Faith in a Time of Crisis – Standing for Truth in a Changing World – Review
“The book could not have come at a more vital time. The Scottish Episcopal Church has just agreed to perform same sex weddings. It is only a matter of time before the Church of England follows, as it has historically done on other issues.”
Charlie Skrine on teaching the Book of Micah
From St. Helen’s in London:
“What is the mark of the Spirit-filled preacher?
How much time should preachers spend on Micah’s particular situation? What is it about the false prophets that makes for such compelling contemporary parallels when preached correctly? Where can we go with our application?
Who is God? What is he like? How would your friends describe the God you believe in and preach? Is he a god angry with sin? Does he forgive bad people?
Charlie Skrine raises these questions in this month’s Preaching Matters, from the book of Micah.”
– Watch here.
Broaden your evangelism repertoire
“I am a great fan of evangelistic courses, and help run Christianity Explained each term at our church.
However, many of the popular evangelistic courses such as Christianity Explained, Simply Christianity, Alpha and Christianity Explored were written 15 to 30 years ago. They perhaps assume a slightly different world to the one we’re in now. …
In the last year or so, some new evangelistic courses and resources have come across my radar. …”
– At GoThereFor.com, Stephen Liggins reminds us that there are a number of excellent evangelistic courses available these days.
Freedom17 Conference – Religious Freedom in a Secular Age?
More relevant than ever. The 2017 Freedom for Faith conference in Canberra on June 14. Details here.
“Freedom 17 is a unique conference for church leaders, lawyers, policy makers and politicians to meet in Canberra and talk about the pressing public issue of religious freedom.”
And for a secular voice on some of what is at stake in western society, Andrew Bolt’s editorial from The Bolt Report on SkyNews Australia – “stopping the activist bullies is now more important than same-sex marriage”.
Praying for the Muslim world
Ramadan is a great time to pray for the eternal good, through the Lord Jesus Christ, of Muslim men and women the world over. The “30 Days of Prayer” prayer guide is a real help and encouragement to pray.
You can order the Prayer Guide booklet from 30 Days Australia, or purchase a PDF download (in many different languages) from the international site.
Users of the Prayermate app can also subscribe to the 30 Days feed.
“30 Days is a remarkable effort to focus millions of Christians on prayer for the spiritual needs of Muslims.” – Patrick Johnstone, founder of Operation World.
”We want this guide to help followers of Christ see some of the diversity in the Muslim world and learn about the needs of Muslim families across the globe, so that you can pray with a heart of understanding that leads to greater awareness of God’s love for Muslims.” – from the introduction to this year’s Prayer Guide.
Maintaining spiritual vitality in the midst of ministry
At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Andrew Heard shares some practical, personal tips that have helped him maintain spiritual vitality in the grind of day-to-day church planting.
Related book: Going the Distance: How to stay fit for a lifetime of ministry by Peter Brain.
Isaiah in five minutes
“Oak Hill’s third year students have been busy this term producing short video presentations as part of their work on the book of Isaiah.
One of the videos unpacks the message of Isaiah by using Lego characters, and another uses live sketching, and each of them was produced by a team of four students working in collaboration. …”
– Something different – from Oak Hill College in London.
Duty to Die? — ‘Australian Presbyterian’ on Euthanasia
In the light of today’s news of a proposed “Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill” to come before NSW Parliament (ABC News story here), the current issue (Winter 2017) of Australian Presbyterian magazine is particularly timely as it addresses the issue of euthanasia.
Article 1: Opening Pandora’s Box. Why Christians must stand firm against euthanasia. An interview with Dr. Scott Rae.
Article 2: A bad move. By Moore College graduate Dr Neil Chambers.
(In addition, Marylynn Rouse from the John Newton Project reflects on John Newton’s experience of God’s amazing grace.)
The issue is available as a PDF file at this link.
Gospel Presentation and Eulogies: Part 1
“One reality of ministry is that funerals come along and impose themselves on our carefully planned out diaries. Sometimes you go for a while without many and then five or six come in quick succession. Other times they come in a steady stream.
No matter when they come along they are a wonderful opportunity to share the hope of the Gospel and the love of Christ to those who are grieving. It is easy to overlook how significant these opportunities are to pastor and reach out to those who rarely, if ever, come to church.…”
– At Church Society’s blog, Adam Young discusses the opportunities for ministering good news at a funeral.
Social change and gospel preaching
“How does a disciple-making agenda fit with the need for us to express our love for our neighbours through engagement in social action?
This interview between Kel Richards and Phillip Jensen is full of enormously helpful insights on this question, both for individuals and for churches. It is well worth the investment of 28 minutes.”
– GoThereFor.com points us to a conversation between Kel Richards and Phillip Jensen recorded a few years back. As they say, well worth the investment of your time.
Mother’s Day Resources
Stuck for ideas for Mother’s Day?
Need some encouragement?
A collection of Mother’s Day resources has been published at phillipjensen.com.
Preaching Matters: Gospel Certainty in Luke
More resources from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate:
“How does Luke provide certainty for his readers? Why is it important for the word of God to make sense of the works of Christ? If certainty comes from something other than first-hand experience of physical evidence, what are the implications for the way we do evangelism?
Preaching Matters is back with William Taylor tackling these questions, and more, from Luke’s Gospel.”
Six ways to be prepared
“One of the ways you ‘honour Christ the Lord as holy’ as a Christian is by ‘being prepared to make a defence [or a ‘reasoned statement’] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you’ (1 Pet 3:15). Preparation is also a key way to feel more confident and positive about sharing Jesus with those around you.
So here are six ways to be prepared…”
– Ian Carmichael, CEO and Publishing Director at Matthias Media (and formerly Secretary of the ACL Council), shares these useful ideas.
Dick Lucas on Mark’s Gospel – volume 2
Back in January, we noted that a series of recordings by Dick Lucas, to help God’s people think through the meaning of Mark’s Gospel, had been published by St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.
“The most recent fruits of his retirement are recordings of his latest reflections on Scripture, aimed primarily at the Bible expositor but suitable for everyone. Recorded in his kitchen, where most of his sermon preparation takes place, they are starting to be published just prior to Christmas 2016.”
At that point, his observations on Mark 1-8 were available. Now Volume two, covering chapters 9-16, is also online.
“This is a significant development because it is the first time ever that Dick has covered the whole of the second half of the gospel in consecutive Bible exposition.”
Our thanks to Dick Lucas, and to St. Helen’s, for making these available.
Moore Theological College Open Week, May 8 – 12, 2017
Moore College is holding its next Open Week from Monday 8th May.
Click the image for a larger version, or go here for details of what’s on.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…