Together for the Gospel!

Just had to write something in here to tell you all about our staff's time at a conference in Kentucky called Together for the Gospel. We all piled in a 15 passenger van and SUV to make the road trip ti Louisville, KY! The ride was long, but not boring...one fun thing about our staff team is that my twin sister Emily works at Presbyterian College with her husband so I get to hang with her! Of course I loved that :)

Upon arriving, we all went out to dinner together like one big family, which I also am so thankful for, and settled in for the week. This conference was specifically designed for pastors- about 7,000 of them! People were everywhere. And the coolest thing was that they were all there for the same purpose- to hear what it really means to preach an Unadjusted Gospel! That was the theme this year: The UNADJUSTED GOSPEL. As we all worshipped together (we were pretty much the youngest there), I thought of heaven, where we will all worship God together, finally seeing Him face to face.

My favorite talk of the conference was by Pastor John Piper, and if you know me, you know he is my favorite. He talked about justification, which is the act of God declaring a sinner (all of us in this world) not guilty but righteous in His eyes. Thats a crazy concept- that if youre a Christian, youre covered in Jesus's righteousness- when God looks at me, He accepts me not based on anything I've done, but on what Christ has done (lived a perfect life and sacrificed Himself) and God sees me clothed in Christ. Thats so freeing! It's not about me!

Anyways, John Piper talked about that in a very deep sermon, where I was challenged with the thought- what do I base my right standing with God on? On my transformation, my changed life? On being a good person? Or on JESUS Himself?? Am I looking to my goodness to save me?

Piper gave 7 points at the end of his talk, and the one I really loved was point 2 and 3-

2. Nothing We Do Is Basis for God’s Acceptance

3.Our Standing with God Is Based on Jesus, Not Us

I left challenged- Its not about me! Its all about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

I cant tell you how thankful I am to get to go to this conference!! It made me so excited about the future of the Church, where God might call me, and confirmed even more that where I am is where I need to be.

This past week my grandmother died- my dad's mom. We've lost all 4 grandparents in the last 4 years....it really makes me think of death, change, and rely on God. It makes me think of the verse in 2 Corinthians that says...."Thought outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary struggles are achieving for us an eternal glory which far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen- for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."