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David Smith diagnoses two problems when it comes to theology and local church life: blind theology and blind praxis. Blind theology is what happens when theology is done without consideration of the practical realities of church life. Blind praxis is what happens when a church acts without consideration of theology. In both scenarios local churches are cut adrift from reliable guidance, often resorting to pragmatism ("It worked for the church down the road so it might work for us") or traditionalism ("That's just the way we do things around here"). This book is an exercise in Practical Theology for Australian churches. Designed for use by local church leaderships, it brings together research into church vitality with theology and church history to generate a rich theological and practical suggestions for church life. Each chapter focuses on one of nine dimensions of church vitality which contribute to our call to live kingdom shaped lives in kingdom shaped churches and helps church leaderships develop plans for their local context.

What do you do when your Christian life feels stale? When the royal road of faith feels more like a treadmill or dead end? When church is more endured than enjoyed? When the grand yearning of your eternal soul has become the great yawning of your daily life? Suppose it could be different. What if it is supposed to be different? What if the day-to-day adventures of the here and now can serve as pavers on the royal road to the Great Hereafter? Suppose instead of being a consumer of adventure that you were meant to be a steward of adventure? What if every fresh opportunity and risky challenge with an unknown outcome became a part of an earthly training program for eternity?From the sacred storehouse of Scripture and a wealth of stories across six decades of amazing adventures in his backyard and around the world, Scott Wigginton invites us to consider the role of adventure on the road to Christlikeness.

Why do people pray? Does it make any difference? What does the Bible reveal about the practice and purpose of prayer? In this informative discussion, RAY CASE presents inspiring new insights about prayer in the Bible. He leads his readers on a tour of the Bible, describing the literary nature of each of its books, with some surprising observations along the way. References to prayer are examined within the context of the theme of each book, discerning prayer's strategic role in the operations of God's pursuit of his will for the world. Case's tour draws attention to God's self-disclosure of his identity, and to his grand scheme of redemption, which is eventually fulfilled by the mission of his kingly covenant partner on earth, Jesus Christ. Case highlights where prayer fits in to the divine unfolding epic drama.Based on disciplined scholarly knowledge, yet expressed clearly in flowing conversational style, Why On Earth Should We Pray? will serve pastors, students, and laypersons alike.

Baptist congregations in Australia face two important and contemporary challenges: to remain faithful and to regain relevance.The authors featured in this volume model the innovative and imaginative responses that are required to meet those challenges. Pastors, Christian leaders, and theological educators together address congregational innovation and cultural transition.At the heart of these two activities is a faithful exploration of the contours of worship and a relevant engagement with the contours of contextual change. But this is more than a volume about mere worship or mere cultural diversity. Rather, it assumes that worship implies sacrifice and service as much as it means liturgy and prayer. Secondly, it assumes that cultural diversity also implies sacrifice and service as much as it anticipates ethnicity and language.Innovation and sacrifice require a 'putting to death' of inherited assumptions and patterns of congregational practice. Service and imagination require a 'bringing to life' of new patterns of congregational innovation. It's the earnest prayer of the New Wineskins authors and editors that this volume contributes to the ongoing search for faithful and relevant Baptist congregations long into the 21st century.

The Australian preacher has two tasks. Firstly, the hermeneutical task: interpreting the biblical text in its original situation in order to derive its key message. Secondly, the task of contextualisation: making the message relevant for the particular congregation they are called to serve. Preaching with an Accent is designed to help Australian preachers with both of these tasks. The authors, all active preachers, first give practical guidance on preaching a particular biblical genre. They go on to discern what God may be saying to Australian congregations through that genre. This volume provides an invaluable resource for preachers seeking to interpret the timeless biblical message and apply it to twenty-first-century Australia.

The 5th Conference of the Australian Association for Mission Studies,Whitley College, Melbourne, 2–5 July 2017This book is the creatively titled, collective output of the international mission scholars and mission practitioners who gathered at Whitley College, Melbourne, for the 5th Conference of theAustralian Association for Mission Studies, July 2017.Together in this volume, theologians and missiologists contribute to the vitally important public debate about the place of indigenous peoples, migrants and refugees in Australia and elsewhere. Theoretical and practical themes are considered in the light of a shared commitment to biblical and theological interpretation, reflection and application. In doing so, the authors have contributed towards clarifying the task ofmissiology in previously unimagined contexts.The Australian Association for Mission Studies is a member body of the International Association for Mission Studies and gathers missiologists and theologians from a wide range of different Christian traditions.For further information visit www.missionstudies.org.au.

This first volume of the New Wineskins series introduces the very best of current research and reflection on congregational transformation among Australian Baptists. This volume's authors share the conviction that Baptist congregations must find new ways of engaging with the increasingly secular context of Australia. Collectively, they take the view that this requires congregations to remain spiritually vital, practically engaged, missionally relevant, and theologically authentic. The New Wineskins Symposium created a platform upon which our authors shared findings, made recommendations, and engaged in lively dialogue. The breadth of proposals and recommendations points to the need for an ongoing conversation. The volume's editors hope that this series will catalyse a wider conversation and stimulate practical ministries among the many church and agency leaders who were unable to attend the original Symposium. Darren Cronshaw is a mission catalyst and researcher for the Baptist Union of Victoria, Melbourne. Darrell Jackson is the Senior Lecturer in Missiology at Morling College, Sydney. Both Darren and Darrell hold earned doctorates and are ordained Baptist ministers.