A question or a comment maybe on encouraging people to come to the conference. You can both answer it.
Why Attend the Conference
Why should I, why should anyone come to our conference? Well, you know, as Jim mentioned before, with regards to the nature of conferences, we certainly advocate that the place for the learning and the instruction of the people of God is in the Church of the Living God. But these conferences, I think, are very helpful, and you bring up the word encouragement. What can this conference do in the way of encouragement?
Well, certainly
Knowing God as the Chief Good
the topic of this conference can encourage the people of God to know their God. As Jim mentioned, that is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. You know, and I was also thinking of Jeremiah. God in Jeremiah 9 says, essentially, glory in nothing except in that you understand and know me.
And in that context, judgment is coming. What's the most important thing? It's not your riches. It's not your strength.
It's not your wisdom so-called, but it's the knowledge of who God is and what God does. His glory, the glory of His being and the perfection and glory of His works, His intrinsic glory and His extrinsic glory, His perfections displayed and demonstrated in His works.
The Triune God and Redemption
The encouragement for people to come is to know that God, the triune God of heaven and earth, what He has done in His blessed plan of redemption to save a multitude of sinners from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Who is this God? What has He done? And then let's be encouraged to go from there, to return to our churches and to worship this blessed living and true God.
I would add as well, I know in the Southern California Conference, Pastor Barcelos uses tacos and Argentinian barbecue to entice attendees. This is Canada, we don't quite do tacos like that. But I have to say the singing, I mean, even if you were somebody that didn't want to learn our confession, if you know our psalms and hymns, It was glorious. I mean, when you get, what was it, 8,000 people there?
No, a couple hundred people there. It was great. And
Edification, Camaraderie, and Preaching
the edification of the saints, the camaraderie, the discussion, and, you know, these men are competent and they're experts, but they're not shooting over the head. These were not academic exercises. And, you know, Dr. Dolezal, Dr.
Sam Ranahan, they're going to be the same. I doubt that James Dolezal is going to share his, you know, God without parts, you know, thesis with us via lecture. It's going to be, you know, teaching and preaching with fire, as will Sam. I recently audited a course through IRBS on the foundations for philosophical theology by Dr.
Dolezal. And again, I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. I certainly didn't get everything, but what I got was wonderful and heartwarming and encouraging. And so these men bring to the table, or to the pulpit better, not a dry, stuffy approach to things, but they're men of God.
They've got the hearts of pastors. They minister to the people of God. And so if you need that, you need to be ministered to, you need to be encouraged, you need to be strengthened, you need to be helped, you need to be instructed. I think all that stuff is available at the conference.
Yeah. Dinner. We'll have, I think we're going to sell it just fine. So we got the workbook, yeah.
I'm sure there's a camera on you if you want to show the quality of our workbook to the group. Mm-hmm no the cover the cover. That's the good. That's what I got Where is the coverage Oh, okay.
Yes. That looks better. I'll show that for the camera. That's 2023.
This is the 2024. Sorry. 2024. Yeah. Yeah.
So, I mean, come for 32 years and you will have the complete set. That's right. There you go. That's right.
You'll have a full bookshelf. Not available in stores.