St, Stephen
Sydney, *Province/Other 2210
0295341159

• Education: I’m trained as a English/History secondary teacher, with a BA and a BEd from the University of New South Wales.
• Experience: I have run children’s groups for almost ten years and youth groups for five years. I have taught the Bible full-time in high schools for 2.5 years, and taught primary school Scripture for three years while I was a student. I have been a lay preacher for the last three years, and also have a preaching ministry at a number of other local churches in my area. I am the team leader of 40 men and women who run a summer "Beach Mission" every January.
• Comment to those looking at my sermons: Allowing the Bible to speak is the key to faithful preaching. In practice, this means preaching exegetically through books of Scripture rather than always preaching topically and merely "proof-texting". We need to start with Scripture and preach what Scripture says rather than starting with what we want to say and finding Scripture to support out conclusions. In doing the latter, we may still preach faithfully but it does not teach our congregations how to read the Bible for themselves, and it leaves us far more open to the dangers of heresy. My approach may mean some find my sermons different in style to what they might be used to, and more focused on "theology" rather than what some term "application". However, my aim is to teach what Scripture teaches - and understanding the person and nature of God is, I think, an application in itself. I firmly believe that for the most part sermons should be on passages of Scripture (preferably preached systematically) rather than on topics and the passage selected because it is on that pre-determined topic. As stated above, we need to allow the Bible to speak for itself and give the Bible the authority over what we preach. Occasional topical sermons are useful and suitable, but that shouldn’t be the norm.
• Sermon or series that made a difference: Series of sermons on four parables by Ian Powell at KYCKstart 1997, a Evangelical youth conference in Katoomba, just outside of Sydney.
• Family: Single, with a 16 yr old foster son who came to me through a church outreach.
• What my parents think of my sermons: My mother refuses to come to my church because she rejects our view on women preaching to mixed congregations. My father is much more polite and positive! They both seem happy to listen to audio versions on the website, however! Update: My mother has since relented and now churches regularly. Praise God!
• Books that have had an impact: "The Cross" by D.Martin Lloyd Jones "Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture" by G. Goldsworthy "Know and Tell the Gospel" by John Chapman
• Hobbies: Cricket, rugby league, reading, computer, watching too much television!

• My persnonal homepage