End May, 2024 Update

Written By Aditya Kuthalam

End of May, 2024 Update

To my supporters, thank you for your continued support in partnering with me for the sake of advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This update covers the period from 01/05/2024 to 31/05/2024 and I pray it will be of great encouragement to you.

Meet Jesus Evangelistic Program

  • There have been many joys serving in the Meet Jesus Evangelistic Program.

  • One of the joys has been in developing our own study material focusing on four encounters people had with Jesus in the Gospel of John.

    • Jesus with the Outsider: The story of the Samaritan woman at the well.

    • Jesus with the Grieving: The story of the raising of Lazarus.

    • Jesus with the Powerful: Interaction with Pilate after Jesus is arrested.

    • Jesus with the Sceptic: Interaction with Thomas after Jesus’ resurrection.

  • Another joy has been having close to 10 non-Christians come to the sessions.

  • Almost all have been interactive in the sessions and the quieter ones have spent considerable time talking to the team about their queries, once the sessions ended.

  • Please pray for our team to lead the remaining sessions well.

  • Please also pray the follow up that will occur once the program ends, will lead to the conversion of these participants.

 

1 Peter 4:12-19 Sermon

  • I’m thankful to have preached on 1 Peter 4:12-19 in two different contexts.

    • The first was to a group of theological students at the Presbyterian Theological College.

    • The second was to the Deaf Church congregation at our church.

  • The passage was about how we’re to view and respond to persecution with six imperatives given.

    • 1 Peter 4:12 don’t be surprised

    • 1 Peter 4:13 but rejoice

    • 1 Peter 4:15 don’t suffer as an evil doer

    • 1 Peter 4:16 don’t consider it shameful when you suffer as a Christian

    • 1 Peter 4:16 keep on glorifying God

    • 1 Peter 4:19 keep on entrusting your soul to a faithful creator and do good.

  • The challenge in preaching at college, was to ensure it addressed the persecution faced by gospel workers, that existed both within and outside the church.

  • The challenge in preaching at deaf church, was to ensure simpler picture language was used, so it could easily be translated from English into Auslan.

  • The big takeaway is that the context of our audience is important and as preachers, we would do injustice in preaching sermons to a generic audience.

  • Please pray that those who heard the sermons will continue to reflect and then apply what they’ve learnt when they next face persecution.

Learnings from the MTS Challenge Conference

  • The MTS Challenge Conference was for both MTS Trainers and Apprentices to consider the need to train future apprentices. After all the harvest continues to increase and the workers continue to remain so few.

  • I was shocked by the stat that only 1 in 5 gospel workers and ministers are currently training an apprentice, meaning that more can take up the challenge to train apprentices.

  • The key challenge for me is also to invest in the training of apprentices in the future once I’m able to do so.

  • So please pray that I and many others would take up this important challenge.

 

Learnings from the Reach Australia Conference

  • I’m grateful to have attended the Reach Australia conference with the staff team.

  • It was an encouraging to be surrounded by over 1,300 gospel workers and ministers who all wanted to make their churches healthy, evangelistic and multiplying.

  • I was especially encouraged and challenged by a Murray Capill talk, which said that as evangelical gospel workers, we are good with “knowing” and “doing”, but less so with having clean consciences and a passion for God.

  • Please pray that as I continue to reflect on this talk, continue to check my heart/conscience and have a deeper love for God in all that I do.

Snapshot of other areas

Completion of Semester 1 at Theological College

  • I’ve now completed classes for both the Preaching Skills and the New Testament Greek A subjects.

  • From Preaching Skills I’ve learnt to carefully evaluate both my own sermons and that of others in order in order become better in sermon preparation and delivery.

  • From New Testament Greek A, I’ve been learning the Greek language style and vocabulary, which has helped with my exegetical work.

  • Please pray that both subjects will help me to become a better teacher and preacher of God’s Word so that God’s people will benefit.

 

Presbyterian Candidacy Process

  • I’m thankful to God for the wonderful privilege to be accepted as a Probationary Candidate for ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

  • This means, once I complete my apprenticeship, I’ll be able to continue training as a student minister as I study full time at the Presbyterian Theological College.

  • The hope then is that I’ll ‘exit’ the College to be placed as a minister somewhere to continue serving God and his people.

  • Please pray that God would use this journey to equip me well to be effectively used for his glory.

Please note, my next official update will be for the month of June.

The next update will cover:

  • Daniel 3 Sermon (Preparation for and preaching at Malvern Presbyterian Church)

  • Holiday Club (MC prep, teaching prep and writing up studies)

  • Growth Group Leading (Mid year reflection)

  • Yoshi Leading (Mid year reflection)

  • Learnings from the Metro Recruit Conference

 

Photo from the Reach Australia Conference

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Please note: You can support me in the following ways:

Aditya Kuthalam
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End April, 2024 Update