Commending & Contending

What Peter's first letter teaches us about commending Jesus, with David Shaw

It's kind of obvious to say, but the apostles had a pretty good handle on what it takes for disciples to commend the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. David Shaw joins us in this episode to focus our attention on Peter's first letter and the themes we find there.
Peter's teaching is wonderfully helpful in shaping how we understand who we are, and what it might look like to live out our calling, and be a blessing.
Here are some of David's articles from the website:
God's elect, resident aliens in Babylon
Bless, for to this you were called

Reading the Old Testament with confidence, with Gary Millar

When we open our Bibles to read them for ourselves, we can can feel overwhelmed or unsure about how to make sense of the Old Testament. Gary Millar returns in this episode to help us grow in confidence, to read and explore all that God has for us in his word.
Find out more about the Online Workshop on Preaching Prep
Take a look at the TGC commentaries that Gary mentions

Survey Results: The Future of the Gospel in Australia

In this episode we are joined by Tamara Robson, who worked through all the responses from the recent survey TGCA conducted in connection with the Leader's Mini-Summit.
The goal of this smaller summit was to gather leaders from like-minded ministries all across the eco-system and from all over Australia. We were gathering to consider how we might collaborate together to achieve things for the glory of God.
In preparation for the leaders getting together TGCA invited all those leaders and anyone connected through the website to our regular email updates to share their thoughts.
Tamara and I were keen to share the key themes that came out of the responses we received.

Gospel Ministry means Weekly Gatherings

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.

Introducing our first TGCA Online Workshop, with Sarah Kuswadi

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
Support the work of TGCA

Politics and the Gospel, with Dan Anderson

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

Local Church Ministry Over The Long Haul

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.

Gifted for Admin, with Sam Jensen

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

Something Old; Something New, with website editor Mikey Lynch

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

Church Leadership That Commends The Gospel, with Murray Capill

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.