Biblical recruitment: Human-shaped service

  • Peter Tong
  • 10 July 2015

Most pastors at one time or another have had a conversation with someone engaged in ministry, when they tell us things aren’t going so well. It can be hard to diagnose the problem in the moment. Maybe the person is over it or burnt out, too busy elsewhere, or wanting to try something new.

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The reluctant Swedish reader

  • Carl Matthei
  • 23 May 2015

I am a reluctant convert to the Swedish Method for Bible study. I read the Briefing article all of those years ago and decided to try it out in a couple of Bible study groups. It didn’t work! It didn’t seem to make group members think deeply enough about the passage, and it seemed to promote surface-level easy answers.

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Cell group day 1: City University Campus, Buenos Aires, Argentina

  • Terry Blowes
  • 23 May 2015

It was our first cell group meeting. There was Victoria, a committed student leader in her second year of university; Paula, a new person in her first year of study; and me, the missionary who had arrived to accompany and train leaders. The other people who were invited didn’t come.

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How to prepare for Sunday

  • Cassie Watson
  • 2 July 2018

What did you do to prepare for church last week? You may think this is an irrelevant question if you’re not a pastor or service leader, but we can be better disciples—and disciple-makers—if we give careful thought to how we meet together.

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The end of the world is not the end of the story

  • Ken Gilmour
  • 13 January 2020

Who could possibly be in a better position than a Christian to live modestly, humbly, generously; who could be in a better position to consume less, to put self aside and care for others?

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Redefining marriage

  • Tony Payne
  • 1 July 2015

Amidst all the sound and fury about same-sex marriage, it’s often hard to find a straight-forward, clear, thoughtful Christian defence of what marriage is. Sandy Grant has had a crack, and a very good one, in this recent public lecture at St Michael’s Wollongong.

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Motivated, reproducing, applied Bible reading: The Swedish Method

  • Peter (Pedro) Blowes
  • 23 May 2015

Bible reading with ready ears and an open heart is engaging and fruitful. There’s something fresh about letting God speak for himself, especially when you search the Bible yourself, making the effort to hear.

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Five biblical ways to face death defiantly

  • Hannah Ploegstra
  • 29 June 2015

Sympathy cards address the sadness death causes, but few acknowledge the rage. Yet that rage is real. It should be: death is the very opposite of God and all that he has created. We should hate it. Christ did.

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Getting ready to forgive

  • David Mears
  • 26 June 2015

"Do we have to forgive people who aren't sorry?" How would you respond? Our instinct can be to rush in with some kind of ‘yes/no’ answer. What we may fail to do is consider whether or not answering the question as asked is the most helpful response.

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The 'family roles' model: Reflections on 1 Thessalonians 2

  • Simon Flinders
  • 4 July 2018

1 Thessalonians 2 is a fascinating chapter for helping us think through what ministry should look like, because in the space of just a few verses Paul compares himself to a father, a mother, and a child.

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