Church Revitalisation

“The Presbyterian Church in Australia has a new minister – yours truly!  I have signed the formula and have officially become the minister of Scots Kirk in Hamilton, Newcastle. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and wrote a letter reflecting on the journey that has taken us to this place – Letter from Australia 122 – A Return to my Radical Roots.

Some people felt that the basic principles for church revitalisation I listed in that letter might be worth sharing in a wider context so I have added to them a little and hope that they will indeed prove helpful.

I have no great plans. I have dreams and visions – for without that I would perish. But I also have this certainty  that God’s word will not return to him empty and will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. I do have some basic principles/aims/ideas which are as follows …”

– At AP, David Robertson – not Minister at Scots Kirk, Newcastle – shares his thoughts on church revitalisation. Doubtless, many Anglican churches would benefit from at least some of his suggestions.

Parenting in God’s family

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“What is Christian parenting?  How do we do family Bible time well?

How can we prioritise church, even when it’s hard?  Navigating social media with teens?

And how to parent teens who are doubting, drifting or deserting?

Parenting is joyous, magical, tiresome, boring, stressful and complicated.

Harriet Connor is editor of ‘Parenting in God’s family: Biblical wisdom for everyday issues.’. Kat Ashton Israel is a contributing author.”

– Watch or listen here.

Phillip Jensen on The national soul – 1 Timothy 2:1-7

Phillip Jensen spoke at Moore College chapel last Friday.

He turns to one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament, 1 Timothy 2:1-7.

Do take the time to watch – and share the link with others in your church.

– Watch here.

When does old age start?

“There probably comes a time when we are too old to serve the Lord; when old age starts.  But when does old age start? I distinctly remember turning 60 and being embarrassed. Embarrassed because 60 seemed so old, and by definition in this throw-away society; ready for the scrap heap, useless. But I still ran an electronics business that supported 20 odd families so maybe I was still useful and old age had not yet started for me. Slowly that feeling of embarrassment disappeared.

When I was 70, I sold the business but I was not yet free to join the proverbial grey nomads touring around Australia or cruising the seven seas. I still had 2 years left of my term as Chairman of the Board of Elders of a big church. A big church as in 8 ministers, 7 congregations in 3 languages plus a bi-lingual one, in 2 locations. Old age still had not started……

Finally, at the age of 73 that was all over, free at last! What would God have me to do now? …”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, Jim Kuswadi has some encouragement to serve the Lord, whatever your age.

Lessons from Mark Dever’s 30 Years at Capitol Hill Baptist Church

“September 25, 2024, marks the 30th anniversary of Dever’s installation as senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) in Washington, DC.

What lessons are there to glean from a ministry that has spanned three decades and influenced thousands? One answer comes from a response Dever gave in a pastoral candidate interview with the congregation in November 1993. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition, Caleb Morell, an assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, shares this encouragement for pastors and churches.

Photo: Mark Dever at the 2019 Nexus Conference in Sydney.

Evangelism encouragement from Bishop Dudley Foord

Bishop Dudley Foord spoke to the ACL’s 1988 Annual General Meeting.

The topic he chose was “Reaching Out In Difficult Situations”.

While many things have changed since 1988, the need for men and women to hear the gospel and be saved has not. Be encouraged and challenged. In our Resources section.

Bathurst Synod 2024 Presidential Address

Bishop Mark Calder this morning delivered his Presidential Address to the Synod of the Diocese of Bathurst. Click the image above to watch.

Or read the text (PDF file).

“I only have one agenda.

His name is Jesus.

I want everyone in our churches to know Jesus, love Jesus, trust Jesus, serve Jesus and share Jesus.

And I want everyone not currently in our churches to hear of Jesus, turn to Jesus, revel in Jesus as Saviour and serve Jesus as Lord.

I was elected by the Bishop’s election board in 2019 for that agenda.

The board made it clear that they wanted change. Not just any change, but Gospel-shaped, Jesus- focused change.

Of course, I am not suggesting that Jesus wasn’t on the agenda prior to my appointment. However, the reality of the prior years, is that there were many other distressing and distracting issues which needed to be addressed.

I have now been here five years, and under our ordinances, I have three more.

So I want to share with you five lessons I’ve learnt in five years and three prayers I will continue praying in my last three years. …”

– Whether you watch or read, be encouraged to share the link to this page so that others can pray, and help in other ways.

Southern Cross September–October 2024

The latest edition of Southern Cross is out now.

If you don’t get a printed copy at your church, you can download it or read online.

One Reason Preaching Matters — David Jackman

“To many people, preaching seems strangely out of place in the modern world. Why would anyone choose to go to a church building, week by week, to hear a preacher (often the same person) deliver a monologue for twenty or thirty minutes (sometimes even longer) about an ancient book with characters who lived, at best, two thousand years ago? This doesn’t happen in any other context. Educational methods are increasingly interactive. Learning by discovery is the watchword. Preaching seems to be just another example of the church being out of touch, out of date, and out of steam.

Of course, it’s not difficult to find examples of preaching that are sadly boring or irrelevant. Nor is it hard to hear arguments put forward to claim that preaching has had its day: we live in a visual learning culture, listeners have sound-bite levels of concentration, study groups or one-to-one mentoring is more effective, moderns are opposed to domination of a congregation from an elevated pulpit, and so on. But the remedy for the disappointing level of much contemporary preaching is not less preaching, nor its removal from the church’s agenda, but better preaching. And that is because something happens through preaching that cannot occur in any other communication context. …”

– Crossway has published this helpful excerpt from a new book by David Jackman, former Director of The Proclamation Trust.

Image from an encouraging interview with Word Partners on expository preaching.

A “Must Hear” address — Dave Jensen at the ACL Synod Dinner 2024

“Taking the evangelistic temperature of the Diocese of Sydney” is the topic of Dave Jensen’s address at the Anglican Church League’s Synod Dinner held on 16th September 2024. Dave is the Assistant Director of Evangelism and New Churches in the Diocese of Sydney. (Larger image.)

Listen Here:  Read more

“Will you help the crowds see Jesus?”

“Two years ago we met in the southwest growth corridor at Oran Park and I asked you, ‘Do you see the crowds?’ The crowds of people moving into Sydney – growth areas and established areas, people from many nations, people without knowledge of the Lord and his cross. Today I want to ask, will you help the crowds see Jesus?”

With that challenge, Archbishop Kanishka Raffel opened the Synod in the Greenfields in northwestern Sydney. …

– Report from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Below: Watch Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s Synod Address.

The death of Jesus — Matthew 27:1-66

St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London has published a new audio reflection by Dick Lucas – on The Death of Jesus – from Matthew 27:1-66. It was recorded in March this year.

In discussing the passage, Dick seeks to prepare Christians for what happens when the gospel is proclaimed, and shares a sobering story of his first days at St. Helen’s in 1961. (Dick served as Rector from 1961 to 1998.)

Listen here.

We can give great thanksgiving to the Lord for Dick. Born in 1925, Dick attained the age of 99 on Tuesday (September 10). St. Helen’s posted this Happy Birthday message on their Facebook page.

St. Helen’s has more than 1700 talks by Dick available on their website.

Knowing Jesus when it hurts

“Imagine that God gave you a vision of heaven. One moment you sit praying, the next God’s Spirit has lifted you into the heavenlies. You gaze around at the heavenly reality. You see the glories of the Father and the wonders of the seraphim and angels.

Perhaps you catch a taste of what it means to be without sin, to live unencumbered by the desires of the flesh. In ways that you will never find words to express you feel something of the glory of life in the presence of the living God. And then, just as quickly as it began, it’s over.

I wonder, if you had such a vision, who would you tell about it? I wonder, how quickly would you tell them? Would you post it online, phone a friend, talk to your pastor? …”

– Very helpful article from Paul Grimmond at SydneyAnglicans.net.

The purpose of the Lord will stand — Australian Church Record Journal for Synod 2024

The Australian Church Record has published a special edition of their Journal to coincide with the meeting of Sydney Synod starting this weekend.

Whether or not you are a member of Synod, this is well worth downloading, reading and sharing.

Highlights include interviews with Robert Tong and Laurie Scandrett, but much else to see too.

 

“They said I had what they were missing and asked to visit my church”

“I spoke recently at the GAFCON Australasia gathering in Brisbane. GAFCON is the “mission arm” of the movement of orthodox global Anglicans. Hundreds had eagerly put aside time and paid to travel there from every Australian state and territory, as well as New Zealand, PNG and Myanmar.

We looked at Romans 1, full of Paul’s personality and emotion. This is a little surprising because Paul didn’t plant the church and hadn’t visited it yet. Yet it drips with authentic affection and concern. …”

– Archbishop Kanishka Raffel writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

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