5 Fish: A wonderful free gospel resource
Some might not be aware of a wonderful resource largely developed in Australia by Global Recordings Network.
5fish is available as a smartphone app on iOS and Android, and as a website – www.5fish.mobi.
“Listen to the Christian gospel spoken in virtually any language … Access Christian messages from the largest collection of languages in the world (6,175 speech varieties).
Download free content:
Bible stories, basic Bible teaching, Scripture, Christian songs and testimonies. The recordings are useful for learning about the Christian faith and sharing lessons with others.
Bible stories have been selected from the Old and New Testaments.
They include stories about significant events and people such as the creation of the world, Noah, Abraham, Moses, King David, the prophets and Jesus’ life, miracles and teaching. …
Languages are grouped by country. They can be identified by variant names or by listening to a sample online.
Gospel messages can be downloaded for future playback offline. Many recordings are audio-visual displaying high quality colourful illustrations.”
It’s well worth downloadling the app to your phone to be ready for any opportunity.
Dissecting the new Two Ways to Live – with Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne
“We are joined by the authors of Two Ways to Live, Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, to talk through the changes they have made to the iconic gospel outline.
We talk through the what and why behind the changes.”
– Great encouragement in thinking how to share the gospel. At The Pastor’s Heart.
Album Review: A (Not So) Silent Night from Quiz Worx
“Finally, a kids’ Christian album that my whole family enjoys!
Can you imagine seeing Colin Buchanan and Karen Pang performing a Christmas concert backed by Blink-182, Relient K, Superchick and The OC Supertones? I’d pay good money for that! …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Kingsley Davidson introduces the brand new Christmas album from Quizworx!
A Swiss Army knife for evangelism
Tony Payne writes about the forthcoming updated Two Ways to Live booklet:
“The new booklet has a number of … design changes that I think really improve its appeal as a give-away resource – a ‘modern classic’ look-and-feel, new versions of the drawings in badge form, a reworking of how text and graphics interact on the page, and a revision of all the explanatory text.
What of the updates to the 2WTL framework itself?
Apart from numerous small tweaks to the language here and there, these are the three main changes to the outline itself…”
CMS Summer School 2022
As many will be aware, due to uncertainties about COVID-19, the NSW CMS 2022 Summer School will be held entirely online, 8–14 January 2022.
Registration, at the reduced rate of $50 per person ($25 concession), is now open.
“In 2022, The Rev Dr Andrew Shead, Moore College’s Head of Old Testament and Hebrew, will be teaching us from the Psalms. It will be a time where we reflect on the journey of our Saviour into glory, and consider what it means to walk in the path of his righteousness – to Walk His Way. We will also be considering our role in going to the nations and teaching others to Walk His Way.”
Summer School is always encouraging and extremely worthwhile.
Use PrayerMate on an iPhone?
If you use PrayerMate on an iPhone running iOS 15, here’s a tip you might find helpful:
“Blocking notifications whilst you pray with iOS 15 Focus mode.”
– From PrayerMate.
Talks from Reachout 2021
David Williams, Principal of St. Andrew’s Hall in Melbourne, spoke at the Reachout 2021 missions conference in September.
The theme of the conference was The Sacrifice Factor.
David’s three talks on living in the Pain / Pleasure world have now been made available and are well worth hearing to help us understand the world in which we seek to live for Christ.
(Image courtesy The Pastor’s Heart.)
Sunday morning encouragement
With thanks to Emu Music.
New College Lectures 2021 — Dr Jenny Brown
New College at the University of NSW has posted online the videos of this week’s New College Lectures for 2021.
Dr Jenny Brown, Director Emeritus of the Family Systems Institute, spoke on “Nurture: Confronting a Crisis”.
The topics were:
Lecture 1.) Nurturing Yourself,
Lecture 2.) The Nurturing Family,
Lecture 3.) Nurture in Community.
Dr. Brown’s books are available from The Wandering Bookseller.
Getting to the Heart of the Text
“Haddon Robinson’s contribution to the preaching task of the church was his emphasis on getting to the big idea of the text.
Scholars may debate the appropriateness of such reductionism, weekly preachers and their congregations recognise the value of the big idea getting to the heart of the text.
Here are some steps which you may find useful to follow…”
– More resources to help and encourage preachers – from David Cook at the Expository Preaching Trust. Includes a worked example.
Related:
In Memoriam: Haddon Robinson, 24 July 2017.
Photo: Haddon Robinson.
Preparing to Open Up – and caring for the COVID cautious
“Churches in New South Wales will be permitted to re-open for vaccinated people once the vaccination rate reaches 70%. At 80%, vaccinated and unvaccinated people will be permitted by the government to come to church.
Churches have the chance to pioneer people living together again, vaccinated and unvaccinated side by side. …”
– The latest edition of The Pastor’s Heart – Nigel Fortescue, Sandy Grant, Murray Campbell and Lee McMunn join Dominic Steele.
Covid Vaccines and the “Mark of the Beast”
“In this time of pandemic, in which vaccines have been quickly developed and rolled out across the world, some Christians are asking whether the vaccines are the ‘mark of the beast.’ The ‘mark of the beast’ comes from Revelation 13. …
Now, lots of Christians read this chapter with one eye on the news to see if anything happening in our world today lines up with the weird and wonderful imagery of Revelation’s rich apocalyptic world. And some have suggested that the Covid vaccines seem to match the description of the mark of the beast.”
– Dr. George Athas, Director of Research and Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at Moore College, has written a very helpful post, putting ‘the mark of the beast’ into its historical and theological context. At With Meagre Powers.
Dr Bill Salier contributes this month’s GAFCON Devotions
For the month of October, Bill Salier is contributing GAFCON’s Lift Up Your Hearts devotionals.
Read or listen as Bill begins in John’s Gospel, chapter 1.
Southern Cross October 2021
The latest Southern Cross magazine (October 2021) is now available to download from magazine.sydneyanglicans.net.
This issue includes a profile of Archdeacon for Women Kara Hartley, news on reopening, Bishop Michael Stead on “Why we must oppose assisted suicide”, and much more.
The Archbishop writes on “Safely ministering to all” –
“I was pleased to hear that the week after 80 per cent of the community have received two doses of a COVID vaccine (estimated to be by October 25), there will be no restrictions on who may attend church – while other venues, such as cinemas and gyms, will be open only to double-vaccinated people until December 1.
This reflects two important principles. The first is that church is not entertainment like the cinema or recreation like a gym, but something more essential. Church is more akin to the supermarket or the hospital in offering spiritual ‘food’ and spiritual ‘health’.
The other principle is that church, by nature, is a place from which people should not be turned away. It should be open to all.
Throughout the lockdown, I have publicly encouraged people to follow NSW Health advice about vaccination, and consult their medical advisors with any questions they may have about vaccination. As a Diocese we remain committed to ensuring that those who attend churches are kept safe in accordance with Government public health orders, and we have and will continue to comply with those orders. …”
Read it all on pages 14 and 15.
New album from Emu Music: Joy in Sorrow
“Ten new songs about the goodness of God in the midst of suffering.”
See the album singles here.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…