Recruiting women for vocational Christian ministry – with Kara Hartley and Jane Tooher
“How are we going as a network of complementarian churches at raising up women for ministry?
How do you develop a culture in your church that is really positive to women exercising their gifts and hence stepping forward for full time ministry roles?
What should our vision be for raising up women in ministry? What progress has been made? What are next steps? …”
– Here’s the latest from The Pastor’s Heart.
Preaching Clubs — update from the Expository Preaching Trust
David Cook shares some details of the Expository Preaching Trust’s Preaching Clubs for 2022 –
“If you are a preacher do come along and join in the supportive fellowship, you will get to preach twice each year and have your sermon critiqued.
The size of the club is limited to 14 members, we enjoy good coffee and food. …”
Remembrance Day resources
Running a Remembrance Day service?
Here are some resources you might find helpful – from Defence Anglicans.
The Path to Life…
“Have you ever been resentful of people whose lives seem successful? They’ve achieved recognition; they have beautiful children, and they enjoy material riches. The very thought of them strips any sense of happiness from you.
Now there’s nothing wrong with being successful, having a great family or having money. The question is how do we value them? Do they represent what life is about or is there more to life?
Today we come to a second Reflection on Psalm 1. The Psalm is important for it lays the foundation for the whole Book of Psalms. As it progresses it identifies our two life-choices – a road to nowhere, or a path to life. …”
– John Mason continues to publish helpful and encouraging reflections for Anglican Connection. Here’s the latest.
Bishop Grant Dibden on Defence Sunday
From Defence Anglicans – and a great reminder to pray.
Related:
Running a Remembrance Day service on Thursday?
Maxims for Maximum Impact: ‘Maxims of Conversation’ and Preaching
“In theory, preaching is easy. Just get two things right: truth and clarity. But, as with many things, the practice is harder. …
I recently came across ‘Grice’s Maxims of Conversation’. Paul Grice (1913-1988) was a British philosopher of language, best known for his ‘co-operative principles’. Simply stated, these insist that people should communicate in a co-operative, helpful way. While Grice was applying them to everyday conversation, his maxims apply to any speech act – including preaching. …
As I work through my sermon and, again, when I’ve finished, I continue to ask myself important questions. Grice’s four maxims would be four good questions for us preachers to ask ourselves:”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Mike Raiter has some real help for preachers.
(Image: GAFCON.)
Friendship: The Foundation of Paul’s Global Ministry
“One of Paul’s most consistent values may surprise us: friendship. Paul valued friendship with fellow Christians. He worked to establish and maintain friendships.
Consider how often Paul says something like: ‘I thank my God always when I remember you, because I hear of your love for all the saints’ (Gal. 1:15, Col. 1:4, 2 Thess. 1:3, Philemon 4).
Consider how in nearly every letter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he devotes space to greeting specific believers, who are by now long dead. In what sense are those names useful to the man of faith today, if not to teach us the importance of Christian friendships?…”
– Here’s encouragement from Caleb Greggsen, writing at 9Marks.
Defence Sunday 7 November 2021
This Sunday is Defence Sunday, and Grant Dibden, Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force, has recorded a 3’30” video message.
A copy can be downloaded from the Anglican Media Sydney Vimeo account for use in church services – and do pray for this important ministry.
Southern Cross November 2021
In December, printed copies of Southern Cross, the magazine of Sydney Diocese, will again be available in churches.
The November issue is online-only, and is now available. Download your copy at magazine.sydneyanglicans.net
Be sure to read “Christians speak out against assisted suicide” –
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has urged Christians to speak up against the assisted suicide bill, which he calls “a momentous shift in medical practice and community expectation”
The bill, introduced into the NSW Parliament in October, uses the terminology of “voluntary assisted dying” but the Archbishop says it goes beyond the physician-assisted suicide it would legalise.
“It marks the final abandonment of one of the cornerstones of Western civilisation: the sanctity of life,” the Archbishop says. “Advocates of Voluntary Assisted Dying – a deeply misleading cluster of words – have emphasised not the sanctity of life, but quality of life as subjectively experienced, and the primacy of autonomous choice.”
The Archbishop, senior bishops and Christian medical groups have pointed out several ways the bill would not provide extra choice, as proponents argue, but would have a flow-on effect to all those battling terminal illness. …
– Read it all on page 5.
The Tyndale Bulletin goes open access
“Tyndale House is pleased to announce the relaunch of the Tyndale Bulletin as a newly open access journal, available at tyndalebulletin.org.
The Tyndale Bulletin is a peer-reviewed academic journal for biblical scholarship and related disciplines. Since it was established (initially as the Tyndale House Bulletin) in 1956, it has established a reputation for high quality scholarship, publishing the work of over 500 scholars.
Fully open access
As of October 2021, the Tyndale Bulletin is now a fully open access journal. Articles are initially released online on a rolling basis, with an annual print volume also being produced, including all articles from the previous year. …
Tyndale House Research Fellow in Old Testament and Ancient Near East and Editor of the Tyndale Bulletin, Dr Caleb Howard, said: “We are delighted with the launch of the new open access Tyndale Bulletin. While it will maintain its commitment to scholarly excellence and peer-review, its editorial process will be more efficient and authors’ work will be more freely available on the new fully indexed website.”
Digital archive
The Tyndale Bulletin is committed to preserving the scholarly research published throughout its history. The journal website currently includes all articles from 2004 onwards; earlier issues will also be added progressively. …”
5 Fish: A wonderful free gospel resource
Some might not be aware of a wonderful resource largely developed in Australia by Global Recordings Network.
5fish is available as a smartphone app on iOS and Android, and as a website – www.5fish.mobi.
“Listen to the Christian gospel spoken in virtually any language … Access Christian messages from the largest collection of languages in the world (6,175 speech varieties).
Download free content:
Bible stories, basic Bible teaching, Scripture, Christian songs and testimonies. The recordings are useful for learning about the Christian faith and sharing lessons with others.
Bible stories have been selected from the Old and New Testaments.
They include stories about significant events and people such as the creation of the world, Noah, Abraham, Moses, King David, the prophets and Jesus’ life, miracles and teaching. …
Languages are grouped by country. They can be identified by variant names or by listening to a sample online.
Gospel messages can be downloaded for future playback offline. Many recordings are audio-visual displaying high quality colourful illustrations.”
It’s well worth downloadling the app to your phone to be ready for any opportunity.
Dissecting the new Two Ways to Live – with Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne
“We are joined by the authors of Two Ways to Live, Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, to talk through the changes they have made to the iconic gospel outline.
We talk through the what and why behind the changes.”
– Great encouragement in thinking how to share the gospel. At The Pastor’s Heart.
Album Review: A (Not So) Silent Night from Quiz Worx
“Finally, a kids’ Christian album that my whole family enjoys!
Can you imagine seeing Colin Buchanan and Karen Pang performing a Christmas concert backed by Blink-182, Relient K, Superchick and The OC Supertones? I’d pay good money for that! …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Kingsley Davidson introduces the brand new Christmas album from Quizworx!
A Swiss Army knife for evangelism
Tony Payne writes about the forthcoming updated Two Ways to Live booklet:
“The new booklet has a number of … design changes that I think really improve its appeal as a give-away resource – a ‘modern classic’ look-and-feel, new versions of the drawings in badge form, a reworking of how text and graphics interact on the page, and a revision of all the explanatory text.
What of the updates to the 2WTL framework itself?
Apart from numerous small tweaks to the language here and there, these are the three main changes to the outline itself…”
CMS Summer School 2022
As many will be aware, due to uncertainties about COVID-19, the NSW CMS 2022 Summer School will be held entirely online, 8–14 January 2022.
Registration, at the reduced rate of $50 per person ($25 concession), is now open.
“In 2022, The Rev Dr Andrew Shead, Moore College’s Head of Old Testament and Hebrew, will be teaching us from the Psalms. It will be a time where we reflect on the journey of our Saviour into glory, and consider what it means to walk in the path of his righteousness – to Walk His Way. We will also be considering our role in going to the nations and teaching others to Walk His Way.”
Summer School is always encouraging and extremely worthwhile.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…