Preachers should be great storytellers

“Stories are captivating, inspiring, and memorable. Perhaps some of our greatest childhood memories are having stories read to us, and the privilege of parents, and grandparents to read stories to our children, to curl up with them, and do funny voices, and laugh along with them at the silly ones.

The Bible, is, in effect, a story.

Jesus told stories, he was the master story teller, bar none. …”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, Jim Mobbs has encouragement for preachers.

A homiletical health check – the state of preaching in Australian Churches

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“We take a pulse check on the health of preaching in Australian Evangelical Churches with one of our leading preachers, from Melbourne’s Centre for Biblical Preaching, Mike Raiter.

Mike has just spent a few weeks surveying twenty different Australian Churches – watching their sermons online – and analysing them on type of sermon, biblical genre, who was being preached to, faithfulness to text, length of sermon, appropriateness of application, and how well the preacher addressed the heart?

Mike listened to ten evangelical Anglican Churches from across the country, and ten evangelical churches from a range of denominations from the Queensland capital Brisbane.

Mike’s detailed review of the sermons is published in the EFAC Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion Magazine, and shares his findings with us here.”

Fascinating and worthwhile discussion.

Preachers: Should you aim to make your sermon five minutes shorter? How can you better preach to the heart?

– Watch or listen here.

The law of the LORD is perfect

“During the lead up to the same-sex mar­riage plebiscite in 2017, I remember being surprised at the number of Christian peo­ple in my own circles who could confidently say ‘I know what the Bible teaches about homosexuality’, whilst at the same time having no idea why that teaching is right and good, other than for the bare fact that God says it is.

I have even heard people make apologies on behalf of the Apostle Paul’s teaching on mar­riage, as if to say, ‘I’m sorry he says what he says, but because he does, I’m afraid that’s the way it is.’ …”

– Andrew Leslie helps us see why we can cling to God’s Word even when our culture demands we change. At The Australian Church Record.

Why ChatGPT can’t produce great sermons

“In Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic Blade Runner, Harrison Ford plays an LAPD bounty hunter who hunts ‘replicants,’ bioengineered humanoids that are identical to adult humans except with vastly superior intellect and strength. When Ford’s character is told to ‘retire’ a replicant, he faces the initial task of discerning whether the subject before him is human or not. Christians may soon be asking a similar question: Are the sermons and Bible lessons we’re hearing human or not?

The advent of ChatGPT and other accessible AI programs has thinkers positing all the ways it can aid, or even replace, our work. A pastor’s work isn’t immune from this danger …”

– At The Gospel Coalition, Aaron Shamp argues some key aspects of biblical sermons can’t be replaced by clever computers.

Gafcon Collect

“Eternal God and gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ died for our redemption; commissioned His disciples to preach the good news; and sent the indwelling Holy Spirit in every generation to embrace and proclaim salvation in Christ alone: 

Arise and defend your Church, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. Shine the light of your Holy Word upon hearts darkened by error and strengthen the work of Gafcon so that the Anglican Communion throughout the world proclaims Christ faithfully to the nations, that captives may be set free, the straying rescued, and the confused restored. Bind your children together in truth, love, unity, and courage, that we, with all your saints, may inherit your eternal kingdom, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.”

– from GAFCON.

What is conversion?

“Conversion is a U-turn in a person’s life. It is turning with one’s whole person away from sin and to Christ for salvation. From idol worship to God worship. From self-justification to Christ’s justification. From self-rule to God’s rule. …”

– 9Marks has a brief and helpful reminder of what conversion is – and isn’t.

Image: NSW Government.

Southern Cross, June-July 2023

The latest issue of Southern Cross magazine from the Diocese of Sydney is now out in churches – and also available online.

Why is sexuality such a big deal?

“Why is the debate on sexuality and marriage in the Church of England (and other churches) such a big deal? Why can’t we just agree to disagree—to get on together and learn to live with difference?

Two groups regularly say that to me.

The first is those who want change in the Church’s teaching. Why are evangelicals making such a fuss? they ask. The Church has altered its practice on marriage in various ways in the past? Why can’t we make this adjustment now?

But the other group are those who are busy getting on with the business of planting new churches, growing current ones, and reaching young people. They are often younger, and have not been engaged so much with the ‘politics’ of the Church (lucky them!). Why can’t we just get on with the business of ministry? Will this issue really make much difference? After all, we have continued with gospel ministry in the past when the leadership has believed all sorts of questionable things—so why is this different?

An immediate response to both groups might be to say – you are right, it is not such a big deal. We are not talking about central Christian doctrines like the incarnation, salvation, or the Trinity. But here’s an interesting test case …”

– At Psephizo, Ian Paul lays out why sexuality is such a big deal, and a huge debate for the Church of England.

The Global Anglican 2022 Digital Digest

Church Society has published a Digital Digest with excerpts from Volume 136 of The Global Anglican:

“This new digital digest aims to make some of the best content from the previous year accessible to everyone.

Included are all four editorials from Peter Jensen, as well as an extra editorial piece from Bishop Keith Sinclair, published ahead of the 2022 Lambeth Conference.

There are four further articles and ten book reviews, selected from the four issues that comprise volume 136.”

It’s available for free download on this page – as an encouragement to subscribe.

Photo: Church Society Director Dr Lee Gatiss with Global Anglican Editor Dr Peter Jensen.

Know and Tell the Gospel — 42 years on!

Back in October 1991, the ACL’s newsletter featured this short article by the Rev Brian Telfer, Rector of Christ Church Gladesville. Brian was writing on the tenth anniversary of the publication of John Chapman’s book Know and Tell the Gospel.

Without doubt, our culture has changed a great deal since the book was published in 1981, but every Christian will benefit from reading it – for the first time, or the tenth time – and may our hearts be stirred to know, and to tell, the gospel.

___________________

 

Ten years, and nearly 45,000 copies down the track, John Chapman’s book on Evangelism is still required reading.

But it may be that some have not yet discovered this most useful and encouraging book!

Brian Telfer gives Know and Tell the Gospel a timely plug…

Many books written on Evangelism could be described as HOW TO books. John Chapmans’ book is a WHAT and WHY book first and a HOW TO book second.

1991 marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of Know and Tell the Gospel – and it has gone through eight subsequent printings.

What makes it so popular?

There will be as many reasons as readers. You’ll probably add others, but let me share with you a few that immediately come to mind…

John Chapman has been a friend and encourager to many— not only in this Diocese, but throughout the world. We “put not our trust in men”, but approach Know and Tell the Gospel with confidence in the writer as a teacher and preacher of the gospel.

It is a lifetime reflection on the nature of the gospel — having grown out of discussion and debate with friends and opponents alike — the result of 30 years of preaching. It is vintage Chappo.

PRACTICAL HELP

Know and Tell the Gospel refuses to avoid the difficult questions like God’s Sovereignty and Human Responsibility and sets the gospel where it ought to be — at the heart of Biblical Theology.

And it is readable — accessible to those who wouldn’t call themselves readers — as well as to those who are theologically trained.

When I first read the book I saw its value as a study book for the congregation.

It begins dealing with basic questions such as — What is the gospel? Why must it be preached? and What is God doing in Evangelism?

It continues by looking at the Howto’s — giving us a model to follow and suggesting ways to answer difficult questions.

As we studied the book I was again impressed — it was rooted in Scripture and centred on Jesus. It helped people understand their faith and convinced them they should share it.

If you are looking for some thing to help you and your congregation “get started” in telling the gospel, you can’t go past Know and Tell the Gospel.

_____________

Of course Know and Tell the Gospel is still available – now in its fifth edition – from Matthias Media .

The art of Christian pastoring after Christendom

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“Major cultural change is making a big impact on Christians and the church. Something radical has changed.

Admitting you follow Jesus ‘weirds people out’ in a way it never has before. And doing church the way we did no longer yields the same results.

Senior minister of Dapto Anglican David Rietfield says there’s fewer new people and the regulars are coming less frequently.”

– Watch or listen here, and learn about David’s new book.

The Jewel and the Sun: Justification and Union with Christ according to the Reformers

“Jewellery and sunshine. These are two powerful images used by the Reformers to describe our relationship with God by his grace. The reality they illustrate is still vital for us to remember today.

One key issue the Reformers were wrestling with was understanding and explaining justification by faith. …”

– Lionel Windsor writes in the Moore Matters for Winter 2023.

Read the article on the College website – or (better still) read the complete issue online – or pick up a printed copy at church.

Created male and female — ACR Journal

Gav Perkins writes in the latest ACR Journal (Easter 2023 – PDF) – and now featured on the ACR website –

“It is foundational to what we know of God, as the one who speaks his pow­erful word to bring all things into be­ing, and who then orders, arranges, and blesses.

It is foundational also to what we know of ourselves, as uniquely cre­ated in the image of God, and commis­sioned to rule and subdue.

We learn here what it means to live and work in God’s creation and relate to the rest of that creation, leading to a genuine Christian – rather than pagan – envi­ronmentalism.

We also learn what it means to have a genuine Christian – rather than pagan – understanding of gender and sexuality. These chapters are simultaneously timeless and pro­foundly pertinent within our culture.

In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that our gender, male or female, is a central part of who we are, as created by God. …”

– Read here. Very timely.

Heritage of Evidence in the British Museum — A review

“Dr Peter Masters (Spurgeon’s latest successor at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London) takes us in this book on a room-by-room tour of the British Museum, pointing out various exhibits and assessing each one of them as being direct evidence for biblical events and names, or confirming the authenticity of biblical descriptions, or giving insights into the biblical environment. …”

– Bob Thomas at AP (The National Journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia) provides a brief review of Heritage of Evidence in the British Museum by Peter Masters.

Living without fear

The latest Church Society podcast:

“Ros Clarke and Lee Gatiss discuss how the psalms can help us overcome fear and anxiety with Kirsty Birkett.

Her book, workbook and journal include reflections on several psalms, along with suggestions about how to put them into practice as we negotiate life in a complicated and confusing world.”

– Listen here.

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