Why we travelled half-way around the world

Peter Orr

My first encounter with Moore College came in a pastor’s study in a small town in South Eastern Romania named Cernavodã where I was working as a missionary. There was only one English title on his shelf—Graeme Goldsworthy’s Gospel and Kingdom. As I stood at the bookshelf I began to read the introduction, and Graeme’s description of an imaginary sermon on David and Goliath gripped me. As I read, it slowly dawned on me that my default mode of reading Scripture had been to think about what it said about me. But Graeme showed me that the David and Goliath story does not find its fulfilment in me fighting my giants, but in Jesus (God’s anointed king) defeating the ultimate giants of sin, death and the devil. I am ‘in’ the story, not as the hero defeating the giant but as a cowering Israelite who needs rescuing! I later bought my own copy of Graeme’s book, and it had a profound impact on my understanding of the Bible.

A few years later I found myself living in London and attending St Helen’s Bishopsgate. The ministry there was (and still is) resolutely centred on faithfully and comprehensively teaching the Bible. As the Bible was explained from the pulpit and in small groups, we were continually pointed to Jesus. In sermons, Bible study notes and on the bookstall, the books and emphases of Moore College (particularly that of Biblical theology) were stressed and I grew in my appreciation of the college. I was exposed to a completely new (for me) way of understanding the Bible as God’s plan of salvation opened up before me.

As well as a period of encountering God’s word in a fresh way, my time at St Helen’s was when I met my wife Emma—a native of Sydney working and living in London. In time we both ended up on the staff of St Helen’s. After a few years, the next step seemed to be to study at theological college. With Emma’s family in Sydney and my growing appreciation of the college, Moore seemed to be the logical place. So, in 2004 I started in first year at Moore, and what followed were four of the richest and most stimulating years of my life. I am very thankful to the Lord for the privilege to have studied at Moore under such a godly faculty and with so many encouraging classmates. There were many highlights but chapel, with John Woodhouse as he took us through 1 Samuel (including chapter 17 on David and Goliath) pointing us to the person and work of Jesus, particularly stood out.

Following college, I completed a PhD in Durham before returning to Australia to teach at Melbourne School of Theology under Mike Raiter, a former lecturer at Moore. We spent two very happy years in Melbourne and were encouraged to see the great work the Lord is doing there. As such, when the possibility came to return to teach at Moore, although we saw this as a wonderful opportunity, the pull of dear friends and the great need for gospel work in Melbourne made the decision to come back a difficult one.

In the end, though, we did return to Sydney and I began teaching at Moore in 2014 as a member of the NT department. It has been and remains a real joy to work with such a wonderful faculty and to teach students who are so hungry to learn and grow. One of the subjects I have the privilege of teaching is Biblical Theology, and I smile to myself every time we come to 1 Samuel 17 and think about how to correctly interpret and apply the account of David and Goliath!