4 months after the last update ...
here comes the next one at the minimum quarterly :p
Ministry
Here are some highlights in a non-exhaustive manner
Talks
I've since given three sermons and one workshop.
1 Thess 2.17-3.10 was the talk that genuinely set me on a path to appreciating the role of the proclaimed word in ministry. For one, it was a surprisingly emotional experience encouraging the CFers to see that faith is an unbelievably precious thing to Paul, such that the thought of the Thessalonians moving in their faith could dominate Paul as his most unbearable thought. I didn't expect that as I urged the CFers to see their faith as precious to their church leaders, I would be pouring out a lot of my heart to them, and baring my emotions openly to them too. It was also such an ethereal experience mediating God speaking to his people through the proclamation of the word. Hearing how people felt genuinely encouraged to press on in their faith after the sermon was profound as I realized it was not so much my words or my persuasion, but the words of God spoken and applied to them.
[my digging in for a long 20 minutes face]
The following week after that was the workshop on porn. I think it was sobering to find out through an anonymous poll just how many guys struggle with porn, and I was struck by how many people had given up and thought that the fight unwinnable. At the same time, delivering the workshop helped crystalize for me my understanding about how our heart functions in worshipping idols and finding satisfaction in everything else but Christ. My understanding about the power of the cross moved more as we discussed how putting to death our sin was a difficult but certain working out of the implications of being united to Christ at his crucifixion.
I gave my Isaiah 24 practice sermon 2 weeks ago, it was in a way a checkpoint on my Bible handling, my sermon writing process and my sermon delivery. To my delight, much of those things have improved since my first practice sermon last year, and I have to credit the hours sitting under the Monday Bible handling training, the hours of feedback we give at staff meeting that train us to think about sermons, and the opportunities to give them. It was also (barely) written in a week, which exponentially increased my respect for pastors who have to write sermons every week.
The last sermon was an Easter evangelistic talk at SITCF. The staff there, Nick Chuan, had invited me to give an evangelistic talk for their event. I think I shot myself in the foot picking Hebrews 7.23-27 to explain why Jesus rose from the dead, and spent a few frantic afternoons racking my head for ways to explain priesthood and its connection to Easter to non-Christians. Thank God that one agnostic was keen to find out more with her friend, and also that quite a few Christians were more thankful for Jesus. I'm giving the same sermon to SMUCF next week, praying that I can be growing my view of Christ even more and communicate that in the sermon delivery! And praying that God will use that opportunity too for the salvation of many non-Christians.
GGs
My two GGs have been a blast! The older GG is just great fun, we pressed through some hard days making sense of Philippians, but it was a big joy seeing them begin to ask questions that showed they genuinely wanted to make sense of the passage and even bigger joy seeing them apply the passage with real gospel partnership. One of the GG members had the opportunity to befriend an exchanger, bring her to CE and continue to journey with her in making sense of the gospel.
[for our icebreaker at the start of the sem we drew our faces and what's on our mind on mandarin oranges]
The younger GG was also just an encouragement that despite the world having a strong pull on many people, there are y1s who are committing to studying God's word every week, and who want to grow as Christians.
[end of sem pic with the younger GG]
The two GG teams have been such an encouragement too in their prayerfulness, and how we get to spend an hour praying for each other and for the GG has made the prep times worth it. I've been more convinced too that praying for others is the way to grow people's genuineness in their care for others, that as we submit other people's requests and cares to God we love and care for them more.
121s
I've finished Jonah with two guys, Jonah is just brilliant. The setup for revealing Jonah's true intentions in running away from Nineveh was helpful in getting the guys to praise the graciousness of God and to see the goodness of Jesus who was in many ways the better Jonah. One of them enjoyed it so much that he immediately asked to read something next and so we've been working through 1 John.
Reflections
In no particular order
Over the course of the training so far I've found my confidence in handling the word grow, while realizing that handling the word is way harder than I thought. I think I've come to appreciate both the richness and the perspicuity of scripture. There are things in Scripture that are complex, dense, and requiring lots of effort to pull apart, yielding such richness at the end of prolonged mulling. There are also things in Scripture that are clear, simple and straightforward, giving us much needed clarity on important things. Praise God that he has revealed himself in such a way, that we might be guided clearly on what's important, and that we might be humbled and awed as we plumb the depths of scripture and ultimately of God's unsearchable riches and character.
In my time here I've found that more than once I've wanted to jam in a correction to someone's view of salvation, God or church and Christian living. Yet I'm coming to see the way that the word builds someone is foundationally stronger than someone changing what they say. For me, it has become difficult, constant, and exhausting judgement calls about whether to focus on the bigger picture of giving people time to slowly discover what the word says or whether to point them to a verse and help them see what the word says on the spot. It's definitely something that I don't think I'll ever perfect, and that dealing with words I shouldn't have said or words I should have said will continue to be a part of accepting my God-given human limitations. What has ultimately been comforting is seeing that the word is at work in people, especially when we take a much longer view.
I've realized within me also the tendency to drift onwards from the cross, rather than seeing that the cross is central to Christianity, and that central to the cross is God's act of self-revelatory redemption of sinners, but that doesn't stop the cross from then affecting our lives and how we do Christian ministry. I've started re-reading Carson's The Cross and Christian Ministry, and it has been giving me helpful reflections on the way the cross is our starting point for everything. Philippians particularly has been striking about how all of Paul's arguments ultimately stem from the cross, even those that see particularly about moving on from the cross.
Hearing about the gospel is refreshing and delightful to Christians. We had two moments in CF where CFers sort of all exclaimed their joy and refreshment, and once was a mission week talk about God's love for us in sending Christ (1 John 3) and once was about the resurrection to come (1 Thess 5). I think we all need and want regular points where people convince us again that God does love us, and that the work of the cross means our resurrection is certain.
Prayer
- Pray for my talk on 15th April at SMUCF, that I will be clear and that God will use the preaching of the gospel for the salvation of those coming.
- Pray that I will keep my eyes fixed on the cross of Christ and to be constantly meditating on how it works out into every part of life
- Pray for our graduating Y4s to follow Jesus steadfastly as they move into the working world
- Pray for a good preparation over summer for the next semester! GGs are studying John, and we'll be preaching Genesis in ST!
Please pardon the lack of organization of the points overall and in each paragraph, not many brain cells left after studying Exodus :D
