If you happen to live in the metro D.C. area, I want to personally (somewhat) invite you to come to any of the sessions of the WorshipGod06 conference, which begins tomorrow. Morning sessions start at 9 AM (Saturday starts at 11 AM) and evening sessions begin at 7 PM. Main session passes will be available at the door for $15 (these passes are
for the main sessions only…they do not include seminars or lunch). Day passes are also available for Thursday and Friday for $60 each. These
passes include main sessions, seminars, and lunch.
Here’s an idea of what will be taking place:
Wednesday night
Jeff Purswell will be speaking on A People of His Presence. Jeff is one my favorite speakers, and one of my best friends. Neither of those are reasons I asked him to speak. He loves God’s Word and is extremely effective at communicating a biblical overview of different topics. The first night of the conference he’ll be describing how from Eden to Heaven, God’s desire is to dwell among a people He has redeemed for Himself.
Thursday morning
Mark Mullery, another one of my favorite speakers, will be helping us see how Christ is our only means of access to God’s presence. Pat Sczebel, one of the leaders on WorshipGod Live, will be leading us in songs of praise that morning.
Thursday night
Craig Cabaniss, yet another one of my favorite speakers (one advantage to leading the conference is inviting my favorite speakers), will be speaking on Celebrating God’s Presence. He will make us aware of how God makes his presence known in the preaching of God’s Word and participation in the Lord’s Supper. Keith and Kristyn Getty will share some songs that night, and my son Devon will be leading the music along with 1Band, the band of the singles ministry at Covenant Life.
Friday morning
I’ll have the privilege of sharing on Pursuing God’s Active Presence. I’ll be speaking from 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 on how God wants us to respond to the Spirit’s working, gifts, and activities when we gather. Joe Stigora, a pastor in the Sovereign Grace church in Philadelphia, will be leading the music with the musicians from his home church. He’s consistently shown thoughtfulness and creativity in his leading over the years.
Friday night
An evening devoted to singing, praying, and hearing God’s Word, seeking to put into practice what I spoke on in the morning session. Afterwards, from 9:30-10:30, Keith and Kristyn will be in concert, singing songs they’ve written that take us through events in the life of Christ.
Saturday morning
Randy Alcorn, who has studied and written on heaven for years, will share on Anticipating God’s Presence. He’ll be focusing on the way thinking about heaven should affect our lives now.
That’s a sample of what will be taking place, with a few surprises to come along the way. If you can’t make it, Tim Challies will be live-blogging the conference. I think that’s a good idea, although he did say on his post today that he used to think that "conferences are a colossal waste of time." I’m glad he’s changed his mind…Actually, Tim wrote a very moving prayer for the conference which you can read here.
If I have time to blog over the next few days, I’ll certainly do it. But that’s a big "if." Besides, I’m sure Tim will say everything much better than I could…
