Commending & Contending

The Gospel Coalition Australia has written a Theological Vision for Ministry. Part 5 of this Foundation Document asks the question: What is Gospel-Centred Ministry in Australia?

The very first answer is: Weekly Gatherings of God's People.

For most Christians this means a Sunday Church service - but why do we believe this is so important? What is our theological grounding for committing to this? I invited a few of of my guests from the first half of this year to speak to this topic.

We are joined this episode by the Chief Operating Office of TGCA, Sarah Kuswadi, who chats with us about her own experience of joining online training offered by the U.S. TGC. We also talk about the very first TGCA Online Workship, all about preparation for preaching.

Online Workshop: Preaching Prep

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Dan Anderson, from the Lachlan Macquarie Institute, joins us on this episode to wade into the complex waters of our shared political life. How might the good news of Jesus enable us to engage with other Christians who have a different view on politics to us? And how could Christians be involved in politics in a way that commends the gospel?

Find out more about the Lachlan Macquarie Institute

God saves people into local churches, where we shape one another, especially over the long haul, through the ups and downs of life. Rick Maude has been doing exactly this in the one spot for many years.

Rick chats with us about the challenges of recruiting people, and the joys of centering the gospel in relationships and ministry.

Comms? Socials? Ops? what are these things and how do they happen in churches. In the background of every ministry there are administration actions that keep them going.

Communications: getting the word out. Social media: reaching people where they are. Operations: making sure the logistics all work and don't get in the way.

Sam Jensen, founder of Virtual Church Assist chats with us in this episode about how these admin tasks fit into church life.

We also get onto what makes a gospel-hearted admin person tick and how to care for our admin people and support them in their vital work.

Virtual Church Assist

Ministry Support Summit

We're joined by TGCA website editor Mikey Lynch, who brings a couple of new pieces from our website, while I pull out something old, but still very much worth reading. There's so many excellent articles at the website to explore. You can subscribe to our email to update on new articles and follow us on social platforms to get the 'throwback Thursday' recommendations.

Engaging with Western Post-Christian Inquierers Today, by Kamal Weerakoon

A Journey into the Postmodern Hinterland, by Michael Jensen

8 Ways to Become More Humble, by Jane Tooher

Award-winning author, and TGCA Council Member, Murray Capill returns to the podcast to talk about his recent book about gospel clarity and church leadership. How does a church leadership team commend and contend for the gospel of Jesus, and not just manage finances and repairs? Murray calls church leadership teams to give proper attention to a gospel vision for a healthy church.

One key part of the ministry we share as the body of Christ is the pastoral care we extend one another. In this episode we are joined by Sarah Condie to talk about how our pastoral care might commend the good news of Jesus.

Council Member, David Starling has served for two decades in Theological Education. He is well placed to reflect on the changes over time and current state of play. How are our Bible Colleges going?

Anxiety is a real and very common experience for many Christians. How do we understand our anxious feeling and where is God in that distress. Nicky Chiswell helps us take a look at what anxiety is and how our faith in God interacts with our experience. We talk about how to remind ourselves of God's loving presence and also consider how to care for someone who is struggling with anxiety.

Find at more about Nicky and her own exploration of trusting God in anxiety at her website, NickyChiswell.com

Read more at the TGCA wesbite on this topic