Day 3: more great talks and workshops. Bryson unpacked Psalm 22 detailing Jesus as the suffering King, Peter Collier covered the gruesome coronation and crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27:27-61). Powerful stuff. The workshop on youth ministry gave practical points. In the strand groups we grappled with trying to summarize the passage into one “big idea”, and to think through its implications for various audiences.
Day 4: Bryson preached on the brainteaser of Psalm 110 which predicts a future priest King for the nation Israel and the rest of the world. Peter talked through the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel, showing from the text its reliability of the account of Jesus’s triumphant resurrection. Dave Morgan gave a helpful workshop on how to manage a one-on-one bible study. In the strand workshop we started to put questions together for our own bible study. Stayed up very late to finish it!
Day 5: YLC finished with one more talk from Bryson (on Psalm 118), and in our strand groups we presented our bible studies to each other and got feedback on them.
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– It’s been a real joy to meet new Christians from all over the country, in different parts of the Lord’s Vineyard. People like Andrew, Amy, Brad, Matthias, Scott, Greg, Sarah, Matt, Martin, Anna and lots more folk I’ve forgotten the names to; all likeminded followers of Christ.
– Sure, there are theological differences on secondary issues and tertiary issues for some speakers. But there’s no doubt the group at YLC are unflinchingly gospel-centered, evangelical and bible-focused. That’s so refreshing to see.
– The best thing is that we’ve been told all recordings will be made freely available in 2 weeks’ time. The talks have been great example of biblical expository preaching – I’ve been particularly impressed that each talk gave a big picture of the passage, rather than just explain each verse without drawing them into an overall theme or lesson.
We’re definitely going to try to be back for YLC 2012. Until then, I pray what we have been learning will be applied in our lives and be of benefit in the various ministries at HBC. Soli Deo Gloria!