The One Thing

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 Online Library head ⁠here⁠.

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 people who believe in justice and love, so basically everyone Books are great technology to get peoples minds to focus on things for a while that is outside of our society The importance of talking about the trinity and the Old Testament when explaining the gospel to people. It needs to be explained understandably, not simplistically Changes in the gospel work in the UK and Australia TOOL BOX: 10 of Those Episode Love Story from the Wandering Bookseller 10 of Those Website (UK)

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 understand biblical theology Making biblical theology accessible to everyone Nancy's view on workshops TOOL BOX: Book in for Nancy's Workshops around the country. Dates: Adelaide, Australia • Grace Conference • May 25, 2024 [SOLD OUT] Melbourne, Australia • Holy Trinity Doncaster • May 27, 2024 [SOLD OUT] Canberra, Australia • Westminster Presbyterian • May 29, 2024 Sydney, Australia • Scots Church • June 1, 2024 Townsville, Australia • Willows Presbyterian • June 4, 2024 Brisbane, Australia • City Tabernacle Church • June 8, 2024 More on Nancy: Nancy's website Help me Teach The Bible Podcast Nancy's Recommendation on books on biblical theology 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 Online Library head here.

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 gospel work Considering not just the people use it, but the people who walk past too The expected time burden for the staff in pulling the project off Getting people to give towards a building Housing the church while the project is going on TOOL BOX:Building Project resources Kate has made available Advice on during and after builds from Andrew Robson Kate's email if you have questions Scott Sander's if you need more details on fundraising 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 Online Library head here.

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 Questions to ask before outsiders use the space Church members using the building and why they should Mistakes Kate's made (and what she learned from them) TOOL BOX: Building Management Resources Kate has made available. 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 Online Library head here.

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 for and who do you need to pay it to. This can include: playing songs, playing music in the foyer, live streaming, movies and clips of movies, etc. Reporting and licensing can be an administrative pain, but it is important act of love and obedience. Other tools that CCLI provides like SongSelect. How and when churches should be reporting and why it matters to CCLI (and song writers). TOOL BOX:CCLI Australia Song Select Reach Australia National Conference 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 Online Library head ⁠here⁠.

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 tech and those who don't The relationship between discipleship and database Helping churches ask the question: Where is the one sheep that is getting lost? The uniqueness of the platform having 'tags' and 'keynotes' Is ChurchSuite here for the long term? TOOL BOX: churchsuite.com. 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 Online Library head here.

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 details and helps with the followup process after Sunday Pastoral care: Name tags can be used to see attendance and help reach out to people if they aren’t turning up to church Arguments against: It adds a step of complexity to people coming into church If you train a good welcoming team, you don’t need name tags It can make church feel like a corporate event when it should be a relational environment TOOL BOX: 177: Better Welcoming 1 178: Better Welcoming 2 Gospel Growth and Community ebook

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 pace, it is easier to give people a book, it sits with people and you can give it away easily Shorter books allows all types of people to engage with the gospel and they get to the point quickly Books are a supplement or an addition to evangelistic work within the church. If everyone leaves with a book, they have access to the gospel whenever they want and can return to it anytime. Different books will work for different people so we need lots of different books but books about Jesus are the most effective in evangelism Get good books and give them out widely, don’t let cost get in the way because people will read them  TOOLBOX: 10 Of Those Wandering Bookseller Matthias Media Word 1 to 1 12 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Easter.  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 Online Library head here.

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 biblically and practically He doesn’t rush to the pragmatics, rather focuses on how the hearts of church leaders need to be in the same place as God’s heart This then flows into everything - principles of ministry, focus, pragmatics He challenges ‘what is it we are focusing on?’ - more clarity and directs our energy into the right things. He challenges the desire in our world to want to measure - why numbers matter, how to use them to assess ministry. TOOL BOX: Watch for the 4 Episodes with Andrew Heard on the Reach Australia Podcast (usually comes out on Wednesdays) ‘Growth and Change’ by Andrew Heard Reach Australia Ministry Framework ebook 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 Online Library head here.