Summer Under the Son

We got back from "Summer Under the Son" conference on Wednesday. What a great 5 days it was too.

Bible expositions from Acts 9-11 by Kanishka Raffel. I found these very challenging. A couple of highlights -

• In Acts 9 thinking about Paul's Conversion on the Damascus Road. How easy it is to give up praying that God will move in some people's lives, yet here is a story of how he turned an arch enemy of Jesus around in a moment. We so often want to see people take little steps towards Jesus, little signs that God is at work - but of course in Paul's case there were none. I have a renewed desire to pray that even the most resistant of my friends can be converted to Christ.
• In Acts 12 considering the secret sovereign hand of God at work behind the scenes: rescuing Peter from prison, but letting James die. We so often can't fathom what he is up to, but assured that his purposes are good. There were lots of damp eyes as KR reminded us to hang in, trusting in God even when we can't see his purpose.

Then there were terrific missionary talks. So inspiring to hear ordinary people talking about the work they do for God around the world. There is so much need - in so many places. I often found myself wondering if we should pack up and go overseas. But for the time being think that staying at St Jude's and raising up more missionaries from the congregation is probably the right strategy.

It was great to see so many St Judeans involved: from the tech team to music, to leading among youth, to leading sessions in the auditorium, serving on branch council etc. Praise be that we have a mission minded church. However it would be good to see more St Jude's folk at SUTS each year. Watch out for 2011!