Next Sunday, the 22nd of March 2020, we are privileged to have David Robertson preaching on the topic of ‘What is your hope?’ David Robertson is a Christian author, prolific blogger, podcaster and director of Third Space at City Bible Forum. He and his wife Annabel are also beloved members of St Thomas’. We’ve set the 22nd of March apart as a special week to invite family and friends who don’t yet know Jesus to church. Of course, we always welcome people who don’t yet trust in Jesus, but this week is especially for them to hear the good news. Gerard O'Brien sat down with David and had a conver ..read more

Recently I (Gerard) gave a short talk on Psalm 46 and Luke 13 about the comfort for Christians in a time of crisis, but also the call that Jesus gives for repentance. It was originally given to the youth group of St Thomas’ (called 'Lights') on the 20th of March - it was a time when lockdowns had just started. We weren’t able to do youth group together, but the schools were still open. It's still very relevant today. We hope you find it helpful. Christians Engaging Culture exists to equip the Christians to give faithful answers in everyday cultural conversations and to turn those conversations ..read more

Phillip Jensen traces how Australia went from a majority nominally-Christian nation in the 1950s to the non-religious nation it is today. He covers ground from Billy Graham, the advent of TV and the moon landing all the way to the modern world. And he looks at how the liberals, the Pentecostals and the evangelicals responded. If you want to learn from Australian history and understand the culture we’re in, this is an excellent episode for you. Special thanks to Dominic Steele at The Pastors Heart for giving us permission to republish this episode. Make sure you subscribe to the Pastors Heart h ..read more

This week we listen to the guys from the Speaklife Podcast about how Christians have responded to pandemics in the past. We are thankful for their permission to republish it here. You can find out more about them at fb.com/speaklifeuk.  Gerard also comments on a helpful secular podcast called The Happiness Lab and attempts to 'baptise' some of their advice. For a flyer to take to neighbours offering to help while they're in isolation / quarantine, click here. Another great resource to check out during this crisis is David Robertson's daily video with Stephen McAlpine called The Panic Room ..read more

On 25 August, 2019 Martyn Iles visited St Thomas' 5pm service. After the service we had dinner together as a church community in the church hall and Martyn addressed us on the topic of religious liberty. This week we are listening to the talk he gave and then next week we will be listening to the question & answer session. You can find video of this week's address here. Martyn Iles is the Director of the Australian Christian Lobby. Christians Engaging Culture exists to equip the members of St Thomas’ to give faithful answers in everyday cultural conversations and to turn those conversation ..read more

The guys at the Speak Life Podcast have put together a great episode on what an amazing outreach opportunity Christmas is, and they have some great tips on how to invite friends to church and share good videos and books with them if they’re interested. We’re thankful for their permission to republish this episode from only a few days ago. You can find Speak Life on the web at speaklife.org.uk, you can subscribe to their podcast by searching for them on your podcast app or you can listen to their live cast each week at facebook.com/speaklifeuk. St Thomas' Christmas Services The Community Party ..read more

On 25 August, 2019 Martyn Iles visited St Thomas' 5pm service. After the service we had dinner together as a church community in the church hall and Martyn addressed us on the topic of religious liberty. This week we are listening to the question & answer session (you can find the questions asked further below). You can find video of this Q&A session here. Martyn Iles is the Director of the Australian Christian Lobby. Christians Engaging Culture exists to equip the members of St Thomas’ to give faithful answers in everyday cultural conversations and to turn those conversations to the g ..read more

Christians Engaging Culture is currently in a module on religious liberty. This week we are looking at religious liberty in the workplace. We are listening to two resources from the Australian Christian Lobby. The first is an interview between Martyn Iles and John Steenhof, who is the Director of the Human Rights Law Alliance. And the second is a section of Martyn Iles’ podcast called The Truth of It. Folau’s case is demonstrative of what can happen to other people of faith in Australia who fall foul of codes of conduct that exist in many professional contracts. Steenhof and Iles show why Fola ..read more

Christians Engaging Culture is currently in a module on religious liberty. This week are looking at religious liberty and education. In this podcast we listen to an interview with a Canadian father named Steven Tourloukis. When his children were four and six years old, he requested that their school  notify him when they were teaching them about sensitive topics such as homosexuality, abortion and gender identity. The school refused and Tourloukis took them to court. The court ruled that, although the school’s decision violated the Canadian Charter of Rights, ‘the violation was “reasonabl ..read more

Simon Manchester joins us to discuss how to talk helpfully about religious liberty and take opportunities to get to the gospel.  If you visit our website you can find more resources on religious liberty in conversation, including a blog post by Akos Balogh on how to get from Israel Folau to the gospel. You can find a video of this interview here. Christians Engaging Culture exists to equip the members of St Thomas’ to give faithful answers in everyday cultural conversations and to turn those conversations to the gospel. The aim of this podcast is to start conversations around our chu ..read more