The biblical meaning of righteousness and justification Part 1, with Chris Thomson @ Moore College

“Martin Luther famously wrote about justification by faith: ‘if this article stands, the church stands; if this article collapses, the church collapses’ (Luther’s Works 40/3.352.3).

Justification matters. Why? Because it is caught up with our status before God, our assurance of eternal life, and our freedom to live the Christian life in love for others and without fear.

But what does the Bible actually say about justification? Luther and Calvin recognised that we need to come to grips with the precise meaning of the key biblical terms – ‘righteousness’ and ‘justification’ – in order to grasp the biblical doctrine. But in modern New Testament scholarship, there is often a lack of clarity about these terms.

In this 3-part series, I speak with my colleague Chris Thomson, lecturer in Old Testament at Moore College, who has engaged in detailed research in this area as well as scholarly discussions with others, including N. T. Wright.

We talk about what the terms mean, what other people are saying today about the terms, why righteousness is different from justification, why it’s both shocking and deeply comforting that God is the one who justifies the ungodly, and why it matters for us today.”

– More very helpful input from Lionel Windsor at Moore College.

Quiz Worx Home Delivery

“For over 20 years Quiz Worx has been Sharing Jesus with Kids Everywhere through fun and creative live puppet shows.

With the global pandemic of COVID-19 shutting down all opportunities for live ministry, Quiz Worx has turned its creative attention to making resources that can help churches and families share Jesus with kids in the home.”

– Terrific resources from Quiz Worx.

Is freedom of religion a human right? – Livestream from The Centre for Christian Living

From Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living.

Wednesday 27 May 2020 at 8:00pm:

“In our part of the world (Australia) we enjoy religious freedom. But the current debate over the Religious Discrimination Bill (now in its second draft) may bring some of that freedom into question.

Michael Kellahan, the Executive Director of Freedom for Faith, will help us understand the Australian cultural and political context that has made this issue so contentious, and CCL Director Chase Kuhn will help us think through the biblical and theological principles that help Christians appreciate the goodness and complexity of contending for religious freedom.

We hope you will join us (virtually) for our first livestream only event!”

They also write:

Please note: online bookings will close 12pm AEDT Wednesday 27 May. Instructions will be emailed to all attendees a couple of hours before the start of the event.

Managing congregational anxiety in the post COVID-19 reboot

From Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart:

“We are addressing how we care for and lead our congregations on the way back. We are seeing states quickly move through the different stages of opening up.

How do we handle the fear of change, and navigate the decisions of starting to meet again. How do we help our members flourish in community while keeping a physical distance? How can we come through this stronger? What about the feelings that they and we are experiencing, and how can we support them through the next few months?

The best advice for Australian churches is still to expect a protracted period with congregations limited to 100 people, with one person per four square metres, for many Churches, this necessitates change, with congregations to be divided or planted.

Jenny Brown heads The Family Systems Practice, is an experienced family systems therapist and the author of Growing Yourself Up.

Nigel Fortesque is the senior minister of Christ Church St Ives.”

– Watch here.

SRE at Learning at Home now available

Writing on the GAFCON website, Youthworks CEO Craig Roberts writes,

“…the COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools to go online. Youthworks has modified some of its SRE lessons for parents to use at home with their children AND the government has put a link to our resources on every school website.”

– Read his report here – and you can also access the SRE material here.

Adaptive Leadership in COVID-19 with Brian Tung

“Brian Tung says leading our churches successfully out of COVID-19 is going to be much more complex than the journey in.

He says don’t squander the God-given opportunity to make ‘real’ change in the COVID-19 rollback.

How do you fix it even when it’s not broken?  Note, People don’t hate change. They hate loss. How do you make the most of the productive zone of disequilibrium. …”

– The latest episode of The Pastor’s Heart.

Church Seating & Stage Three – the implementation – with Michael Stead

“Today we get totally nitty gritty/extremely practical and we are talking church seating in stage three.. with the Bishop of South Sydney Michael Stead.


The road map – from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison – indicates that there is going to be a moment that the government is calling ‘stage three’, probably/potentially mid July when meetings of up to 100 people will be able to take place.”

– Another very helpful edition of The Pastor’s Heart.

New resources from Dick Lucas

St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London has made available a swathe of talks on preaching by Dick Lucas – recorded in the last decade.

They are featured in the most recent talks on their website, as well as in the special Teaching from Dick Lucas section.

The “New Normal” and the Same Old Story: Evangelism in a Virtual World

“I just want to see my friends!” This was the frustrated – and completely understandable – cry from one of our teenagers as we entered another week of isolation with no clear end in sight.

Although these friends had been chatting (and gaming) online, they knew it was a far cry from seeing each other. Yet this is the “new normal” under COVID-19.

By necessity rather than choice, online interactions are rapidly taking the place of physical contact. And this is all happening in the midst of other serious challenges: uncertainty about finances, job loss, unfulfilled dreams, loneliness, increased anxiety, depression, bereavement, and the ever-present fear of sickness and death itself. …

– Lionel Windsor calls us back to the main game.

COVID-19, the restart & strategic change – The Pastor’s Heart

On this week’s edition of The Pastor’s Heart, Dominic Steele speaks with Bishop Gary Koo, chairman of the Sydney Anglican COVID-19 Taskforce and Adam Lowe, Senior Pastor of St. Barts Toowoomba, a psychologist by background.

Their topic? “COVID-19, the restart & strategic change”.

EMA 2020

This year’s Evangelical Ministry Assembly will be streamed live from London – Tuesday 23rd – Thursday 25th June 2020.

“We really hope that you will be able to join us for EMA online, no matter where you are in the UK or around the globe.”

Ideal evening viewing in Australia.

Paul, Philosophy & Knowledge — Edwin Judge

God on the Ground podcast speaks with Emeritus Professor Edwin Judge AM.

Fascinating.

Partnership is a special gift of God

“Our world is in great need. That is more obvious every day. People are lost without Christ and they do not even realise it. A culture that is moving at breakneck speed away from its gospel heritage is unravelling and doing immense but unrecognised harm.

We need more men and women who are deeply immersed in the Scriptures, whose lives and teaching consistently re ect God’s truth and his gracious, loving character, and who are gifted and thoroughly prepared for the joys and challenges of this moment and the moments to come.

We cannot afford to take shortcuts in preparing people for a lifetime of word ministry in the world and among God’s people. There is too much at stake, and Christian leadership in this form is under constant assault from the evil one. …”

– Moore College Principal, Dr. Mark Thompson, writes about the great value of gospel partnership in the latest (Autumn 2020) Moore Matters.

Read online or download the PDF file.

(Photo courtesy The Pastor’s Heart.)

The Pastor’s Heart: A three step plan to reopen Australia – with Peter Mayrick

“We are reacting quickly to the announcement today from Australia’s Prime Minister Morrison of a three step program to re-open Australia by July.

Peter Mayrick, from the Moore College Centre for Ministry Development joins us to unpack this.

Peter has recently completed a survey of churches and ministers on how we are negotiating COVID-19 (PDF file). Peter is clear that this is an opportunity for Churches to reflect on every aspect of ministry.”

– Watch here.

And do download the survey results.

Gospel hope for mental health

“Twice in my life I’ve had life-threatening anorexia – once as a teenager and again as an adult. Both times I’d have said I was a Christian. Both times I sought help from medical professionals and the Christian community. Yet still, I nearly died.

Christians helped me more than anyone else.  Yet Christians also did most damage with some of the things they said …

If church is for shiny, happy people who are better than everyone else, then I don’t belong.”

– Emma Scrivener in the UK shares gospel hope at Church Society’s website.

Photo: emmascrivener.net

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