Hannah Blake reviews John Mark Comer’s ‘Practicing the Way’

“Recently I’ve noticed a lot of discussion surrounding John Mark Comer’s latest book Practicing the Way, and more generally around discipleship and formation. Many of us are asking questions about what it really means to follow Jesus, or to be his disciple, or to ‘apprentice’ with him. What does it actually look like for you and me, today, to live the Christian life? …”

At The Australian Church Record, Hannah Blake looks at a solution she evaluates as ‘sorely misdirected’.

You can be certain — Luke 1:1-4

Bishop Mark Calder begins his Advent/Christmas series for the Diocese of Bathurst: You can be certain

December 01 ADVENT 1 Why? Luke 1:1-4
December 08 ADVENT 2 John the Baptist prepared the way. Luke 1:5-25
December 15 ADVENT 3 Jesus was miraculously conceived. Luke 1:26-38
December 22 ADVENT 4 God’s eternal promises were being fulfilled. Luke 1:39-56
December 25 CHRISTMAS A Saviour was born – Messiah and Lord! Luke 2:1-21.

Watch the first talk at this link.

Encouragement for church members, and great to share.

Nexus 25 registration open

The Nexus25 conference is coming up on Monday 17th March at Village Church Annandale:

“Nexus25 is about how we can reach our city with the life-giving gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Our conviction as a Nexus network is that the death and resurrection of Jesus, and his imminent return, means that our lives and churches must be driven by the urgent proclamation of our Saviour and Lord. And yet if we’re honest with ourselves, this conviction often wanes and does not flow into concerted, effective action in our churches. We believe that God is not done with Sydney. Christ still has many people in this city—people who have not yet heard and believed the gospel of Christ—and we long to see them saved and gathered around his throne.

Together under God, let’s think about what we need to do in our churches as we strive to reach this city for Christ.

Dave Jensen and Phil Colgan are going to help us think about how we can help everyone in our churches be on board with the mission that drives us. What are the convictions we need to sharpen in ourselves and encourage in others if we are going to be evangelistically effective? Are there things holding our churches back? Are there better ways to do things that flow more truly from our convictions? Those are the sorts of questions we’re going to consider.

Of course, along with this, we’re going to do what we always do at Nexus – come together for encouragement, fellowship and prayer, to spur one another on to persevere in the noble task of serving God’s people as pastors, teachers and evangelists.”

– Learn more, and register, at the Nexus25 website.

Advent account a salutary reminder in self-centred times

“The Prayer Book Bible readings and Collect for Advent Sunday are a powerful reminder that the Jewish Messiah who was crucified in Roman Judea will one day return to the judge the world.

The reading from Matthew’s Gospel stresses the humility of Jesus when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy in Zechariah 9:9…”

– Julian Mann writes at The Conservative Woman.

Advent Devotionals from Prayermate

If you use the free Prayermate app, there are a number of Advent devotionals you may find helpful.

Some are paid, some are free. See the current list – as well as links to download Prayermate – here.

Women in the Anglican Diocese of Armidale

From the Diocese of Armidale:

“At the recent Synod (September 2024), the Bishop presented a position paper on the Role of Women in the Anglican Diocese of Armidale.

In the paper he seeks ‘to explore the way Christian men and women can partner together in ministry, to grow and build Christ’s church in accordance with the Scriptures’ (Bishop’s synod address, p9).

This was in preparation for employing a Diocesan Deacon for Women. Everything is now ready for the role to begin in January 2025 – the new Deacon for Women will be announced in December…”

– This page has links to Bishop Rod Chiswell’s Position Paper here and his Synod Address.

Image: The Synod of the Diocese of Armidale.

Growth and Change and Preaching

“Recently during a week of study leave I had the privilege of reading Andrew Heard’s excellent new book, Growth and Change: The danger and necessity of a passion for church growth (Matthias Media, 2024). It receives the commendation of numerous respected pastors and scholars. D. A. Carson, reluctant to call any book the ‘best’ in its field, suggests in the Foreword that Growth and Change might serve as an exception to his rule.

Reading through it over three consecutive days, I found myself praising God for its zealous, ambitious, and what I believe to be a scripturally faithful perspective. …”

– David Burge writes at The Expository Preaching Trust. This is Part 1 of his reflections on the book.

Rejoice in the Lord — John Mason reflects on Thanksgiving

“‘Thanksgiving’ in America is one of the delights Judith and I experienced when we moved to New York in 2001. Despite the evil events of September 11, 2001 people at our first Thanksgiving Dinner expressed their thanks for the way the Lord had used the events of 9/11 to build their trust in him.

When we think about it, thanksgiving is a theme that permeates the Bible – especially the Psalms. And while we do live in an uncertain world, there is still much for which to be thankful.

Come with me to Paul the Apostle’s Letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verses 4 through 9…”

– As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, the Anglican Connection’s John Mason reflects on what Scripture says on the topic.

Jesus was not born in a stable—and it really does matter!

From Ian Paul at Psephizo –

“What do you find most irritating about this time of year? The drawing in of dark and cold nights? The hideous adoption of that consumerist import ‘Black Friday’? People putting up Christmas trees when we have only just started Advent? Being urged to spend more money by means of schmaltzy human interest mini-dramas?

For me, it is the repeated but ill-founded claim that Jesus was born in a stable, alone and isolated, with his family ostracised by the community—despite the complete lack of evidence for this reconstruction. It will be repeated in pulpits, real and virtual, up and down the land, so I do not apologise for reposting once more this annual feature. …”

– See Ian’s argument here.

A wonderful gospel resource you might not have seen

We first posted this in 2022, but it’s worth revisiting since so few people seem to know about this valuable (free) resource:

“Have you ever been in a situation where you would love to leave a gospel message with someone but had nothing with you to give? Or the person didn’t read English and that’s the only language you have available?

Global Recordings Network has a unique solution to this dilemma: 5fish! …

The International Orality Network tells us that 4 out of 5 people in the world communicate primarily or exclusively through oral, not textual means. This means that only 1 out of 5 people are happy when you give them something to read – regardless of whether it is a book, magazine, or tract. Everyone else wants to listen or watch!

The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey in 2006 that informs us that approximately 7 million (46%) Australians aged 15 to 74 years did not reach the minimum standard required for individuals to meet the complex demands of everyday life and work in the emerging knowledge-based economy. Almost half of the Australian population would struggle to read and understand the Bible if you handed them one.”

– At AP (The Australian Presbyterian), Global Recordings Network’s Christine Platt makes a case for 5fish.

Watch the 75 second video below to see how 5fish works.

Consider sharing the video, and links to 5fish, with members of your church.

(We understand the app will soon be updated to add even more functionality.)

Being more intentional in discipleship

From The Pastor’s Heart this week:

“How do we encourage our staff teams and members to be more intentional in Jesus’ mission of making disciples?

Disciple making is entering into relationships to help people trust and follow Jesus – the whole journey from conversion through maturing and multiplication.

There’s a formal teaching component. But there’s so much more.

Peter Mayrick, from Partners in Ministry, says he wants us to be more intentional.”

– Watch or listen here.

Men Meeting the Challenge conference 2025

The “Men Meeting the Challenge Conference” 2025 is set for Saturday 29th March at The King’s School.

Rory Shiner and Dave Jensen are speaking. Details here.

The Increasing Value of Christian Testimonies

“Traditionally, apologetics has been concerned with defending and commending the truth claims of the Christian faith. In the 1990s Christian apologist Alister McGrath, in response to changing social attitudes, suggested that apologetics should not just be interested in establishing the truth of the Christian faith, but also its relevance. People wanted to know whether the Christian message had any impact on their lives.

Today, the world has moved on again and we find ourselves needing to address a new situation: the view that Christianity is harmful. We now need to commend the Christian faith in terms of its truth, relevance and its goodness. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Stephen Liggins has a helpful suggestion for our own personal interactions – and for church gatherings.