PREACH IT! LEAD IT! – GOD SPOKE!
By: Ginny Proctor, Manager, Beeson Center for Lifelong Learning
In the third week of February, over one hundred people arrived on the Wilmore, Kentucky campus to experience the first annual Beeson Summit. Although February is typically our coldest month of the year, we were abundantly blessed with a week of temperatures in the 60’s-70’s, which made the event even more unforgettable. We felt the movement of the Holy Spirit and witnessed renewal and transformation in the lives of God’s people.
The message was clear. Despite the difficult times in our world today, we are responsible to stand firm in our calling to serve God in ministry through preaching to our congregations and leading people to Christ, even though we, ourselves, feel weary and worn. The keynote speaker, Dr. Greg Waybright, encouraged us to be strengthened by the knowledge that Jesus came into this broken world to bring the kingdom of God, which, when it comes in its fullness, will result in all things being made new. He taught us how preaching can guide us in bringing the Gospel into a world polarized by politics, immigration and sexual identity. And Waybright reminded us that we, too, must have the boldness Jesus had to call people away from self and sin and to have their thinking, moral choices and their life-directions completely and radically shaped by him. In support of Waybright’s teaching, Dr. Marilyn Elliott led us in a formational journey each morning, and our faculty, Dr. Stacy Minger, Dr. David Gyertson, Dr. Danny Roman-Gloro, and Dr. Bryan Sims, along with President Timothy Tennent, guided us to a reaffirmation of our call to effective multi-cultural biblical preaching and ecclesial and lay leadership. Tuesday ended with an incredible evening of praise, worship and healing through the ministry of Dr. Steve Seamands and Dr. Bryan Sims, and on Wednesday evening, we came to the Lord’s table to worship in community with Dr. Timothy Tennent and Rev. Jessica LaGrone.
If you were with us for the Summit, our hope is that you are still feeling the effect of that incredible week. Plans are in process for the next Summit, so hold the dates of February 20-22, 2018, when we’ll gather as a body of believers, brothers and sisters in Christ, for renewal, refreshment, and reaffirmation of our promise to God that we will stand firm in our calling to serve Him…no matter what. Details on Beeson Summit 2018 will be coming soon. Until then, if you’d like to watch the videos from the 2017 Summit, simply click here.
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