“An insatiable appetite for the Word”, with Sarah Mattock

Sarah grew up in a non-Christian family and as a result was initially hard-hearted towards Christianity. She was first introduced to Jesus as a teenager when she became friends with two Christians who would regularly talk about their faith. This led Sarah to do some investigating of her own which grew in her “an insatiable appetite for the Word”. 

You will now find Sarah and her “insatiable appetite for the Word” studying a Graduate Diploma of Divinity at Trinity.

“Initially I was quite hard-hearted and didn’t really want to know anything about Jesus. Over time, the Spirit softened my heart and I was in a place where I was willing to read the Bible for myself. I went through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and was really interested. Over a process of about six to eight months, I asked a lot of questions of my two Christian friends. The conclusion I came to was that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, and he died for my sins and rose again and offers me eternal life,” Sarah explained.

After becoming a Christian in Year 11, Sarah was discipled by the school chaplain and diligently prayed for God to provide her with a faithful church to attend. God directed her to Mundaring Church of Christ where she has attended since and served faithfully for eleven years.

“People trained me along the way as I really knew nothing. I was very new to reading the Bible, prayer and just being part of Christian community. The church was amazing and the brothers and sisters there just took me along that journey,” she shared.

At the end of 2021, after prayerful consideration with her husband and a lot of encouragement from others, Sarah decided to leave her nursing job to do a Ministry Training Strategy (MTS) apprenticeship at Mundaring Church of Christ with Chris and Angela Metcalf. Sarah thoroughly enjoyed her MTS experience and came out of the two years of training still considering ministry as an option for her. 

Sarah started studying at Trinity during her MTS apprenticeship in 2022, doing one subject a semester which put her on a path to complete a Graduate Diploma. She plans to have finished her studies by the end of 2025. 

When reflecting on her choice to study at Trinity Sarah shares, “I just wanted to be in God’s Word and understand God’s Word. I want to better understand God’s plan for the world and how Jesus fits into the whole Bible.”

Sarah had two options for where she could study and get the theological education she desired. To assist in the decision process, she spoke to a few people who had studied at both of her options but she ultimately chose Trinity as it’s a reformed and evangelical college.

“I landed on Trinity because it is reformed and evangelical, and equips you really well for ministry and understanding God’s Word. I knew a lot of the community that went there as well so that was really important for me to be able to journey alongside people,” Sarah said. 

“I’d seen the fruit of people who had studied at Trinity as well. There were some people in my church who had studied there and their understanding of God’s Word was really true, right and good. The practical implications of that came out in good teaching, understanding and applying God’s Word well to his people.”

This year Sarah “wears three different hats”; she works two days as a nurse, one day doing volunteer student ministry work, and one day studying at Trinity. 

“I think God continues to grow me in my understanding of his holiness, goodness, and my depth of understanding in his plan for the world and how I fit into it. My desire to live for the Lord has grown immensely as we look at and appreciate his Word,” she shared. 

Sarah would recommend anyone wanting to study theology to consider Trinity. “The application is great for both ministry contexts, but also non-ministry contexts,” she said. “Even if you never do ministry in a formal capacity, just having that foundation of understanding God’s Word, being able to apply it to your life and those around you, is fantastic. You would also find a lot of growth in your love of the Lord, love of the Word and desire to continue to make disciples in your context.”