Moore College

Equipping men and women to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ

St Andrew’s Cathedral School Mission 2021 Day 3

St Andrew’s Cathedral School Mission 2021 Day 3

by

We’d love your prayers for many students at St Andrews Cathedral School who joined us for chapel services on Jesus’ crucifixion today (Luke 23:44-49). Please pray that students would hear the invitation to Cru Lunch Groups later in the week, and to join the centurion who crucified Jesus in praising God for his death.

We were also involved in a bunch of Christian development classes, chatted with Cathedral staff about the unique privileges of cathedral ministry, and listened in on a program helping Christian schoolteachers educate from a Christian worldview.

“About 120 year 7 children sat on the floor and listened attentively as we talked about Jesus, or shouted raucously as we played a Kahoots-style game. Nic Trev did the talk, looking at the Roman Centurion who discovered Jesus’ innocence and at the torn curtain which speaks of our access to God through Jesus. He talked to year 7 about another year 7 kid who never thought much about these things until one day he found the truth in the gospel. When he announced that he was that year 7 kid who had become a Christian, some of them said, ‘I knew it’ out loud.” (Philip Kern, on Tuesday at SACS)
Read more . . .

Armidale Mission 2021 Day 3

by

School Opportunities

Sarah, Merryn and Kim had the opportunity to run a lunchtime bible study on Romans 5 for the year 11 girls. Numbers were double the normal turn out (12 students) with 11 who wouldn’t call themselves Christian. Praise God that we can be justified by faith in Jesus. Please pray for the girls who heard this message that they would come to share in that faith!

In chapel, Adam spoke to year 7 about God’s Kingdom that Jesus brings in, and challenged them to respond to this good news! Please give thanks for the willingness of students to listen and engage in chapel.

Pray for the ongoing work of the chaplains as they minister to these students and pray that they all would respond to the call of the gospel.

Connect Dinner

The 7:30 service at St Peter’s held a dinner to connect people into church. It was a great event with a Mozart musical item and delicious dinner! Sarah had the opportunity to share how God had been at work in her life. Simon shared the story of the prodigal son, and challenged the attendees to consider that their relationship with God should be the most important, and also encouraged them that God is forgiving and merciful!

Give thanks for the 40 attendees, some who had never come to an event at church before, and some who are irregular at church. Pray that people would want to know more about God and his forgiveness for those who turn back to him! Pray for K, who came along with a church-going friend and has been seeking to “put the pieces of God together”. Give thanks for the perseverance of this friend, and for continuing conversations.

Meeting with People

Kim and Reuben visited a retired farming couple for dinner. The couple shared some of their journey with the Lord, and encouraged Reuben and Kim in their journey.

Praise God for the couple’s willingness to use their retirement to support rural churches. Pray that God will continue to use this couple as an encouragement to their family and friends.
Read more . . .

Naremburn – Cammeray Mission 2021 Day 2

by

The full-time ministry training session on Monday went really well. There were about 15-20 young adults and about 8 Moore college graduates who attended the session. Lachlan, the youth pastor at Nuremburn started the session with a reflection on the 1  Corinthians 15:3-8, where Paul says that the message of the gospel that he received he passed on to the Corinthians as of first importance. Lachlan challenged the young adults to consider what they will do now that they too have received this message.

The attendees were then asked to field any questions they had about considering vocational ministry. While they thought about those, we heard testimonies from Sarah and Gordon about their own journeys into vocational ministry. After that, six Moore college students made up a panel to respond to the questions raised. Being part of the panel, I really appreciated the questions raised because they were the same questions that I have been dealing with in my decision to join the vocational ministry. The panel responded to them well and provided varied responses depending on individual circumstances. We concluded the official time and stayed back to chat with the young adults about the answers provided. Many of them found the session quite helpful.

I had the privilege of talking to one of the boys who is currently serving in kids ministry but not sure if it’s the right decision for him to consider vocational ministry. He appreciated the responses to his questions and we chatted about them further. We then prayed together and called it a night.
Read more . . .

Armidale Mission 2021 Day 2

by

Team Time

The team met this morning to debrief how God had worked on Sunday, be encouraged by the Parable of the Sower, and enjoy lunch together. The dean of the cathedral shared some his honest reflections on rural ministry life: doing life together with people through thick and thin.

School Bible Study

Jared, Adam, Merryn and Sarah joined with the chaplain at a local school to run a bible study with six students – which was double the normal turnout! Jared reflected how facilitating a discussion with teenagers he didn’t have a personal connection with was hard. The students were challenged to consider that you can only be loyal to the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness – that there is no neutral kingdom.

 

Please thank God for the six students that heard the gospel message.

Please pray that God will continue to sustain the chaplain, who has been a constant godly presence to the school community in the aftermath of recent grief.

Coffees with People

Michael met for coffee with a young man “N” this morning. “N” has had a variety of different life experiences: a traumatic accident, various career opportunities, and is currently completing a PTC course.

Please thank God that “N” was up for a chat and is engaging in theological study.

Please pray that “N” will continue to find comfort, confidence and assurance in Christ, and dedicate time to God’s Word.
Read more . . .

Maitland Day Off: Chocolate, Cheese and Wine

by

Chocolate, cheese and wine. Our tastebuds were the real winners on our day off. You might think that Tuesday is a bit early to be taking a break, but we were certainly going to make the most of it. Thank God for good rest!

Wine production and tourism are two of the biggest industries in the Hunter Region, so we had to do our bit to get to know the local money makers a little bit better.

The Smelly Cheese Shop. It doesn’t sound great, but it was an absolute delight. And Petersons Wines, wow, what a great spot. Our attendant Jess went above and beyond to show us a good time. Almost all of us enjoyed the local drop, but Rhys Ewing, the guy just doesn’t like wine and he just cannot hide how he is really feeling.

The fun did not end there. We whacked more than a few golf balls into the overflowing lake at aqua golf at Hunter Valley Gardens. We can thank God for how he has gifted his people in different ways. Some are gifted athletically, others clearly are not.

But the ones gifted in remembering useless facts came to the fore at trivia at the Hunter River Hotel. The Moore College team put in a respectable effort to place third. What a good day!

Wednesday kicks off with door knocking. We’ll be inviting people to Easter at Maitland Evangelical Church and trying to get to know the locals better. Wednesday night is the Kindle event. All the church Bible study groups will be tuning into interviews, a talk and training to ignite a fire for evangelism in their hearts.

Please thank God for an enjoyable day off. Pray for us to love the people of Maitland and MEC. Pray for the people we will meet door-knocking, that God would open their hearts to the truth of the Gospel. Pray for the people of MEC to have Christ’s love, justice and sacrifice inspire how they speak and live every day.
Read more . . .

Prayer & Praise at St Stephen’s Normanhurst

by

We have much to thank God for on mission thus far:

  • A lovely chat at Westfield with a lady who attends St Andrews Cathedral and loves to hand out scanned copies of handwritten bible verse postcards and share amazing stories of God’s faithfulness with everyone she meets.
  • Joining in bible studies with some of the older saints at St Stephens.
  • Lots of productive planning for upcoming SRE Easter Assemblies.

Here are some reflections from students and our chaplain:

Ash Braithwaite:

  • Was encouraging to have a few church members join us this arvo for evangelism and door-knocking training!
  • Please pray … for A and her daughter C, who will give lots of their cans to Anglicare tomorrow [24/03] after they move house. A was wearing a ‘Christian’ hoodie made by her Christian friend.
  • Also pray for V, a Hindu woman who may come to the women’s event with me (and maybe her daughter!) and perhaps church this Sunday too! We exchanged numbers at her request!
  • Praise God who chooses to include us in his mission!

Popo: Praise God that the SRE team got to meet up today [23/03] to plan for two 25 minute Easter assemblies at schools on Wednesday and Thursday. Pray that we would proclaim the Gospel faithfully and that kids would understand that Easter is about Jesus!

Bryn Weightman: Encouraging to hear how the Senior Men’s bible study members came to trust in Jesus as one of our team lead them in a study through 1 Tim 6:1-10.

Wendy Swanton: Normanhurst Anglican Church is looking after our mission team in so many ways.

Prayer requests:

  • Please pray that God would give us energy.
  • Please pray that the St Stephen’s community would be encouraged by our efforts to also be on mission this week.
  • Please pray that many would choose to come to the St Stephen’s Easter services.
  • Please pray that God would give us many good opportunities to chat at the flood relief collection stall at Westfield.
  • Please pray that many kids would hear and accept the good news of Jesus at the SRE Easter Assemblies.


Read more . . .