Scripture: Colossians 4:3-4, ‘At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.’ Observations: Paul commands the Christians in Colossae to continue steadfastly in prayer (v2), and he adds, ‘at the same time, pray also for us.’ If they’re going to be praying regularly, he asks that they also pray for Paul and his team (who he lists in v7-17). And he asks them to...

We have a wii at home, and it has a game where you can jog around an Island. But at the end of the circuit it asks how observant you are. The first question was: What colour was the mushroom? I didn’t even see a mushroom! The second question was: How many dogs did you see? I couldn’t remember seeing any dogs! The third question was: Which character did you see at the finish line? And I remember seeing a character there, but I couldn’t remember which one! My skills of observance were described as ‘dwindling fire!’ The truth is, it’s...

Jesus has risen from the dead! Jesus had conquered death and sin and Satan. Jesus had provided a way for sinners to be reconciled with God Almighty. God’s promises to send the Messiah to redeem his people have been fulfilled. Surely, the whole world needs to hear the good news! And yet Jesus tells them to wait. Jesus ‘ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. (Act 1:4)’ They couldn’t proclaim the Good News, they couldn’t evangelize, because they didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells his disciples, ‘you will receive power...

In his book, God Space, Doug Pollock starts with a story of Paul and Lisa, a newly married couple who had just become Christians. They were so excited about their faith in Jesus and how it had changed their lives that they longed to share the gospel with their unsaved families. After much prayer they decided that the Christmas family reunion would be the perfect time. After casually chatting and catching up Karen, Lisa’s younger sister, shared how she was on a spiritual high after an angel had appeared to her in a dream. This was there chance. Before Karen could...

One of the biggest reasons people don’t want to share their faith is the belief that only people with the spiritual gift of evangelism are called to do that. I’ve heard it many times, “I don’t have the gift of evangelism!” Or “Do you really expect everyone in your church to be willing and able to share their faith?” And the answer is “Yes!” So why do I believe everyone who follows Jesus should be able to explain why? Firstly, while the vast majority of Christians don’t have the spiritual gift of evangelism they are all called to let their lights...

In response to Classis Western Australia’s overture to appoint a Church Outreach Taskforce (Overture 3), Synod instead decided to appoint a person to the GROW workgroup to advance local church outreach, and to adopt the following mandate for that person: In understanding Task 2 of the Four Fold Task ‘To grow healthy churches which nurture and equip their members and, by God’s grace, expand numerically, become the mother-churches of as many fellowships and congregations as possible, and take further initiatives to penetrate structures of society with the gospel,’ and in the awareness that evangelism and outreach are core responsibilities of the...

It is encouraging to know that 84% of CRCA congregational members would support the development of new initiatives in the ministry and mission of their local church.    This is one of many findings in the recent NCLS (National Church Life Survey) survey conducted among CRCA churches.   While not all churches participated in the NCLS survey, the results are still a good sampling of the vitality of CRCA churches.    Over 1300 adult members participated, which is almost ¼ or 22% of the total adult membership in the CRCA.   The 17 participating churches represented large as well as small churches, churches from every...