Highlights
During this past term I’ve had the joy of being involved with a number of ministries: I’ve assisted at Belong (a 7-week introductory bible study series on core topics of Christian faith and life), been leading a Growth Group, coordinated the music & audio-visual team, kicked off some 121s, helped church volunteers with setting up Welcoming teams, and completed SRE training in preparation to start teaching scripture in Term 2.
Leading the music & audio-visual ministry has been a particular joy this term as the teams have continued to grow in their musicality, teamwork, and understanding of the place their ministry has in church life. On March 25th we had the opportunity to attend Emu Music’s ‘Word in Song’ conference at Glenmore Park, and many of the team were attending for the first time. The day kicked off with a talk from Rob Smith on “The Politics of Praise in an Age of Persecution” in which he highlighted the prominence and power of singing for Christians in this age for adoration and exhortation, as illustrated in the book of Revelation. Our songs of God’s power and might align us with him as the supreme authority and remind us to persevere in the truth and certain hope of the Gospel. By participating in singing we actively ‘cast a vote for Jesus’, encourage fellow believers in a shared hope, and become a messenger of this hope to non-churchgoers.
Our music & audio-visual team members came away strengthened in their theology of music and also in many practical skills of playing as a band including layering, rhythmic and harmonic cohesion, team leadership, song selection, and arrangement. Please pray that our teams would continue to actively develop their craftmanship as they skillfully serve God by leading our congregations in music & audio-visual ministry.
It has also been a joy to serve at Belong which has just wrapped for Term 1. Each week saw the influx of new people who joined our group from each of our 4 English-language services, and from a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and life stages. Across our 7 studies we discussed the meaning of “faith”, “grace”, “sanctification”, and four key aspects of Christian living: prayer, reading God’s word, fellowship, and evangelism. It has been awesome to see the attendees wrestle with the passages each week, to draw out misconceptions, and see them grow in their understanding of how good the gospel of Jesus is. Pray to thank God for all the new people he continues to bring to our church, and ask that he would continue to grow the faith of Belong attendees in Jesus and the grace he shows them through the cross and continued provision in their daily lives.
Learnings
Ministry has been a great joy but comes alongside its particular challenges. The locus of ministry is relational as we get alongside people to teach and encourage from God’s word and to do life with them. Consequently, there are days which are greatly encouraging, and others which require large inputs of mental and emotional energy; often this happens all at once! Praise God that he is at work in the lives of so many people from different backgrounds and with different stories, and pray that I would continue to grow in my ability to relate to and pastor others in all godliness and wisdom.
I have also continued to realise the importance of rest, and particularly the necessity for recuperating social energy as someone who could be considered more of an ‘introvert’. Doing ministry full time, and spending much of my day with others, has given me a renewed appreciation for time to recharge and refocus my energies. Pray that I would continue to rest well in order to be a sustainable sacrifice as I do ministry, and particularly that I would use my leave well as I plan to take a week off sometime during the coming month. Pray that I would remember that it is God’s work that I am doing and that I can rest well in him, trusting that his work will continue regardless of me.
Please pray also for my continued preparation of workshops with the other MTS interns for our 5pm congregation’s upcoming Weekend Away on topics of ‘Work’ and ‘Dignity & Identity’. Pray that the camp would be a great time of faithful Bible teaching and fellowship for attendees, and that they would come away refreshed and grown in knowledge of what the Bible says about ‘Our Humanity’.
The Marsden Fund 