The One Thing

Public bible reading is something people often take for granted. But hearing God speak to our community is the highlight of our church gatherings. How do we practically speaking, read the bible well?  Backyard Bard, Simon Camilleri gives us some pointers: Historically, when the people of God stop reading the bible, they go off the tracks.  The sermon is not just the ministry of the word and the bi...

Dive into this system of working out where disciples are at: sleeper (uninterested non-Christian), seeker (interested non-Christian), consumer (uninterested Christian) and disciple (interested follower of Jesus). Daniel Im is the Senior Pastor of Beulah Alliance Church in Edmon. Daniel and Scott talk about: How do we preach to these four types of people mentioned in the system The process of ongoi...

We want to make sure that a gospel presentation is accurate and effective, so what makes for a good gospel presentation? Dave Jensen is from Evangelism and New Churches in Sydney. Dave talks about: Three key ideas to make a good presentation Three key components to effective evangelism There are presentations that can distract us from effective evangelism. Evangelism is not just for the benefit of...

Reach Australia is about reaching Australia, but our network is spilling over to other countries as well. Josh Johnston from The Tron Church in Glasgow was part of the team that came to Reach Australia's National Conference this year. He reflects with Scott Sanders about: The work of gospel in The Tron Church lately The importance pathway thinking Learning to think Now, Where, How The encourag...

Healthy church teams are such an important part of being a healthy church. Ray Galea talks about the differences of building a team from his time at MBM, and inheriting a team from his time with Fellowship Dubai Ray talks about: The importance of looking of the fruit of the Spirit rather than the gifts of the Spirit in your team Working out a clear structure Knowing yourself as a leader, you...

The grief of a losing a child is something that no one should have to endure. Nancy Guthrie might be known to many as a great Bible teacher but she and her husband have experienced and incredible amount of of grief in their lives with the loss of not just 1 but two children.   *** THIS EPISODE DOES CONTAIN ISSUES OF GRIEF AND LOSS, IF THIS RAISES ISSUES FOR YOU PLEASE ASK FOR HELP ***  Here a...

There has been a greater awareness of neurodiversity in our world today, Bec Baines explains how churches can be better equiped to minister to people with different forms of neurodiversity as we see the gospel include all sorts of people. Neurodivergence can include the Autism spectrum, PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), dyslexia, dyspraxia, down...

Adjusting churches for including people may not be as expensive as you might think, in fact it is not merely about the building. Disability comes with age, so we are all facing it at some point! Louise Gosbell has spent a lot of time thinking about disability and ministry. Making a building accessible - where it happens in the Bible Why ministry to people with disabilities is so much more than jus...

What do we need to think and do when it comes to term three? Often it's a good time to dive into longer term planning and recruitment for the next year. Raising leaders for next year Strategic plans for next year Keeping people focused on vision Digging into your small group ministries Get into the important but not urgent things like budget for next year Getting leaders away for thinking, ref...

It's a simple online course to help you explain the gospel to people. Glen Scrivener talks about his course 3,2,1 which can be done online. You can do it with someone or pass on the link for someone to do it themselves. Speak Life is a ministry to make Jesus known The development of 3,2,1 has not been overnight but has been a project from 2011 This is course for anyone, but especially for visu...

Imagine an experiential gospel presentation where the food matches the talks and discussion. Taste And See is a 4 week course that has been developed by Paul Young, Wendy Potts, Rory Shiner and others. There are lot of presentations out there, but we need to keep making more, its part of the importance of re-creating in our ministry areas Food is an important part of life, the story of the Bible a...

At the time of recording, the Reach Australia National Conference was well under way. Scott chats with Murray Capill about the 4 chambers of the heart. The resources, including Murray's talk, will be up online soon!! TOOL BOX: Murray's Slides The Heart of Holiness (Gospel Coalition Article) CREDITS: ⁠⁠⁠ The One Thing is brought to you by  ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠ . For ideas or questions please...

At the time of recording, the Reach Australia National Conference was well under way. We got a chance to talk with people about how they have been encouraged. The resources, including Murray's talk, will be up online soon!! CREDITS: ⁠ The One Thing is brought to you by  ⁠Reach Australia⁠ . For ideas or questions please email  ⁠resources@reachaustralia.com.au⁠ To support the Reach Australia Onl...

Recently, we talked with Rory from 10 of those which are books to give away. Glen Scrivener is an author of one of those books, Love Story. Unlike tracts, books are not something that people tend to throw away. This is a great book to give away. All stories point to the gospel, especially the importance of resolving the story and there is truth in myth This is a book for your neighbour, for the pe...

SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE!!! Nancy Guthrie's will be coming to Australia in June 2024 to run workshops for women to understand biblical theology. Nancy is an author, speaker and podcaster who has spent her life encouraging women in the Bible. Nancy's personal experience in sitting under the Bible Why biblical theology is essential for all Christians to understand The importance for women to un...

A building is more than just a rain shelter! How people see the building and how it's used can be a great asset to gospel work. Vine Church has gone through the process of renovating and rebuilding an inner city church. Kate Stace is the Director of Ministry Operations. She shares: Thinking about the next generation as you build Why you should explain how a building project is connected to gos...

When you have a church building and people who don't attend your church want to use it, what questions should you think through first? Kate Stace from Vine Church is the Ministry Operations Director at Vine Church in Sydney. She shares: Why what happens in your church building matters Using your site as a mission field Priorities for what the building is used for Policy nuts and bolts Question...

Have you ever noticed the bits of writing at the end of the song you are singing? It should include the acronym CCLI. Christian Copyright Licensing International does not police the law in copyright, but is there to serve the church in making sure we adhere to the laws well and serve our musician brothers and sisters. Bhavani Marks visits us to talk about: What you need to pay copyright licensing...

Australia has seen a number of church management platforms. Do we need another one? ChurchSuite (an online management system built in the UK) is coming to Australia this year. Scott Sanders asks Gavin and Paul from ChurchSuite about how their platform will benefit Australian churches: Why putting 'people before programs' is so important. How the platform is designed for people who love tec...

Vine Church uses name tags, Hunter Bible Church does not. In this episode Toby Neal (Vine Church) and Dave Moore (Hunter Bible Church) face off in a debate about whether name tags are helpful in church.  Arguments for: Community: They can help people connect as addressing people by name helps with relational interactions Follow up: Having a check in process helps to get new people's contact de...

Are Christian books still a powerful tool for evangelism? Rory Baxter has been publishing books as cheap as he can, to get them into the hands of as many non- Christians as possible. Here's his take on how they've been effective in churches.   Scott and Rory talk about: Rory's own story about learning the gospel with dyslexia What is it about books? You can take it are your own...

Andrew Heard has a new book out, Growth and Change. Over the coming weeks we'll be posting conversations that Jo and Scott had with Andrew about the book and its background on the Reach Australia Podcast (our longform podcast). In this episode of The One Thing, Jo and Scott reflect on their conversation with Andrew. Here are some of the things that they loved: He works through these struggles...

St Faith's Anglican Church in Sydney's Northern Beaches has made significant changes to how they think about mission as they pray to see more people saved. We talk with Marcus Druitt from the church about what he has found to be the effective elements of evangelistic courses. In this episode we discuss: The important contexts of an evangelistic course, including thinking about your mission...

God has made us all different. We need to keep this mind when we do the whole thing of feedback: experience, personality, gender, cultural background and their role. We need to be: Thinking about the relationships around us and getting to know the people we need to give feedback to. Caring personally and challenging radically leads to good feedback. Making sure that people know their role so they...

Feedback needs to be something that is a regular thing, but it also needs some formal rhythms of review. Importance of regular reviews for staff and other leadership Asking key questions: What are you doing well? What could you do better? What do you need to develop? Also gives opportunity for others to raise things to develop the culture of the ministry and team Importance of reviews as individua...