What a wonderful first day of mission at Liverpool South Anglican! It was a joy to be welcomed by the church and to take part in their 9:30am family service. Our team members split between being involved in the service and assisting with kids ministry. One student, Michael Figueira, gave an encouraging sermon from 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 on the foolishness and power of the Cross.
Sunday school was great fun and we were given a fantastic and timely reminder of Jesus’ commission in Matthew 28:16-20 as Matt Bales, the assistant minister, taught the children. Matt went on to lead the older kids through a simple Bible reading framework to Look Back, Look Up, and Look Forward, sharing with us his vision for them to one day lead their own Bible discussions at Sunday School and with their friends at school.
In the afternoon, a small group had the privilege of visiting the church’s Pakistani congregation, who have been meeting in homes for church services since last year. It was certainly a different experience to what most of our team is used to! We were warmly welcomed by Pastor Imran and the congregation, and many parts of the service were translated from Urdu into English for our benefit. Did you know that ‘Jalal’ means glory in Urdu?
The music was a real highlight, particularly when we could sing a Pakistani song based on Psalm 18. Pastor Imran translated the chorus for us: “I love you my Lord, my strength, my God is my rock”. One of our students, Stuart Sharry, gave a wonderful testimony focused on the simple truth that we can know God, and receive his forgiveness, through the Lord Jesus. This was complemented well by a sermon on John 1:1-18 from another student, Jaison Jacob, who taught us that the only way to truly see God is through Jesus.
We praise God for the hospitality of the Pakistani congregation and the meal we were able to share in after the service. It was a time of mutual encouragement as we heard about people’s trust in Jesus through many life circumstances, and as we likewise were able to share about our faith. What a joy to see God’s Spirit working through different people, in different languages, to the praise of his glory!
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