Michael Bird

Grace Bible Church
Brisbane, *Province/Other 4000
07 33745940

• Education: Advanced Certificate in Security Operations (Australian Army) B.Min (Theol) Queensland Baptist College of Ministries B.A. (Hons.) University of Queensland.
• Experience: I’m been a soldier and a preacher.
• Comment to those looking at my sermons: May you be blessed by them. Also, other peoples sermons are great to read and use. But they should be the last thing you look at when preparing a sermon. Do the exegesis first on your own, think up some good ilustrations on your own, only then go to the secondary sources, eg. commentaries, studies and Sermoncentral.com. That way the sermon is still your own, but it can be enhanced through the wisdom of seeing how others have done it.
• Sermon or series that made a difference: Anything by D.A. Carson or John Piper
• Family: I am married to my lovely wife Naomi (b. 1980) and I have beautiful daughter named Alexis (b. 2000).
• What my parents think of my sermons: I’m too afraid to ask.
• What my spouse (really) thinks of my sermons: Too many big words.
• Best advice given to me about preaching: 1. Two weeks after the sermon the only thing they’ll remember is the illustrations - so make them count!! 2. Preaching should be based on sound exegesis, but it is not to be a display of exegesis. 3. A good preacher should be a commentator on both Scripture and modern culture.
• Books that have had an impact: N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God. J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership. Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor. John Stott, The Cross of Christ. William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith
• Hobbies: Reading Touchfootball Reading Tennis Reading
• If I could Preach one more time, I would say...: I would preach on Galatians 2:20
• Something funny that happened while preaching: I had just finnished a 25 minute sermon by saying, ’Let’s pray’. Just as I closed my eyes some smart-alec little teenager lets out a huge sigh of relief by saying benneath his breath (or so he thought) ’Yes, its over!’. Suffice to say, I was not impressed. But I can laugh at it now.
• What I want on my tombstone: I told you all that I was sick!