Together 4 The Gospel

As Allen and Tim have already mentioned I too want to thank you for sending the staff to the Together 4 the Gospel conference.

For those of you unfamiliar with the conference this is a conference that meets every other year in Louisville, Kentucky. There are a group of four men (thus the play on 4 in the name) who have put together a program to encourage and bless pastors of local churches. The four men are Mark Dever, Albert Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and CJ Mahaney. They each invite another speaker to present a message, so that we have eight messages from top church leaders. This year the additional speakers were; John MacArthur, John Piper, RC Sproul, and Thabiti Anyabwile. The four who put this conference on do so to: bless local pastors through the messages they give; gathering thousands of pastors and church leaders (this year there were about 7,000 in attendance) for fellowship with each other; and by providing several hundred dollars worth of free, good books to everyone who registers for the conference. On top of those things, just getting away as a staff team for time to build our relationships was very helpful. We were able to talk and plan ministry without the immediate daily pressures of shepherding the congregation. (Huge thanks to the administrative team who stayed behind and the elders who were here to shepherd the flock in our absence.)

This year the theme of the conference was the "Unadjusted Gospel." We were encouraged with the power of the pure gospel (Romans 1:16) and reminded of the calling we have as both believers and as leaders to live in the power of that pure gospel. The speakers addressed issues such as: the church's role in living out and displaying the gospel to the world (Ephesians 3:10); types of pressure to adjust the gospel (modern and postmodern worldviews, aesthetic pressures, therapeutic pressures, pragmatic pressures, etc.); what they had learned in 50 years of ministry; and several other topics.

Being with thousands of local pastors was a tremendous encouragement to me personally. There were thousands of young men who are serving local churches, and committed to keep the gospel clear and to present the truths of Scripture to their congregations week in and week out. I loved the messages and being encouraged to both remember and hold to the gospel by the speakers. Along with that reminder, the interaction with our staff team and with other pastors who were thinking through how to apply what we heard to our situations particularly was powerful. I believe the investment you made as a church will bear great rewards for CPC and for Howard County. Thank you.

Steve