evangelism conference

This past weekend we had the privilege of attending the Niagara Bible Conference which featured Dr. Pipa as speaker.

 

Dr. Pipa unpacked verses from Scripture in such a way that my mind could not keep up with it. It made me love God's Word even more. Every year the conference is on evangelism & we need to be reminded again & again of how important it is for us to be faithful to our Lord & reach out to those around us.
On Friday night Dr. Pipa related election to evangelism. "If you believe in election you will have a burden for the lost- you will not have a complacent attitude."
Here are some key points from Saturday's speech: Ephesians 6:18-20
-prayer must be the context, environment, & climate of evangelism
-prayer is a sign of life in the Christian, both formally & informally
-when we pray in supplication it is the kind of prayer that God delights in - we plead & come back to the same request over & over again
-this is how we ought to pray for the unbelievers that are in our lives; keep knocking, seeking, & have much perseverance
Dr. Pipa also talked about "contacts" in evangelism. He used Colossians 4:2-4 about the words that we speak being full of grace & seasoned with salt.
-we are the only Bible that people might ever read, our lives must be holy
-we need to walk wisely & intentionally redeeming the time - we are not like a stick in a stream floating along, but we must be purposeful, praying for opportunities to witness
-do acts of kindness, express concern, do something for others even if it inconveniences you- become a servant
-we are called to be faithful, not to produce results
-our speech should be truthful, gentle, attractive, delightful, it should bring joy & calmness
-this is the kind of speech that will provoke questions
-"witnessing is simply boasting about God" - Dr. Pipa

After the conference, these two delightful brothers joined us at our house for lunch. We have not seen them for years, so it was great catching up again.  Eric & Bruce were very instrumental in Adam's spiritual journey when he was a teenager & we will always be thankful to them for their encouragement.


On the home front: Sunday
Dr. Pipa had just started his sermon, when I got called out of church because Tyler was inconsolable. I have never been called out of church before with him.  I was looking so forward to listening to Dr. Pipa again but instead I ended up in the babysit.
In between church, Andrew was playing in the sandbox. He pretended to be like a cat (we think) & did his job in the sandbox and buried the evidence. Thankfully Liam saw this horrible crime & immediately reported it. And then in church Liam was leaning up against me & I noticed gum stuck behind his ear! Liam thought that Violet Beauregarde from "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" had a clever way of keeping her gum safe so he thought that he would try it too! And then after the afternoon service, our former pastor was given a bouquet of flowers for his retirement. Andrew, with his loud whisper told my mom that they should of given the minister a toy. He would of liked that much better.  And... we still have a dinky car stuck in our bathroom sink drain. It is stuck. There is never a dull moment with a house full of boys:)