It is a Christian commonplace that God matures us through suffering. But how does that work? The New Testament writers often comment on the maturing effect of suffering. “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Rom. 5:3-4); “God disciplines…
One of the great things about the discipline of preaching lectio continua (in sequence through books of the Bible) is that you end up preaching on passages which otherwise you would probably not choose. So I was allocated Luke 17:20-37…
The UPC adopted a Declaratory Act in 1879. Below is the Act as proposed by the Committee chaired by John Cairns and the final version approved by the Synod. Most of the changes introduced by the Synod simply made the…
The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) holds to the Westminster Confession “read in the light” of a Declaratory Statement (DS) adopted when the Church was formed in 1901. There is a range of views about the intent and effect of…
The Basis of Union of the Presbyterian Church of Australia (adopted in 1901) sets out the confessional position of the Church. The Supreme Standard is “the Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments”. The…
