Toowong Baptist Young Adults

Last Saturday night I had the chance to head to the Toowong Baptist Young Adults service. A mix from both the English side and Chinese side were in attendance in a cosy room where everyone was seated around small tables.

I ended up speaking from Mark 6:30-52 - the feeding of the 5000 and walking on water (I've previously blogged a summary of my points here). The talk went well and I was quickly reminded that it is quite emotionally and physically taxing to preach. Praise God I was able to get through it and praise God for TBC's youth :)

Next up is BCCC's English service and 1 Corinthians 10:32-11:16 - the infamous passage regarding women and head coverings! Any thoughts on what this passage could possibly mean for Christians today? :)

P.S - my moustache/gotti has come along ok...Andrew ended up piking on me!

Preaching over…next up…preaching conference!

I’ve spent the last two weekends preaching. Last weekend at St Lucia I went through Ezra 4-6 emphasising God’s sovereignty as we pursue holiness. Today I had another crack at Proverbs 9 to the youth church with Brisbane Cantonese Alliance Church and emphasised the wisdom given to us because we are in Christ. Monday to Thursday I’ll be attending QTC for a preaching conference with David Cook. So for these few weeks I’m going to be saturated with preaching!

I was struck in my preparations for both sermons how difficult the applications seemed to be. Figuring out the passages and finding some structure to the sermons was ok, this process is falling out quicker than at first. But applications are still something I struggle with. Why?

I’ve been tossing up various reasons for a long time, but it finally dawned on me last Friday before my Proverbs sermon today. Are the troubles I have with applications in sermons due to the fact that I myself am not reflecting on how the passage is applying to me? It struck me between the eyes. The questions I was asking of others I was not asking of myself. So keep praying that I approach God’s word with a soft heart, ready to be confronted, challenged and shaped through it.

David Jackman - Preaching from Exodus

I am very tired!

So, from 'Walk 4 Bibles' to 'YF Christmas In May' to teaching Sunday School to David Jackman's seminars at the Queensland Theological College on preaching from Exodus. I'm looking forward to my sleep in tomorrow morning.

It was a very packed 2 day seminar. Four one-hour lectures covered Exodus, preaching, but also pastoral issues and concerns. Along with the Don Carson seminar from last weekend I was pleasantly surprised that both Carson and Jackman, whilst being academically rigorous were also pastoral at heart. So with Jackman I was glad to know that he was approachable with questions and just general chit-chat.

Lots to digest from the past two days. Plenty of notes to review. I know I wanted to post some thoughts on the Carson seminar also, so I guess I'll do that at the same time.

Watch this space!