Sydney Preaching Clubs Reopening in 2021!

News from David Cook and The Expository Preaching Trust –

“The Trust’s preaching clubs will reopen in Term 1, 2021. They meet four times each year, once each school term, in Abbotsford on a Thursday and at Cronulla on a Friday.

Membership of each club is free…”

– Learn more about this invaluable resource here.

Staying fresh as a Rector

“Even before COVID-19, every rector was aware of the growing pressure of the role: the demands of compliance, managing expectations and criticisms from the congregation, tensions within parish council, the demands of meeting the budget, keeping the staff aligned with a common vision, and the challenges to see both church and gospel growth.

COVID-19 has simply escalated that stress by requiring so many decisions on an ever-changing treadmill. The result is that we can be left feeling tired and uninspired with a gnawing sense of failure as we count the days to our resignation or retirement.

At different stages of my ministry I found refreshment in the following…”

– Encouragement from Ray Galea, at The Australian Church Record.

Men Meeting The Challenge Conference 2020

This year’s Men Meeting the Challenge Conference, not surprisingly, will be an online conference. Keynote speakers are Al Stewart and Ross Ciano.

From the organisers:

Why not join us at Men Meeting the Challenge this year, online, on Saturday 7 November 2020, for some real encouragement and inspiration. Gather a group of men today and go online at menforchrist.asn.au and register for a conference that will really make a difference!

And you can watch the promo video here.

@HomewithColin One-Off online show — Saturday night

The Gospel Coalition Australia is partnering with Colin Buchanan for a special one-off Saturday online @HomewithColin concert.

It will include a bunch of Colin’s Christian kid’s favourites – plus a few surprises!

@HomewithColin One-Off is streaming this Saturday 10th October, from 5:00 pm AEST on Colin’s Facebook Page.

MTS Recruit videos online

The videos from the MTS Recruit conference sessions the last few days are now available to watch.

Ray Galea and Phillip Jensen give the main addresses. Plenty of encouragement to consider gospel ministry.

Feel the Breeze

“In the past people used to curled up with a good book. Now the joy is curling up with your Kindle or iPad. Some people like to log in to video games, while for others it’s a good movie or just the TV. It’s hard to speak of these with joy because so often the content is less than joyful and can even be quite stressful.

I want to give a plug for some time in the sun, to walk the great outdoors. I want to give a plug for something more than your world hemmed in by four walls. …”

– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, writes with encouragement for you.

Lift up your hearts – GAFCON devotions – this month by Simon Manchester

Simon Manchester is contributing October 2020’s ‘Lift up your Hearts’ devotions for GAFCON. On the book of Deuteronomy.

And see the interview with Simon on the page linked above.

(Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

Pastoring Through Political Turmoil — 9Marks Journal September 2020

“Ordinarily, the 9Marks Journals push in a theological direction. The last six issues, for instance, have covered the work of a pastor, gospel-centered preaching, complementarianism, the atonement, church membership, and Calvinism.

Yet you won’t be surprised to hear the number one question we’re hearing from pastors these days: how do we pastor through a season of political turmoil?

Hence, this issue of the Journal is devoted to pastoring through political turmoil. …”

– The latest 9Marks Journal is not only about US politics, and will be helpful for Australian pastors in navigating the huge social changes we face.

For example, there’s “How to hold your tongue about politics and thereby not split your church over things the Bible doesn’t talk about” – Part 1, and (more expansively) Part 2.

Southern Cross magazine for October 2020 now out

The latest Southern Cross magazine (October 2020) is now available for download, or reading online.

Features include:

• Christians and sport
• Getting back to church in Sydney
• Evangelism in COVID Melbourne
• The latest Ordinations
• Persecution of Chinese Christians by rewriting John 8

Grab your copy here.

‘But Billy,’ you may ask…

“Andrew Blackwood was Chair of Practical Theology at Princeton and said of preaching, ‘These three remain, faith, hope and clarity, but the greatest of these is clarity!’

Billy Graham was one of the clearest preachers I have heard, I heard him preach for two weeks at his Sydney campaign in 1968. Dr. Graham would often stop and ask himself, ‘“But Billy,’ you may ask…” He would anticipate and answer the question on peoples’ minds.

Dialogical preaching which anticipates questions raised by the sermon is a very good friend of clarity in preaching. …”

– David Cook continues to encourage preachers at The Expository Preaching Trust.

Photo: Billy Graham and Archbishop Marcus Loane in Sydney, 1968. Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.

The Priestly Preacher

“Have you ever heard a preacher talk about hell, divine election or holy war as if they were talking about riding a bike or watching a game on TV? They appear to have no sense of the gravity or the offensiveness of what they are talking about.

It’s as if the preacher lives in a different world from their listeners – unaware or uninterested in the humanity and situation of their hearers.

It’s as if they haven’t realised that their congregants are 21st century Australians who have loved ones and work colleagues who are not Christians. …“

– Ray Galea with a challenge for preachers – at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Something Better

Richard Coekin at Dundonald Church in London wants to encourage Christians to share their story.

The aim: “To resource the local church to reach the city with news of something better.”

Check out the “Something Better” website here.

The gospel according to a 5-year-old

“When my kids were young, I had the idea to talk with them about the gospel over dinner so that we could discuss together about what it means for us to follow Jesus. (Dinnertimes were pretty crazy with three kids under ten and the usual debates over the necessity and place of vegetables in the created order, so it was an ambitious goal.)

My husband suggested that the best way to start might be to teach them the gospel outline Two Ways to Live and to make it super fun. …”

– Great advice for parents (and grandparents!) from Bronwyn Windsor at The Australian Church Record.

Review: Come, Let Us Sing by Rob Smith

“Of making many books on worship, there is no end. Surely all has been said and done?

But given that ‘sung praise’ (we will come to the use of the term ‘worship’ later!) is so essential in our churches, and such a vital part of Christian life and ministry – as well as being such a divisive and vexed topic – and, knowing the qualifications of the author for writing such a book, I looked forward with anticipation to Rob Smith’s latest. I was not disappointed. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, David Roberston speaks highly of Rob Smith’s “Come Let us Sing”.

Thinking about Critical Race Theory

Albert Mohler reflects on Critical Theory in conversation with James Lindsay, and also in his The Briefing for 9th September 2020.

As well, Stand to Reason has a helpful introduction to Critical Race Theory:

“Critical Theory divides the world into two groups: the oppressors and the oppressed. Those groups are made up of smaller cultural groups defined by race, sex, sexual preference, gender identity, etc. When this worldview focuses on race, it’s called Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT divides people into groups by race, the white oppressors and the oppressed non-whites…”

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