From Lead Pastor Jim Coston -
We had a great weekend of strong speakers on November 4th through the 6th. Kimlyn Bender led off on Friday night, explaining why questions are part of our faith and how God comes through those. Saturday morning, Carrie Wester spoke about maintaining faith while dealing with mental illness, both for sufferers and their caregivers. Bruce Johnson shared thoughts on how to deal with the problem of evil using art and imagination to see God’s Creation, beauty and mystery. He shared several options that do this for him. Kimlyn Bender offered a biblical perspective of marriage, sex and dating with a strong contrast to the misuse of those by the culture. I shared about the need to exhibit hospitality and welcome as the church reaches out to those who don’t know Jesus, particularly members of the LGBT community. Sam Melvin talked about how to resolve difficult issues within a community of faith and offered that as it relates to the (lessening but still continued) segregation of the Church. Adam Rasmussen shared data from Barna’s surveys of biblical worldviews and Christian leadership. On Sunday, Kimlyn Bender shared about the Bible and its formation. He also preached on Sunday morning, closing out our conference with the Gospel.
We filmed all of the speakers. You can find them on the church YouTube channel and Facebook page. I urge you to watch and listen to these, and to share them.
The point of the conference was to continue our 1 Peter 3:15 (Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are. And always with the utmost courtesy.) theme and equip our congregation for answering questions from non-believers. These sessions do that.
We are a church that wants you to bring your brain with you to worship. We are not afraid of questions because we believe that Jesus has the answers. We want others to ask us about our faith and why we live the way do.
The equipping never stops. Keep asking questions and we will keep seeking answers!
