First two talks from Summer School 2014
CMS has made available the first two talks from the 2014 NSW Summer School at Katoomba.
Andrew Reid is preaching from the Book of Exodus.
Grace has brought me safe thus far
“This first weekend of 2014 affords many of us an opportunity to hit “pause” on this busy opening week and to reflect, backward and forward, on our own lives.
Essential at the beginning of every new year is to set aside time to reflect on life, according to eighteenth-century slave-ship-captain-turned-pastor John Newton (1725–1807). This practice was embedded into his personal disciplines, and it emerged as a hallmark of his pastoral work. He penned new hymns and sermons and personal letters every year to urge his friends to take time at the unveiling of a new year to stop and reflect on life.”
– Tony Reinke, at Desiring God, looks at Amazing Grace.
Related: A hymn for the New Year.
ESV – free Audio Bible in January
For January 2014, the free download from Christian Audio is the ESV Bible.
It’s available in two formats, mp3 or m4b. Each totals around 2.1GB for the full Bible, so keep that in mind before you download them. Here’s the link.
The upward call of God in Christ Jesus
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Santa vs Jesus
Glen Scrivener in the UK has released an updated version of his video contrasting Santa and Jesus. Perhaps you could use it this Christmas. Download it here (173MB mp4 / 1080p).
Live stream on Christmas Eve from Sydney Cathedral
St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, will live stream this year’s Christmas Eve service so friends in Australia and around the world can watch.
From 8:00pm AEDT on Christmas Eve. The theme is “The Romance and the Reality of Christmas”. The video stream should start around 7:50pm.
Watch it at new.livestream.com/audioadvice/christmas. (The time shown on the Livestream page is US East Coast time.)
Hundreds of talks from St Matthias and University Ministries
From the Administrator of Phillip Jensen’s website –
“Phillip has been preaching God’s word for over forty years. It has been his aim to preach the gospel by prayerfully expounding the Bible to the people God has given him to love.
As talks given prior to 2003 are currently being added to the website it is hoped that listeners will be enriched, refreshed and challenged by these talks.”
– An amazing resource. Thank you! (Photo: Matthias Press 1996.)
18 ways to make the most of your non-Christian family Christmas
“We asked Christians surrounded by non-Christian family at Christmas for their tips. This is what they said. …”
– from Eternity Newspaper.
Let your Christmas point to Jesus
At Desiring God, John Piper responds to questions about Santa.
Christmas in Dark Places
Another thought-provoking video from Glen Scrivener in the UK.
Related: Putting Halloween in its place.
Monergism updated
If you haven’t check out Monergism.com before, now is a good time to start – the site has just been updated.
Don Carson at The Castle
A couple of weeks ago, Professor Don Carson spoke on the First Letter of John – at The Castle in Northern Ireland.
The audio files of his talks have now been made available.
Living Out — for Church Leaders
The people behind the new Living Out website have a message for church leaders. See the 2:35 video here.
Related: EMA 2013 Engaging with an alien world (2) – same sex attraction.
Advent songs
In this season of Advent, here are two albums you may enjoy:
Emu Music’s Advent album. released this time last year –
“The songs on this album are each in their own way a celebration of the reality, purpose and implications of the incarnation. It is our hope and prayer that as you sing these songs together, they will bring glory to our great King Jesus and blessing to his people.”
Christ-honouring (with great words and music) as always from Emu.
And Page CXVI in the US have just released their latest album “Advent to Christmas”.
You can hear samples of each before you buy.
Themelios 38.3 available now
The latest issue of Themelios (November 2013) has just been published.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…