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Seven talks on Christian ministry
Seven sermons from Paul’s first letter to Timothy – aimed especially at people training for Christian ministry. Video and audio.
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A good minister (1 Timothy 4:6–16)
What makes for a good minister? A sermon preached at Moore College chapel. Faith and good doctrine, our personal lives, teaching others.
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Plugged-in spirituality (1 Timothy 3:14–4:5)
Is your spirituality definitely plugged in? A sermon preached at Moore College chapel on 1 Timothy 3:14–4:5.
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Ministry ambition (1 Timothy 3:1–13)
Are you ambitious in your ministry? A sermon preached at Moore College chapel on 26 April 2022, with Jane Tooher (hospitality in ministry).
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Men, women, and God’s word in the gathering (1 Timothy 2:8–15)
Moore College Men’s chapel. Quietness for men. Value good works and God’s word among our sisters. We must not abandon our responsibility.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 4: God’s Mediator
When you become a Christian, you don’t give up being a member of the human race. Your fellow human is very much like you: subject to sin, and in need of salvation. And your fellow human is also like Jesus.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 3: God’s Salvation
When our physical horizons are narrowed down in lockdown, our gospel vision can also become narrowed to ourselves and our group.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 2: God’s Rule
God is not an alternative or enemy to human governments. Rather, he is the Lord over them. That’s why we are to pray to him.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 1: Prayer
How should Christians in lockdown respond to authorities? 1 Timothy 2:1–7 tells us to pray. But it’s not a bare command—it also tells us why.
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God’s heart for all humanity (1 Timothy 2:1–7)
Tensions are very high in our community at the moment. Take the illegal anti-lockdown protest on 23 July 2021 in Sydney. The protesters were expressing a fear and anger that’s clearly present amongst many. They were wrong to express it in this way. But you can feel it, can’t you? I know right now many of us are feeling the frustration. Some of us are in almost impossible situations: climbing the walls! And it’s hard. The catch-cry of the protest was freedom: freedom of movement, of work, of association. And while the protest itself was way out of line, freedom does matter, doesn’t it? It matters for us and our community. The Bible teaches us to live as humans among humans and human authorities, by helping us to see God’s heart for all humanity, as we pray.
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Grace in ministry: Avoiding the shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:12–20)
“There was a widespread view expressed by participants that within [the church] culture there was an over-emphasis on sin and an under-emphasis on grace”. The report describes how this grace problem permeated the culture. It affected membership commitment expectations, views of authority, pastoral care, and more. And yet, the thing is: Nobody would deny that this church believed in grace. They preached a conservative evangelical reformed doctrine of grace. But on the ground, in so many instances, grace was not a key feature of this church’s ministry and relationships—with disastrous results. Today I want us to grasp that in Christian ministry, grace can’t only be the content we preach. Grace also must permeate and transform everything about us personally. And I want to give some suggestions for things we can do even now in lockdown, to wage the warfare of grace. (a sermon)
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The goals of Bible teaching (1 Timothy 1:1–11)
In gospel ministry and Bible teaching, if you’re not committed to the right goal, or if you have the wrong goal, it’s not just a matter of being ineffective: you’ll be downright dangerous. So what is that goal? What are you seeking to achieve in your gospel ministry and Bible teaching – now and in the future? And how would you know if you’d done it right? This passage in 1 Timothy 1:1–11 speaks to this issue of the goals of ministry and teaching. It challenges us to think about our own aims in teaching, and to see how important it is to get it right. A sermon preached at Moore College Men’s Chapel on 14 July, 2021.
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Preaching the Pastoral Epistles
A one-hour audio seminar with principles and ideas for preaching the biblical books 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus (“Pastoral Epistles”)
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Teaching and learning in the Bible: An interview with Dr Claire Smith
An interview with Dr Claire Smith, an expert in the language of teaching and learning in the New Testament
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Andrew Heard: “A Brief Response to John Dickson’s Response to My Response”
Andrew Heard is the Senior Minister of EV Church. He has responded to John Dickson’s response to his paper engaging with an ongoing discussion over the meaning of the verb “teach” in 1 Timothy 2:12.
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RBL review of Claire S. Smith, Pauline Communities As ‘Scholastic Communities’: A Study of the Vocabulary of ‘Teaching’ in 1 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus
At the Review of Biblical Literature, Steve Walton has positively reviewed Claire Smith’s book on the vocabulary of “teaching” in 1 Corinthians and the Pastoral Epistles.
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Andrew Heard: “Women and ‘teaching’ : What is Paul prohibiting in 1 Timothy 2:12?”
Andrew Heard is the Senior Minister of EV Church and has written a paper engaging with an ongoing discussion over the meaning of the verb “teach” in 1 Timothy 2:12.
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Claire S. Smith, Pauline Communities As ‘Scholastic Communities’: A Study of the Vocabulary of ‘Teaching’ in 1 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus
Themelios has just published an excellent summary review of Claire Smith’s detailed (500 page+!) monograph on the vocabulary of “teaching” in 1 Corinthians and the Pastoral Epistles. The review was written by Andrew Clarke in Aberdeen. I highly recommend it for anyone who would like to familiarise themselves quickly with the key findings of Smith’s scholarly work. Smith’s monograph undergirds many […]
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Book – Women, sermons and the Bible: Essays interacting with John Dickson’s “Hearing Her Voice”
In late December 2012, John Dickson published an eBook in which he presented a novel proposal concerning the Greek term normally translated “teach” (didaskō) in 1 Timothy 2:12. I have had an opportunity to contribute to a book in which various authors interact in depth with Dickson’s proposal, and find it wanting on multiple fronts.
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Hearing her Voice – Some Personal Reflections by Dani Treweek
After my recent interactive book review, it was also worth including these reflections sent to me by Dani Treweek, a friend and colleague involved in Anglican ministry in Sydney. Dani is the Women’s Ministry Trainer and Coordinator at St Matthias Anglican Church, Centennial Park. She joined the St Matthias staff team in 2009 after graduating […]
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“Teaching” in the pastoral letters and today: a brief reply
This post is the fourth (and, for the moment, final) instalment in a kind of “interactive book review” of John Dickson’s Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a response to John’s book, entitled “What’s happening to our preaching?” John then wrote a reply entitled “In Defence of Inadequate […]
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“In Defence of Inadequate Books on Preaching”: John Dickson replies to my critique of Hearing Her Voice
John Dickson has recently written a book, published as an eBook by American company Zondervan, entitled Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons. Last week on this site, I wrote a response to John’s book entitled “What’s happening to our preaching?” John wanted to provide a substantial reply to my response. He has requested me to post […]
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What’s happening to our preaching? A response to John Dickson: Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons
Update (2015): A lot of discussion has occurred since I wrote this review – including a book-length response. See here for a detailed history of the discussion, with links. On Boxing Day 2012,* a series of electronic booklets called “Fresh Perspectives on Women in Ministry” was released by Zondervan. One of these booklets was written by […]
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Borrowing beasts & paying preachers: Why Paul’s use of the Old Testament makes sense
This was a real “Oh yeah – aha!” moment in my understanding of the Bible, especially in my understanding of the way Paul uses the Old Testament. The Law of Moses says: You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain. (Deut 25:4) Paul says: For it is written in the […]
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Women Preaching to Mixed Adult Congregations: A detailed reading of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 in reply to John Stott’s position
The issue of women preaching to mixed adult congregations is one that has caused a lot of consternation in ‘evangelical circles’ in recent times. There is a common argument that women should preach to mixed adult congregations that proceeds along the following lines: Different scholars and respected authorities disagree on the interpretation of the relevant […]