Together 4 the Gospel Reflections

I am grateful to RBC for allowing me to go to the conference Together 4 the Gospel last week in Louisville. The trip was a huge blessing in many ways, not the least of which was the connection I had with the five other men in attendance. We love Jesus more and love one another more as a result of the trip. Anyways, here are four highlights from T4G 2012:

1. Evidences of Grace

Spencer has wisdom from God and his humility in leadership allows for God to do great things though him and our whole body. Darien has the ability to lead in the church well and make theologically informed decisions that practically benefit the church. Wayne loves Jesus and the people of Jesus and helps the people of Jesus become more like Jesus. Drew understands what true worship is and always looks for ways for God to get more glory out of his music leadership. Tim is always looking to grow as he serves above and beyond what the normal non-staff member would.

2. David Platt

The message from David Platt, as the others will share, was the best sermon of the conference and is really a must-listen for everyone who was not at the conference. Platt called the church to greater trust in the sovereignty of God, which will inevitably result in a desire to reach the unreached with the gospel of Jesus.

3. Church Membership

Mark Dever taught on the danger of false converts in the church body. His message was great, but an indirect theme from this message (and several others) was membership. RBC has taken steps to better the process of membership, but more ought to be taken. Not only should we take steps to push those who are not members into membership, we need to hold those who are members to a high level of holiness and service.

4. Simplicity in Worship

I am grateful that our church has so many people who have musical abilities and talents. Our Easter service was a demonstration of this and a great service of praise to Jesus. At T4G, all music time consisted of: one musician on stage, one piano, and 8,000 people singing. And it was fantastic. God can certainly be worshipped in big productions, but maybe even better in less. With less ‘extras’ the focus was on the content of the songs and the worship of Jesus. I’m not trying to say RBC should always sing a capella, but I was struck by how less instruments, less people, and less production resulted in greater focus on Jesus and on content in singing. And my heart was moved deeply in these times by the Spirit.

Week In Review: Top Ten

10. Bucks Game--I went to the Milwaukee Bucks game and (courtesy of a friend) sat five rows from the court. Very exciting being that close--and the Bucks won.

9. Meeting with Roger--One of the highlights of my week is meeting with another guy leader from my Sunday night class and sharing Christ with them. This week I met with Roger Crum. This guy is a godly dude! He really encouraged me to love Jesus more.

8. ABF--TK taught high school class on Sunday and did an excellent job breaking down the difference between godly wisdom and worldly wisdom. He showed us how often the wisdom of the world slips into our thinking without us even noticing.

7. Youth Group--This last week in youth group, our small group broke down differences we have with people and how they keep us from loving people like Christ wants us to.

6. Dinner at Purdy's--I went over to the new restaurant in Sturtevant: Luann's Kitchen. She taught me how to make lasagna, and even better, I got to sample the lasagna she made.

5. Sleepover--Friday night, eight high school guys spent the night at the house. Three quick hits: We had an NBA Jam tournament, the guys ordered pizza that got delivered at 1:45am, and Goose and I went out and got Munchkins for breakfast.

4. Joe's Play--Saturday afternoon we got to see Joe Laumann star as the lead in a production of Schoolhouse Rock.

3. Christian Birthday--Highlight: I got to celebrate the third birthday of Christian Beilgard. Lowlight: He cried when others blew out the candles on his birthday cake.

2. Discussion on Care--Sunday night in class, we discussed how to confront others and how to care for others. I learned a ton about how to better handle difficult situations from some very wise people in youth ministry. Correcting others is a sensitive issue and starts as we daily confront sin in our own life.

1. Prayer and Fasting--Last Friday, a dozen high schoolers fasted from food for the day and spent the day praying for the youth group. It was such a blessing to see these students give up their Friday night to pray for their peers to seek the Lord's face.