Spiritual Forces Collide

Conrad Hilario
Romans 12:17-21

Peter and John heal a man born lame. They preach to the resulting gathered crowd. The leaders persecute them but are silenced by the good work of healing. Even though threatened further Peter and John respond with godly defiance. The believers pray for boldness.

Joseph

Jim Leffel
Romans 8:28

When we face hardships and unjust situations we often focus on the horizontal perspective: how these things affect our lives, goals, and desires. God wants us to have a vertical perspective: to focus on what He is doing and how He is working in our lives, even through times of suffering. These two perspectives are illustrated in life of Joseph. Joseph faced many hardships and encountered unjust trials that were outside of his control. However, God still worked through them. God put Joseph in situations where he became a powerful man who ultimately was able to save and preserve the nation of Israel.\r\n

Bear One Another's Burdens - A Study in Galatians 6

Scott Risley
2 Timothy 4:7-8

Galatians instructs us to bear one another's burdens but just verses later says each person should carry his own load. To understand this, we must first understand the difference between a burden and a load and be able to distinguish between the two in our own lives. Each of us was given a race marked out by God that we are responsible for, but we are also responsible to one another in times of crisis and tragedy, when things are too much for one person to handle alone.

God's Truth About the World's Oldest Oppression

Paul Herbert
Luke 7:36-50

When Jesus interacted with prostitutes, he showed mercy and compassion instead of contempt and judgement. This practice of prostitution still enslaves many women today, and in this workshop Judge Paul M. Herbert provides a different perspective on this practice. We must shift our perspective from drawing a hard line between human trafficking and prostitution, something we are able to do once we examine the stories and statistics behind women who fall into prostitution. This workshop ends with a testimony from one of the very women who found redemption from this lifestyle.

Guard the Truth

Larry Crabb
Luke 7:36-50

The farther we grow with Christ, the more we understand the depths of the Gospel, at the center of which is love. It is a truth that we must guard fiercely. First, we should seek a vision of divine love the way it is practiced among the Trinity. Second, brokenness over failure to love is the opportunity to learn what love and grace are. And third, we should avert our focus from our smaller story to the larger story that God is telling. As we move toward and experience these truths, we come to understand the truth of grace more deeply. \r\n

The God of All Comfort

Ryan Lowery
2 Corinthians 1:1-9

As pressures and suffering mount, Paul shows how confident he is (and we can be) in God's faithfulness. You are able to receive comfort from God even in the midst of your suffering, knowing that God is producing in you an eternal weight of glory.

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Scott Risley
Luke 13:1-5

Jesus was approached with the question, "Why do bad things happen?" There are many explanations for the problem of evil: 1) divine retribution (almost everything has a spiritual cause); 2) eastern monism (the suffering world is unreal); and 3) naturalism (everything can be explained by cause and effect within a closed system). Jesus rejects these three explanations. The Biblical view is that everything can be explained by cause and effect within an open system. God created a perfect world with no evil. The perfection of this world was broken when humanity rebelled against God. The Biblical view displays the love of God, calls us to fight evil, and assures us that evil is temporary.

Do You See Anything?

Gary DeLashmutt
Mark 8:29-35

By restoring sight to a blind man Jesus teaches his disciples about spiritual blindness. The cause of spiritual blindness is a hardened heart that can only be cured by Jesus. Jesus instructs his followers how to cooperate in curing their hardened hearts by denying self, taking up their cross and following Jesus.

Suffering as a Means of Growth

Ryan Lowery
Romans 8:18-39

Suffering is inevitable in this world. Instead of ignoring, fleeing, or coping with suffering in our own way, we can let God use it for our benefit. We have the opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and become more like Christ when we move toward Him in suffering. God wants to be close to us and He wants to comfort us in times of tribulation.