End of Jan, 2023 Update
What an amazing first month of January it’s been brothers and sisters in the Lord, in having the wonderful privilege to be serving at Surrey Hills Presbyterian and at the broader church level.
Here are some snippets of what I’ve been up to in January and how the Lord has been at work.
Service Leading
o Since the start of Jan, I’ve been rostered on to do a service leading for a number of morning and evening services.
o It’s something I haven’t done much of and so there were a lot of nerves at the beginning.
o However, as I get to do it more often, and finding courage in Christ, it has become easier and in fact joyful in being able to serve our church in this way.
o The feedback from many members of the church has also been very helpful.
Connecting with church members from the morning and evening services
o I’ve been finding several opportunities to meet up with church family from both the morning and evening services, and not only after service but during the week.
o This has included fellowshipping at one another’s places or at cafes.
o There has been a lot of joy in this area as I get to know people which has also helped me to understand how best to serve and pray for them.
Writing bible studies
o I’ve been given the opportunity to write two Growth Group bible studies on Luke 7:18-35 and Luke 7:36-50 to assist with the new sermon series at Church on the book of Luke Chapters 7 and 8.
o Whilst the research involved to get the main gist or the “big idea” was relatively straight forward, putting these into questions to help people understand God better and how to live out their lives in light of such understanding has been a lot more challenging.
o However now having done a couple of studies, I’ve come to realise how joyful this entire process is and looking forward to any future opportunities to write studies.
G8 Conference
o Both Ps. John and I were at the G8 conference for ministry apprentices in Sydney from the 16th of Jan to the 19th of Jan.
o It was an enjoyable and encouraging time to have met a number of apprentices and their trainers, from like minded churches (i.e. FIEC, Sydney Anglicans, Presbyterians etc).
o The conference has helped re-iterate for me a gospel focus for ministry as well as ways to develop sustainable ministry practices for the long term.
Engage Conference
o From the 26th to the 29th of Jan, I was given the wonderful opportunity to be a Strand leader and co-lead with Ps. John on Christian Ethics.
o It was definitely a crash course in learning about ethics using a biblical framework as I’ve not covered this in Bible College so far.
o However by the end of the conference, not only had I learnt a lot, but it was encouraging in being able to have helped the delegates in our Strand group in their own understanding of Christian ethics and how to help them in their decision making on some very contentious issues.
Discipleship
o As always, it’s been good to have connected with several guys at our church through discipleship.
o I’m encouraged to be growing with these guys as we minister to one another in the Word of God.
Also here are some of the things I’ll be doing in the near term, which I’ll be reporting on in my next official update to you by the end of Feb/start of March.
· Commencing bible college and doing the subjects Pastoral Care and Evangelism in Semester 1.
· Getting involved in co-leading a growth group, which I’m seeing as a wonderful opportunity to not only teach but to pastorally care for our members.
· Working with the staff team on a new ministry (Communications Ministry) to enhance our social media and other communications for the church in order to help in making and maturing disciples to Christ.
And so I end this month’s report in thanks to the Lord who has through his people provided me with many opportunities to serve and enabled me the strength to do so.
Psalm 9:1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
