Yesterday the pastoral staff, along with one other gentleman from our church, got back from the national conference of Ligonier Ministries. The theme was The Holiness of God.  We are so thankful for a church body and elder leadership that allows us to attend such conferences so that we can be fed and, as a result, better feed the the souls of those under our care.
Mr. Joe Capozzi:Prior to attending the Ligonier Conference, I always considered that I had a high view of God. Well, hearing from these men and their description of God through The Word, has elevated my present understanding to an even higher level. Oh, how I now revere God and His Holiness! The Friday morning sessions were the most special, as Sinclair Ferguson, Steve Lawson and Alistair Begg, proclaimed Hallowed Be Your Name: The Holiness of the Father; The Holy One of God: The Holiness of Jesus; and The Breath of the Almighty: The Holy Spirit; all in rapid succession. Magnificent!I don’t want to leave out RC Sproul’s “I Am The Lord, There is No Other”. Even the Q&A sessions were inspiring. I’m so glad that I attended the conference – The Lord knows that I needed to hear about Him in this way, especially during such a trying time, now that I’m unemployed for the past four months.
Pastor Nick Jones:Conferences are always hard to describe afterward. You get to travel to another city, meet many new people, and take a break from your daily routine. In this sense, it seems like a vacation. But then you have the other side. At this year’s Ligonier Conference, we had seventeen sessions spread out over three days. You start out early and end late; when you’re not sitting in a session, you’re waiting in line for the bathroom or food, and there is very little “free time.” In this sense, while it’s not work, you’re often more tired after the conference than before! Nevertheless, it was well worth it, mainly because of what happened during those seventeen meeting times. The speakers were not just salesmen or businessmen giving the latest updates or news on gadgets, but they were instead pastors and teachers who care very much for the Church and for us. Most of them didn’t just teach, they preached, and with that God moved in great and many ways. Again and again we were taught, hammered, and massaged with the theme of this year’s conference: the holiness of God. It was so devastating and encouraging to be shown anew the greatness of our God. His holiness calls for, inspires, demands, and even enables our complete love and affection throughout every facet of our lives. In this sense, the conference was a magnificent grace of our Redeemer, and I thank you so much for letting us take part.Pastor Paul Tessari:The Ligonier‚Äôs Conference was outstanding on many levels. From a biblical prospective I learned much about the Holiness of God. R.C. Sproul‚Äôs sermon entitled ‚ÄúI am the Lord, There is No Other‚Äù was a reminder to me of the transcendent Holiness of God and that He is worthy to be worshiped. In an evangelical culture where God is often painted as a “buddy,” this conference exalted the Lord to His rightful place as Creator, Redeemer, exalted Father, Son, and Spirit. It increased my reverence for a Holy God and caused me to wonder again at the words, ‚ÄúI saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple‚ĶHoly, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory‚Äù (Isa. 6:1-3).From a ministry perspective I was challenged to spend more time in the Word learning about this wonderful God in order that I might paint this picture to all who will listen. The preaching was so outstanding that I was also challenged to be a better communicator of the Word‚Äîto preach with powerful simplicity.
From a fellowship perspective I had the joy of getting to know Pastor Nick‚Äôs humility as he kindly put others before himself … Joe Capozzi’s ministering to us daily in renting a car and driving us wherever we needed to go … and Pastor Matt‚Äôs leadership as he organized much of what we did. It was wonderful to see the same Spirit of God moving in believers in such a way that you could sit down next to perfect strangers and feel as though you‚Äôve known them all your life.
Finally, while sitting in a Wendy‚Äôs eating lunch after the conference and pondering the awesomeness of our God, engaged in biblical discussion, we had the joy and privilege to meet Jeff. Jeff (who was in a wheel chair), was sitting next to us as we began to eat. We noticed that he lingered much longer than those around us as we continued in our discussions. Upon finishing eating and getting up from the table Jeff said to us, ‚ÄúThank you guys‚Ķ‚Äù to which we replied, ‚ÄúFor what??‚Äù and he said, ‚ÄúFor your conversation, it really spoke to my heart.‚Äù We quickly discovered that Jeff had received formal theological education at Word of Life Bible Institute and Appalachian Bible College. ¬†But soon after entering the ministry as a youth pastor, he went through a series of trials which culminated in domestic crisis and heartache. ¬†Jeff was forced to leave the ministry, saddened and dejected. ¬†Yet in God’s providence, he had overheard everything we said and, unbeknownst to us, was encouraged by our talk of the Lord. At that point we all gathered around Jeff and prayed for him. This proved to be one of the greatest blessings of the conference.