a fruitful february
Hope you've had a good February! Mine has been a month of busy-ness and learning how to manage my time well and settling into a healthy rhythm to do ministry well for many years to come. Again, here's some highlights from this month, and I've dropped some reflections and prayer points at the bottom.
we kicked off the month at church with our leaders retreat where we were refreshed with God's word and together thought about what our church will look like over the next 10 years.
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
For February at church our sermon series was a topical on God's heart for us, and how that shapes our heart! As I look at how I have been freed up to do full time ministry I've been really thankful to God for you all who, through his heart, have partnered alongside me in prayer, service, and in finances. My prayer is for us all to continue to grow in being generous for God like how he has been generous to us.
service leading
I've continued in service leading this year and it is still an encouragement every time I prepare to lead our church in Sunday worship! We meet regularly as a team of service leaders to keep sharpening our Sundays. Super thankful for this team as they are a great, mature bunch who have encouraged me in serving our church well. I was also really encouraged this month as I was able to help one of the newer guys at church share up the front about how he has seen God's heart and how that has shaped and continues to shape his life!
The service leaders team in deep collaboration
youth
Youth has kicked off for the year and we've been looking at the book of Mark - our youth group isn't huge but I've been encouraged that a number of them from our church have persevered in their attendance. In particular I've been encouraged by M, who has been good in wrestling well with the Bible and continues to grow in his desire for God's knowledge. It's also been awesome to get to know the other leaders well. Pray for us for more opportunities to reach out to youth in the community and for more people to hear the gospel!
While we go through the book of Mark we've been writing down what we've learnt each week about who Jesus is.
melbourne
I took a few days off to go to Melbourne with Bec, and we were able to sample a lot of different foods, but more importantly we got to catch up with friends! It was a good time of fellowship with a few different friends, and I was able to also go to visit church where friends formerly from captivate are ministering at. I was really encouraged to meet other faithful Christians on fire for the gospel and see God at work in Melbourne.
Kevin and Felicity serve faithfully at Cross & Crown Melbourne, and I was able to hear Kevin preach faithfully from Matthew 2 of Jesus, our true king.
reflections
- - Ministry expands to fill time really easily. There's plenty of work for me to do and I've had to consider my own limitations and how to prioritise tasks and make the best use of my time. I've also had to consider how to be intentional in my time off and how I can be honouring Bec well in that time.
- - It's good to enjoy God's creation as we travel, and it's both glorifying to God and encouraging to other Christians when we travel intentionally keeping Jesus in mind and praying for opportunities to speak of God's word.
- - Relationships and 1 to 1s are super high value! They're a great way to get to know people better and fellowship more personally together. I already knew this but being able to do it purposefully as an apprentice has given me a lot of energy and intentionality to how I meet with other guys. Pray for more opportunities!
- - This is carried over from last month, but it is still an incredible privelege to read God's Word as part of my apprenticeship. I've never been reading so much Bible and Christian literature before, and I am learning a lot as God feeds me from his scriptues. As his word is applicable to all of life, I've found that often a bit of what I'm reading personally suddenly becomes relevant to other tasks and things happening in life!
prayer points
- - Church Camp: pray for me as I prepare to run a workshop on leisure, rest, and how we can think about travelling on our Holidays with a gospel heart. This process has been helpful for me to think about how I spend my time off and it meant I was more intentional with my time off in Melbourne. Pray for a fruitful time of fellowship around God's word for our church!
- - Kids ministry: the children's ministry teams take turns running 4 week blocks during the school term and it's our team's turn to be on starting in March. Pray for me to be patient and gracious to the children, and pray that they may grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus!
- - Being disciplined in using my time well: February was a month of many meetings and it feels easy to get caught up in them and get caught up in the next task - there's a lot of work for me to do in encouraging and coaching people for long term leading, so pray that I would be diligent in those areas and for God to raise up more leaders for our church to serve faithfully in many different ministries!
- - Bible study: I co-lead with two other leaders and the whole group have been a great bunch to hang out with over the last two years. This year Bec and I are hosting at our home, and over the next month and a bit we're also farewelling two members (including one of the co-leaders) who are moving to new churches. Pray that we would send them well and for continued fruitful fellowship in God's word.
- - Melbourne: There seems to be few Bible teaching churches in Melbourne, pray for more people to be sent and faithful gatherings of God's people which are centered around the Word.
Finances
Thanks again for your partnership. With everyone's help I've crossed the line for my fundraising target of $50 000! Bec and I have been really thankful to God and for everyone in setting us aside to do ministry, it wouldn't be possible without all of you! If you pledged but haven't started giving please do so - if you don't know how much you pledged feel free to shoot me a message.
Thank you again for your partnership in the gospel.
In Christ,
Jay
🙏 Thanks for reading this to the end! Shoot through a message when you've prayed (even if it's just a "hey!") and let me know how I can be praying for you also!
Bonus picture of a free ice cream I got in Melbourne. It's Messina x Lee Kum Kee Coconut and Kaffir Lime gelato with peanut topping and Chiu Chow Style Chilli Oil peanut crisps. Sounds odd but a great combination of cool and spicy, 10/10.