Ministry Update
April 2024
Dear Ministry Partners,
Happy Season of Resurrection to you all, dear friends. May the Lord richly establish you in His will and covenant faithfulness. Here's what's been going on in Vienna recently.
Happy Season of Resurrection to you all, dear friends. May the Lord richly establish you in His will and covenant faithfulness. Here's what's been going on in Vienna recently.
The Lord adds to the Number
In the past few months, the Lord has been kind to add to our number of those who are being saved (Acts 2:47).
We were honored to see a young woman baptized in our midst. It was a special privilege for me to preach to her friends and family. Most of them came from a Roman Catholic background, and some remarked on how earnestly we spoke of sin and the need for Christ's sacrifice. Please pray that these evangelistic relationships will bear fruit.
She encountered the Christian faith in the past few years and found our church online shortly after the pandemic. It was a privilege to disciple her and see her grow in the knowledge of the Scriptures and submit to the Lord in baptism. She permitted me to share a written copy of her testimony translated into English. Maybe some of you would be interested to click here.
Recently, the Lord has also brought two others into our midst who are on their way to baptism. Firstly, a young Viennese man who encountered the Christian faith during severe illness and a young lady from Switzerland who encountered Christ before moving to Vienna for her studies.
We were honored to see a young woman baptized in our midst. It was a special privilege for me to preach to her friends and family. Most of them came from a Roman Catholic background, and some remarked on how earnestly we spoke of sin and the need for Christ's sacrifice. Please pray that these evangelistic relationships will bear fruit.
She encountered the Christian faith in the past few years and found our church online shortly after the pandemic. It was a privilege to disciple her and see her grow in the knowledge of the Scriptures and submit to the Lord in baptism. She permitted me to share a written copy of her testimony translated into English. Maybe some of you would be interested to click here.
Recently, the Lord has also brought two others into our midst who are on their way to baptism. Firstly, a young Viennese man who encountered the Christian faith during severe illness and a young lady from Switzerland who encountered Christ before moving to Vienna for her studies.
Teaching Church History
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take any pictures from the class, but here is a screenshot of the zoom session from my first lecture.
Much of my efforts in March were directed toward teaching church history for our joint apprenticeship with New City Wien, a friendly English-speaking Presbyterian church.
Our elders-in-training participate in this program along with several male and female ministry leaders from New City Wien. The class size is approximately 20 people.
The students have covered hermeneutics, New Testament and Old Testament overview, systematic theology, and church history. Through this curriculum, we aim to better equip the students with a functional knowledge for ministry as elders, children's ministry teachers, and small group leaders. The level of instruction is somewhat comparable to an undergraduate class. (The students even have to take exams!)
My task was to teach church history from an Austrian viewpoint, and that was an easy task for the first millennia and a half, but after 1517, I had to research how the Christian faith developed in this setting.
Our elders-in-training participate in this program along with several male and female ministry leaders from New City Wien. The class size is approximately 20 people.
The students have covered hermeneutics, New Testament and Old Testament overview, systematic theology, and church history. Through this curriculum, we aim to better equip the students with a functional knowledge for ministry as elders, children's ministry teachers, and small group leaders. The level of instruction is somewhat comparable to an undergraduate class. (The students even have to take exams!)
My task was to teach church history from an Austrian viewpoint, and that was an easy task for the first millennia and a half, but after 1517, I had to research how the Christian faith developed in this setting.
New Ministry: Core Seminars
We started up our ministry of core seminars on Sunday morning. In some churches, you might refer to this as Sunday School. For our first series of lectures, Kai and I taught about the ordinary means of grace and spiritual disciplines. We covered things like Bible reading, prayer, meditation, the Lord's Day, the Lord's Supper, and receiving the preached Word. Borrowing the language of Jerry Bridges, I referred to these as Disciplines of Grace to highlight God's care for us in providing for us and also our responsibility to strive after godliness (1 Timothy 4:7-8).
Our next set of core seminars will explore biblical manhood and womanhood starting this Sunday!
Our next set of core seminars will explore biblical manhood and womanhood starting this Sunday!
One Sunday morning, I forgot my keys, so we had to wait an extra 5 minutes for Kai to let us in so that the class could begin!
I am so thankful for all your prayers and support for the ministry in Vienna. I pray and trust that the Lord richly blesses you for your fellowship in the gospel and participation in the work.
Your brother in Christ,
Matthew
Your brother in Christ,
Matthew
