What a privilege it is to be among you, saints of God, here in Wollongong and Corrimal. Thank you for your warm welcome. I look forward to meeting you and shepherding you over the months and years to come. I came to Wollongong with only half of my family – Veronica, Sophie and myself. I feel like half of me has been cut off, but my three boys, Zac, Sam and Tim, are not far away in reality. They are living together in an apartment in Cabramatta.  

Who am I?

Well, I feel I need to describe myself by the relationships in which God has put me and grown me.

I was born in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to missionary parents, who taught me about God from my first steps. Wanting from a young age to be in Jesus: The Lamb’s Book of Life and not thrown into hell, I prayed for Jesus to be my master when I was about six or seven years old.

During the teenage years, my heart wandered away from Jesus. I wanted to be my own man, not squashed under Jesus’ yoke. But he brought me back to rest in him at a mid-year conference on the Holy Spirit. As I studied the Scriptures and heard the word preached to me, God convicted me that my heart had to be fully committed to Jesus — I couldn’t be half-hearted about following him.

So I submitted myself to Jesus, saying, “Yes, Lord, I trust you with my life. I’m willing to give it all up for you, Jesus.” That is still my prayer every day — that Jesus would so fill my heart… that I would give up my life for him and the gospel. He demands nothing less.

How have I arrived in Wollongong?

I studied to be a journalist and ended up working for the Sydney City Mission in my early twenties. God challenged me through Christian brothers and mentors, like my own brother Darren and Dominic Steele (with whom I helped start Christians in the Media), to consider full-time ministry and start training to be a preacher. Being influenced by Phillip Jensen at UNSW, reading Charles Spurgeon (the great Baptist preacher), and J. I. Packer (author of Knowing God), I was convinced that the greatest need of every human is to hear the word of God preached and to respond in repentance and faith.

I met my wife at Unichurch at UNSW. We were married as I began two years of the Ministry Training Strategy, then Moore College. Then God sent us to Slovenia in Eastern Europe with CMS for fifteen years. We were convinced, and still are, that we have been well trained by faithful gospel preachers here in Sydney, and so we want to share our knowledge and training with people in the world who don’t have that same access to good gospel preaching. That’s most of the world. God sent us to Slovenia, a tiny nation of two million people. It was slow work. Few converts. But we saw God bring Slovenes from death to life, and we saw believers grow into more mature disciples of Christ — and it is thrilling to be a part of God’s mission to the world in these last days.

What am I supposed to do here?

We came back to Australia five years ago to care for my ageing parents and to provide a foundation for our children as they grow into adults. I’ve just buried my dad and mum in the last few months, and Sophie is the only child still at home. It’s been a testing time. We’ve had our share of grief and hardship, but God remains faithful, and the hope of the resurrection of the dead burns deeply in our chests and drives us onwards.

Now God has brought us to Wollongong – to shepherd his flock at Corrimal and 5pm at the cathedral. I also have the pleasure of overseeing the equipping and training of everyone at St Michael’s. This is precisely what Paul says Jesus gives his pastors and teachers for: “…to equip his people for works of service…” (Ephesians 4:12), so that Christ’s body may grow and become mature – more people becoming followers of Jesus and more followers growing in maturity. So I’m stoked to have this as part of my role. I want to see every one of us using every skill and gift that we have to see Christ crucified preached and obeyed in Wollongong and in all the world. And finally, I have the privilege of overseeing our ministries to those getting married, baptised, and grieving the death of a loved one.

Reflections from 1 Peter and Richard Baxter on Shepherding the Flock 

But it’s the responsibility to shepherd God’s flock that looms largest in my vision. It always has been the primary focus of my ministry life. I am preparing to preach now from 1 Peter 5, where Peter exhorts the elders of God’s church: “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care…” Do it not begrudgingly, but willingly; not greedily, but serving others; not with a heavy hand, but being examples to the flock. This is one major task. As I think about shepherding God’s flock, I remember the book The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter, which has had a real influence on my life, reading Baxter during our honeymoon.  

One of the things that stuck with me was that I need to preach my sermons firstly to myself, before preaching to others. Here’s five ways Baxter thinks a pastor should shepherd himself:  

1. Make sure you’re converted before preaching to others 
2. Preach to yourself before preaching to others 
3. Make sure you walk the talk – life and doctrine go together 
4. Don’t live in the sins you preach against 
5. Don’t lack the qualifications essential for a shepherd (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1)  

Here are the primary duties of shepherding the flock according to Baxter:  

1. Labour for the conversion of the unconverted
2. Give answers to seekers who are under conviction of sin
3. Study so you can build up those already in the faith 
4. Exercise careful oversight of families 
5. Be diligent in visiting the sick
6. Be faithful in correcting and admonishing offenders
7. Be careful in exercising church discipline

Please pray for me, that I would apply these things to my own life, and pray for all our shepherds here at St Michael’s and everywhere, that we would carefully shepherd Christ’s flock until he comes again. I am excited to be here and somewhat daunted by the responsibility of shepherding God’s precious flock. But I know him whom I have believed, and he will shepherd his flock through Jesus Christ. So I, like Paul, “…commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

Kingsley Box 
Senior Assistant Minister | Congregational Pastor 10am & 5pm