Prayer Points

Firstly, apologies once again for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. As a way of updating you a bit on what's happening in my life at present, I thought I'd post some prayer points.

Praise points

• Praise God for the baptism yesterday of my niece, Jessica.
• Praise God for the opportunity to celebrate my nephew's second birthday and to spend time with family yesterday.
• Praise God that I survived the Greek exam on Friday and the crazy lead-up to it.
• Praise God for a terrific night's sleep last night - best one in several weeks!
• Praise God for the fabulous friends that he has given me and for their encouragement and support.
• Praise God for sending Jesus to die for us.

Prayer points

• Pray that Jessica will grow up to know Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. Pray that the adults around her will be faithful in telling her of God's love for her.
• Pray that I won't forget to keep on top of my Greek over these next weeks and months so that next year won't be a shock.
• Pray for diligence and the ability to study well for the other exams that are coming up.
• Pray that my studies won't be merely an academic exercise, but that I will be aware that I am dealing with the living word of God, which can change and refine my heart.
• Pray that we students will be gracious and loving with each other as we approach exam time.
• Pray that I will continue to get appropriate rest and refreshment so that I can apply myself well when I am working.
• Pray that I will be able to work out living arrangements for the time of the college holidays (with a minimum of stress).

Thanks for your ongoing support in this area.

Busy week

I'm feeling a little like so much has happened over the last few days that I'm not sure what to share first.

The Annual Moore College Lectures have now finished with the final instalment by Dr Mike Ovey being presented last Thursday. It has been so valuable being reminded of our need to repent and that a life of faith is marked by a life of repentance, seeking to become the person that God made us to be.

On the weekend, my church had its annual Houseparty. As we have done in the last couple of years, it was again held partly at the church (Friday night and Sunday services/lunch) and partly elsewhere (all day Saturday at Waterslea on the Shoalhaven River). It was terrific to feel like I could afford to spend time with people from church, just in conversation and over meals, without being as rushed as a Sunday often is.

It was also great to hear from Jim Ramsay on practical ways of connecting with those around us, challenging us to make the effort to be intentional about getting to know people and think about the conversations that we have with them. Given that it is easy to end up cloistered in the college community and forget that the rest of the world is out there, I need to think very deliberately about the opportunities I make and take to have contact with people outside my immediate church and college environments.

I feel very relieved that my Greek exam was over this morning, although there is already talk about preparing for the yearly exam (in about 8 weeks time). However, I've decided that today is not the day to worry about that and have given myself permission to have an afternoon off Greek study. It has been a big relief to know that I don't need to look at that list of words for the rest of the day.

This week is crazy on the Moore College social calendar! Tonight, we have the Moore College Revue - a night, I'm told, that is not to be missed, as members of the college community has the chance to show off their musical, poetic and dramatic talents. On Saturday, Moore College will hold its Open Day and Winter Carnival (contact me if you are interested in coming along).

Prayer points

• Praise God for the privilege of studying here at college and the daily opportunity to be learning more
• Praise God for the SCCAC Houseparty last weekend - for the time to spend together and for the talks that we heard from Jim Ramsay
• Please pray that I will be diligent in my studies and that I will not simply view them as an academic exercise but remember that the Bible is the Word of God

Beginnings

Well, it seems that I have actually succumbed to the whole idea of keeping people updated with what's happening in my life via the internet!

In some ways it seems rather daunting but it is also exciting to know that others can be kept informed in a fairly simple manner.

At college, we are in the middle of the Annual Moore College Lectures - a series of 5 lectures by a (usually) visiting speaker which are open to the public. This morning we have heard the fourth of the talks by Dr Mike Ovey on the subject of repentance. It was exciting to be challenged to think about how repentance and faith are related to each other and what role repentance has in our salvation. The fifth and final talk is this Thursday morning at 10.15am at Moore College - come along if you are able!

Everybody has been referring to third term at college as the 'term of fun'. There is certainly some truth in that as events like the Moore Revue and Winter Carnival happen next week. My struggle, however, has been in dealing with a lot of disruptions to my normal routine and working out how to cope with it all.

I seem to be very much a creature of habit who prefers things to be predictable. However, so often life doesn't operate in that way and we have to constantly be dealing with change. Praise God that He never changes and we can rely on Him to always be the same. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.' (Hebrews 13:8).

Prayer Points

• Praise God that He never changes and that we can depend on Him always being the same
• Praise God for the incredible privilege it is to study the Bible so intensively during my time at college
• Please pray that I will be disciplined in how I spend my time, especially when there is little in the way of regular routine
• Please pray for me as I study for a Greek exam that I have next Tuesday morning - it is just rote learning for this one but I need to put appropriate time into it