Lent in the Diocese of Bathurst – The Road to Calvary

Bishop of Bathurst, Mark Calder, has invited the Rev Mike Raiter to record a series of Lenten Studies to be used in parishes across the diocese this Lent.

The studies, “The Road to Calvary”, are based on chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel According to Matthew.

The first Study is available here – and the rest will be available on Bishop Calder’s Youtube Channel. Pray that they will be a great blessing to many.

Related:

Bishop Calder has been in Forbes where the Anglican Church is looking for a minister “to teach them God’s Word, partner with them in ministry, and help reach Forbes with the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ”. He’s posted a 19 second video on Facebook.

The Blessed Life

“Lent is traditionally a time for reflection and prayer. Over the next few weeks on the Church Society blog, we will be reflecting each weekday on some of Jesus’s first words, and his last words, as well as pondering what the Bible says about the spiritual life. That is, we will be reflecting on the Beatitudes from Matthew 5, Jesus’s words from the cross in the Gospels, the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5, and the so-called seven deadly sins…”

– At Church Society’s blog, Less Gatiss beings a series for Lent.

What Future for the Anglican Church of Australia?

“We’re in the middle of what I think is best described as a tentative ceasefire. Of course, with any ceasefire there’s opportunities for both sides to position themselves for the conflict that is yet to come.

If you think all this language sounds combative then you’d be absolutely right. Both sides recognise that this is exactly what it is – a battle for the soul of the Anglican Church of Australia. There are clearly defined positions; one that seeks to uphold the orthodox view on human sexuality (but sees that as part of a wider issue – the authority of Jesus in the church through the Scriptures) and the other side that sees a liberalising of sexual ethics as a gospel imperative. …”

– David Ould shares his thoughts on what may happen in 2020 in the Anglican Church of Australia.

(Image adapted from the website of the Anglican Church of Australia.)

What issues most concern U.S. pastors in 2020?

“Within their own churches, a majority of pastors consider reaching a younger generation (51%) and declining outreach and evangelism (50%) to be major concerns.

One-third of pastors are also concerned about declining or inconsistent volunteering (36%), stagnating spiritual growth (34%), and declining attendance, while one-fourth are concerned about biblical illiteracy (29%) and declining/unpredictable giving patterns. …”

– Read it all at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. (Emphasis in colour added.)

Progression or Regression?

David Cook writes:

On 1st December 2018, election night in Victoria, the victorious Premier, Daniel Andrews stated that ‘Victoria is the most progressive state in the nation.’

Having spent the month of February, 2020 in Victoria, progression is not the adjective l would have used.

How’s this for a ‘progressive list’:

All this in a State with some of our nation’s finest cultural icons, The MCG, The Rod Laver and Margaret Court Arenas, the finest collection of Australian art in the nation, more theatres per head of population than any other Australian city.

I am preaching in a Church in the central business district of Melbourne where my closest Protestant neighbouring Churches both unashamedly endorse the same sex marriage agenda of the state.

And the Premier, Daniel Andrews, who presides over all this, is a practicing Roman Catholic, one wonders when a Priest or Bishop will have the courage to place him under Christian discipline.

In Romans 1 the apostle Paul makes it clear that ‘the wrath of God is revealed from heaven’, he does not say it will be revealed in the future but it is being revealed now. (Rom 1: 18)

Why? Because humankind has exchanged the glory of God for idolatrous images, (Rom 1: 25) and worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator. (Rom 1: 25)

Idolatry is the lie (Rom 1:25) and God’s wrath is evidenced in that he gives mankind up to the fruit of that exchange.

Paul says, God gave them over

(Rom 1: 24) to uncleanness

(Rom 1: 26) to scrambled sexual expression

(Rom 1: 28) to debased mind

The mind, the attitudes, the worldview of humanity is thus under the judgement of God, the mind is counterfeit and incapable of making proper moral judgements. (Rom 1: 28-32)

Such a mind calls regression, progression!

The only hope is the new life, the new heart, which comes through the Christian gospel by the gift of God.

The moral man, Nicodemus, in John 3 must be converted to see or enter God’s  Kingdom and the same opportunity and need is offered to the immoral woman who is offered living water by Jesus in John 4.

Paul makes it clear that due to the mercies of God we are given new minds, from which the judgement of God has been lifted and by the renewing of these minds we are being transformed.

We are people of a new mind, minds which are able to ‘discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect’. (Rom 12: 2)

Pray that Daniel Andrews will experience God’s mercy.

In one of the mid-week services here l preached on John 3, ‘Jesus and Nicodemus’ under the heading, ‘Why Daniel Andrews is wrong’.

Thankfully l am still free to preach in the Commonwealth of Australia if not, it is a quick car trip of 3 hours back to the border, to good old regressive NSW!!

– Rev David Cook 18.02.2020

(David Cook has served as Principal of SMBC and also as Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia as well as in parish ministry. Inset photo courtesy St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

Misunderstanding is no Medicine

“What is it with our humanity that we struggle with the nice guy, the good woman, the gentle friend, the wise guide?

Is jealousy the problem? Is it the confronting reality of what we should be, but aren’t, that finds in us an unhelpful reaction? It is an odd thing to find ourselves not liking a person because they are delightful, or truthful, or good, or servant-hearted, or kind or more.

There is something perverse in us when we despise others for qualities we would otherwise admire and be proud of in ourselves. …”

– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, continues his series of articles written to help people come to know Jesus.

Videos from the 2020 Priscilla & Aquila annual conference

Moore Theological College has posted the videos and notes from their 2020 Priscilla & Aquila annual conference.

See them at the P&A website.

As well as the Plenary sessions, videos or audio files of the Electives are available.

Training ministers of the Word in a semi-literate world

“While in Australia we take for granted that our schooling system will produce people with good comprehension skills and critical thinking, in Congo and in many parts of the majority-world, this is not the case…”

– Bishop Malcolm Richards, Director of Moore College’s Centre for Global Mission, seeks your prayers and partnership.

Walking with the Suffering Church during Lent — GAFCON

GAFCON is producing daily devotionals to which you can subscribe.

During Lent 2020, there is a special focus on walking with the Suffering Church.

Updated Christianity Explored website

Christianity Explored Ministries have updated the Christianity Explored website.

Take a look.

How can pastors support couples in our churches impacted by abortion

“There are women in all our lives and churches who have had an abortion. Men, women and children who have been touched by abortion – in our workplaces, churches and families.

Senior pastors need to stop turning a blind eye to this subject and talk much much more about abortion in church.

New Testament scholar and former nurse Dr Claire Smith says we are currently not meeting this pastoral and evangelistic need. …”

– Dr. Claire Smith speaks with Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart.

Also at The Pastor’s Heart this week, Dominic speaks with Mez McConnell and Matthew Spandler Davidson about Abuse in the church – with particular reference to recent events.

A Short Book About Paul: The Servant of Jesus — review

“Historians don’t merely assemble a puzzle. Before considering how the pieces fit together, they need to determine which ones belong in the box. Some subjects offer an abundance of resources, while others leave us wishing for more.

The historian and theologian Paul Barnett combines mastery of his craft with a subject that provides plenty of pieces for someone who knows where to look. The result is that this portrait of the Apostle Paul, while relatively brief … offers a rich presentation of his life and work.”

– Moore College’s Philip Kern reviews A Short Book About Paul: The Servant of Jesus by Paul Barnett. At SydneyAnglicans.net.

Book availability.

Nexus20 — How to Save a City

The Nexus20 conference is set for Monday 23rd March at a new location: Moore College – and at a new time: 2:00 – 8:00pm.

From the Nexus website:

“No matter where God has placed us – in the suburbs, in the inner city, in a regional or rural area – our task is to bring the message of salvation to the people we’ve been given to serve.

At this year’s Nexus conference, we’ll be thinking about what it means to be part of God’s extraordinary saving purpose in the particular place we’ve been given to reach, how important the local church is in that purpose, and how God uses decidedly ordinary people and methods to do extraordinary things.

Our focus this year will be on how to bring salvation to our particular city (of Sydney) and the challenges we face in our gospel fellowship (that is, among Sydney ministry workers, many of us Anglicans).

But as always, we’ll be having this discussion with one eye on the broader fellowship around Australia (and beyond) who tune in to Nexus via Livestream. Our hope is that by talking honestly and theologically about our own patch, we can encourage, challenge and stimulate everyone to do the same, wherever God has placed us.”

– Watch the promo video, and register, at the Nexus website.

Feeling anxious about ‘You’? Why modern Identity can be crushing

“Whereas as our ancestors drew their identity from their place in society, we moderns are liberated from that dependency. We can be our own people. We don’t care what others think.

Except we do.

If we’re to feel good about ourselves, we crave other people’s validation. We need it, if we’re to feel worthy. …”

– Akos Balogh writes about identity and security at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane remembers the beginnings of the Sydney University Evangelical Union

Forty years ago, members of the Sydney University Evangelical Union were thanking God as they remembered the founding of the SUEU in 1930.

They marked the jubilee by proclaiming Christ in ‘The Jubilee Mission’.

As part of the preparations, on 30 April 1980, then Archbishop of Sydney, Sir Marcus Loane spoke at the SUEU’s End of Term Service.

In his 19 minute address, Sir Marcus recalls the beginnings of the Evangelical Union, fifty years earlier.

Listen on this page in our Resources section.

Most encouraging.

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