Greetings from New
Jersey!
After driving for 12
hours on the first day, and 3 hours on the next, we made it here. The girls
were excellent on the trip, and very excited to be here!
I am spending the
summer interning at Pompton Plains Reformed
Bible Church.
We are staying in
the Ministry House, which is the old manse behind the church. We are well
catered for here, and the congregation has made us feel very welcome. There
were a number of meals waiting for us, and the house was all ready for us when
we arrived.
Initially I was
scheduled to preach on the Sunday evening after our arriving (We arrived on
Wednesday evening). But Pastor Kuiken was unwell, and so I took the two morning
services. My partner-in-crime from Seminary Aaron graciously agreed to do the
evening services. They were due to spend the weekend with us, as they were
waiting for their apartment in Jersey City to become available.
Aaron is doing an
internship with Pastors Murphy and Perez from Messiah's Reformed Fellowship in
New York City. I had joked with him previously about doing a pulpit swap,
little did I realize that I would be calling him and asking him for real!
All of the Sermons
that I will preach here will be on Sermon Audio. You can find all the Sermons
preached at Pompton Plain at this link from Sermon Audio. (For my sermons you
can simply search at the same site for my name as speaker).
It has been a busy
introduction. Pastor Kuiken was away during the first week. The week was spent
visiting, and preparing for Sunday. We had two members of the Church pass away,
as well as another member who had a serious fall that required Spinal Surgery,
so it was a very busy week. A good introduction into Pastoral Ministry.
Due to the large
number of members they have two morning services. These are exactly the same,
just to two different groups of people. It is a little funny to be preaching
the same message twice, but I remind myself that the second group has not heard
the message yet.
I am enjoying the
challenge of preaching. The nerves are still there, but they are decreasing
down to a healthy nervousness. The congregation here are incredibly
encouraging. I've been told that I need to slow down a little bit more, and so
I am working on that.
I found very quickly
in class that when I read a full manuscript it kills my facial and body
expressions. I also look like a chicken! (Imagine a chicken picking feed off
the ground, and you get the picture!). So I am preaching with an outline of two
pages. This seems to be going much better, and as I get more comfortable in the
pulpit I am sure that this will continue to improve. There is so much to learn,
and it is exciting to think that I still have another two years of Seminary to
learn more.
We are also enjoying
the local YMCA. They provide free memberships for Pastors and their families,
and as a Pastoral Intern we qualify for this as well. So we are enjoying
swimming, and exercise classes. The two younger girls will also be able to have
swimming lessons as well.
So we are blessed.
We are humbled with the Lord's continual provision for our lives. We are
enjoying the privilege of being involved in a congregation's lives. We are
weeping with those who are weeping and rejoicing with those who are rejoicing.
It's going to be hard to leave here!
Have a blessed week,
Albert
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