He has given it a succession of godly, learned and skilled teachers, from the single tutor with which it began to the twenty full-time faculty of today. He has brought thousands of students to the College — generations of men and women have studied for a life-time of discipleship and disciple-making at Moore College. He has provided generous friends, wise administrators and a diligent, dedicated staff. All that we at the College have enjoyed over the past century and a half has been the kind gift of our loving heavenly Father.
We must never lose our sense of dependence upon God and his grace towards us. Without his sustaining and guiding providence Moore College would go the way of many others before it — drifting from the word of God, blending into the world of the secular academy, losing touch with the gospel mission that alone justifies its existence. Our need and our vulnerability are well-known to God. We must be aware of them too. That, as much as anything else, is a stimulus to prayer. Only God can keep us anchored in his word and focussed on going out to the world with the message of Jesus crucified, risen and reigning. Only God can provide our concrete needs of the today and those of tomorrow that we can t possibly anticipate yet. Only God can enable us to grow in our knowledge of him and in humility and service towards others at the same time.
I am reminded to pray for Moore College when I see its students crossing the street for breakfast or gathering in small groups to discuss what they ve been learning and praying for each other. I am reminded to pray when I see and hear the legacy of those who have gone before — the teachers, the students and all who supported them. I am reminded to pray when I get on a bus to go down to the city and realise that despite all outward appearances, most of these men, women and children are lost and a great many of them know nothing at all about Jesus and the salvation he came to bring them. It was when Jesus saw the crowds that he urged his disciples pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest . The reality is, though, it is not the reminders to pray that count in the end, it is stopping everything else and actually doing it.
Mark Thompson is the prinicpal of Moore College and Head of the Department of Theology, Philosophy and Ethics.
To celebrate the upcoming Moore College Sunday on August 3rd we are sharing some resources on prayer to be a helpful ministry resource for you in your spiritual life. How can Moore be praying for you? Let us know at: http://mcs.moore.edu.au.
