Centre for Christian Living podcast

Motherhood is not something that we all know directly in our lives, but we all, at least, experience it indirectly: we’ve all been born of a woman. This is something common to humanity and is one of our deepest bonds with Jesus, our brother, who was born of the Virgin Mary. Motherhood can be viewed poorly. It can be seen as something to be endured, an interruption to life and a career, or something terribly painful and questionable in its goodness. But when we think about motherhood theologically, we see it differently. It’s something that God has designed with great purpose and goodness. It’s a beautiful thing that marks one of the distinctive roles of women in society. It’s something to celebrate, even in its pain and risk. Furthermore, in the expectation of life that pregnancy holds, there is a great picture of our expectation of eternal life. In this episode of the CCL podcast with Jodie McIver, we consider God’s purposes in pregnancy and birth. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-097/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

It’s sad that over the last century, so much division among Christians has come from different beliefs about the Holy Spirit. Perhaps what’s even more sad is that these differences are, at their core, about God himself. Who is the God we worship? What is the work that he does in our lives? How does he work, and to what end does he do this work? The tragedy is that the Holy Spirit is promised to us as the bond of peace among Christians (Eph 4:3). Indeed, it’s in spiritual unity that we confess one Lord, one faith and one baptism, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:5. In this episode of the CCL podcast with Phillip Jensen, we look a little bit more closely at what the Scriptures say about the Holy Spirit. In particular, what does the gift of the Spirit mean for us in our Christian lives? For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-096/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

Christians often think about evangelism in terms of what we say. It can easily become a formula of the right words spoken in the right way that amounts to faithfulness. In many ways, this is an entirely appropriate way to think. However, it’s also an incomplete way to think: our witness to the world is not just with our words, but also with our how we live our lives. We testify to the gospel as we live transformed lives. As we think about reaching cross-culturally with the gospel, _how_ we live is often as important as anything else. People want to see that following Jesus is a liveable way of being. This, of course, doesn’t mean that everything in life will be easy. But even in hardship, in the real cost of discipleship, we can demonstrate the goodness of God in Christ, living with real hope. In this episode of the CCL podcast with Clive and Ben, we consider the significance of the Christian life as we reach out to Hindus with the gospel. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-095/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

The Beatles’ message to the world was “Love is all you need”, and certainly in Scripture, the virtue of love is regarded as supreme (1 Cor 13:13). In fact, in the Bible, love is a catch-all term for morality, summarising the law. But with the mainstream use of slogans like “Love is love” bandied around today, what does the concept of love even _mean_? How do we know what love is? What does it look like? Furthermore, is love really all that we need? In a special edition of our podcast, we bring you the audio from our first live event of our 2023 series on “A virtuous life”. CCL Director Chase Kuhn kicked off the series by exploring the virtue of love. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-094/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

Life is incredibly seasonal. In the last few weeks, with the turn of weather, it marks a change of clothing and habits. Days are cooler and shorter. There’s something wonderful about seasons that reminds us of the Lord’s provision and how dependent we are on him as creatures. Yet as Christians, it’s easy for us to approach seasons passively. Life can easily happen to us. But as we all know, discipline is key to living a deliberate, intentional life, even amidst various seasons. One of the historic ways that the church has approached life purposefully was to follow a church calendar. This marked specific seasons of the Christian life that helped people to be more deliberate in their spiritual reflection. This feels foreign to many of us today, but it may be a practice worth reviving. In this episode of the CCL podcast with Mark Earngey, we explore how tradition and the church calendar can aid us in the Christian life. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-093/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

Whom should you be able to employ or not employ in your business? If you run a school, should you be able to hire only those who agree with the stated values of your school? What if your school is a religious school? Should those you employ support your faith position? All of these questions are about discrimination: when, if ever, should someone be excluded from an activity or occupation because of their support for or denial of a faith position? While these matters involve discrimination, they stand at the forefront of public discussion about religious freedom. It’s in cases where exclusion is seen or felt most is freedoms are being tested. In this episode of the CCL podcast with Emeritus Professor Patrick Parkinson of the University of Queensland, we look at how religious freedom is gradually being squeezed in Western society. We’ll consider why this is happening, how Christians can prepare for what is coming, and why we have good reason to continue to hope. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-092/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

Most of us struggle to keep pace with the speed of societal progress. This means that many Christians are unsure how to approach and even answer questions to do with LGBTQ issues. We’re concerned about fitting the stereotypes of Christian hatred or intolerance. We’re nervous about the names we might be called. We’re worried that we won’t really be heard. So what do we do when WorldPride comes to town? Sydney is hosting WorldPride in 2023, and many Christians wonder how we should respond. How can we genuinely care and show concern for people in this space when the LGBTQ agenda seems to be so against what we believe as Christians? In this episode of the CCL podcast, we’ll hear from a same-sex-attracted Christian about his reflections on how to think and live in such times. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-091/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

Discovering sexuality and coming of age is never simple, and tends always to be awkward. This awkwardness is intensified when your sexuality is not typical. Christians have a long way to go to help adolescents grapple with sexuality, especially when their sexuality differs from what the Bible says is good. How can we help same-sex attracted people be confident to live as God’s children, and share how they feel and experience the world with other Christians in gospel confidence? We’re exploring this on the podcast today as we hear one man’s story of coming to terms with his same-sex attraction. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-090/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

Do you remember the ALS ice bucket challenge of 2014? To promote awareness and raise money for ALS (that is, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is also called Lou Gehrig’s disease), millions of people took to social media and posted videos of themselves getting buckets of ice water dumped on them. Celebrities, politicians and athletes took part. People made more and more elaborate videos documenting the challenge—many of which went viral. And the whole thing raised over $220 million for ALS research. Here’s the thing, though: even though many, many people took part in the ice bucket challenge, only a fraction actually donated to the cause. It seems that the majority were more interested in being _seen_ to be doing good, and thus being thought of as a good person, than actually doing good. We call this kind of behaviour “virtue signalling”, a way of demonstrating to others that you have good character without actually needing to change yourself. As Christians, we want to be people of virtue who walk the walk as much as we talk the talk. But what _is_ virtue? What are _Christian_ virtues, as opposed to virtues that aren’t that Christian? Why is cultivating virtue important—important enough that the Centre for Christian Living has devoted an entire year to examining the subject? These are the sorts of things Karen Beilharz and Chase Kuhn discuss in this episode of the Centre for Christian Living podcast. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-089/

When does the season feel like Christmas? Is when the decorations are hung, carols are playing, the shopping centres are full, the air turns crisp (or hot and humid, in the case of Australia), and when all the media is filled with festive ads? Or is it when we make a deliberate attempt to mark the season by turning our focus to the reason for all these celebrations? Marking the Advent season is a great way for Christians to be intentional in their celebration of Christmas. Advent means “the arrival of someone important”, and for Christians, we celebrate the arrival of the King, Jesus the Christ, God’s Son incarnate. But this is not simply a look back in history to the first coming of Christ; for Christians today, we live expectant of Christ’s second coming. If we want to be purposeful about valuing the gift of God’s Son at Christmas, we should mark the season. So for our last episode of 2022, CCL Director Chase Kuhn shares short devotion from an advent devotional he is currently writing. Our hope is that this short study on Luke 1 will help you better appreciate Christ this Christmas. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-088/