Shepherds of Assurance
“How did the Puritan pastors use their doctrine of personal assurance of salvation to assist believers in living the Christian life?
And what lessons can we learn today from their pastoral specialization in the vast field of experiential Christianity connected with the assurance of salvation?…”
– At Desiring God, Joel Beeke looks at the Puritans and outlines how their examples are a great encouragement to pastors in understanding their roles today. (link via Tim Challies.)
Three Encouragements for Pastors Pursuing Wandering Sheep
“One of the unintended consequences of the pandemic has been the disintegrating weekly habit of attending the Sunday gathering. What should a pastor do when faced with wandering sheep, those who have left the safe pastures of the local church and found themselves in dangerous territory away from the herd?
Let me encourage you, pastor, to consider three things as you seek out wandering sheep. …”
– At 9Marks, Nick Gardner has some encouragement in these changing times.
Bathurst Anglican e-News — March 2022
The Diocese of Bathurst’s e-News for March 2022 is now up on their website.
It’s a “newsletter for the Anglican Church in Central & Western NSW”, but will be of interest to many who are praying for the eternal good of men and women across that diocese.
In this issue Bishop Mark Calder writes –
Encouraging signs of growth
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind towards each other that Christ Jesus had so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the same mind towards each other that Christ Jesus had; a humility of servanthood and of sacrifice, so that with one voice and one mind we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)
I’ve been sharing those verses with you since before I began here and I think that under God we are slowly seeing our prayers answered in that regard. …
Read it all on page 2 – and download the whole issue here. (3.7MB PDF file.)
In an e-mail to newsletter recipients Bishop Calder writes:
“Please give thanks with us for the grace of God at work among us and pray that the Lord will raise up more gospel workers for our 16/29 parishes without clergy.”
Praying at the foot of the Cross
“The pain of the world, the reality of death and the uncertainty of life has been made acute by the long struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and by the war that has broken out in Ukraine just this past week. That is the context in which Christians across the world are called to be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ.
So now like never before we need to personally know the transforming love of Christ and the living hope we have in Him. And there is no place to experience these powerful realities than at the foot of the Cross.
As we gather at the foot of the Cross and behold our Lord, there are three dimensions that shape our posture. …”
– The Rt Revd Rennis Ponniah, former Bishop of Singapore, calls Christians to worship at the foot of the Cross. This Lent devotion was published by the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches.
(Image courtesy St. Andrew’s Cathedral Singapore.)
Diocese of the Northern Territory Prayer Cycle for 2022
From the Diocese of the Northern Territory –
“We covet your prayers for the work of the Gospel in the Diocese of the Northern Territory.
Please keep praying that God will raise up the next generation of leaders in all the parishes here in the Northern Territory, for additional resources for our urban and remote parishes and that we will use the resources that God has given wisely.”
– Download the Prayer Cycle for 2002 here.
Peter Jensen: The Challenges of Global Anglicanism — The Mission of the Church
From Church Society:
“In this first of our 2022 Lent series on the challenges of Global Anglicanism, Rt Revd Peter Jensen former Archbishop of Sydney and General Secretary of GAFCON, speaks about the challenge of taking the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world.
He identifies three challenges: identity, truth and relationships.”
Good to watch and share.
Southern Cross magazine, March 2022
Anglican Media Sydney has just released Southern Cross magazine for March 2022.
Printed copies will be available in parishes from this weekend, but you can download a PDF version now at magazine.sydneyanglicans.net.
Pastoral video from Bishop Mark Calder on the floods and Ukraine
Yesterday Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder released this pastoral video.
Please use it as an encouragement to turn to the Lord in prayer.
Jesus is what truly matters
“I hope that as you combed through the Moore Matters Autumn 2022 publication, you have begun to see the ways in which Moore College continues to influence the world through theological education.
From the rich melting pot of ethnicities right here in Sydney, to the various overseas ministries that our graduates are involved in, your generosity in supporting the training and equipping of men and women is both strategic and significant.
Every one of you, through your financial generosity, fervent and consistent prayers, and advocacy for the work of the College, are valuable partners in this ministry that aims to see God glorified through providing excellent evangelical theological education. …”
– Ben George at Moore College writes to encourage us to focus on what’s most important. (Plus you can read the latest Moore Matters at the link.)
Growing Gospel Workers
“Dear fellow-workers in ministry,
We face a pressing concern. In twenty years’ time, who will be the ministers of our churches or leading youth and children’s ministries? Who will be serving overseas as missionaries? Who will be our chaplains in schools, hospitals, prisons, universities, defence force, aged care, and sporting bodies? Who will be our church planters, here or abroad? …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Peter Adam addresses a pressing concern.
Sunday morning Encouragement
After September 11 2001, Colin Buchanan wrote a song he has sung over and over again: The Lord is King. Always relevant.
And read Psalm 2.
“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.” – Psalm 2:10
Colleague Critiquing
“In 2019, Dr. William S Dobbie, Professor of Public Policy of the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, MA, USA, visited Australia to speak to the Independent School’s Association.
Dr. Dobbie spoke about the factors which encourage academic progress in students in middle teenage High Schools in the US.
A prominent factor was the availability of experienced colleagues to observe and give feedback to younger, newer teachers. Colleague feedback according to Dobbie was the best use of extra funding for education and did more to accelerate academic progress in students than many other more expensive options. …”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook has further opportunities for growth and encouragement.
Sydney Archbishop Kanishka Raffel on the future
“Sydney Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel spells out the future mission challenges in Sydney and the future of the National Anglican Church in Australia.
We canvass some of the issues Archbishop Raffel might have broached in his first Presidential address, had the ‘Synod in the Greenfields’ (scheduled for this Saturday 26 February 2022) not been postponed due to the Omicron outbreak.
Archbishop Raffel speaks frankly about the Greenfields challenge, indigenous issues, multiculturalism, the national church and the current religious freedom debate. …”
“He had lost control of his life to Jesus Christ”
“When Archbishop Kanishka Raffel came to Australia in 1972 as a small child, his home faith was Buddhism. The story of how he came to believe in Jesus has now been told on video, which is available for playing in churches or to pass on to friends.
The Archbishop’s story has been told in print and on radio, but he was moved to record a video version after a request from Anglican Chinese churches. He talks about how he became interested in studying Buddhism as a teenager and also asked Christians about their faith. …”
– Watch and download this encouraging testimony at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Eighteen ordained at St. Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney
“From twenty-something college graduates to an experienced Aboriginal Pastor, the 18 candidates for ordination at St Andrew’s Cathedral on Saturday, Feb 19, 2022, shared both excitement and a sense of privilege and responsibility as they made their vows…”
– Encouraging news from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…