NTE leading....excitement builds!

(entire post by Sarah.)

This evening we had a meeting in preparation for NTE 2012. (8 - 12 December)

NTE is a 5 day National Training Event for University students who are involved with Christian Union groups on campuses all around Australia.

This will be the first time Stephen and I will attend, and we're going as Strand Group leaders

Strand Groups are like a bible study group - but on spiritual steroids...in a good way!! We get to dig deep into God's Word with the students. Not only are we teaching them what the Bible says, but we will be teaching them how to work it out for themselves. A great skill for every Christian!

Specifically, we'll look at a passage from the Old Testament - Micah 5:1-5. We'll place it into context, of Micah, the Old Testament, and the Bible as a whole, and the students will also get to practice writing a talk based on this passage.

I'm personally excited about the context part. This year in our studies at Ridley, Stephen and I have both done Introduction to the Old Testament. It's a part (a big part!) of the Bible I really wasn't that familiar with. I knew the main stories from Sunday School (but always forgot who begat who), I could find a Psalm to suit my prayer at the time, Proverbs had some pithy words of wisdom and that was about it. Prophets? Who could ever understand those big chunks of text - apart from Isaiah, which had those verses about Jesus. And Jonah was a good story. Same with Esther (but since it doesn't even mention God, what's it doing there?).

Now, I'm not saying I am now an Old Testament expert after one and a half semesters! But I certainly have been equipped and taught the great Big Picture of the Bible, the central themes of the Pentateuch, how we can read Psalms, Proverbs and the Prophets and, I think perhaps most importantly, appreciating the text in its context for what it is, rather than rushing to find Jesus in every passage.

And this is what I'm excited to teach the students who will be in our Strand Group. The beauty of the overarching "Drama of Scripture" - God's Story of his Promises to his chosen People of a Place and Blessing and a Relationship with Him. It is a beautiful drama, rich in theology, that shows God's continual faithfulness and redeeming love for his People - sinful though they are.

There's lots to pray as we prepare for NTE...for Stephen and my own preparation, to think of creative and engaging ways to teach and empower the students, for a gracious and humble heart, to be models of Christian love, showing fruits of the Spirit and a godly character. Please pray with us as we prepare.