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.
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.
2024 Summer Prayer Diary
“Our summers are filled with camps, conferences and missions. People across greater Sydney are diving deep into God’s word and taking it out to those who need to hear it.
So we’ve put together a 10-day prayer diary featuring some of the great kingdom initiatives that could use our prayer.”
– A great resource from Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Photo: Sans Souci swimming baths, Summer 1957.
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.)
Things I wish I knew about Pastoring a Church when I was young
“I was 28 when I started in full-time ministry as associate pastor in a large Presbyterian church. I was thirty when I was called to pastor a small suburban church on my own.
I made loads of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I can’t turn back the clock but I can share these lessons. I hope they might help young men who are just starting out.
Most of these thoughts should be read in the category of wisdom or common sense, to be weighed accordingly. …”
– Campbell Markham, the minister of Scots’ Church Fremantle, Western Australia, shares a bunch of helpful reflections – providing food for thought at the end of the year. It’s at AP, the national journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.
Photo: Moore College, 1956.
Course: Talking with Catholics about Jesus
Lionel Windsor draws attention to a very helpful course:
“An opportunity to understand Catholics and have great conversations together about Christ.
A new resource by Certainty4Eternity, distributed by Matthias Media. A course to consider for your church or small group 2024!”
Be better equipped to love your Catholic friends.
Image: Mark Gilbert.
Relationships, Results and Rhythms of Ministry Teams – with Grahame Fuller and Jo Gibbs
This week from The Pastor’s Heart:
“As we head to 2024 most of us are recasting ministry teams for the new year.
But how can we do this without making some of the mistakes that we have made in 2023?
How do we do better with staff teams and all the various volunteer ministry teams across our church?
And even in the best places – there’s an inertia that we will slip back to functioning as rosters… How do we fix that?
Grahame Fuller is a long term senior leader at EV Church on the Central Coast. Jo Gibbs is the Effective Teams consultant for Reach Australia.”
A Harmony of the Birth of Jesus: Matthew and Luke
From Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition:
“Here is a simple chronology to show how the events of Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2 fit together and what each of the gospel authors emphasize.
Matthew tells things more through the eyes of Joseph and Luke (who perhaps interviewed Mary) tells the events largely through her eyes.”
– See it here.
Bathurst Christmas Reflection – Bishop Mark Calder on Finding Permanence in a World of Change
Bishop Mark Calder’s Christmas message for 2023:
“In a world where everything bears the label ‘temporary,’ the Christmas season invites us to discover the enduring permanence found in Jesus Christ.
Imagine labelling the items in your life – microwaves, cars, homes – as either ‘temporary’ or ‘permanent.’ The result is confronting: almost everything is temporary, except for Jesus.
As we celebrate his birth, we’re not just commemorating God stepping into our world as one of us; we’re affirming the timeless reign of a permanent King. Jesus is the exception in a world of transience, offering reliability, dependability, and lasting hope.
This Christmas, amidst the chaos of life, run to Jesus. In him, find not only help but a source of unwavering hope, strength, and inner transformation. Amidst the temporary, Jesus stands as the permanent promise of a Kingdom that never ends.
May this Christmas be a reminder that, in Jesus, we discover hope and help and strength in the face of our world – and our lives – which are often confusing and uncertain.
Bishop Mark Calder
Anglican Diocese of Bathurst, covering central and western NSW.”
Improving your Christmas service and talk – with Dave Jensen and James Galea
News you can use – from The Pastor’s Heart:
“How can we make our Christmas Services better?
With just a few days to Christmas, and while some of us are well planned, some of us are still scrambling around putting things together.
Whether it’s Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, or a kids gathering, carols or Gingerbread and Wreathmaking…
What are the pitfalls we can fall into? How do we avoid them?
James Galea is senior minister of Freshwater Anglican Church.
Dave Jensen will be working next year with the Sydney Anglican Churches Evangelism and New Churches team to encourage best practice evangelism.”
Why Jesus Came — Devotional from John Piper
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
“This, I think, is my favorite Advent text because I don’t know any other that expresses so clearly the connection between the beginning and the end of Jesus’s earthly life — between the incarnation and crucifixion.
These two verses make clear why Jesus came …”
– A wonderful reminder, via John Piper.
Image: Ornaments by Lacewing Creative in Sydney.
Collect for Advent 2
Via GAFCON:
“Blessed Lord, who caused all the holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that through patience, and the comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace, and forever hold fast, the blessed hope of eternal life, which you have given us in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
See also:
The Bible: Read, learn and digest – Julian Mann at TCW.
Investing in our Kids — “Taste the New Testament” by Noble Bereans
“Any investment made in our children’s knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, his word and his gospel is an eternal treasure of great value. Noble Bereans have made this kind of investment.
Taste the New Testament is an album of kids’ songs for use in our homes and kids’ ministries. Noble Bereans is a music ministry helping kids connect with God through Scripture. A noble aim indeed! Kingsley Davidson, the artist behind Noble Bereans, has primary-school-aged kids and this is the demographic his album is aiming for. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Nicky Chiswell commends the album “Taste the New Testament”.
Expository Preaching Trust Activities 2024
From The Expository Preaching Trust:
“In 2024 the Trust will sponsor Preaching Clubs in Abbotsford, Armidale, Sutherland and Wahroonga.
These meet quarterly mostly on Mondays. There is no charge, please contact the coordinator of each Club to register your interest: …
Two of these Clubs, Armidale (May 6-7) and Wahroonga (August 5-6) will be holding two day Preaching conferences. The visitor for the conferences will be Simon Manchester and he will be assisted by David Cook, David Burge, Jim Mobbs and Janet Riley. …”
– See the details from the Trust.
How youth ministry is changing and needs to change – with Andy Stevenson and Ruth Lee
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“Cultural changes and increasing push back against churches are impacting youth ministries. It is getting much harder for Christian Teenagers to be Christian among their secular peers.
Teenagers don’t just walk in the door of a church.
What are latest youth ministry trends and opportunities? How can we do youth ministry on the front foot?
Andy Stevenson is Director of the Sydney Anglican Youthworks’ youth & children’s ministry division and Special Religious Education (Scripture Ministry).
Ruth Lee is Youth worker at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Sydney.”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…