Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Luthers Works - Free Online

The following versions of Luther's Works are available free online

American Edition

Lenker Edition

Jacobs Edition

Cole Edition

Library of Christian Classics Edition

Lutheran Insulter

At Reformed Books Online

Internship - Warrambui ARISE internship program

Arise Internships provide a unique opportunity to learn, serve and grow in a dynamic Christian environment over a 12 month period.

It is designed for young adults, whether you be a recent school leaver or someone who is looking to discern your calling in life.

Arise focuses on building a faith foundation where character is built, identity in Christ is revealed, and questions of faith explored, while living and serving in a Christian community.

Interns experience practical aspects of ministry by working, living and learning alongside others in a camp setting.

Throughout the year we intentionally seek to build a faith foundation that will grow the Interns’ Christian faith and character. We grow valuable life skills and ministry experience that will benefit the individual and the communities they are involved with after Warrambui.

To achieve this goal, we have three core elements that help grow the Interns:

Volunteer service tasks to Warrambui (e.g. Kitchen work, Cleaning, School Programs)
Biblical and Theological Study
Personal growth and Leadership Development through involvement in youth camps, youth groups, congregational visits, and team times.

Being part of a Christian community doesn’t mean things are always rosy, but we continue to praise and thank God for the tough times to grow and work through the differences in people’s behaviours and attitudes.

For more information visit https://www.warrambui.com.au/arise/

Froniter School of Mission - update

Frontier School of Mission (FSM) is a mission-focused training and resourcing ministry of the Lutheran Church of Australia, NSW and ACT District.

FSM offers accredited units and courses as well as non-accredited and informal training opportunities, with a practical and missional focus.

Courses being offered include:

Theology of Mission
Mission Perspectives
Introduction to Preaching
Worship
Foundations of Christian Belief
Gospel, Church and Australian Culture
The Early New Testament Church (a study in early church mission)
Christian Apologetics (Communicating the Christian Faith in Twenty-first century Australia)
Applied Evangelism
Church Planting
Pastoral Care
Christian Spirituality
Jesus and the Gospels

For more information and to discuss your needs for ministry training visit https://frontier.lca.org.au/

Retreat: Shepherds Canyon Retreat

The Shepherd’s Canyon Retreat ministry is committed to providing spiritual and emotional healing to clergy, other full-time church workers and their spouses who are in the midst of various stages of burnout, depression, compassion fatigue, and conflicts of all types, offering the hope and renewal found through the Holy Spirit's work through God's Word.

Each retreat pursues three basic goals:

Allow each participant to safely unburden the hurts and pressures of life and ministry in a safe, non-judgmental, and loving environment.
Assist each person to understand herself/himself more completely.
To encourage the participants to develop new levels of self-acceptance as well as more effective relational skills. This often includes evaluation of expectations, reordering of priorities, improving communication skills and bringing a new perspective concerning their life and ministry.

Shepherds Canyon Retreats was formed by Lutherans

For more information visit www.shepherdscanyonretreat.org

For any Australian Pastors wanting to access this retreat there is some assistance available contact me (richardschwedes@gmail.com) so i can refer you to the appropriate contact.

Being Lutheran series - Introduction

Being Lutheran?

As a young boy growing up in the Lutheran Church, I thought being Lutheran was about 6 or 7 things, and these were not always good:

1. Being Lutheran meant being from a German background, because everyone I met at my considerable sized Lutheran church, had German names or had married someone who had a German sounding name....

2. Being Lutheran meant sitting orderly in hard wooden pews, facing the front watching a man in a white dress (I know it is an alb... but as a young boy it looks like a dress), with a scarf...talk a lot.

3. Being Lutheran meant not liking other church denominations or saying they were not quite right...yes, because of sport, I had friends who went to other Christian churches, but when it came to religion, we didn't really mix...we did our thing, and they did theirs.

4. Being Lutheran meant participating in a worship service where I was told what to say, even though I didn't completely understand it, or it used words I would never use elsewhere.

5. Being Lutheran meant not being overly emotional, unless you disagreed with something or someone.

6. Being Lutheran meant aiming to pass confirmation, by repeating verbatim the catechism and some bible verses so I could fully participate in worship by drinking some wine and eating some white wafer.

7. Being Lutheran meant having people who I knew in the community because I saw them at church.

What about you growing up, what is being Lutheran meant for you...good and bad?

Then overtime by being part of the Lutheran church I began to see and understand that being Lutheran was about something deeper...something more spiritual....and about a different approach to life than how many people in society lived....and that being Lutheran meant I was Christian....

Martin Luther, the person who has inspired the Lutheran Church for many years, as he tussled with being a Christian...by looking at the people in the church and looking at the bible....discovered an important focus on being a Christian and therefore a Lutheran...a key but not the only text, that opened up his understanding of what it means to be a Christian and therefore a Lutheran....is found in Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (NIV)

I am proud of the good news! It is God’s powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.” (CEV)

Being a Lutheran is about the Gospel, that God is doing the saving and heavy lifting so all people (not some) can be saved through faith....

How does this affect your understanding of being Lutheran?

2023 - Prepared by Pastor Richard Schwedes

you can use this for devotional and ministry purposes freely

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Books: The Gospel Coalition Commentary Series FREE

The Gospel Coalition is offering a free online commentary series with the following focus:

Modern - Modern commentaries address a significant array of new questions facing pastors and teachers since Matthew Henry completed his commentaries on the Bible in 1710. Many modern commentaries exist to fit this need.

Understandable - Whole swaths of modern commentaries are written for academics, those with formal theological training and facility with the original languages. Helpful commentaries for lay leaders, rising elders, and the majority of global pastors who lack facility with Hebrew and Greek are sparse.

Trustworthy - Where you find modern and understandable commentaries, you’re likely to encounter a mixed bag of trustworthy and untrustworthy volumes. Some are self-published. Others are churned out by cults. Immense trust springs from resources with publicly stated theological presuppositions, a rule of faith that garners confidence from others who walk within the same long-standing tradition.

Accessible - Can it be translated or retranslated without onerous rights and permissions? Can pastors-in-training receive digital or printed copies without violation of the law? Is it easily available online in a mobile-friendly, paywall-free environment?

To review the commentary series visit https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/

Saturday, October 14, 2023

Book: Future Church - 7 laws of real church growth

Church growth models have often been long on promises and short on disciple-making. We continue to watch consistent church attendance shrink, and our desire to reach the lost is infected with a need for self-validation by growing our numbers at any cost. If we believe that God wants his church to grow, where do we go from here? What is the future of the church?

Drawing from his 20 years and 15,000 hours of consulting, author Will Mancini shares with pastors and ministry leaders the single most important insight he has learned about church growth. With plenty of salient stories and based solidly on the disciple-making methods found in Scripture, Future Church exposes the church's greatest challenge today, and offers 7 transforming laws of real church growth so that we can faithfully and joyfully fulfill Jesus's Great Commission.

Chapters

Real church growth starts with a culture of mission, not worship.
Real church growth is powered by the gospel, not relevance.
Real church growth is validated by unity, not numbers.
Real church growth is local, not imported.
Real church growth is about growing people, not managing programs.
Real church growth is led by calling, not celebrity. Call every believer to engage their parish and serve God through their vocation.
Real church growth is energized by shared imagination, not shared preference.

Friday, October 13, 2023

Resources: Israel and Palestine for a Christian and Lutheran listening and responding

Resources for a Christian and Lutheran listening to and responding to the current situation between Israel and Palestine

Statement from Patriachs and Heads of the churches in Jerusalem 7 October 2023

North American Lutheran Church - Bishops letter October 2023

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (Facebook page)

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (Web Page)

Paper - the fruit of justice will be peace by Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

Prayers for peace across the Middle East

ELCA Peace not Walls - issues and information

Lutheran World Federation - Statement

Lutheran Witness - Article: Whose land is it anyway?

World Council of Churches

Churches for Middle East Peace

Jews for Jesus

Article: What's the Israel-Palestinian conflict about and how did it start?

Article: Why did Hamas invade Israel?

Saturday, October 07, 2023

Mission edged Tracts from Lutheran Tract Mission

Lutheran Tract Mission has recently produced some tracts for situations which people in mission are encountering now.

'A Mission-Edge Tract' produced for those

questioning God's care for the world and the environment.

'A Mission-Edge Tract' produced for those

struggling with their faith and their relationship with Jesus.

'A Mission-Edge Tract' produce for those

questioning their identity and their beliefs and where they fit in society and God's family

A Mission-Edge Tract' produced for those struggling with where God is in their life

'A Mission-Edge Tract' for those struggling with who Jesus is

and why do we celebrate a baby's birth at Christmas

For these and many other tracts visit Lutheran Tract Mission

Friday, October 06, 2023

2024 Australian Christian Diary

The 2024 Australian Christian Diary is now available

This popular Australian Christian Diary contains the following:

Lectionary Bible reading for each day
All Church Year festivals
Week to an opening,
Monthly planner
Australian holidays and school terms

Available from Australian Christian Resources

Thursday, October 05, 2023

Life to life discipleship movement

Life to life discipleship movement is an initiative of the North American Lutheran Church to help people and congregations to renew their commitment to our Lord’s commission to make disciples, and to reaffirm their desire to become the fulfillment of his commandment that we love one another as he Has loved us?

View their introduction video

To discover more visit https://nalclifetolife.org/

They provide a discipleship manual that covers the following:

Prayer: The Heart of Discipleship

The Discipleship Guide Training Experience

Following Jesus: What is a Disciple?
The Importance of Intentionality
What is a Discipleship Guide?
How to Have a Discipling Conversation
The Importance of Asking Questions

Practicum: Going Deeper

Faith Life
Priorities
Family Life
Finances
Health and Wellness
Boundaries
Servant Leadership
Moving Forward with Intentional Discipleship

Book: Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture

In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin shows how the Bible and its unfolding story help us make sense of modern life and culture.

Critical theories exist to critique what we think we know about reality and the social, political, and cultural structures in which we live. In doing so, they make visible the values and beliefs of a culture in order to scrutinize and change them.

Biblical Critical Theory exposes and evaluates the often-hidden assumptions and concepts that shape late-modern society, examining them through the lens of the biblical story running from Genesis to Revelation, and asking urgent questions like:

How does the Bible's storyline help us understand our society, our culture, and ourselves?
How do specific doctrines help us engage thoughtfully in the philosophical, political, and social questions of our day?
How can we analyze and critique culture and its alternative critical theories through Scripture?

Informed by the biblical-theological structure of Saint Augustine's magisterial work The City of God (and with extensive diagrams and practical tools), Biblical Critical Theory shows how the patterns of the Bible's storyline can provide incisive, fresh, and nuanced ways of intervening in today's debates on everything from science, the arts, and politics to dignity, multiculturalism, and equality. You'll learn the moves to make and the tools to use in analyzing and engaging with all sorts of cultural artifacts and events in a way that is both biblically faithful and culturally relevant.

It is not enough for Christians to explain the Bible to the culture or cultures in which we live. We must also explain the culture in which we live within the framework and categories of the Bible, revealing how the whole of the Bible sheds light on the whole of life.

If Christians want to speak with a fresh, engaging, and dynamic voice in the marketplace of ideas today, we need to mine the unique treasures of the distinctive biblical storyline.

Zondervan's Academic Chapter summaries