Holidays begin

Hi everyone,

We've come through the exam tunnel and emerged on the other side, blinking like a newborn cub at the sight of the bright yellow ball in the sky, clearing off our desks in the aftermath of the study-bomb explosion and taking a deep breath before our rollercoaster spills over the edge of another thrilling height.

Swot vac week!

A very quick update because there's not much else happening at the moment except:

STUDY FOR EXAMS!

Next week, Stephen and I each have three exams.

Tuesday AM: New Testament 502 (Acts & the Epistles & Pastoral Letters)
Wednesday AM: Early Church History (Stephen) Foundational Christian Beliefs (Sarah)
Thursday AM: Old Testament 502 (Prophets and Writings)

Prayers are much appreciated!
Particularly for:

• Diligence and discipline in using the time we have to study hard.

• That what we study would sink down from our brains into our hearts.

• That we would look past exams and trust that God will use this knowledge for his purposes later on in ministry.

Thanks for your thoughts and support this year!

Final week of Semester 2 begins

Hi everyone!

I'ts time for another post as we ponder WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

The last two weekends have been quite full  for both of us, and we're just trying to catch our breath (literally; we have colds and Stephen has lost his voice.)

What have we been up to? Well, I'm glad you asked....

On Friday 12 October we drove to Adelaide. We left so early that we were in Horsham by 10.20am. The advantage of this was that we could have breakfast....and by the time we finished, the lunch menu was up. Hello, chicken nuggets! Anyway....we got to Adelaide safely, staying with Sarah's parents.

On Saturday was the occasion for which we drove over: attending our friends' wedding  (congratulations Nicole and Scott!). Stephen was MC at the reception, receiving lots of compliments for his work, including encouragement to go into radio! We also presented two songs for Nicole and Scott during the reception, which was a privilege to do.

On Sunday we highly enjoyed making a surprise visit to Trinity Bay and our hearts were well and truly warmed by the loving reception from our church family there. The afternoon was a good chance to relax, catch up with the minister, John, and then spend time with our god daughter, Adele.

All too soon, we had to leave on the Monday and swung into Coburg around 9.30pm. The next day Stephen had his New Testament lecture in the morning.

The week flew by with the usual lectures, singing at chapel on Thursday morning and learning more about Jesus, the early church and the gospel for battler culture.

The weekend just gone was yet another full one.

On Saturday we enjoyed a lovely lunch with Stephen's Grandma for the special occasion of her 90th birthday! She especially enjoyed meeting Hamish, one of Stephen's favourite puppets - becoming quite cheeky with him!

We then drove from Port Melbourne to Blackburn for a singing practice with our acapella quartet and then onto Scotch College in Hawthorn, for what might be the highlight of my year: the Stuart Townend concert. 

Stuey (as I affectionately call him) is one of my favourite Christian congregational song writers. His melodies are easily sung and quick to learn and the lyrics are just beautiful. He’s well known for How Deep the Father’s Love, In Christ Alone, Speak O Lord, etc. We’ve enjoyed listening to his latest album The Journey  for quite awhile, and it was a joy to hear some of these rousing songs played life. We were also particularly blessed to hear pieces from his band members, notably Mark Edwards, an incredible jazz pianist and Julian Ferraretto, violin.

Finally, yesterday our acapella group sang at a concert in Sunbury, organised by Stephen's mum to raise money for the chaplains who work at Sunbury schools. We were the 'guest artists' to the main performers - the Melbourne Male Voice Praise Choir. It was very much the 'pleasant Sunday afternoon' kind of affair, and the songs we presented were much appreciated.

Which brings me today! This the first day of Sarah's last week at Ridley, and Stephen's last week of Semester 2. We have 4 lectures left, Sarah has 3000 words to write, and Stephen has 2400. Next week will be Swot Vac: hitting the books hard to study for exams, followed by exam week. We each have three to write.

There's lots to pray for!

Please praise God with us for:
- A safe and lovely trip to Adelaide, being able to catch up with friends and be encouraged by our Trinity Bay church community
- The time we've had to study together at Ridley. It's been a unique year to be together so often and so involved in each other's days. I don't think we'll ever do anything quite like it again.
- Continued settling into and growing involvement with St Jude's Parkville, and ongoing relationship building that's happening.

Please pray with us for:
- Healing from our colds and coughs! And a return to full voice for Stephen.
- Hearts and minds that will study well and ingest our learning well enough to regurgitate it for exams, and that we'd be equipped for ministry though it.

- Sarah, as she sends out letters to potential supporters for her AFES apprenticeship next year at RMIT University.

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.

Alive & kicking

Hello friends, and Welcome to October!

It has been a rather long time since I last wrote. Please accept my humble on-my-knees-with-puppy-dog-eyes plea for your forgiveness!

So, of course, this is going to be a longer post. But I'll break it up with some photos because pictures are pretty and some people's attention spans are shor---oooooh look, a butterfly!

Ahem. Right. Anyways....since we last wrote...

Mid-Semester break

Yes, the last post was just after the break ended. But it was a great time, so I thought I'd pluck out a few highlights.

1. Philip Island

We spent three days on a holiday house at Philip Island with about 10 other Ridley friends (and their friends). It was a great time to get to know them better, enjoy the freezing, wild, wintery weather of the Island and pretend we were having an 'overseas holiday'. 

On the beach (note; only one person in shorts. Yes. He swam.)

Sensibly, we did not swim. Note my extreme coverage of clothing.

2. A house to ourselves & lots of games!

Our housemates enjoyed a real overseas holiday to Europe while we hung around home, and enjoyed playing copious rounds of a game called Carcasonne. 

It's addictive. A new map every time!

3. A trip 'home' (Adelaide)

We hit the road in the last week of June to enjoy some time with family and friends in Adelaide. We were the first ever guests at my parents' (Sarah's) lovely new house in Lobethal. They'd only moved the furniture on the day we drove over! Ask Sarah how impressed she was when, due to the lack of side gates at the time, she had to chase the dog after letting it out the backyard.....!! We got to spend time at Lobethal Lutheran Church (Sarah's previous church) as well as making it to both AM & PM services at Trinity Bay. 

The dog. Who ran away. He is looking at my unimpressed face.

4. Running a holiday club - together!!!

We spent 4 mornings during July running a Holiday Club program at Wattle Park (in Melbourne's Eastern suburbs). Believe it or not, this was the first time Stephen and I had worked together on such a project, so it's probably a very good thing we were doing the Marriage Course at the same time!! (It's all good!). I (Sarah) really enjoyed seeing Stephen in his element, surrounded by energetic, active children, and teaching them about God's love for them. We had a 'rock music' theme (gosh, music and ministry? That's not us at all!!) and told the children about David's story in the Bible. My comment by the end of the week was, 'I'm so glad children's ministry is YOUR gifting, honey! I'll do it again with you.....in year's time!!!). 

Famous last words.... we are going to run another beach mission in January together....

Marriage Course

During July and August, Stephen and I attended St Jude's Carlton every Tuesday evening to go through a Marriage Course. It's called 'The Marriage Course'. Ingeniously titled, isn't it? 

It was a brilliant. We enjoyed having a night out together, complete with nibbles, drinks and delectable desserts. But, more importantly, the way the Course is designed meant that we were given practical tools and exercises to communicate about various aspects of marriage. We highly recommend it!

I also wrote an article about the course for the St Jude's newspaper as well - you can read it online here.

This was us 4.5 years ago. A happy day. Still married!

Made Good

During August, I worked with Ridley College to help present Made Good, which was a series of talks by John Dickson, aimed at non-Christians, about different issues in life. It was a challenge to fit this work in with College, but I made it! The talks went very well and were very well received. The part I most enjoyed was setting up the website (do click on the link...it's a cool site!) and the part I learned the most from was going through Melbourne Uni, and the CBD, asking people questions for a vox pop, that was used in a video for introducing the topic for each talk. If you'd like to listen to the talks, click here. The Thursday night talk is an excellent example of how to approach homosexuality from a compassionate, Christian perspective. 

Puppet workshops and seminars

Stephen has done a couple of seminars and workshops during the year, teaching people how to use puppets for children's ministry. One for St Alfred's, Blackburn, one for a Children's Ministry conference and for Ridley College's Children & Youth Ministry Training Day. He'll also be running a children's ministry workshop for NTE 2012 (see the write up here). 

College

A reminder of our subjects: 

Sarah

New Testament introduction (part 2)

Old Testament introduction (part 2)

Intro to Theology

Gospel, Church and Australian Culture

My favourite subject this semester (sorry to any lecturers who are reading this!) would be the Gospel, Church & Australian Culture subject. It's been a fascinating and challenging look at what is the good news of Jesus to our 21st Century Australian context, and how do we communicate it to the various subcultures we live in? I've been challenged to consider how I live out this good news in my life, and our church community, to also be able to better articulate what the good news of Jesus means to us today.

I (Sarah) also wrote an article for the quarterly Ridley Report. It's an interview with an Old Testament classmate who runs a mixed martial arts gym, which is also his ministry. It's on page 3, under the 'Ministry and Training' section.  Click here to read it.

Stephen

New Testament introduction (part 2)

Old Testament introduction (part 2)

Early Church History

Youth Ministry

You read correctly - no Greek anymore...until next year! After trying Greek at Melbourne School of Theology and discovering that it was a completely different method of learning than he was used to, we decided that, with no financial loss, we would put Greek on hold and pick it up again next year. He has already completed Greek A, and just needs to complete Greek B. At Ridley, Greek B is spread over two semesters.

Stephen and I have also been leading our Chapel band this Semester, which has been good fun.

Church

We've feel we've really settled into Parkville St Jude's, and last Sunday (30 September), I even led the service for the first time. I've also been meeting regularly with the church's pastoral care worker, Deb, for prayer and encouragement, which is great. 

At the end of August, the congregation had a Camp, held at Mt Eliza. We went along for the Saturday and Sunday, and, as camps always are, it was a great time of getting to know people better and spend more time with our home group. The guest speaker, Charlie Fletcher, (who lectures part time at Ridley) spoke from Ecclesiastes. It was interesting to study a book that I find is a bit too easy to ignore sometimes! 

As part of his Youth Ministry subject, Stephen has been attending the St Jude's Youth Group on Friday nights (as a leader, not a youth...) and he also organised their camp which happened on 21-23 September.  

2013

Sarah - AFES

Next year, I (Sarah) have applied, and been accepted, to do an apprenticeship with the Christian Union at RMIT Melbourne, through AFES. I've been meeting with Steve and Heather, the senior staff workers, and am in the process of putting together a letter which will be sent to both inform family and friends about what this will look like, and to raise funds for my position. I need to raise about $27,000.  

Stephen - more study

Stephen will be continuing his Masters at Ridley and is currently considering which subjects he'll be doing. (Well...once his church history essay is completed and handed up tomorrow, then the consideration will commence!!)

So, after all this....there is obviously MUCH to praise God for, and needs to bring to Him. 

Praise God with us for...

- Sustaining us both through a challenging, tiring, but very edifying Semester 2 of College.

- Support from our family and friends as we study together and seek to serve God in ministry.

- The faculty and staff of Ridley, for their faithful teaching and service.

- For a loving and harmonious living situation, for no hassles with our landlord (he's quite nice, actually!) and for continuing friendship with Chris and Gill

Pray with us for...

- Safe travels next weekend, when we head back to Adelaide for a friend's wedding

- Continued concentration for the last few weeks of this Semester  (4 weeks to go) and for our exams

- That Centrelink would reinstate our rent allowance quickly and with minimal bureaucratic fuss (we believe in praying for miracles)

- For Sarah as she approaches people to ask for prayer and financial support for next year

- For wisdom for Stephen, to work out the subjects he'll study next year

We do get out occasionally....a day at Sovereign Hill was a great way to spend time with Stephen's parents for Father's Day.

Passed!!

Good evening, my fair blog readers.

This blog brings us to the beginning of our final week of holidays before Semester 2 at Ridley begins.

We've had a blissful 5 weeks off so far, and have managed to find great ways to use it, including a trip to Philip Island with classmates, a road trip to Adelaide, and running a holiday program from kids at Wattle Park (eastern suburbs of Melbourne).

The best news of today is: We Passed Semester 1!!

This is great encouragement to both of us as we head into Semester 2, knowing a little more what to expect, and at the same time, knowing it might possibly get insanely busy!

This Semester our subjects are:

Stephen
New Testament introduction (part 2)
Old Testament introduction (part 2)
Early Church History
Greek

Sarah
New Testament introduction (part 2)
Old Testament introduction (part 2)
Intro to Theology
Gospel, Church and Australian Culture


As you can see, in a change from last Semester, we now only share 2/4 subjects - instead of 3. Sarah's Theology subject is specially tailored for Grad Dip students, because it assumes that they will not be studying any further and aims to give a broad overview of theological issues, etc.

Stephen has decided to enrol in Greek B at Melbourne School of Theology. This is for a few reasons, but mostly, will allow him to go over material he has learned, to consolidate it, and still be able to finish Greek by the end of the year.

News on Sarah's front is regarding decisions for 2013....(me speaking now!) I have found the subject matter that I have been learning to be life-changing, having deepened my faith and understanding of God, and would love to put this new-found knowledge to use in some way. During a subject last semester, we were assigned the task of putting together a 3-5 year plan for the future in regards to ministry. In thinking about this, and coupled with my enthusiasm for what I'm learning, and my desire to pass it on/use it in some way, I decided that I would like to do a practical apprenticeship in an area of ministry to see if this would be a possible future occupation for me. So, I've been speaking to campus directors at various university campuses around Melbourne to pursue the possibility of a 2 year traineeship with AFES (Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students). The talks have been great, and I've got one more to go before I decide which campus to do the traineeship.

These traineeship positions require self-funding, so expect to hear more about that in future blog posts - for now, please see the prayer points below related to this exciting development!

In other news, we've both secured some form of paid employment. Stephen is working casually at the local Video Ezy (yay! cheap movies!) and Sarah is doing some marketing work for the Melbourne Mission Week in September. This income has actually been very helpful in getting us through some of the extra spending that holidays bring, as well as every day bills and expenses.

Also, this week, we begin a Marriage Course being held at St Jude's on Tuesday nights for the next 2 months. No need to panic - things are fine! But we thought this would be a great opportunity to have a marriage 'tune-up' and reminder about the important ways to look after our marriage, so that we love each other fully and glorify God in our relationship.

And now for the most important part of this blog!

Please praise God with us for:
- Academic success in Semester 1 (passing!) and, more importantly, the knowledge we've gained, and opportunities to use this knowledge.
- The long but productive break from study that we've both enjoyed.
- Safe travel during the breaks
- His daily provision of everything that we need!

Please pray with us for:
- Wisdom and direction for Sarah, as she makes ministry plans for next year
- Focus in Semester 2, as we will be busier than the first semester, but with equal amounts of study to be done!
- Stephen's continual learning of Greek, that this knowledge would sink in and he would gain confidence by switching to MST for this subject.


 

Exams done!!

Thanks for your prayers and support over the last two weeks, as Stephen and I have been studying for and writing exams.

The official season ended at 12pm today when I, Sarah, finished my exam for the Fourth Gospel subject.

We're pretty tired, but pleased to have gotten through, and even more pleased that we learned stuff - moreso, God taught us stuff! Now to make sure it sinks past our shoulders and into our hearts, that's the main thing!!

I'll probably do a more detailed post tomorrow (would love to share some stuff I learned!) but for now, here is a picture of a happy post-exam face: