September Prayer Update

THANKS & PRAISE

• Thank God for Staff Attack - staff conference :: The whole staff team (Warwick, Dave, Rod, Kurt, Robyn, Caro, Sam, Marty, Jono and Doug) went up to Copacabana beach for 3 days to review the year and think /plan ahead. It was great and fun time away with the staff team, good quality time in the bible, sharing and praying as well.
  
• Thanks for Women's Katoomba Convention (WKC) :: great time away with Evening and Morning Church Women. Saturday night the 25 or so women all cramed into one of the 2 bedroom units to share a meal together and fellowship. Praise God for the women speakers who spoke with clarity and conviction reminding the 3000 women to not domesticate Jesus and make him managable instead to see Jesus for who he really is and serve Him : the one true living God!
  
• Praise God that I have seen his care and love in answering prayers lately... changing my heart by giving me wisdom and paitence and compassion. Giving me what I need to honour Him in building genuine relationships with people.

PRAYER / ASK

• Pray for the remainder of the year for our Prayer and Bible Group as we begin to study John. Pray that we all want to know Christ more through his word.
  
• Pray for Pulse youth group :: few girls in my care are going through some hard times. Please pray for my co-leader Alicia and I that God will sustain us, give us the right words to comfort the girls and wisdom to point them to treasure and cherish Christ.
  
• Pray for the Welcoming and Follow Up ministry at Evening Church that I have initiated mid-way through the year. Pray that people involved will continue to be keen to see newcomers really welcomed into our family at Matthias and want to develop genuine relationships with them. Ask God to encourage our people at Matthias to be concerned for the outsider and want to welcome them in as God has welcomed us (sinners) into his kingdom.
  
• Pray for the staff team now that we are back from our conference that we wouldn't be complacent or lazy but that we will be keen and faithful in putting things we discussed and planned into action.

This is my passage of encouragement and prayer for the month:

May you be strengthened with all power,
according to his glorious might,
for all endurance and patience with joy
Colossians 1:11

Therefore what thanksgiving we ought to give.

I wrote an email to my brother Toby yesterday to share with him what I shared on my blog about thanksgiving and how thankful to God I am for him.

He replyed in saying :

It’s good to hear you are thankful to God. We are studying rom 8 at the moment. The famous 8:28 – in all things God works for the good of those who love him. It means all things, therefore when it says “if God is for us, who can be against us” - The answer is no one. Therefore not even persecution, car troubles, cancer, disloyal friends, death, computer problems, traffic are against us, for nothing can be against us because God is for us and is working in everything for our good.

Therefore what thanksgiving we ought to give.

AMEN Brother!

Abounding in Thanksgiving for Fonts

I forgot to mention just how thankful I am to God for FONTS. But in reality Fonts deserve a posting all on their own as they truely are an art form of great use and function.

Yes, I admit I may be a nerd but I find great joy in the vast selection of fonts, creative people have developed and have made available to me to enjoy through their generous sharing of them on the net. The search for new fonts is a very addictive hobby.

It was a delight to be at the KYCKSTART '07 meeting last Monday night, where I got to meet other Font Enthusiasts who are on the Creative Hub too - they were inspiration and I felt right at home sharing in the passion for good fonts.

I must thank God for my brother Toby who introduced me 1001 Fonts :: www.1001fonts.com - my first font website and in turn this site introduced me to the very big world of fonts.
Other good sites are FontFox :: www.fontfox.com and Da Fonts :: www.dafonts.com

My favourite everyday font is Trebuchet MS - and now that I share this with you, I am unsure of the passive choice I have made in using the default font for my blog... hmmm.

It is interesting however to note people's choice in their everyday font. It is easy to identify Caro's work as it is always typed in Maiandra GD - it almost becomes a signature, in fact maybe I would even go so far as to say that the choice of your everyday font it is an extention of your identity.

Do you express yourself through your font? What does Trebuchet MS tell about me?

You may be thinking - I am have an unhealthy obsession with fonts or that small things ammuse small minds and I perhaps won't argue with you but it is a simple thing in life that I find pleasure in. When doing flyers, hand outs I feel I can capture an essence of what I am presenting in the font chosen and the font helps convey so well intentions and meanings of the words typed.

It gives just that something extra... I must confess though that often I will just use a font completley unnessacarily, just because I can and because have the freedom to continue to download new fonts when I get bored of old ones!

If you are now intrigued and would like to learn more there is a great site at Microsoft that describes itself to be a site for the amusement & edification of people beginining a love affair with fonts.

Microsoft Typography :: www.microsoft.com/typography www.microsoft.com/typography/glossary

Go enjoy the wonderful world of fonts...

(PS... On another slightly similar nerdy note I would like to thank Dave for introducing me to " :: " - I like the way it spaces things out and I have begun to use them too much - You can usually identify Dave's work by his use of > // and :: , however as I begin to use it more and more it may actually be mine. I am yet to get on bored with > and // as they do nothing for me.)

Abounding in Thanksgiving

Today in staff meeting we were up to Colossians 2:6-15 in our devotions... and it was a great time in God's word with the staff team and in prayer.

Warwick stated that it was a purple passage (rich and powerful) so we didn't get that far through all the verses and focused just on verses 6 & 7:

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord,

so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,

just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Things that I found particularly of interest was:

• WALK IN HIM: what is this? What is it to walk... Obedience? Closeness to God? Is the latter a misuse of this term? I was think more in line with obedience - and this is where I began to think about verses that speak of walk and that is more than often associated with the 'way' of the Lord, or path etc... Which backs up the notion of obedience and also the fact that Christ Jesus in this passage is the Lord - who we must submit to and obey!
  
  
• ABOUNDING IN THANKSGIVING: are you someone marked with thanksgiving? How can we be people who are? Individually and corporately? We then spent much time sharing things we are thankful for and for me:
  
  > Opportunity to be serving at Matthias - it was hard to leave CBTB last year and I am thankful to God for opening the opportunity to do MTS here and the joy I have in the variety and diversity of contexts to share Jesus.
  
  > Colours - for God of creation who has created so much beauty and the brightness, fun, excitement, vibrancy and joy that comes with appreciation of colour.
  
  > Hannah & Nicolette - for their great friendships and sisterhood in Christ. Hannah is a great encourager in my life as we read the bible week by week, share in each others lives and pray together. Nicolette has been a great friend to me this year. I am very thankful for her. She is a joy to serve with in Drama and ISCF. PRAISE BE TO GOD for the Saints at Matthias!

Busy, Busy, Busy?

Been busy the last week or so...

additional to the normal stuff I do week by week I have had:

• Summerfest '07 meeting - January mission up on the Central Coast. This will be my fourth year on team and I will be co-leading with a Coastie Andy Bootes. Looking forward to being on a teen section and leading... should be full of fun and challenges. Both my brothers are on team too so it is always a good time to serve alongside them. I have also been able to recruit some fresh blood from Matthias... so about 6 young women have joined the team with me - again a great time to build friendships with these women and serve with them.
  
  
• KYCK Creative Hub - unsure exactly yet what i am to do except think creatively for KYCKSTART youth conference at Katoomba Convention Centre in January 2007. First meeting is on Monday night, will find out more then.
  
  
• Hair Cutting Adventures... Sam and I attacked Doug's hair to make him decent for his sermon on Sunday... Sam and I both agree we did a great job, however this is disputed > read Doug's blog for his side of the story... htttp://duck5.blogspot.com It was a productive Friday afternoon of ministry! I ended up with a new hair cut too... the scissors got the better of me on Saturday night.
  
  
• Good movie viewing: 49UP - Saw this documentary on Thursday night with Marcia. After having troubles working out which Palace Cinema it was screening at we made it in and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. So interesting to see how much people change within 7 years and how outlooks on life, relationships, career and all that, changes with time.
  
  Marcia and I after grabbed dinner at Mickey's and came out realising just how broken our world is, how much pain we can have on those we 'love' and the ultimate distortion in relationships because of our sinful and fallen nature. Despite saying this, Marc and I began to see 49 out of all the 7 year increments was the age of hope... maybe it will take over as my idea of the ultimate age. (yes, can you believe I am moving my stance from 30 being the ultimate age to 49).
  
  It was interesting to note that the God question footage wasn't screened for all the people involved - which is a shame as I think it would be facinating to hear people's perception of God in their lives and how their idea of God differs at 7 yrs, 14, 21, 28 etc. Only one acknowledged God and he was the lonley, homeless for a number of years Eccentric ...
  
  smh review: http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2006/07/20/1153166508749.html
  

Prayer Update - August

Curious (ISCF @ Randwick Girls):

• Thanks for the many not yet Christian girls coming along week by week.
• Praise God for the work he is doing in the Christian girls - they are so bold in inviting friends. Pray that this would continue and that they would shine as lights in their school.
• Thanks for Ms Randell - school teacher who has been so helpful in advertising the group and putting it in the notices plus coming along to join in.
• Pray for preparation of this terms bible material: Let's talk about Love & Relationships.
• Pray God would continue to use this open door at Randwick Girls to proclaim Jesus!

TAT (Tuesdays @ Ten) Women's Bible Study:

• Thank God for the encouragement it has been to build relationships with older women in different stages of life.
• Pray for the first half of this term: 4 weeks on Evangelism - firing the women up to share the gospel with the people God puts in their lives, to realise and grasp the urgency and neccesity to evangelise.
• Pray that God would sustain the women and give them the strength to raise their children, love their husbands and have the energy to want to read God's word.

"PULSE" and "Elevenfiftyone" Youth Group:

• Pray for my year 11 girls that God would comfort them as they go through hard times and that he would powerfully remind them of his love for them.
• Pray that the girls may relate better, want to care and look out for each other.
• Pray for Alicia and I as we care for these girls, that we won't get over burdened with their problems but help them to look to God for wisdom and may we know how best to encourage them to be dependent on Christ.
• Pray for the topics we will study this term: Ecclesiastes and John.

Drama @ Matthias:

• Praise God for the many not yet Christian children invited along by Christian children. Pray for relationships to build with these families.
• Thank God for bringing one of our drama kids to Sunday School and that he loves it!
• Pray for energy and creativity for Robyn, Nicolette and I.
• Thanks that the mid-year Performance went really well last night and the way it helped us get to know parents and families better.

Scripture at Paddington Primary:

• Thanks God that the many disruptions are not occurring as frequently to scripture classes. Thank God that through much mix up that we now have classrooms to teach in.
• Thanks that the kids are keen to work out how Jesus fits in with what we are learning about this term. Pray that I would be faithful in teaching narratives of Joseph and Moses.

Evening Church Prayer & Bible Group:

• Pray that while we are all at Night Train (6 week training term - similar to St Thomas' EQUIP), that I would be faithful in prayer for those in my group, that I would seek them out on Sundays to care for them and also meet with the women mid week to catch up over this time.
• Pray that I would have a servant heart for this group. That I would grow in my godliness and be a good supportive and encouraging co-leader to Andrew.

Matthias:

• Pray for Introducing God course running at the moment on Tuesday nights- 30 not yet Christians are coming. Pray for table leaders and Caro who is organising the course.
• Pray for preaching for Morning Church by Warwick: 1 Timothy and for Evening Church by Dave: Ezekial, 3 weekss on Grace and 2 Thess.
• Pray for other MTS'ers and our training: Marty, Jono and Doug
• Family Matters Seminar coming up (evangelistic): The Birds and the Bees.
• New Evening Church Welcoming (WAM) and Follow-up newcomer (FUN) ministries that I am responsible for. Pray that those invloved would be keen to serve and bold in loving those that come to Evening Church.

Personal:

• Praise & Thank God for the diverse and varied contexts I get to promote Jesus Christ.
• Pray for greater motivation in my personal bible reading.
• Ask God that he would help me have good days off that are restful and that refresh me - that I would learn to rest well and enjoy it.
• Pray for me in all my relationships with friends, family, staff team and those in my care that they all would be marked with love, genuineness, transparency, selflessness, and importantly centred on Christ.
• Pray that God would open the door for His gospel with my close girlfriends from school.