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Sydney Anglican News: Moore Graduates
christianreview | 입력 : 2016/04/02 [06:41]
This year’s 102
graduates from Moore Theological College have been called upon to “die to self”
in their ministries, so that their work will produce more fruit for the
gospel.
The address,
focusing on John 12:24 and delivered by former Director of the UK Cornhill
Training Course the Rev Christopher Ash, directed people to the pattern of
Christ, who in his own body gave himself to death to bring life to humanity. In
the same way, followers are to die to self, and instead serve others, to share
with others the life found in the gospel.
“I’m so thrilled
for those who are heading into different Christian ministries, but for those
following the Lord Jesus in the ministry of the gospel, there is a kind of
dying,” said Mr Ash. “Dying to self, daily to self, is necessary and costly, but
it will be fruitful. It is necessary also for ourselves, following the way of
the cross, to die daily to self. And we grumble, don’t we? A friend of mine once
said grumbling about following the cross is like a youngster playing in his
first game of rugby, coming home bruised and saying ‘Oh Mum, it hurt!’. To which
the proper answer is, ‘Son, if you’re going to play rugby, it’s going to
hurt.’.”
Graduates across
the range of degrees are planning to head off to all sorts of future ministries.
Some are heading into parish ministries, others are returning to secular work
but with a sharper theological focus. Prison chaplaincies, SRE teaching, church
planting, Christian welfare work, and a range of other future ministry
directions were all represented.
“The long term
plan is to stay in Sydney one more year, and then head towards India, in Delhi
especially,” said Gladwin Joseph, a Bachelor of Divinity graduate from this year
who spoke to the audience in a pre-recorded video interview. “I would like to
work in a local church over there as an assistant pastor. God willing, I’ll be
involved in some sort of student ministry as well. I’m hoping God will provide
opportunities for me to be involved in training young men and women in gospel
ministry.”
The night also
feature twelve postgraduate students, two of which completed thesis projects in
the Master of Theology course.
Mr Ash, in
finishing his address to the graduands and other attendees, called on students
to produce fruit in ministry in the pattern of Jesus Christ.
“May your lives,
and may my life, be that life of following in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus,”
he said. May it also be a life that, in the kindness of God, and through the
promise of the Lord Jesus, bears much fruit.”
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