I remember it well. It was a Friday afternoon, I still had a few hours of work left to do. I was finishing up some tax returns for the wealthy client and then I had to dash out of the office to catch the 5:15pm train so I would make it to church in time to lead the 15 year old boys Bible study group.
The reason I remember this particular afternoon so well was because it was in that exact moment that it dawned on me for the first time which of the two things I was doing that day was going to last into eternity... and it wasn't the tax returns!
It wasn't in an office on the 11th floor overlooking Sydney Harbour but it in a dingy room under the church hall and opening the Bible with 8 smelly teenage boys, that was the thing that would echo into eternity and potentially impact the lives of dozens or hundreds or thousands of people. And it was at that moment on that Friday afternoon I realised that teaching these boys about Jesus and encouraging them to live wholeheartedly for him was the most significant thing I could be doing with my life.
So from then on I was determined to spend as much of my time devoted to that work as I could. And for me that meant getting trained and equipped and matured so I might be most effective in sharing the word of God with others.
One of my favourite parts of the Bible is Acts 6 & 7. I love it for the way that the church is unwilling to neglect both the preaching of the word and the caring for the needy such that they set aside men for the task of practically serving the people. I also love how that doesn't mean those men stop talking about Jesus!
Stephen, one set aside to 'wait on tables', immediately goes on to so powerfully proclaim the Lordship of Jesus such that he is the first martyr. He was so consumed by the importance of sharing the good news that he couldn't help but speak it boldly at every opportunity.
This coming Monday night we will be hosting an Apprenticeships Information Night. The title of the night is a little misleading because it won't just be about apprenticeships. We will spend some time catching a vision for what is most important and thinking about how we might orientate our lives around that reality. And I am convinced that thinking about an apprenticeship is a good place to start.
So, if you're convinced that Jesus and his kingdom is the most important thing and you're trying to work out how you can devote more of your life to that cause, please join us for dessert on at 7:30pm on Monday night at Webb Street.
Grace and peace,
Andrew
eNews - 20th September 2024