Be careful how you build
Andrew Heard spoke from 1 Corinthians 3 at Moore College chapel yesterday on being careful how you build.
Most encouraging and challenging – for theological students and pastors in particular.
– Watch here.
Getting to know CityAlight
Recently, Sol Fenne, Music Coordinator at 20schemes music in Scotland, spent some time with Rich Vassallo to get to know CityAlight, a music ministry which has blessed many people – at St. Paul’s Castle Hill, across Sydney, and right around the world.
A most encouraging video and a great reminder to pray for the team of CityAlight.
Nungalinya College celebrates 50 years
Today (Saturday 19th August), Nungalinya College in Darwin celebrates fifty years of working to empower Indigenous Christians for a life of faith and service.
“Nungalinya is the premier Combined Churches Training College for Indigenous Australians. The College is formally supported by the Anglican, Uniting and Catholic churches of the Northern Territory and is situated in Casuarina, a northern suburb of Darwin.”
– There’s an outline of today’s events on the College website.
A new film, Freedom: The Nungalinya Jubilee Story will be shown at the event. Here’s a very encouraging teaser (Facebook).
The Alphabet Bible
“When I was at uni, we read an article about memory. It argued that pen and paper, computers and smart phones have erased our reliance on memory. …”
– At The Australian Church Record, Jeanette Chin has a simple way to help memorise Scripture – it’s ‘the alphabet Bible’.
The Key
“In my opinion, this is the KEY.
In 1976, having spent 3 years of formative theological training at Moore College, I moved to my first parish, Wee Waa, in the north west of NSW.
I was to be the church’s second minister, the first was a faithful man, an excellent communicator. …
My sermons were very different to the previous minister, I preached for longer, I had been trained to always expound, and, I wasn’t the communicator he had been.
It was not going well, I knew that the congregation were switching off…”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook shares The Key.
Darwin Cathedral Evening Service turns One
A new issue of Top Centre (23.2) from the Diocese of the Northern Territory is now out and available for download.
Lots of encouragement and plenty to pray about – including a report on the first anniversary of the new evening service at Christ Church Cathedral in Darwin (pictured).
“Christ Church Cathedral celebrated the first anniversary of its 5.30pm evening service on June 4 with about 50 people in the congregation including a newborn baby.
This compared with a mere ten people at its first service a year ago.
Reflecting on the growth of this church plant, founding leader Ben Staunton said as much as he was encouraged by the growth in numbers, what was more remarkable was the community that had been built, with members regularly meeting socially and helping each other in their daily lives. …”
Download your copy from this page.
Conversations: With Dr. Andrew Browning, Author & Christian Missionary Doctor
John Anderson’s latest Conversation is with Dr. Andrew Browning, an obstetrician-gynecologist who has devoted his life to improving maternal health in Africa, with a particular focus on fistula surgery.
Very much worth your time. Good to share too.
Related:
Africa: Maternal Healthcare – Fistula Hospitals – AnglicanAid
“Anglican Aid is partnering with Dr. Andrew Browning and the Barbara May Foundation (BMF) to help African women to have a safe childbirth.
Well known Sydney Anglican Dr. Browning worked for many years with Dr. Catherine Hamlin in Ethiopia and continues to develop her vision for fistula prevention and cure in the name of Christ. This vision continues through an expanding network of Christian maternity hospitals funded by the Barbara May Foundation together with Anglican Aid. …
BMF is a Christian foundation motivated by the love and compassion that God the Father has for the world and endeavours to serve as Christ serves. Please join Anglican Aid as together we strive to eradicate unsafe births in Africa.”
Be encouraged – God is at work!
“I recently preached at a church from Luke 15 about the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son and the lost brother – a great chapter of the Bible for you to read and reread.
It’s one of the great joys of my role with Evangelism and New Churches (ENC) that I get to speak at many churches in this way.
I invited people to come back home to God, made possible through Jesus; to be found by our loving God, who has not given up on searching for them no matter how far away from him they may feel. …”
– John Lavender has this wonderful encouragement for you at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Mission & parenting in a post Christian world – with David Rietveld
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“There have been massive social changes as the western world has shifted from a Christian world view to a post Christian world view. In his new book ‘Being Christian after Christendom’, the senior pastor of Dapto Anglican Church David Rietveld analyzes the changes that churches, pastors and parents face in this transition.
Six weeks ago on The Pastor’s Heart David gave his explanation of the problem.
David is back today to paint a positive way forward for evangelism and parenting amongst the post Christian world view.”
How intermediate and experienced preachers can improve their preaching
“How do you make sure you continue to improve as a preacher?
You’ve learned the basics about big ideas and supporting ideas and introductions and applications and full notes versus bullet points and eye contact and hand gestures and preaching pyramids and illustrations and why it is better or worse to preach longer than twenty-five minutes. You are able to consistently research, compose and deliver a solid sermon every week without having a meltdown.
But how do you keep improving? …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Mikey Lynch has a simple suggestion.
See also:
Expository Preaching Trust Preaching Workshop.
Bishop of Bathurst’s Newsletter — August 2023
The Bishop of Bathurst’s Newsletter — Winter edition, August 2023 — has been published by Bishop Mark Calder.
Be sure to download your copy to help you pray for the ministry of the gospel of the Lord Jesus in Central and Western NSW. (There is also information on how to support the work financially, if you are able.)
From the newsletter –
“Pray for all our stipendiary clergy
– that they would be refreshed, sustained and encouraged in their work – Andy Martin, Andrew Thornhill, Bec Choi, Ben Connelly, Ben Mackay, Brett Watterson, Carl Palmer, David Blackmore, James Boardman, James Daymond, James Hodson, Jonny Lush, Jono Williams, Phil Howes, Bob Cameron, Roger Phelps, Sally Phelps, Steven Klouth, Tim Smith and Wally Cox. Pray also for our many other clergy who serve and help so wonderfully!
Pray too for our stipendiary lay ministers: Lizzie Watterson, Levi Kowalczyk and Jo Watts + Glenn and Wendy Murray.
Parishes without clergy – Dubbo, Cudgegong Valley, Kelso, Narromine, Gilgandra, Coolah-Dunedoo, Condobolin, Trundle, Coonamble, Warren, Bourke-Brewarrina, Cumnock and Warren. Please pray that the Lord would raise up 13 godly, able and passionate people to serve in ALL of these parishes, to his great glory! And please thank the Lord for all who serve these parishes in the meantime – both lay and ordained.”
Preaching a good and powerful word
“As we start to explore what it means to tremble at God’s word, I want to suggest that our relationship with the Scriptures as God’s word is more complex than most of us are willing to admit.
On the one hand, we know that Scripture is powerful, it is the Word of God. The preacher’s job is to get out of the way so that God’s powerful word can work in the hearts of people. We quote Spurgeon’s famous, ‘Defend the Bible, I’d sooner defend a lion. Just let the truth free and it will defend itself.’ We exhort each other to ‘let the word do the work’ and we share those wonderful stories of people who were converted just by reading Scripture. …”
– The Australian Church Record has published this edited transcript of Paul Grimmond’s address at the Nexus 2023 Conference. He reminds us, “When we talk about God and his word, we speak of a relationship that is utterly unique in our experience.”
Image: Moore College.
Speaking with Two Voices
“In John Bunyan’s classic, The Pilgrim’s Progress, there is a character Mr Facing Both Ways who lives in the village of Fair Speech. Bunyan is exposing one of the temptations in life which is to speak out of both sides of our mouth in the hope that everybody will appreciate us.
Yet there is a very real sense in which the Christian message does come with two voices; there is indeed a double-sidedness to the Christian life. …”
– Presbyterian Moderator-General, Peter Barnes, writes to encourage believers to sing two notes at once.
August – September 2023 Southern Cross out now
The August – September 2023 issue of Southern Cross magazine from the Diocese of Sydney is now out.
Printed copies will be available in parishes shortly, and you can read it on the web right now.
In his column this month, Archbishop Kanishka Raffel reflects on Our True Spiritual Condition –
“Recently I was walking through the city and, as I crossed Martin Place, I noticed the usual queue of men and women lining up to receive their evening meal, while others set up plastic folding tables and baskets of plastic cutlery and paper serviettes ready for that night’s food distribution.
The Sydney City Council says there are about 300 people sleeping on the streets of the CBD each night, with close to that number in city-based crisis accommodation. Across NSW, the number of people without adequate housing is more than 30,000. I am deeply grateful for the work of Anglicare and a number of city and suburban churches that provide assistance to people experiencing homelessness, or who are at risk of homelessness in their local area.
As I continued on my walk, I soon passed another queue. This time it was a queue of people waiting to enter the Louis Vuitton store on George Street. It made for a jarring contrast, though the two queues were barely 500 metres apart. …”
Read it all on pages 13 and 14.
What’s really going on? – Revelation 1
Moore College Principal Mark Thompson, preaching in the College chapel on Friday, began a series on the Book of Revelation.
He starts in chapter 1, asking, “What are you afraid of?”. He points out that the Book of Revelation is not a code book, but a revelation given to bring blessing to those who will listen.
– Watch here.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…