Wow! Another month has already gone by in my church planting internship. Once again, I am thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to serve him through this opportunity. As I move forward in preparing to serve Christ in Utah, I continue to see many fruitful blessings poured out on both myself and my family that we do not deserve. At the same time, we are grateful for the momentum that seems to be building toward a church plant.
The need for the gospel in Utah is so great. And it is only growing more and more. According to Forbes magazine, Salt Lake City now ranks #5 as the fastest growing city in America. May our Savior use me to reach the darkness of this community with the light of Christ!
It is this growing desire in me that has fueled my studies. This past month I have been reading Tim Keller explain in Center Church how a church centers its entire ministry around the gospel. Charles Bridges challenged me with the trials and difficulties of pastoral ministry as well as energized me with the comforts and encouragements through his work The Christian Ministry. And I have been confronted with who Christ has called me to be as a church planter by Paul David Tripp as I am working through his Dangerous Calling curriculum.
Additionally, I continue to love leading my Gospel Community group. We have been diligently praying over the last few weeks for the Holy Spirit to guide us in wisdom as we decide which neighborhood to strategically invest in with the hope of Christ. Lord willing, this coming month we we decide where to begin our efforts and seek to reach out to those around us. We are also considering the gifts and skills that God has given us to consider how we can best use them in furthering the gospel in our community. While the weather has not allowed us to be as outward oriented as we would like, we look forward to seeing what He has in store for us in the months ahead.
Finally, this weekend I will be heading back to Louisville so that I can continue working toward becoming certified as a biblical counselor through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. I would like to complete my application by the end of April so that I can enter the final phase of the certification process—supervised counseling. As I prayed this morning, my goal is not simply to get a piece of paper at the end of this process. I want to effectively show people how Christ relates to their struggles and trials, leading them in the gospel to find their ultimate comfort and strength in Jesus.
As I hope that you can see, your prayers for my ministry and preparation are being answered. Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and support. Please continue to pray for my family as this process continues, because I can easily see becoming so busy that my family is neglected. This would be the last thing that I want! With this in mind, please ask God that He will remind me of my responsibility to keep my family a priority during this internship.
The need for the gospel in Utah is so great. And it is only growing more and more. According to Forbes magazine, Salt Lake City now ranks #5 as the fastest growing city in America. May our Savior use me to reach the darkness of this community with the light of Christ!
It is this growing desire in me that has fueled my studies. This past month I have been reading Tim Keller explain in Center Church how a church centers its entire ministry around the gospel. Charles Bridges challenged me with the trials and difficulties of pastoral ministry as well as energized me with the comforts and encouragements through his work The Christian Ministry. And I have been confronted with who Christ has called me to be as a church planter by Paul David Tripp as I am working through his Dangerous Calling curriculum.
Additionally, I continue to love leading my Gospel Community group. We have been diligently praying over the last few weeks for the Holy Spirit to guide us in wisdom as we decide which neighborhood to strategically invest in with the hope of Christ. Lord willing, this coming month we we decide where to begin our efforts and seek to reach out to those around us. We are also considering the gifts and skills that God has given us to consider how we can best use them in furthering the gospel in our community. While the weather has not allowed us to be as outward oriented as we would like, we look forward to seeing what He has in store for us in the months ahead.
As I hope that you can see, your prayers for my ministry and preparation are being answered. Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and support. Please continue to pray for my family as this process continues, because I can easily see becoming so busy that my family is neglected. This would be the last thing that I want! With this in mind, please ask God that He will remind me of my responsibility to keep my family a priority during this internship.
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