CONFERENCE
Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story

6 p.m., Friday - 4 p.m., Saturday
September 22-23, 2006

Brookside Christian Reformed Church (Map)
3600 Kalamazoo Ave. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49508

A conference for pastors, seminarians, church workers, elders, deacons, educators, parents and all disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who desire to live lives shaped by the Biblical story.

The Bible tells the story of the world's redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Christ's disciples we have been given the task to continue His redemptive work in the world today. Yet, too often, our lives are shaped more by the stories of our cultures, nations, and socio-economic classes than they are by the Biblical story. If we are to faithfully fulfill our calling our lives must be shaped by the story of the Bible and the worldview it imparts.

Brochure (PDF)

Schedule (show | hide)

Friday, September 22
6:00-7:00 p.m.	Check-in and Dessert Social
7:00-7:30 p.m.	Opening Worship Led by John D. Witvliet
7:30-8:20 p.m.	Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story Michael Goheen The importance of understanding the authority of the Bible in terms of one unfolding story and what it means to find our place in that story.
8:20-9:00 p.m.	Response and Dialogue with Michael Goheen John D. Witvliet
Saturday, September 23
8:20-8:40 a.m.	Check-in
8:40-9:00 a.m.	Opening Worship
9:00-10:30 a.m.	At the Crossroads between Two Stories Michael Goheen How we live in the Biblical story in a culture that is shaped by a different story.
10:30-11:00 a.m.	Break
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.	Breakout Sessions (Attend your first choice - sessions will be repeated after lunch) Confronting the Idols of our Time: Hedonism, Consumerism, and Pragmatism John Cooper This session focuses on how our American culture and life-style serve these idols and how they have affected our own Christian lives and churches. It then offers suggestions and dialogue on how God's Word and Spirit set us free from these idols to seek first his Kingdom. Young People at the Crossroads: The Crafting of a Midi-Narrative Darwin Glassford What is a midi-narrative? How does it function? What does it offer? Why is it attractive? Together we will examine these questions and wrestle with their implications for parenting and ministry. A Prophetic People: The Church's Place in Redemptive Revelation Michael Williams This session will explore how an understanding of what the Old Testament prophets were doing opens our understanding of redemptive revelation and the contemporary church's place in furthering that revelation.
12:30-1:30 p.m.	Lunch
1:30-3:00 p.m.	Breakout Sessions (Sessions 1-3 repeated - attend your second choice)
3:00-3:45 p.m.	Panel Discussion Our local churches must provide a context within which our lives can be shaped and formed by the Biblical story. Yet, too often, our churches reflect their cultures, nations, and socio economic classes more so than the Biblical story. In this panel discussion a collection of various church leaders will discuss practical implications and ideas about how we can find our place in the Biblical story through the ministries of the local church.
3:45-4:00 p.m.	Closing Worship

Speakers (show | hide)

Michael Goheen, Geneva Chair in Reformational Worldview Studies, Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia

John Cooper, Professor of Philosophical Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary

Darwin Glassford, Associate Professor of Church Education, Calvin Theological Seminary

Michael Williams, Professor of Old Testament, Calvin Theological Seminary

John D. Witvliet, Director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary

Registration (includes lunch):

$20/individual

$15/group (two or more from a church)

CONFERENCE Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story

6 p.m., Friday - 4 p.m., Saturday September 22-23, 2006 Brookside Christian Reformed Church (Map) 3600 Kalamazoo Ave. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49508