I gave my life to Jesus – Glen Scrivener
In his latest video, Glen Scrivener points us away from ourselves and our efforts – to the Lord Jesus.
Quite a challenge to a lot of preaching. 7 minutes.
Building a Culture of Evangelism takes time
“Evangelism isn’t just for the ‘professionals‘ – pastors, ministers, Bible teachers, and all the rest. Instead, the New Testament teaches that evangelism is the whole church’s job.
But asserting the ‘whole church’ does evangelism can be a bit confusing. What does that mean? Is there some special evangelism program hidden somewhere in the pages of the New Testament? Furthermore, what, if any, relationship exists between our personal evangelism and our church’s outreach ministry?…”
– An encouraging article from 9Marks. Read it, and be sure to watch ‘The Gospel Blimp’ if you haven’t seen it before.
Related:
One to One vs Course Evangelism – Sam Hilton & Tony Wright on what’s best for your church – The Pastor’s Heart.
Five things you need to talk about with your Youth
“As the apostle Paul finished up his time with the church in Ephesus he was confidently able to report, ‘I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God’ (Acts 20:27).
Wouldn’t that be a great way to finish up a time of serving people you love. But sometimes there are topics that are super sensitive, topics which fill us with a fair bit of hesitation! However, it is good to talk about hard things because, in the end, every hard topic can promote great chats and even better they take us to the heart of the gospel…”
– At The Australian Church Record, Adrian Foxcroft shares five things you might not want to, but should talk about with your Youth.
Lent in the Diocese of Bathurst – The Road to Calvary
Bishop of Bathurst, Mark Calder, has invited the Rev Mike Raiter to record a series of Lenten Studies to be used in parishes across the diocese this Lent.
The studies, “The Road to Calvary”, are based on chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel According to Matthew.
The first Study is available here – and the rest will be available on Bishop Calder’s Youtube Channel. Pray that they will be a great blessing to many.
Related:
Bishop Calder has been in Forbes where the Anglican Church is looking for a minister “to teach them God’s Word, partner with them in ministry, and help reach Forbes with the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ”. He’s posted a 19 second video on Facebook.
The Blessed Life
“Lent is traditionally a time for reflection and prayer. Over the next few weeks on the Church Society blog, we will be reflecting each weekday on some of Jesus’s first words, and his last words, as well as pondering what the Bible says about the spiritual life. That is, we will be reflecting on the Beatitudes from Matthew 5, Jesus’s words from the cross in the Gospels, the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5, and the so-called seven deadly sins…”
– At Church Society’s blog, Less Gatiss beings a series for Lent.
What issues most concern U.S. pastors in 2020?
“Within their own churches, a majority of pastors consider reaching a younger generation (51%) and declining outreach and evangelism (50%) to be major concerns.
One-third of pastors are also concerned about declining or inconsistent volunteering (36%), stagnating spiritual growth (34%), and declining attendance, while one-fourth are concerned about biblical illiteracy (29%) and declining/unpredictable giving patterns. …”
– Read it all at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. (Emphasis in colour added.)
Misunderstanding is no Medicine
“What is it with our humanity that we struggle with the nice guy, the good woman, the gentle friend, the wise guide?
Is jealousy the problem? Is it the confronting reality of what we should be, but aren’t, that finds in us an unhelpful reaction? It is an odd thing to find ourselves not liking a person because they are delightful, or truthful, or good, or servant-hearted, or kind or more.
There is something perverse in us when we despise others for qualities we would otherwise admire and be proud of in ourselves. …”
– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, continues his series of articles written to help people come to know Jesus.
Videos from the 2020 Priscilla & Aquila annual conference
Moore Theological College has posted the videos and notes from their 2020 Priscilla & Aquila annual conference.
As well as the Plenary sessions, videos or audio files of the Electives are available.
Training ministers of the Word in a semi-literate world
“While in Australia we take for granted that our schooling system will produce people with good comprehension skills and critical thinking, in Congo and in many parts of the majority-world, this is not the case…”
– Bishop Malcolm Richards, Director of Moore College’s Centre for Global Mission, seeks your prayers and partnership.
Walking with the Suffering Church during Lent — GAFCON
GAFCON is producing daily devotionals to which you can subscribe.
During Lent 2020, there is a special focus on walking with the Suffering Church.
Updated Christianity Explored website
Christianity Explored Ministries have updated the Christianity Explored website.
How can pastors support couples in our churches impacted by abortion
“There are women in all our lives and churches who have had an abortion. Men, women and children who have been touched by abortion – in our workplaces, churches and families.
Senior pastors need to stop turning a blind eye to this subject and talk much much more about abortion in church.
New Testament scholar and former nurse Dr Claire Smith says we are currently not meeting this pastoral and evangelistic need. …”
– Dr. Claire Smith speaks with Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart.
Also at The Pastor’s Heart this week, Dominic speaks with Mez McConnell and Matthew Spandler Davidson about Abuse in the church – with particular reference to recent events.
A Short Book About Paul: The Servant of Jesus — review
“Historians don’t merely assemble a puzzle. Before considering how the pieces fit together, they need to determine which ones belong in the box. Some subjects offer an abundance of resources, while others leave us wishing for more.
The historian and theologian Paul Barnett combines mastery of his craft with a subject that provides plenty of pieces for someone who knows where to look. The result is that this portrait of the Apostle Paul, while relatively brief … offers a rich presentation of his life and work.”
– Moore College’s Philip Kern reviews A Short Book About Paul: The Servant of Jesus by Paul Barnett. At SydneyAnglicans.net.
Nexus20 — How to Save a City
The Nexus20 conference is set for Monday 23rd March at a new location: Moore College – and at a new time: 2:00 – 8:00pm.
From the Nexus website:
“No matter where God has placed us – in the suburbs, in the inner city, in a regional or rural area – our task is to bring the message of salvation to the people we’ve been given to serve.
At this year’s Nexus conference, we’ll be thinking about what it means to be part of God’s extraordinary saving purpose in the particular place we’ve been given to reach, how important the local church is in that purpose, and how God uses decidedly ordinary people and methods to do extraordinary things.
Our focus this year will be on how to bring salvation to our particular city (of Sydney) and the challenges we face in our gospel fellowship (that is, among Sydney ministry workers, many of us Anglicans).
But as always, we’ll be having this discussion with one eye on the broader fellowship around Australia (and beyond) who tune in to Nexus via Livestream. Our hope is that by talking honestly and theologically about our own patch, we can encourage, challenge and stimulate everyone to do the same, wherever God has placed us.”
– Watch the promo video, and register, at the Nexus website.
Feeling anxious about ‘You’? Why modern Identity can be crushing
“Whereas as our ancestors drew their identity from their place in society, we moderns are liberated from that dependency. We can be our own people. We don’t care what others think.
Except we do.
If we’re to feel good about ourselves, we crave other people’s validation. We need it, if we’re to feel worthy. …”
– Akos Balogh writes about identity and security at The Gospel Coalition Australia.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…