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Bible Studies and Reflections (20 posts found)

Bible Study: Protecting the innocent

3 months ago

When Jesus said "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs" his disciples were indignant. They didn't understand what he was trying to teach them. But what was so shocking about this statem...

2021 Lenten Reflection

8 months ago

Our 2021 Lenten Reflections have arrived and are available! This year our free Lenten Reflection is themed 'Colours of Lent'. For Christians, colours can be important symbols. Colours are a way of subtly drawing attention to underlying truths and m...

Bible Study: Lifting up the lowly

8 months ago

The story of the annunciation of Jesus’ birth is shocking and scandalous. It is little wonder that Mary was disturbed when the angel announced to her that she, a virgin, would fall pregnant. BIBLE READING “He has looked with favour on the lowliness o...

2020 Advent Reflection

10 months ago

Our 2020 Advent Reflections are available! Advent is a festive time that helps us reflect more deeply on the choices and practices that sustain us in life. The theme we have chosen for this year’s Advent reflection booklet is ‘A Christmas Menu’. As ...

Bible Study: Learning from the early church’s response to pandemics

2 years ago

For the early Christians, crises, including pandemics in the first few centuries, were opportunities to show the love of God to those around them. BIBLE READING “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the p...

2020 Lenten Reflection

2 years ago

Our 2020 Lenten Reflections have arrived and are available! This year our free Lenten Reflection is themed Learnings for Life. It contains reflections that may probe, stretch and challenge - but hopefully in positive and life-giving ways. While some of...

Reflections from a war zone

2 years ago

AOA Board member, Dr Robin Ray, has been instrumental in spreading the word about the wonderful work of the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Robin was our first ambassador and visited the hospital in April 2019, along with other board members on a self-funded tri...

Theology of Disaster Resilience Bible studies

2 years ago

The countries where we work are some of the most vulnerable in the world. This is especially the case in the Pacific, which is highly prone to natural disasters. The question of why disasters happen has plagued people of faith for thousands of years. A part...

2019 Advent Reflection

2 years ago

Our 2019 Advent Reflections are available! This year we have endeavoured to go a bit deeper and push past the popular veneer of Advent. Sentimental reminiscing about the baby Jesus does not, in our view, do the season justice. This is because the impli...

2019 Lenten Reflection

3 years ago

Our 2019 Lenten Reflections have arrived and are available! This year we have called the Lenten Reflection An Armchair Pilgrimage to encourage us all to take time out of our usual routine to go on a journey, a pilgrimage, in the lead up to this deeply ...

2018 Advent Reflection

3 years ago

Our 2018 Advent Reflections have arrived and are available! This year we have focused on what Advent and the Christmas story mean within our Australian context. Our Australian culture and experience inevitably impacts our understanding and how we c...

Blessed are the pure in heart

4 years ago

As part of Common Grace's Lenten 2018 reflection series, our CEO, Bob Mitchell, explored how, when we turn to God, and put our trust in him, his grace makes us pure and we are invited into a new way of relating with God. Throughout Scripture we see God reveal...

Bible Study: Preparing for difficult times

4 years ago

BIBLE READING Read Genesis 41 BACKGROUND Anglican Overseas Aid is increasingly involved in preparing for disasters. This includes making sure that when disasters occur, the risk of harm is reduced and the people affected are able to cope in...

Order your Lenten reflection booklets now

4 years ago

In 2018 we are producing our annual Lenten reflection booklets again. Ideal as a personal reflection, small group study guide, or whole of church resource, these booklets are again FREE to any person or church that requests them. Our focus for this year'...

Bible Study: Restoring dignity to everyone

4 years ago

BIBLE READING Read Mark 5:24-34 BACKGROUND When looking at the stories of Jesus in the gospels, we see that he always treated people according to their circumstances. He never actually operated according to a formula. Some people he healed away from the...

Bible Study: “…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

5 years ago

Our 2015/16 Annual Report features, on its cover, the Anglican Overseas Aid motto, ‘Life. Abundantly. For All.’ The motto is drawn from St John’s Gospel, so we thought that it would be good to understand it a little deeper. This statement from Jesus comes i...

2017 Lenten Reflection: Giving Up, Taking Up

5 years ago

Lent is the season in the Christian calendar when the focus turns to simple living, prayer, self-examination, and fasting in preparation for Easter. People often talk of ‘giving something up for Lent’ which is a part of its rich tradition of self-sacrifice ...

Prepare: An Advent Reflection

5 years ago

This year we are again producing our very popular Advent booklets. Once again, we are following the traditional themes of Advent: hope, love, joy and peace. This year we have invited reflective input and images from our overseas partners as we seek to share...

Toward Christmas: An Advent Reflection

5 years ago

In the run-up to Christmas 2015, we produced a FREE pocket-sized Advent reflections booklet called Toward Christmas: An Advent Reflection. The booklet was hugely popular, and we no longer have paper copies available, but you can download a pdf copy. Based o...

Bible Study: Thy Kingdom Come… on Earth

5 years ago

The kingdom of God is mentioned more than 100 times in the gospels. It is what Jesus spent most of his time talking about. But Jesus never actually defined the kingdom of God. When he talked about it he spoke in parables, often using analogies, saying, “it ...