Wow! What a wonderful conference and time away we had last week. I am so grateful to God for C.J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, Al Mohler, and Ligon Duncan and their desire to serve pastors and churches and to encourage unity in the gospel. Their friendship and togetherness in the gospel, even though they hold a vast array of doctrinal positions, is such an encouragement to me and many others.
I want to seek to briefly summarize some of the highlights of the conference in hopes that you are encouraged in your faith in some small way. All of the conference messages are worth downloading and listening to here, but especially John Piper’s message, John MacArthur’s, R.C. Sproul’s and C.J. Mahaney’s.
I’m coming away from the conference with a few things (I could write more but for brevity’s sake, I’ll confine my comments to only a few):
- I’m so grateful for the friendships I have with the other pastors at KingsWay and other churches (both in and outside of Sovereign Grace). We had much rich fellowship as well as fun with each other. The friendships we share are a gift from God.
- I’m freshly grateful for how God saved me. John MacArthur’s message on “Total Inability” reminded me that due to my sin nature, I was not able to come to God. God acted on me first. What wonderful, humbling, Biblical truth!
- I was challenged to pray and consider what God-glorifying, risk-taking, sacrificial life and ministry should look like through John Piper’s preaching. The reward of Christ and reality that he suffered for us should encourage us to suffer with joy. I believe God is calling me to faithfully befriend my neighbors and to live in such a way that our ungodly culture does not influence me. He is calling me to step out and take “risks” for the kingdom - whether boldly speaking the gospel to someone or serving a neighbor.
If you would like to read more about the conference, visit www.t4g.org or www.challies.com .
- Steve
0 Responses to “Together for the Gospel Highlights”