Australia, shares a bunch of helpful reflections – providing food for thought at the end of the  year. It’s at AP, the national journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

Photo: Moore College, 1956.

The Doctrine That Doesn’t Matter Remains Unchanged

“When the first rites of blessing for same-sex couples came out in the Anglican church, they were accompanied by a lot of bluster about how they were not to be equated with marriage rites and that they did not constitute a change in doctrine.

In 2003, the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster in Canada published a form of blessing for same-sex couples. Then-Bishop Ingham made a point to distinguish these blessings from the sacrament of marriage. …”

– At Crisis Magazine, former Episcopalian priest – and now Catholic – James Merrick argues that changing Pastoral Practice might be more significant than changing Doctrine. It’s happened in the Anglican world, and is now happening in the Roman Catholic world.

Photo: Then-Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, in 2002.

What now for those Evangelicals who fled to Rome?

“Where to now for the young evangelicals who left the Reformed faith for the safety and security of Rome? A Rome whose walls would never be breached, we were led to believe, by the ravages of the post-Christian Sexular Age?

The announcement by the Pope that same sex relationships can be blessed by the church raises a serious question for the trickle leading to a flood of evangelicals (often young men, with growing families who wanted to be more crunchy in their faith) who crossed the Tiber.

And where to now for former Church of England bishop, Michael Nasir-Ali, who left for Rome , for similar reasons? What reasons did he give for leaving? Here he is in his own words …”

– Written a couple of days ago, Steve McAlpine asks some valid questions.

See also:

The Icing on the Cake of Pope Francis: the Blessing of Same-Sex Unions – Leonardo De Chirico.

When did Multiple Services begin?

“When did evangelical churches in America begin holding multiple services?

Throughout the nineteenth century, American churches traditionally held two distinct Sunday services: one in the morning, one in the evening. …

Slowly, however, this began to change. The advent of the automobile, growing urbanization, and the rise of America’s first megachurches all led to the multiple service model becoming the norm.”

– While not directly applicable to Australian churches (or is it?), this article by Caleb Morell at 9Marks gives some interesting history, and is a reminder that some of our practices might not be all that ancient, or always necessarily helpful.

“Don We Now Our Gay Apparel”

“Is the decline in Christianity among Anglican clergy moving pari passu with the decline in Western civilisation? Good question. Indubitably, is the answer. …

Mosques are crowded, churches are emptying. To have any chance of turning the tide, Christianity needs biblically-based priests. Priests like Glenn Davies; Bishop of the breakaway Diocese of the Southern Cross and former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.”

– In an opinion-piece at Quadrant Online, contributor Peter Smith takes a hard look at what is happening in many parts of the Anglican Church. His article is supplemented by an excerpt from a well-known episode of “Yes, Prime Minister”.

Image from the website of the Anglican Church of Australia.

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