For the fifth year running I travelled from rural Northumberland to the North-West of England for the ‘God’s Glory our Joy’ Conference and once again the fellowship, ministry and worship were thought provoking, heart warming and extremely challenging.
The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Engaging with God’ and it started on the Friday afternoon with a session for church leaders entitled ‘Walking with God’. Alec Taylor talked about the danger of people being involved in a lot of activity for God but having little or no communion with God. Communication is key to a close walk with God. We need to set time aside for regular communion with God. David, Daniel and the Lord Jesus himself all rose early to spend time with God the Father. Prayer needs to be a way of life for all church leaders, they need to ponder and meditate on the Word of God and be prepared to wait upon the Lord. Desire and discipline are critical if they are to maintain a close walk with God.
2007 Conference sermons now available. Listen on-line or download the MP3 sermons.
The God’s Glory, our Joy conference which this year was held in Warrington with a theme of learning from our Christian heritage.
The conference had started on the Friday afternoon with a session for church leaders, followed by an open session in the evening when Oliver Allmand-Smith from Ramsbottom was speaking on The Puritan Family – A Treasure Untold. Using the example of Samuel Sewell (1652-1730) who lived in New England and was out-lived by only 3 of his 14 children, Oliver asked why he, and others of that period, were fundamentally happy in their family lives when, by our standards, their lives were so terrible? He gave us three reasons: they shared the worthy goal of the pursuit of God’s glory; they exulted love as the fundamental means; and they established an honourable structure. He pointed out that the reformers had rescued the family from the distortions of the medieval church; today the family is under attack from different directions and it seemed to me that there was apologetic value in the material presented here.
Saturday morning was opened by Stephen Rees on Guarding the Deposit – Confessions then and now.
2006 Conference sermons now available. Listen on-line or download the MP3 sermons.
For the fifth year running I travelled from rural Northumberland to the North-West of England for the ‘God’s Glory our Joy’ Conference and once again the fellowship, ministry and worship were thought provoking, heart warming and extremely challenging.