Centre for Christian Living

How can we as Christians care for those who are on the margins of society? How can we share the hope of Jesus with those who, from a worldly perspective at least, look like they have the least reason for hope?

In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr speaks to Ben Gray, minister of All Saints Petersham in Sydney’s Inner West, about how as a church they reach out to the homeless with the hope of the Jesus.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-110/

Christians can often be caught off-guard by how difficult life can be. When grieved by loss, deserted by friends and family, faced with a hostile workplace culture or plagued by an existential crisis, it is easy for Christians to be tempted to give up or to doubt God’s goodness. Yet the Bible encourages us to persevere in the midst of hardship, reminding us that suffering is not a sign of God’s absence, but of his good presence. The storms of life we weather serve to refine our faith as we hope in his promises.

But how can we build perseverance within ourselves? What does it mean to remain steadfast in our day-to-day walk in Christ? If we experience doubt, are we in danger of falling away? In this episode of the CCL podcast, which features the audio from our October 2023 event, Moore College principal Mark Thompson considers these things as he shows us how Christians can persevere even when we face trials of various kinds.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-109/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church that when he was with them, he preached Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 1:23). The cross is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. It’s the means that God uses to secure our salvation. But it’s also so much more than that.

In this episode of the Centre for Christian Living podcast, Peter Orr talks to Rory Shiner about his book, “Forgiven Forever: Living in the death of Jesus” and how the cross is, to quote Rory, “A vast ocean of spiritual power and liveable truth”.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-108/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

At Moore College, we were recently joined by Professor Christopher Watkin to talk about his new book, “Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s unfolding story makes sense of modern life and culture”, which recently won Australian Christian Book of the Year. In this episode of the CCL podcast, we bring you the recording of an interview Peter Orr conducted with Christopher, as well as the Q&A that followed. Christopher introduces us to his book, and also demonstrates the power of the Bible for helping us to understand—and even lovingly critique—the culture we live in.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-107/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

It’s fascinating to read church history and learn about what God has done in the past. But how important is it for us Christians to be aware of church history? Is it just an interesting thing we can read about on the side, or does an awareness of church history actually help guard us from error and live godly lives in the present time?

In this episode of the CCL podcast, Mark Earngey, Head of Church History at Moore College, shows us that it _is_ important, and that if we ignore church history, we can open ourselves up to all sorts of problems.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-106/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

Do you compare yourself to other people? As a Christian, do you look at your Christian friends and think, “They’re much more godly than I am. They’re better at prayer. They’re more patient. They’re better evangelists than I am.”? Maybe you look at your non-Christian friends or family and think, “Their lives are so much simpler than mine” or “I wish I have what they have”.

In this episode of the CCL podcast, Susan An, Dean of Women at Moore College, helps us think through some of these issues in the light of Proverbs 31 and the godly woman it describes, so that we can learn to think correctly about ourselves.

This episode is particularly geared to Christian women, but contains lots of application for all of us.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-105/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

In an age when authenticity, personal potential and the fulfilment of that potential is so highly valued, the virtue of self-control seems counterintuitive. In contrast to the world, the Bible tells us that the good life is not located in unbounded self-expression, but in purposeful self-restraint.

Why is self-control so necessary to the Christian life? What does the Bible say about it, and how can we cultivate it within ourselves? Furthermore, does the deliberate curbing of desire really play a key role in our self-actualisation?

In this episode, we bring you a recording of our recent event in our series on virtue in the Christian life in which Moore College lecturer David Höhne helps us think through how to live as Christians, living self-controlled lives in a world that so values self-actualisation.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-104/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

What does John’s Gospel have to say about the Christian life? Famously, John tells us why he wrote at the end of his Gospel: so that we might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). We can easily read John’s Gospel and think that it’s only about understanding who Jesus is and believing in him. Those are important, but the problem is we might not think that John’s Gospel is a rich resource for living the Christian life and thinking about Christian ethics.

In this episode of the CCL podcast, Tom Habib, lecturer in New Testament at Moore College, helps us to think about what it means to live the Christian life from the perspective of John’s Gospel.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-103/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

What is the value of the Old Testament for the Christian life? It might seem like an obvious question. We read the Old Testament, we draw comfort from the Psalms, and we can read the Ten Commandments. But in this episode of the CCL podcast with Professor Desmond Alexander, we’re going to focus on the first five books of the Old Testament and think about how they help us to understand the person and work of the Lord Jesus, and how they help us to respond appropriately to him.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-102/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

The Christian life is filled with all kinds of challenges and trials that easily raise questions about the goodness of God and what it means for us to continue on in faith, even in the face of hardship. In this episode of the CCL podcast, Chase Kuhn and Peter Orr discuss how good our God is and why we can entrust ourselves to him as we continue in the life of faith.

For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-101/

Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/