learning how to
teach and preach
Recent Posts
The Psalms and Pastoral Visits
I have had the privilege of visiting several people in hospital recently. I think there are three launch pads for bringing the gospel into situations where people are experiencing suffering, and perhaps a heightened sense of their mortality: The Scriptures generally, the Psalms specifically, and the Book of Common Prayer (especially The Ministry to the Sick, Page 576 following). It is important not simply to pray for healing but to confront the realities of suffering and the gospel shape of sin, rescue, and the hope our inheritance, life with and through Jesus Christ. I teach and pray through several Psalms, most recently 57, “… in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I take refuge.” Of course, the Psalms minister to me as much as those to whom I am ministering!
End of the Year Lunch
This past Thursday we celebrated the past year of ministry with an outstanding lunch. It was a great time to fellowship with current interns, as well as spend some time with recent and past graduates. As a current intern I always appreciate spending time with people who’ve walked a similar path as myself and are now a few steps ahead. It was a great way to wrap up the year. We all left with a sense of gratitude for the past year and a sense of excitement about the year ahead.
My graduation prayer request
Hi. My name is Keith Ganzer and I am about to complete a two-year internship with Artizo at St. John’s Shaughnessy Anglican Church in Vancouver. My years of training with Artizo have involved a range of activities – from children’s Sunday School to men’s ministry to pastoral care and more – and has always included preaching the Word. The skills acquired and friendships developed along the way will be invaluable assets for future ministry. There are many wonderful memories of my time in Artizo: seeing children come to understand something of the holiness of God from Exodus, exploring the depths of Christ’s love in an Ephesians Bible study, visiting with some of the elderly saints of St. John’s and learning of the joy of the Lord in their lives. As I complete my internship along with others who have served these last years, please pray for the Lord’s direction as we seek opportunities for future ministry. Pray for an increase in our love for God as we push further into his love for us. I have been encouraged by the training and support I have received from Artizo; I know many others will be in the future. Please pray with me that Artizo will continue to thrive and grow as a training base for future leaders of the church of Jesus Christ.
A trip to The Gospel Coalition in Chicago
What a privilege it was for us to spend a few days together as a group in Chicago. The Gospel Coalition exposed us to faithful and inspiring teaching of the Bible. Highlights included Tim Keller and Scotty Smith, who taught on idoltary and a Biblical theology of worship, respectivity. It was also a time for us to grow closer as a group, and for this I am very grateful.
Last weeks of Artizo
I felt that in Chicago Tim Keller gave me some food for thought. He said unless we bring the Gospel to bare on peoples’ idols, we will never see them tranformed by the saving work of Jesus. One thing I will miss the most after I’m done is the weekly Artizo meetings. After months of ministering together we are truly friends. We truly enjoy one another and it will be heard to replace that kind of support and comradery.
Preachers need prayer partners
As a graduated intern and new Anglican clergy I have been learning a lot about preaching and am now feeling like I can look back on some of my training in this area from the place of experience: both what seems to work (in prep) and what doesn’t. I have become convinced that prayer really helps (no surprise!). What I mean is that the more people who are specifically praying for me for the particular text I’m working on that week, the better. I wonder sometimes if I should pull together a team of prayer partners who I can advise each week, and ask for prayer. Does anybody do this? Is this something that should be ad hoc?
Strategies for working on a sermon
I also find it helpful to talk with people throughout the week about the passage, rather than working on it exclusively in isolation. Does anybody have any strategies for working with others on the sermon text during the week?
1:1 mentoring
I consider it a great joy and privilege to meet with the interns, to share their lives, to partner with them and see them grow over one or two years in their internship. Every intern gets 1 hour of 1:1 time with the trainer. Every 1:1 is different because their lives and ministries are different. We’ll talk about what has been happening in the ministries that they are involved in, we’ll sometimes talk through a sermon they delivered the previous week. We also talk about families and walk through discussion papers. Every intern also gets to meet with the senior Rector, for example, at St. John’s Shaughness, the interns will meet with David Short one hour per week.
Read full article on Artizo Mentoring
Setting my heart on fire for the Gospel
There are three pieces in my mind and heart when I think about how I prepare for opportunties to share the Gospel with people that I meet in different contexts, and with our neighbours. The first is the text in 1 Peter 3 that speaks about always being prepared to give an account for the faith, to make a defense for the gospel when you are called to give an account, but also with care for the person and reverence for Christ in our hearts. The second part is being personally ready at any moment and that readiness really comes from praying. The third thing is the ongoing fellowship of other Christians to help make us ‘hot’ and set our hearts on fire for the joy of evangelism. The thing that wraps the whole package together for me is a growing understanding of the Gospel itself. I find that ongoing deepening understanding of the Gospel is the one thing that holds me and motivates me to move forward in this task. That’s why the Artizo internships are so valuable because the interns are not just hearing the Gospel they are immersed in ministry. There is nothing more exciting than seeing God at work through His Gospel!
Learning how to preach
I came from a charismatic background that tended to focus its preaching on experience and relied on the preacher’s ability to make something happen. Artizo gave me the liberty to see God at the center and confidence in His Word. I would not be able to continue to preach if I only knew the model I grew up in. The training made me a leader, a learner and an observer of the text. I got to watch. Watching David Short engage with the text was very helpful. Particularly being able to watch him be a learner. I saw that being immersed in the Word is the engine room for ministry.
Voices
St. John's Shaughnessy 08/09 intern, preaching, men's ministry, pastoral care, evangelism
St. John's Shaughnessy 08/09 intern: preaching, small group leader, service leading, worship leading
Sean Love started the Richmond church plant after he graduated from Artizo. St. John's Richmond is now an Artizo training centre.
Artizo Trainer Rev. Eric Thurston
Canon David Short is the Rector of St. John's Shaughnessy. He is actively involved in teaching preaching at various institutions and seminars worldwide.
Rev. Jim Salladin was an 04/05 Artizo intern and now leads the evening service at St. John's Shaughnessy Church in Vancouver
St. Johns Shaughnessy 08/09 intern: Women@10, preaching, Christian Teens Club, 1-1 discipleship, pastoral care
Toronto Bible study Preaching Prison ministry
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