Hello,

As noted in my previous update, I was finalising names for our groups next year.

The “list” is attached.

Hello,

How time flies! We are already heading towards the end of the year. Workers’ Group went through a rather interesting year this year. All of our groups began meeting more frequently, with the aim of meeting for Bible studies at least twice a month. Some groups were able to meet that frequently and developed very deep relationships with God and other people. However, some other groups struggled to meet for various reasons.

Over the last two months or so I have been working on a strategic plan for Workers’ Group. I am now able to release a preliminary first draft of the plan, which is attached. It sets out why we exist, the challenges that we as a group will face into the future, and our plans and priorities.

Please note that this is a first draft only. I would welcome any feedback you may have.

Dear all,

I have been meaning to provide this update for some time, but things have prevented me from now.

Planning is well underway for next year. Next year we will have four leaders: Matt, Ka-shu, Alan and me. Both last week and this week we will be going through some training sessions with Alex, so that we can all be prepared for next year.

Please pray for these new leaders, as leading groups is not an easy thing. Pray that God would use them for his purposes.

Hello,

Just a few quick updates:

• Thank you for Ka-shu and Jane for organising tickets and logistics to Burn Your Plastic Jesus.
• We had a leaders’ meeting last week. One of the things we talked about is planning for next year. At the moment we have almost all our leaders for next year finalised (praise the Lord!). Over this month Alex and I will be working out training needs for our new leaders. In October the old and new leaders will meet up for more thorough planning.

Dear all,

Welcome to the second Workers’ Group update this year. As promised, these things are now sent on an irregular basis, so as to not overload your mailboxes.

Your group leaders and I have been meeting regularly throughout the year to share about how the groups have been going. I am very thankful to God that the groups have been going so well this year.

We also started to plan for how the groups will function next year. This is something I want to share about a bit more now.

Meeting More Regularly

Hello,

Welcome to the first Workers’ Group update for 2008. You will now find these sent on a irregular basis, usually when there is enough material for me to write one. You will get more regular updates from your group leaders as you meet.

Big Group - 29 March 2008 - 6:30 - Church

As hinted last year, we are going to have a series of “big groups” to get everybody together to know each other more. The first one will be on 29 March 2008, starting at 6:30 pm. Please make time in your diaries to attend.

Dear all,

As promised last week here are more details on the “accountability person” role that the groups will have.

Firstly, I would emphasise that everyone has responsibility for sound doctrine and godly behaviour. Just because a person has been assigned to be the “accountability person” does not mean that the other group members absolve their responsibilities in this regard.

As a result, I would see that the accountability person is not an auditor or a regulator. The accountability person’s role includes:

Dear all,

Please find attached the slides from last week’s extravaganza. It includes a list of who is in each group for next year.

Peter asked a question about the role of the accountability person. I will provide an answer to that this weekend.

Hello,

We’re now in the home stretch: this is basically the second last update from me for this year.

Bible Studies

Our last Bible study, covering chapters 27 and 28, is attached.

Review

Given that November will probably be the last meeting you are going to have as a group this year, you may take some time to review how your group went during the year. You can use the attached review sheet as a suggestion. Again, suggestions on how to improve the running of the groups are welcome.

Hello,

It’s amazing that this year has passed so quickly! It was just a little while ago that we started off Workers’ Group in 2007, and now we are in our home stretch.

I have attached the Bible Study for October, covering a rather long section of Acts, from chapter 21 to 26.

The leaders for next year’s Workers’ Group will be meeting this Friday to plan for 2008. Your prayers would be very much appreciated.

Hello,

I have some good news. At this stage, it appears that we will have enough leaders for at least 3 groups next year. (Yay!) Thank you for your prayers over the last few months. It has been quite a roller-coaster ride.

While more details will follow, what we will need to do over the next few months is to start planning for next year. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

As usual, I have included the Bible study for September, covering the second half of Acts 18 to chapter 21.

Hello,

These updates seem to be getting longer and longer…

Hello,

A number of things to cover this month. Let’s go through them in random order.

Bible Studies

The Bible Study covering chapters 13-15 is attached.

We are moving through Acts rather quickly, and like a big meal eaten too quickly, sometimes it’s easy for us to underestimate the importance of the things we have just digested.

Dear all,

As promised in my previous update, I am going to share with you some of my thoughts about Workers’ Group next year.

An Intractable Problem

Remember the intractable problem from last year? (If not, go back to the Structure presentation from our retreat last year.) Because of various circumstances, we did not have small group leaders this year. Instead we have to go by with the reporting person structure.

Greetings,

I thought just struck me while I was typing this. One of the things the first 9 chapters of Acts showed is that Jesus is much greater than people have thought thus far. We see him in control of the expansion of the gospel, and no human authority can stop him. Not even the most fervent opponent can resist the authority of Jesus; he was changed to be Jesus’ advocates almost on the spot.

The next Bible Study, on chapters 10-12, is attached. You may like to spend a little bit to time preparing question 1 before you meet (!).

Dear all,

Maybe this time I will discuss the Bible studies first.

It turned out that the previous Bible study on chapter 7 was more difficult than I originally thought. Perhaps I should take this opportunity to discuss the two accusations made against Stephen by the Jews, and his response.

Dear all,

Time goes really quickly, doesn’t it? It was not long ago when we first started meeting, and now it’s the end of March.

Hello,

This update is going to be short.

I would imagine that you would have had your first Bible Study on Acts by now. We saw that Jesus’ plan for his followers was to be his witnesses “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. The plan was given further urgency by the fact that we are now in the “last days” as prophesied by Joel, and the only thing remaining is God’s judgment.

Please continue to pray and think what these all mean in your life.

The second Bible Study, on chapters 3-5, is attached.

By the way, if you happen to have any feedback on the Bible Studies, feel free to call, write, e-mail, etc.

Hello,

Welcome to the New Year. Hopefully you would’ve enjoyed whatever holidays you may have had over the past month or so.

This is my second update for Workers’ Group 2007.

Hello,

I hope you have all recovered from the retreat. It was very wet, but it was very much fun. Some of us stayed up late, but that was partly offset by the long afternoon naps that some of us had.

We studied Titus, looking at what it teaches about the kindness shown by God to us in relation to the salvation we have received, and how we have been saved as a people zealous for good works.

We examined what our aims are for next year, based on what the Bible says about Christian meetings. In short, we aim to:

• reflect the heavenly reality more and more by listening and responding to God’s word

Pray for

Amy, Betty, Eddie, Iris, & Kelvin who will sit for their professional exams in May.

Drew & Nadine, Betty & Matt as they are preparing for weddings & will enter into new stage of their lives.

Feb 25-27, a weekend retreat will be held in Galston Gorge outdoor Recreation Centre, one of the crusaders's conference centre (www.crusaders.edu.au). The conference centre is 30 minutes drive from Epping and is quite newly constructed. We ll start on Friday evening at 8pm and finish on Sunday afternoon 2pm. We will share & discuss about the structure of the Workers' Groups in the coming years.

The focus will be on how the Workers' groups will operate, not so much on what the exact content of small groups. The weekend is planned be a relaxing and refreshing one which we have time with our Lord and time with one another. It will be very helpful if the attendencees be familar with 1Peter beforehand. The cost for 2 night accomodation & meals starting from Friday supper to Saturday lunch is ~$92. 

An early Christmas lunch in Newport Arms Hotel (www.newportarms.com.au) on Dec 4, 1pm.

Following from the previous announcement, there will also be changes in the structures in other fellowship groups in the English Ministry for 2005.

Read on for more details.