Pastor Kai and I had a surprising month of September which significantly impacted our ministry plans. Kai went in for a routine check-up for his eyes and found out that his retina had detached itself. Before this happened to Kai, I was unaware that retina detachments were even a thing! After the initial surgery, Kai had to lay on his stomach for 2 weeks with some additional recovery time after that. Since Kai was unable to preach for most of September, I wound up preaching 4 out of 5 Sundays from late August until late September.

On the positive side, I was delighted to have so many opportunities to preach God's Word. At the same time, as the phase of my trial period comes to an end, I am again reminded of my limitations. Lina and I did several experiments with time management, and I also tried some different tactics in my sermon preparation methodology. Some were successful, while others we/I will probably not try again.

In God's unfathomable providence, that meant that our entire church calendar was put on hold as we went into a kind of survival mode. It was somehow fitting that my final sermon during this time was a famous passage in James where he writes, "Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that" (James 4,15). We do our level best to plan our way, but God will finally determine our steps.

Please join us in giving thanks to the Lord for how He preserved our church and her ministry in a time of reduced resources. Also, please pray that the Lord would grant continued healing for Kai and strength to resume his labors. He still suffers from eye pain while reading.

James Series
Since I last wrote, I was able to deliver 5 sermons to our congregation and 4 of those were on James. Therefore, I am happy to report that we have progressed to the end of chapter 4, and we have our final three James sermons after my return from the US in November. Up to this point, I think that this book has profoundly ministered to us as a church. We have been exhorted and encouraged to be people of one mind who are wholly devoted to serving and obeying the Lord. Please pray that this book would continue to minister to all of our people and they would in turn be faithful representatives of Christ in Vienna.

Divine Aseity and Infinity
Fitting to our last sermon from James where we discussed our absolute dependence on God (James 4:13-17), I also had the opportunity to deliver an address on God's aseity (independence) and infinity. The juxtaposition of God's independence on Wednesday followed by the teaching of our dependence on the following Sunday served to drive home the point that God is not like us, and we desperately need Him. At Spurgeon's behest, we have been steadily teaching about God's attributes at our monthly prayer meetings in order to prepare our hearts for prayer. Please join our prayer and pray that God would use these prayer meetings and that they would be well attended for the glory of God.

Church Membership
I am very thankful for our prospective church members. In light of Kai's illness and our prep time, they have been patiently waiting for both our membership courses as well as baptism and covenanting appointments. However, Kai and I were able to deliver 3/5 of our sessions on church membership prior to things being put on hold. I am happy to report that the sessions went well, and I am confident that this membership course will serve to better prepare new members for the privileges and responsibilities of church membership at Christus Gemeinde Wien. Please pray for wisdom for Kai and me as we discern what to communicate in our final 2 sessions on the congregation's confession and covenant.

My family is taking off for the United States on October 18th and we will return on November 18th. This is a brief furlough this year, but I am thankful that we will be able to return quickly in order to resume the work of the ministry here.

If you are in the Upstate of South Carolina, I would enjoy the opportunity to see you from November 3rd until our departure on the 18th.

If you are in Minneapolis/St. Paul, I am unfortunately only in town for about a week, but please email me if you have time to connect between October 22nd and November 1st.

Our time in South Sioux City will be especially brief, but I am excited to share the gospel and some news of our ministry there. If you'd like to connect with the church where I will be preaching, please send me a message as well.