WE’RE MOVING TO A NEW CITY!
After four years of life and ministry in Narrabeen, it was announced at church a couple of weeks ago that we will be finishing up in August and moving to… Melbourne!
We love our church family at St Faith’s Narrabeen and have loved sharing Jesus with our local community. There are still so many people on the Northern Beaches and all over Sydney who desperately need to turn to Jesus and find life. But we are convicted of the need for people to meet Jesus outside of Sydney too.
Saying goodbye to St Faiths is fast approaching and it’s sad to be leaving. I love my job, the location, my colleagues and most of all the people we serve. In 1 Thessalonians 2:8 Paul speaks about how he has not only shared the gospel but his life with a people that have become dear to him. It’s been such a privilege to share our lives with many precious brothers and sisters at church and other friends in the local community.
As well as leaving Soulies Youth Community, I’m also sad about moving out of frontline youth ministry. I have been freed up from normal work for over 10 years to invest full-time in reaching teenagers. However, while I won’t be a youth minister, my passion for reaching the next generation with the message of Christ remains the same.
What will we be doing in Melbourne?
I am joining the team of Pastors at City on a Hill, a church based in the CBD of Melbourne.
In the short term, I am looking forward to being part of the team and using our gifts in whatever way we can to serve God’s people and make Jesus known in Melbourne.
God willing, in the medium term, I will lead a City on a Hill church plant. So I hope to become part of the City on a Hill family, learn from the team, grow in my leadership and be sent out to continue knowing Jesus and making Jesus known.
Read more in this Blog Interview on the City on a Hill website.
Please pray for our family in the transition moving from Sydney to Melbourne. Pray that we would finish well at St Faith’s and pray in particular that God would continue to provide solid leadership for the youth community after we leave.
VOTE // BEST GOAL #WORLDCUP 2014
Brazil 2014 has been a great World Cup so far, great goals, great matches, lots of drama. The round of 16 has just been completed and there are now 8 teams left. I picked 7 of the 8 teams. I’m looking forward to 2 full nights of sleep before the quarter finals start! I thought it would be fun to vote on the best goal of the tournament so far. It won’t take long…
SCANDALOUS: THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS // D.A. CARSON
I spent the last weekend with our Soulies Team considering Cross-Shaped [Youth] Ministry. It was a fantastic weekend and a joy to spend lots of time together learning about the centrality of the cross in the message of the Bible and the impact it should have in our ministry. A number of our team will be meeting throughout the next month or so to discuss together John Stott’s magnum opus, The Cross of Christ.
Another great place to plumb the depths of Christ’s love shown for sinners at the cross is D.A. Carson’s book Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. Here is a blurb from the book:
“How are Christians to approach the central gospel teachings concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus? The Bible firmly establishes the historicity of these events and doesn’t leave their meanings ambiguous or open to interpretation. Even so, there is an irony and surprising strangeness to the cross. Carson shows that this strange irony has deep implications for our lives as he examines the history and theology of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection.”
I’m looking forward to hearing Carson preach at Oxygen 2014! This book was based on 5 talks that Carson gave in 2008. Videos of all 5 of them are embedded below.
Continue reading “SCANDALOUS: THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS // D.A. CARSON”
CROSS-SHAPED [YOUTH] MINISTRY
Apart from during the FIFA World Cup, ABC 4 KIDS is the number 1 TV channel in our household. Mister Maker is one of our favourite shows. It’s made in England and features a zany host, Mister Maker, who makes all sorts of different crafty items. One of the repeated segments, in an attempt to teach little ones different shapes, is of a few people on screen dancing in circle, triangle, square, and rectangle costumes.
This is what they sing:
“I am a shape… la la la la. I am a shape… la la la la. I am a circle. I am a triangle. I am square. I am a rectangle.” I know this song because it has been repeated countless times by my kids… la la la la!
Now that’s using the word ‘shape’ as a noun. But a definition for ‘shape’ as a verb is “Determine the nature of; have a great influence on” (Oxford).
WHAT’S YOUR SHAPE?
When it comes to your youth ministry:
What determines its nature?
What are the significant influences upon it?
What is its shape?
All youth ministries are shaped by something. It might be the needs of teenagers in your area. It might be the desire to engage in culturally relevant ways with young people. It might be shaped by the expectations of Christian parents.
Of all the different influences on your ministry, what has the greatest influence?
LEADING ON THE FRONTLINES // ACTS 29 AUSTRALIA NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The newest sponsor on this blog is the upcoming Acts 29 Australia National Conference – Leading on the Frontlines. Here’s the conference blurb:
Thousands of leaders are being called to the frontlines of gospel ministry. Leading in churches, organisations, universities and in the home with a mandate to share the good news of Jesus Christ. In August this year, Acts 29 will be hosting their very first national conference which will inspire and equip these leaders to take the gospel where Christ has called them.
The conference will feature world-class teaching from pastor, author, speaker and Acts 29 President, Matt Chandler. Joining him will be Acts 29 Global Director and co-author of the book Total Church, Steve Timmis, along with City on a Hill’s Lead Pastor, Guy Mason and Leonce Crump, Lead Pastor of Renovation Church and Acts 29 Board Member.
We look forward to joining you at the conference in August and on the frontlines in the years to come.
Check the website for the rest of the details.
I’ve heard Chandler, Timmis and Mason preach before and value their ministry. There are lots of great Christian conferences in Australia this year, and this one is no exception!
The early bird discount finishes today (June 30). Get on it!
