Southern Cross magazine February-March 2024
The latest issue of Southern Cross magazine from the Diocese of Sydney is now available – in printed form at churches – and electronically at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Representing Jesus to our grandkids
“For many people today, there is a lot of life left after retirement. Many years ago, when I began work, the union representative told me that our superannuation scheme for men was based on retirement at 65 and death at 67½! Now, the life expectancy for men is 81 and 85 for women. …”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Paul Whiting introduces us to an important book – one especially important for grandparents.
Richard Johnson — Chaplain under fire
This Australia Day, it’s worth remembering how the gospel was received when it was preached in Sydney Town –
“One observation about the past is especially instructive for Christians of any age: faithful witness is often met with hostile opposition. It would be a mistake to conceive of some halcyon days in the past when the whole of society was motivated by the Christian faith and gospel proclamation went unopposed.
The Constantinian form of Christianity, which permeated the Western world over the past millennium, never truly embraced those who sought to be faithful witnesses. This is certainly true of Australia’s first ordained minister, Richard Johnson, who arrived in Sydney as chaplain to the colony of New South Wales with the First Fleet in 1788. …”
– Steve Tong wrote this for The Australian Church Record last year.
Related:
An Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies – Richard Johnson (PDF file)
Pray (Don’t Play) Politics
“For many today, politics takes up far too much of our spiritual hard drive. It’s become an obsession.
Praying to the King of kings (on behalf of our president, senators, and other government officials) helps to reorder our hearts.. …”
– You don’t need to be following the U.S. election cycle to benefit from this encouragement from Brandon Cooper at The Gospel Coalition.
See also:
“…the task of the Christian is not first to understand prayer, though may be a very good thing, and not first to solve prayer, which I suspect is an impossible thing. Rather, the Christian is to pray, knowing that part of the beauty of prayer is that even if we aren’t confident in how prayer works, we can have confidence in the one who tells us to pray. Even if we haven’t resolved the dilemmas and solved the mysteries, we can trust the one who issues the command and who insists that he hears and responds to our prayers. Our task, our calling, and our joyful duty is to pray.”
– It’s Okay To Just Pray – Tim Challies.
Five lessons I learnt this summer
“CMS Summer School 2024 helped me grow in my faith and challenged me in how I approach my own partnership in cross-cultural mission.
At great conferences like Summer School, I can feel overwhelmed by so much deep and wise insight.
I appreciated the chance to reflect for a couple of minutes after each of the Bible talks from Galatians, while still sitting in the auditorium. And with some more time to reflect in the days since, here are five lessons from the conference that stood out to me – a mix of new challenges, as well as much-needed reminders of gospel truth. …”
– CMS’ Naomi Jones reflects on what she learned at CMS Summer School at Katoomba this year. At Eternity News.
The two resolutions you need and the 65 you don’t
“ ‘The 65 best New Year’s resolutions for 2024’ shouted the headline on the internet site I was surfing. I was intrigued. Mainly because 65 seemed such an odd number. The suggestions included drinking less alcohol, drinking more water, exercising more, reading more and 61 other things – usually with the word ‘more’ attached.
If you are a Christian, chances are your resolutions would include reading the Bible more and praying more. I’m reluctant to write about the quiet time because it has always seemed that most other people were more ‘spiritual’ than me (as measured by the time they spent in Bible reading and prayer).
Guilt trips aside, out of the 65 (or more!) New Year’s resolutions you could make, none will be more beneficial than …”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell suggests two resolutions (New Year or not) which will be a blessing.
While you might guess what they are, he also shares some practical help, so do read away.
Reaching female university students for Christ
“Instant gratification is attractive. Especially to our Gen Z friends, with their supposed attention span of a mere 8 seconds.
Add to that the widely prevalent social anxiety – experienced by 90% of Gen Z according to one workplace study – and many of the ways that we come to Christ or grow in him are looking quite difficult. Anything that takes a long time, or involves other people. Concentrating for a 30min Bible talk. …
Each one, and the many not listed, presents some difficulty, and therefore invites both the evangelist and the evangelised to save their effort and just give up.
What are the implications of this for our evangelism, particularly to young people, and especially given the urgency of the task? Perhaps there are two broad approaches. …”
– At the Moore College website, Marlee Knight shares words of encouragement.
Why You Should Attend Church (in Person) This Sunday
“Whether because of health concerns or simply out of preference for watching online in their pajamas, 30- to 49-year-old churchgoers now attend church far less often than before COVID. For some, gathering in person can feel risky or inconvenient.
No doubt online services can serve beloved homebound saints and sick members. There are valid reasons to miss church. And yet God’s Word insists individual Christians need congregational worship. …”
– While this article at The Gospel Coalition is written for a US readership, numbers are still down after COVID in many churches in Australia.
On Being a Heroic Man
“There is something deep inside a man’s heart that longs to be heroic.
I don’t know what little girls dream of, but I do know that little boys dream of carrying those girls out of a burning schoolhouse so they can be admired as strong and brave. Teenaged boys dream of fighting in a war not so much to blaze away at the enemy as to perform an act of heroism that will mark them as tough and noble and worthy of honor.
Though older men may no longer be prone to such fantasies, they, too, are drawn to heroism and are convinced that they would be equal to the challenge, that they would stand where others fall, that they would run forward when others run back. …”
– At the start of the year, Tim Challies shares some wisdom for men, urging patience and action.
O Joy! – New Year message from Church Society’s Lee Gatiss
“You know, as well as I do, that, being in the Church of England right now, can have a detrimental effect on one’s health. …
How can we cope with it all? What is the solution?”
– Church Society’s Director Dr Lee Gatiss has a message of joy, despite what’s happening in the Church of England.
Related:
Why the Global South will win the Spiritual and Culture Wars in the Anglican Communion – commentary by David Virtue:
“It’s like a sinkhole opening up before your eyes, slowly swallowing up churches, bishops and priests, while watching helplessly as the hole increases and more of the Church of England falls into it never to be seen again. …
Whatever happens, the Global South now owns the Anglican Communion and they don’t have to force schism, because they are the theological heirs of Thomas Cranmer and his legitimate heirs.”
The happiest Year you will ever know
From Tim Challies:
“There are some hymns that disappear because they are simply not very good. There are some hymns that disappear because they are too tied to a particular niche. And there are some hymns that disappear because their language becomes antiquated.
I think this hymn/poem by John Newton spans the latter two categories. It is closely tied to New Year’s, so likely to be sung for only one Sunday out of every 52. And then some of the language has become just a little bit old-fashioned.
Still, it is worth dusting off, reading, and pondering as one year fades into another. In it, Newton marks the year that has gone and celebrates the year to come (though possibly not right now) – the year that will prove to be the best of your life. …”
– Read here.
And Marylynn Rouse at The John Newton Project provides some context for the hymn.
Marylynn also shares news of the calling home of the Rev. Tony Baker, one of the founding trustees of the John Newton Project.
At various times, Tony also served with the UCCF, Africa Evangelical Fellowship, the Evangelical Alliance, was Director of Evangelicals Now and held many pastoral roles. He last preached at Holy Trinity Eastbourne in September 2023, on the 60th anniversary of his ordination.
Photo of John Newton’s portrait with thanks to Marylynn Rouse.
A New Year: Comfort and Joy…!
“With the many and varied changes around us – conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle-East and Africa, China’s aggressive acts, significant political and social divisions in the West, climate-change, gender issues, and the western disdain of Christianity – we might wonder about the future.
In the course of his ministry Jesus spoke of events that would unfold …”
– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason helps put things in perspective.
Excellent advice from the Apostle Paul at the start of a new year
Encouragement from the Apostle Paul:
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
– Philippians 3:13b-14. (ESV)
Death Rehearsal
You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)
“For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life. And 11:59 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death. …“
– John Piper shares these thoughts for the end of a year.
Evangelism in a post-Christian world – Dave Jensen
“How do we see Australia won for Christ? …
Firstly, we need to see and then remind each other that the biggest problem facing the people we know is that they are spiritually lost.
What that means is that no matter how they may present themselves to us, we must treat them with the greatest compassion possible – by telling them the gospel.”
– At the Moore College website, Dave Jensen has some real encouragement for you. A great article to recalibrate our thinking as we come to a new year.
(Emphasis added. Image courtesy Evangelism and New Churches.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…