We woke up to a magnificent view of the sun peering over the Pacific Ocean. We’ve been staying with a kind and gracious host family who have a beautiful house in Haumoana, right by the beachfront. It’s a home full of character: poster-sized family photo prints across the walls, ornate bronze tap fittings, a cosy lounge and fireplace.
So Sean drove us down to Riverbend for the second day of Impact Bible Conference. It was another full day of teaching which we were immensely grateful for.
———————
General Session 3: Scott Ardavanis – Understanding our Freedom from Sin
Scott took us through Ephesians 1:1-4 to help understand our freedom from sin and explained six aspects of our salvation: it has a definite author (God), method (election), object (believers), foundation (in Jesus Christ), time (becore the dawn of time, so no one can snatch us out), and a purpose: that we would be holy before Him. It was convicting to assess my life: “He didn’t save you to look like everyone else!” As expected some questions in Q&A questioned the doctrine of election, which Scott addressed with grace and clarity.
General Session 4: Ken Ramey – The New You
Ken took us through Ephesians 4:17-24 to illustrate a “before-and-after” view of a Christian called to holiness. Four elements of our divine makeover were expanded upon: we have received Christ, we have repented of our sins, we are renewed in our minds, and we are recreated in the likeness of God. “Being holy as a Christian is a divine obligation.” Once again, another great exposition.
General Session 5: Scott Ardavanis – Understanding the Deception of Sin
This was an evening session where Scott unpacked how sin unfolds in a person’s life as outlined in James 1:14-16. He went through the passage’s description of how sin operates: from lust’s sinful desire, to its shameful deception, to it’s sickening disobedience, to separation and death. Any one who takes an honest look at themselves will see something in their life that has manifested in this way, and I was no exception. I also found it helpful to hear Scott explain that the term lust in itself is not always negative. For example, in 1 Tim 3:1 Paul explains that a man who seeks to be an elder desires a fine work – this is the same word in the Greek (epithunea). Utterly convicting to the depth of my heart.
———————
Cheryl and I also attended Peter’s mid-morning seminar, which was a brutally honest assessment of the personal cost of being in spiritual leadership. I know I developed a greater appreciation of our pastor as a result, and I definitely agree with Paul that faithful pastors are “worthy of double honour” (1 Tim 5:17).
————————-
Blog updates: www.chongsworship.com/tag/impact2010/
Twitter updates: www.twitter.com/wchong (using the hashtag #IMPACT2010)
UPDATE: Download the messages from the conference here: Impact 2010 messages
————————–
-William
