Centre for Christian Living podcast

Christmas gets forced upon us by shopping malls and TV ads. But in the hustle and bustle of all the demands of the holiday, it is easy not to approach it thoughtfully. Furthermore, there are many challenges that come at holiday celebrations—reminders of what we’ve lost, what we don’t have, how distant we are from loved ones, and so on. At Christmas, we celebrate an incredible miracle: God’s Son took on flesh for us. In this episode, Chase Kuhn speaks with his wife Amy about how they’ve sought to cultivate good traditions together to remind them of this deep truth in order to help them celebrate, even in the face of distance, grief and longing. For a full transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-048/

Race continues to be a hot-button issue at the moment. In the face of this ongoing concern, a “woke” attitude is widely encouraged—that is, a life that takes notice of and participates in seeking to squash racial injustice. Many Christians feel compelled to join this cultural agenda often in the interest of political correctness and public righteousness. But is this the best way for Christians to tackle the issue of race? Today, Chase Kuhn is joined by Professor Carl Trueman to discuss whether or not, under God, we should pursue woke Christian living. For a transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-047/

Following our recent livestreamed event on the topic of “Can we live without sex?”, many questions around the subject were raised. In this special episode, we welcome back our guest speakers, Dani Treweek and Chris Thomson, to answer some practical questions related to living without sex—including, “Is it wrong to desire sex and marriage if you’re single?”, “Why would God give us such strong desires for sex without also giving us a spouse?” and “If sex isn’t ultimate, is it okay to have a sexless marriage?” For transcript and show notes, visithttps://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-046/

On Wednesday 19 August 2020, we held a special event on the topic of “Can we live without sex?” with Dani Treweek and Chris Thomson. During the evening, Dani spoke on whether life without sex is actually good. Chris spoke about whether life without sex is actually realistic for Christians. In the final part of the evening, Dani and Chris, along with Chase Kuhn, answered some questions posed by the audience. For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-045/

Statistics show that one in three people in our churches are single. And yet many of our church communities tend to make singles feel “singled out”—that is, we’ve so normalised marriage and children that we’ve made many single men and women feel out of place. In this episode, Dani Treweek helps us see a richer theological vision for singleness—one that shows us what life will be like for all Christians in the future. She argues that by thinking theologically, we will better appreciate the single men and women in our communities, and better appreciate our place and God’s vision for us if we are single. For shownotes and a full episode transcript, visithttps://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-044/ Find out more about our August event with Dani and Chris Thomson: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/events/2020-08-19/

One of the key parts of our life together as Christians in the church is taking the Lord’s Supper. But it is also a practice that is often misunderstood, controversial and irregular, with many men and women struggling to understand its value. Why should we take it? Must we take it? What, if any, benefit do we receive from it? Is it something that is private and personal? Isn’t it just some old ritual? In addition to these questions, people often feel a sense of guilt: they wonder if they’ve thought about it enough. Or they worry that the practice has become too routine—so routine, they haven’t appreciated it fully. Of course, at the other end of the specturm, there are others who wonder why we make so much of it. Why do we make bread and wine special? Why should we be so ceremonial? Can’t we take the supper any time and with anything? Why can’t we just eat Oreos and drink milk? These are some of the questions we consider in our interview with Mark Earngey as we seek clarity about the importance of the Lord’s Supper for the Christian life. For an episode transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-043/

On Wednesday 27 May 2020, we held a special event on the topic of religious freedom with Michael Kellahan, Executive Director of Freedom for Faith, and CCL Director Chase Kuhn. During the evening, Michael presented us with a picture of why religious freedom is important in politics and society today, and Chase laid out some basic theological principles for why religious freedom should be upheld by Christians. Then Michael and Chase had a discussion about some of the practicalities of religious freedom for society and for Christians. In the final part, they answered questions posed by the audience. For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-042/

When someone becomes a Christian, a transformation takes place: they move from death to life—from darkness to light. This entails a shift in how they live their life, no longer walking as they previously did before knowing Jesus. But what does this transformation entail? How does it happen? When should it happen? Is it instantaneous or is it a process? Is it something one does themselves, or is it done for them? In this episode, Chase Kuhn interviews Caroline Clark about the transformation that came to her life as a result of following Jesus and the place of transformation in all of our lives as Christians. For a transcript and show notes, visithttps://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-041/

Freedom is something easily taken for granted—until it is taken away. COVID-19 has forced government-mandated restrictions on societies all over the globe, and these restrictions lead many of us to question what responsibility government has over us. Is it to protect people or their freedoms? As Christians, religious freedom is paramount. But does government have any right to regulate religion? Furthermore, is government the enemy of religion, or is it its enabler? In this episode, Chase Kuhn speaks with Akos Balogh, CEO of The Gospel Coalition Australia, about what Bible teaches us about the role of government in relation to religious freedom. For show notes and transcript, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-040/ Links referred to: Our May event with Michael Kellahan and Chase Kuhn: “Is freedom of religion a human right?”: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/events/2020-05-27/ The 2019 CCL annual: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/2019-annual/ The Preliminary Theological Certificate (PTC): https://moore.edu.au/courses/preliminary-theological-certificate/ The Gospel Coalition Australia: https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/

For most churches, the sermon has a prominent place in the service. This is met with mixed reception from church goers—reception that is typically based on how engaging the preacher is and how long he preaches! But why do we keep the sermon? In different progressive church models, there have been experiments to do away with preaching in the “stand and deliver” model. As this sort of monologue becomes increasingly foreign in our contemporary culture, should we still keep the sermon in our churches? Putting it into our current climate, should we listen to sermons online? If so, can I listen to the best preachers around the world? Do I need to keep listening to my pastor? Furthermore, is church more than a sermon? We discuss these questions in this episode of our podcast. Our guest is Nigel Styles, the director of the Cornhill Training Course in London. For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-039/