Ever sat through a two and a half hour sermon?

I haven’t—and the AnCon team isn’t crazy enough to give us that task. But coming up at AnCon, faculty staff and Howies have been given 2.5 hours (across three sessions) to teach on the book of Exodus!

My name is Hamish and this is the second year of my apprenticeship with the Sydney Uni EU, working with Business and Law students. I’d love to tell you about how we’re preparing to teach!

Ready?

The first step in the teaching process has been personal reading and reflection on our three passages. This year, they have been chosen for us: Exodus chapters 6, 19, and 40.

The chance to teach as part of my Howieship is always one I jump at. There’s the obvious trepidation:

What will I say?
How do I apply an Old Testament book to a room of uni students?
50 minutes is way too long!
50 minutes is way too short with everything I realise I want to say!!
But there’s an excitement too.

Set…

We brought all our fears and excitement together for three training days at Barneys after Semester 1 wrapped up. Having already spent some time analysing the text ourselves, our focus shifted to how we would teach it as a series, and how it all points to Jesus.

Over the three days, we moved from explanation to interpretation to application.

Afterwards, we consolidated all that work and began writing each talk in full. The Howies spent a few days up in the Blue Mountains as part of a writing retreat.

It was a cosy spot, surrounded by tall fir trees, a crackling fire, and hearty meals together. We lived and breathed Exodus over those days.

Go!

Before we broke for the holidays, we gave our staff team leaders a full run-through of our talk seminars. It was essentially a dress rehearsal, and with the feedback we received, we are refining our talks even further.

Then, from July 28th to August 1st, the real thing!

My prayer has been that God would strengthen us by his power to teach Exodus well, and that I would not be motivated by commendation but by a genuine love for my students—and for God, who desires to dwell with us.

This old devotional from Arthur Bennett’s The Valley of Vision has been on my lips as I prepare to teach:

O GOD,

I know that I often do thy work
without thy power,
and sin by my dead, heartless, blind service,
my lack of inward light, love, delight,
my mind, heart, tongue moving
without thy help.
…
It is my deceit to preach, and pray,
and to stir up others’ spiritual affections
in order to beget commendations,
whereas my rule should be daily
to consider myself more vile than any man
in my own eyes.
But thou dost show thy power by my frailty,
so that the more feeble I am,
the more fit to be used,
for thou dost pitch a tent of grace
in my weakness.

You might like to pray this for us also!

– Hamish Noble, Howard Guinness Project 2024-2025