Can you believe its that time of year already?!
Today is the last day of college for the year. My first exam is in 11 days.
Getting ready for some pretty serious study over that time.
I have 4 exams all up and then 2nd year will be over! And (providing I pass exams) I will be half way through college! woot!
I would love your prayers over the next 3 weeks.
I’m preparing a sermon at the moment for chick’s chapel next week. It’s on 1 Corinthians 8 which at first I wasn’t that excited about. But after some hard work over the last few days I am loving it! Despite it’s seemingly strange subject (Now concerning food offered to idols. vs1) I believe it has a lot of meaning for us and more implications than appear at first glance. Once I have preached it I’ll most likely post it on here.
As well as my new found love of 1 Corinthians 8 I have also reaslised how sad it is for me that I don’t get to preach regularly. I’m really enjoying the preparation phase and I always enjoy a chance to speak to a captive audience, so I’m looking forward to chapel. I’m hoping to get some useful feedback so I can keep improving this skill – it’s just a shame it will probably be a year until I get another go.
But such is life!
if you have made the right decision???
why there is so much pressure on you???
how do you live up to expectations???
are you doing more harm than good???
if your job is faithfulness not success how do you know if you’re any good???
I have.
I hate feeling disappointed.
I especially hate it when you have worked really hard on something and get disappointing results. How do you motivate yourself to keep going?
I have spent the last 2 and a half days at Port Hacking hanging out with a bunch of other Sydney candidates and the team from Ministry Training and Development, learning how to be better teachers of God’s word.
The program included 3 talks from Phillip Jensen on 2 Timothy 3 & 4, a few hours of praying for Sydney, Question time with Peter Jensen (which turned out to be him asking us questions!) plus 4 other sessions in year groups with Rob Smith, Mark Charleston and Ken Noakes.
The 2nd year sessions were – the minister as trainer (Ken Noakes), Applying Theology pastorally: 1 Tim 2 (Phillip Jensen), Reformed Doctrine of Salvation (Rob Smith) and Small Group Ministry (Mark Charleston).
It was a great 3 days filled with lots of things to think seriously about. One of the most important for me was raised in Phillip’s talks on 2 Timothy 3 & 4. These talks highlighted the nature of the world we live, particularly that people are so ready to believe lies – to go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived – and the difficulty we face in sharing the truth in this world. This morning he spoke about the Christian life and what its about – not finishing or starting but finishing the same way we start…. believing the gospel.
Two highlights for me would have to be the 2 sessions that deal with an issue that, though controversial, seems in my mind to be relatively clear.
First was an hour and a half that 2nd years spent with Phillip Jensen looking at 1 Timothy 2. Being a key passage on the issue of women in ministry, this is a passage that I have read and re-read and listened to talk after talk on. So what Phillip said was not complete new to me, although he did give me reason to think a little further about it. My basic summary on this passage is that it calls for men to men, and women to be women and its appeal to creation and the fall shows that these commands are not stuck in the first century, but relevant for us now. As hard as it can be to understand, I love this passage.
Second was on a similar topic. Peter Jensen gave a lecture he used to use at MTC, which was the first in a series on relationships between men and women, and then asked us to help him update it, by commenting on the issues raised and their relevance today. One thing that these 2 sessions raised for me was the difference between how much men have thought about these issues to how much women have thought about it. I had comments from guys afterwards who had no idea that this was such a big issue, and yet for us girls its there – its reality and there’s no avoiding it.
I have too many thoughts on this to put them all here now – maybe one day – but suffice it to say this was an excellent time of learning not just from the guys out the front but from one another.
Hopefully that gives you a small insight to how I have spent the last few days. Feel free to ask more questions :-)
Well exams for this semester are done and I have to say even though this time I only had 3 exams – compared to 6 at the end of last year – I feel much more exhausted this time around. I’m not sure why but stress really got the better of me at the end of last week and despite going into hiding at my folks place on the weekend I am having a hard time getting back to being myself again.
But here is something that never ceases to amaze me and that has brought me a lot of comfort over the last few days. In the process of studying for my New Testament exam I had the pleasure of working with 2 brillo friends and translating and chatting about this –
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced”.
What an amazing display of Jesus’ sovereignty and therefore willingness in his own death. Without even talking about the fact that everything that happened fullfilled scripture written AGES before that, I am always blown away by this line –
With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
In this day and age we are some determined that ‘its my life and i’ll do what I want’ and yet as hard as we try we can never just decide to give up our spirit and die. But Jesus can! Because as much as we want to be god, Jesus IS God and, in what might be seen as his darkest hour, he showed that in a way that I find astounding.
And he was not just in control of his life but he is control in all things. I’m so glad that he is cause if it was up to me what a mess I would make – especially now.
I’m sure it will come as no surprise if I tell you that college is really hard! And stressful. And a lot of the time I feel like I have no idea what’s going on.
But there are somethings that are uber encouraging for me. Here is just 2 examples.
Stu Vac – I hate exams, but the time we get to concentrate on study is so fruitful for me in terms of consolidating the things I have learnt over the semester (and to verify I have learnt something!)
Moore blogs – I love that so many of my class mates blog about college work. It’s such a great reminder that the things we learn are meant to change us and mould us to be like Jesus. I love reading about how what we do in class, or read for class, really resonates with people and does change them and encourage them. Thanks fellow bloggers for your encouragement to me. I pray that you will always keep following Jesus.
And here is my short contribution. I read this last night in Martin Luther’s ‘Appeal to the ruling class of German Nationality’
‘it is the duty of every Xn to accept the implictions of the faith, understand it and defend it, and denounce everything false’
I think defending the faith and denouncing everything false are often forgotten (at least by me). What a great reminder that they go had in hand with accepting and understanding. I pray that God would help us all in humility and wisdom, to defend the faith and denounce everything false.
Both of these I have read today in the course of studying for exams.
From Anthony Weston’s A Rulebook for Arguments
Similarly, religious moralists often have declared that certain practices are wrong because they are contrary to the will of God. We should reply God ought to be spoken for a little more cautiously. God’s will is not easy to ascertain, and when God speaks so softly it is easy to confuse that “still small voice” with our own personal prejudices.
A little earlier I had read this –
He was in the world, and the world was created through him yet the world did not recognise him. He came to his own people who did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children on God.[…] No-one has ever seen God. The one and only Son – the one who is at the Father’s side – he has revealed him.
Want to hear God speak loudly? Jesus is the answer.
Some mates of mine from college, Mark and Steve have their very own weekly podcast!
They gave me some shout outs in this week’s episode so I thought it was only fair (since they asked on air ;) ) that I give them a shout out of my own – Love your work men!
The Pilgrim’s Podcast is some fun banter between Mark and Steve as they interview guests from inside and outside of college and chat about God, SMBC love spot, shnouncements and various other things. Keep listening to hear my cameo!
Visit their blogs to listen or subscribe on iTunes.
a girl who speaks 