St Andrew’s Cathedral School Mission 2021 Day 4

March 25, 2021 by Moore College

As a mission team, this week has been filled with prayer and thanksgiving to God. Here are some of the things we are praising and praying for, from today.

Thanks and praise:

For warm sun – change in effect of students, teachers, and enabling people to get to the healing service at the Cathedral easier
The Cathedral women’s bible study, and Steph’s talk, was clear and helpful in thinking through leadership in the early church in Acts 6
- Thanks for the good discussion in bible studies
- Thanks for the women that come each week, all from different contexts, stages of life, and come from different churches
- Thanks for Ruth, the women’s minister at the Cathedral, and her servant-hearted leadership
Amani’s talk on Luke 23:44-49 at year 9 and 10 combined chapel, for his gentleness and clarity in communicating Jesus’ innocence and death for our guilt
Praise and thanks for the Healing Service
- For Chris Allen who runs the service week to week
- For the regular congregants who come weekly to commit themselves and their loved ones to our Lord in prayer
- For James’ talk, on Matt 7, and Jesus’ call to pray like a child to their Father, consistently, confidently in Him, and expectantly
- For those that pray with the congregation members weekly
- For those who are suffering from chronic and devastating illness
Thanks for Q & As, God’s provision in answering questions in classes
Thanks for the CRU groups that ran at lunchtime by the team, and the new students that came for the first time

Please pray

For the students who listened to talks, that they would keep thinking about the truth of the Bible, and move forwards in wherever they are with God
For the women at the women’s bible study, that they would be helped throughout the week, and be kept firm in the Lord
A leader ran into a student who had stopped coming to their youth group at church, after a good conversation, and reconnecting a bit, the student communicated he wanted to start coming along again, please pray that he does come, and feels welcomed and cared for, and is able to keep investigating Jesus
Callum met a man who wandered into the Cathedral, struggling with mental health, and seeking community, numbers were exchanged, and the gentleman expressed he would come to the 8.30 am service on Sunday – please pray that he comes, and is enveloped well into the community, and moreover relationship with Jesus
Those who were new to the lunchtime CRU group would continue to come and learn more about Jesus
For those involved in the healing service ministry, that the Lord would sustain them; for the congregation who attended, that they would pray without ceasing, and abide in the Lord daily

Maitland Mission 2021 Day 4

March 25, 2021 by Moore College

The Hunter Region keeps on delivering. Today we went out door-knocking the neighbourhood in an eﬀort to build bridges between Maitland Evangelical Church (MEC) and the community. Where we did have open doors, we were received warmly with most of the community receptive to a ﬂyer and greeting at the least. Matt Stone was engaged in an almost hour-long conversation with a member of the community who was open to chatting about spiritual matters, Jesus and the church.

We spent the 2nd half of the morning setting up for MEC’s Mission focused ‘Kindle’ event. It aims to reignite, as it were, the ﬁre for evangelism amongst the community. The oil torches were brought out, the ﬁre pit set up, and the necessary atmospheric feature to every modern Christian event – fairy lights. The format of the event is a hybrid fruit of COVID-19 times with a 40-odd live audience and then the rest of the church tuning in through live stream with their home groups. Our mission teams’ vibe experts came out to play and ﬂourish in their gifting.

Some of the team went with Roger Burgess, the lead pastor of MEC, to the Maitland Ministers Association to gain insight into the regional collaboration eﬀorts and dynamics of the region.

God blessed the ‘Kindle’ event with an encouraging testimony from Julian Yin interviewed by Marion Guthrie. Hosea Luy developed and ran the night in collaboration with the MEC team. Many were very encouraged and spurred on by the talk he gave and accessible training.

Tomorrow starts early with Hosea and Julian being taken on a lycra-clad road cycling tour of Maitland by Steve from the MEC staﬀ team. The team will then be given a masterclass on Youth ministry by Erich who’s also on the MEC team. Zaneta Neal and Marion Guthrie from our team will be joining a panel of other women sharing about True Joy found in Jesus at the evening event “Holy Guacamole”, an evangelistic women’s event.

Please pray in thanks for the Kindle event tonight and how well it was run. Please pray that the members of MEC would continue to be encouraged to evangelise and witness to their friends and family. Give thanks for the teamwork involved tonight and please pray for continued energy and unity for the college team.
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Farewelling Glenn Davies as Archbishop

March 25, 2021 by Mark Thompson

Today, 25 March 2021, the Most Rev. Glenn N. Davies retires as Archbishop of Sydney and consequently as President of the Moore College Governing Board. Glenn’s involvement with Moore College stretches back over four decades. After four years of theological study at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, he completed his theological preparation for ministry with a year at Moore College in 1980. He returned to the College in 1983, when he was appointed a junior lecturer by Dr D. B. Knox. During that time, he taught the current Principal a number of subjects including Biblical Set Books, Hebrew and the Book of Deuteronomy.

After three years studying for his PhD in New Testament at the University of Sheffield, Glenn returned to the College in 1988 to lecture in New Testament and to serve for some time as the College Registrar. In 1995 Glenn resigned from the Faculty to become the Rector of St Luke’s at Miranda (1995–2001), Bishop of North Sydney (2001–2013) and then Archbishop of Sydney (2013–2021). However, during that time he served on the Moore College Council and later the Governing Board, first as a member (1999–2013) and then as its President (2013–2021).

The College has benefitted greatly from Glenn’s lengthy association with it. His deep understanding of, and commitment to, the College’s mission has meant that he has been a source of great encouragement to successive principals. Glenn’s wife Di, a faithful prayer supporter of the College throughout that time, has likewise been a strong support and encouragement to successive principals’ wives. Their continued interest in the students, the faculty and the staff has been remarkable and greatly valued.

Glenn’s faithfulness in his service of God’s people and his example of patient, steady, obedient Christian discipleship has been a great blessing far beyond the College. His wise and godly leadership in a variety of spheres has been remarked upon by Christians, as well as by those in the wider community, time and again. His resolute stand for biblical truth, always taken with graciousness towards those with whom he disagrees, has been exemplary. His prayerfulness and gentle pastoral care is a treasured memory for many. He has been not only a pastor, biblical scholar, theologian and leader but he has at each point imitated Christ and drawn our attention to him.

Today we give thanks for Glenn and his ministry and for the many ways in which he has promoted, defended and helped to guide the work of the College. He has taken every opportunity to draw attention to the importance of that work and to commend it to others. We are very grateful and look forward to his continued involvement with the College, albeit in a different capacity.

Naremburn – Cammeray Mission 2021 Day 4

March 25, 2021 by Moore College

The community morning tea took place on Wednesday morning and was attended by about 15 people all up including leaders. Some of the attendees were regular and a couple were attending for the first time. Moore College students were available to attend to the guests, serving teas and coffees. The church put on a spread of baked food and the atmosphere in the room was warm. The purpose of the event was to revive weekly morning bible studies for the older Christians which had stopped because of Covid and give the guests a taste of the regular meetings.

However, being the first one, we did not have bible studies conducted as usual. Instead, the time was used to mingle and get to know each other and later on Graham, who runs the bible studies, briefed us on the regular schedule of the meetings. The regular attendees had a chance to say why they love bible studies and a number of them appreciated the opportunity to discuss the word of God and do community. Graham then invited Edward Happer to give a testimony of how he became a Christian. Edward also shared about how he came to consider vocational ministry having started out in the army as a musician. He encouraged the seniors to be deliberate in meeting younger people in the congregation because senior Christians were strong witnesses to him growing up. Overall, it was a wonderful morning, giving us the Moore college students a taste of the ministry to senior citizens at the Nuremburn-Cammery church.
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ENC Mission 2021 Day 4

March 25, 2021 by Moore College

Berkeley

Today we went around the community at Berkeley offering free bread. It was amazing to see people open up as we asked ‘how their day was going?’. On multiple occasions, we heard people struggle with the idea of God because of the evil and suffering they’ve seen or experienced in this world. Please pray that these individuals would come to know that God is real because He sent His Son into this messy world to save us and that one day he will return to rid the world of evil and sin.

Albion Park Rail

It was such a joy starting the day with Scripture at two primary schools in Albion Park Rail. The team got to do a short skit, memory verse and share some testimonies. Give thanks for the refreshment of witnessing the kids’ enthusiasm in class – we learnt that most of them may never hear about God outside of this time, and there was this wonder in their eyes and openness to be in the class that was such a great encouragement. Pray that these young ones will come to trust and obey Jesus as God’s chosen king who came to suffer and die.

Give thanks also for the faithful teachers who go in each week with such joy to minister to the children. Speaking to Yvonne (who had been doing this for 37 years!), we were struck by the immense value of teaching these young ones the truth about their Creator, as she shared about how a student of hers came to faith as an adult because he remembered learning how to pray in school Scripture.

Over lunch we got to hear from Neil Scott, the senior minister at Park Rail Anglican. It was so valuable for us to hear Neil share his ministry insights from his time in the area and how it has come to bear fruit:

Going where there was great gospel need and trusting God to provide for him and his family;
Listening well to learn about the people he was ministering to;
The value of being in the community (with schools as a hub) and building trust;
The principles behind their 1-1 bible discipleship model for pastoral and training purposes.

Thank God for how He has grown the church in a low socio-economic area, that in the brokenness of their lives they have a deep understanding of the gospel that brings forgiveness and salvation. Pray for Neil and the church as they persevere in making disciples by sharing the hope that Jesus brings.
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Jesus is Alive! St Stephen’s Normanhurst Mission 2021

March 25, 2021 by Moore College

Last night most of the team got to join in on church small groups, with a few members also sharing about ministry and training at a young adults training night.

Early in the morning, the SRE team were up ready! They got to tell the children at Normanhurst Public School about the empty tomb and Jesus’ being raised from the dead! Great actions, interaction and song making it clear that Christ is better than Easter eggs and hot cross buns. Jesus is alive!

With the sun coming out today there were also lots more opportunities to go door-knocking in the neighbourhood! Thank God for all the people we were able to invite to the Easter Services! Pray that they will attend!

A solid day of mission ending with Peter Blake and Ash Braithwaite running separate seminars on sexual purity for the year 9-12 youth. Thank God for lots of honest and encouraging discussion!

Prayer and praise:

Pray for more gospel seeds to be sown as the SRE team goes to Normanhurst West Public School to share about Jesus being raised from the dead!
Pray that God would use Jess Sheely to encourage women and clearly present the gospel at the Women’s Event tonight.
Pray for continued mutual encouragement as we spend time having meals with the saints at SSNAC.
Praise God for T who we met earlier in the week at the Anglicare Table. After meeting up with a member of SSNAC to talk about Christianity, she’s said she wants to follow Jesus! Please pray for SSNAC in their follow up and discipleship of her!

St Andrew’s Cathedral School Mission 2021 Day 4