Why Millennials ARE coming to church
“There have been plenty of articles about why Millennials – those twenty somethings – are not coming to church. Plenty of time and attention towards what would bring them back.
Well, in our church at the moment plenty of Millennials ARE coming. It’s been noted by the older crowd that they’re starting to get outnumbered by that particular cohort this year. …”
– Here’s an encouraging article by Stephen McAlpine.
2018: Now is the Time for Evangelism
“I was born in 1975, and I would go so far as to say this is the best evangelistic environment in Australia in my lifetime.
We should be proclaiming the gospel with confidence. We should expect fruit. And we must not allow our fear about the institutional and legal environment to bleed into a pessimism about evangelism as such.”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Rory Shiner writes to encourage you to expect fruit from evangelism.
Anglican Future starts with ‘Gospel Confidence’
“The opening of the Anglican Future Conference in Melbourne has begun with a stirring call for Christian leaders to defy secular stereotypes of the church as a dying force. …
The conference, with the theme “Grace and Truth in Uncertain Times” is organised jointly by the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Church (EFAC) and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Australia and New Zealand, chaired by the Bishop of Tasmania Richard Condie.”
– Russell Powell reports at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Promoting plagiarism in ministry
“Over the last few weeks there’s been a lot of angst in my denomination’s local circles about evangelism. A visiting friend told us we’re no longer keen on it, and the statistics show that over the last ten years we’ve lost people just as fast as we’ve converted them. …
In the midst of this I thought I’d share what our church is doing. We’re a small, struggling church in the part of Sydney where Anglican churches go to die. We’re not big. We’re not successful. Our senior minister is a bit of an idiot. We haven’t found the evangelism silver bullet. …”
– At GoThereFor.com, Mike Doyle at St. James Berala, reckons you ought to find the best of the best – and “plagiarise the life out of it”.
Related:
Reflections on Sydney Anglicanism: An interview with David Robertson – Australian Church Record.
Have we lost evangelism? with Phil Colgan and Craig Schafer.
Reaching people with the gospel
Archbishop Peter Jensen has long been an advocate of looking for opportunities to share the gospel in taxis – and he was sure to carry a copy of The Essential Jesus (The Gospel According to Luke) to give away.
Tim Challies recently spoke at a bookshop in Scotland, and was asked about good ways to share the gospel with people.
His reply? “Uber!”. Good advice.
The value of training women for ministry
“Tracey Gowing helps oversee evangelical student ministry across Australia. In her role she has trained and influenced countless women, and worked with plenty of men.
Tracey is full of practical wisdom on how to live out the Bible’s teaching on men and women. I thought I’d pick her brains, firstly on how she trains women, and then next time on how she works with men.”
– At GoThereFor.com, Lauren Driscoll speaks with Tracey Gowing.
There’s no need for an epic moment every Sunday
“If you measured church life only from the tweets of some pastors, you’d assume church services are awesome for every other congregation but your own. Phrases like, ‘Killer praise band,’ ’Home run sermon,‘ and ‘Amazing stage design’ fill Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds on Sunday afternoons.
Meanwhile, at your church, the lapel mic stopped working halfway through the sermon, the Scripture verses on the screen were in the wrong version, and the date for the church picnic was incorrect in the bulletin. …”
– Maybe your church isn’t an epic church. Here are three reasons it doesn’t need to be. (Link via Gary Ware.)
Expecting to repent
“It is a humbling experience to be faced with your sin –many of us don’t cope well with it.
We may respond with defensiveness, bewilderment, and denial. …“
– Food for sober reflection, from James Chen at GoThereFor.com.
Also see: A Soul-Refreshed Life (David Brainerd) – Reformation21.
The confidence and hope of our calling
He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thess 5:24)
“These few simple words sum up some of the essential fundamentals of Christianity. They tell us three things about God: that he has called us, that he is faithful, that he will do. …”
– Biblical encouragement from The Rev. Alan Stubbs, via The Australian Church Record.
Passing it on
“Earlier this year I was driving my youngest son home from a school event. Not long into the trip he asked me, ‘Dad, how did you become a Christian?’
Naturally that was a question that I was more than happy to answer, and we had a wonderful ride as I shared my story with him and as he probed me with further questions. It was a precious father-son moment.
However, I must confess that I was also a bit taken aback by the question.…”
– At GoThereFor.com, David Mears shares a great reminder about passing on the saving gospel to our children.
The Burden for Missions Begins at Home
Encouragement from Mark Dever in this brief 9Marks video.
Simon Manchester on Getting the Message Across
Late last year, Nancy Guthrie spoke with Simon Manchester about how to engage listeners.
Jonathan Edwards: Safe beneath his Sovereign God
“In the spring of 1750, the central discussion at Northampton Church in southern Massachusetts was not how to honor their faithful pastor for almost a quarter century of diligent labors among them. Rather, it was how to most expeditiously get rid of him.
In late June, the church held a series of meetings, and they summarily fired their pastor by a vote of 10 to 1 – of the 253 voting members, 230 voted for him to be dismissed, and 23 for him to stay.
Why were the people pointing fingers instead of offering warm handshakes to their pastor, Jonathan Edwards?…”
– At Desiring God, Dane Ortlund brings godly encouragement from the life of Jonathan Edwards.
Related: Johnathan Edwards’ The Religious Affections is the free Audiobook from Christian Audio for August 2018.
Wonderful salvation: A study in 1 Peter 1:1-12
“Peter opens his letter by contemplating the amazing character of Christian salvation. The very thought of it immediately calls forth worship and doxology. Blessed by God the giver!
Let us make what Peter wrote the subject of our own adoring meditation. Let us see what we can here learn about our wonderful salvation. …”
– The Australian Church Record has republished this encouragement from Alan Stibbs from sixty years ago.
The promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:20)
“For how many so ever be the promises of God, in Him is the yea: wherefore also through Him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us” (2 Cor 1:20, R.V.)
Let us see how much we can learn from this one verse about the promises of God. …
– Encouragement from the Rev. Alan Stibbs in The Australian Church Record.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…