Friday Hangs in Term 2
Since Friday Hangs has kicked off in Term 2, God has been really kind in helping us reach out to the local youth of Parramatta. We’ve seen around 7 students from these schools become quite regular and God has provided really awesome gospel conversations with a couple of them in light of the Bible stories we tell. An interesting reflection I had was that the students who usually came to Friday Hangs didn’t really seem to ‘fit in’ at their schools. Whether they were the ones who usually cause trouble in class or weren’t incredibly liked by other students, they decided to come to Friday Hangs. I’m still trying to work out why but I suspect it may be because it’s an environment where they can have fun and are cared for by our leaders.
It’s been really encouraging to see a couple of boys come from my Scripture class last year who used to give me a fear of teaching Scripture! God has helped them to mature and they engage very well with the stories now as well interestingly. This has taught me to keep persevering in ministry even when it feels hard or there’s no progress because God is the One who’s able to change the heart!
Sermon Time!
An aspect of my apprenticeship involves learning how to continue to teach and preach God’s Word faithfully. I’ve been given the privilege of being able to preach in different contexts and am needing much prayer for Term 2. This term will probably involve my biggest preaching load of the year with 3 sermons at Engage on Jonah, 2 at Cornhill (one on Ezekiel 37-39 and one on Deut 18:9-22) and 2 at Camp Engage (one on the Trinity and another on the Immutability of God). By God’s grace, He’s been teaching me many things about His character, word and sermon preparation in general.
Learning how to prepare a sermon within a limited time of a week has been really challenging! Even in the weeks when I feel quite tired, the sermon still needs to ‘get done’ in order for God’s people to be edified. This has caused me to be more reliant on God in prayer, to manage my time better so that time in God’s Word doesn’t feel rushed and to work out my ‘pockets of productivity’ (ie strangely writing between 9-11pm has been incredibly good ahaha). God has taught me many things and worked in my heart as I’ve preached through Jonah including His great sovereignty, mercy and compassion. Alongside this, it’s helpful to remember that it’s a great privilege to preach God’s Word to His people and see them grow in maturity with the help of God’s Spirit. This season has given me a greater respect and appreciation for the work our pastors do in preaching week in, week out and their diligence to handling God’s Word faithfully! Please pray that God would continue to help me remain faithful to His Word as I continue in ministry.
Prayer Points
- Pray that God would sustain our team to serve diligently and faithfully as we prepare for Camp Engage
- Pray that God would continue to provide wisdom in caring for our youth leaders. Thank God for His provision of my trainer Jaison as it has been a joy to serve alongside him.
- Pray that God would help me to diligently prepare the sermons for this coming month in Ezekiel, Deuteronomy, the Trinity and the Immutability of God
The Marsden Fund 