Schedule

The world is changing, and it’s changing fast. Technology makes information more accessible every day. This changing digital scene brings with it new challenges to maintaining purity as a Christian—for singles, for couples, and for families as a whole, including children. Christians are called to guard their hearts, and in this session, Tim Challies will recommend some tools that do just that. He will also explain some ways of bringing about change within one’s heart in order to fight against and repent of sin.

Christians are called not just to a single instance of repentance. Rather, they’re called to repent throughout their lives, trusting Christ for life every day. Dr. Rosaria Butterfield has a unique perspective on repenting and trusting Christ. In this session, Dr. Butterfield will describe her conversion, and she will also explain her experience in following Christ in order to encourage and challenge listeners to live as a light in this dark world.

Many consider paganism a dead religion that was practiced thousands of years ago. However, paganism’s ideas still affect us today. In this session, Dr. Peter Jones will describe how paganism continues to be a force in today’s culture. He will point out places where pagan thought affects the world’s way of thinking, and he will describe how Christians can guard against that influence. In addition, he will also explain ways that Christians can renew their minds and live as children of God among a twisted generation.

The Reformers warned us that darkness will once again overcome large portions of the church if the gospel is not proclaimed and defended in every generation. Through the Apostle John, our Savior issued a similar warning to the seven churches of Asia Minor, calling them to return to Him lest they fall into darkness and their lampstands be removed. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson will open our conference by considering what Christ might have said if one of the seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2–3 had been specifically addressed to the church in the modern West.

If the church has a low view of God, its light will be dim, and the darkness will not be pushed back. Today, our concept of God is often sentimental rather than biblically based. Many people embrace what has been called “moralistic therapeutic deism,” a view of God that says He exists to make us feel good about ourselves, and that He involves Himself in our lives only to affirm us and solve our problems. As long as we do not properly grasp the transcendent majesty and holiness of God, our light will not pierce the darkness. Dr. Steven J. Lawson will proclaim the centrality of a high, biblical view of the Lord, calling upon God to restore the truth about His transcendent majesty and holiness in His church.

We are facing a culture that does not see truth as absolute, that says all paths lead to God, and that disdains the rigorous intellectual pursuit of the things of the Lord. Such darkened thinking resists the light of God’s Word, and it influences the church in ways that hinder our ability to shine forth the Lord’s truth. Dr. Alistair Begg will look at the threats of anti-intellectualism, relativism, and postmodernism, exhorting us to proclaim Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. Dr. Begg will call us away from a low view of truth to a view that places truth front and center in the Christian mission.

Our culture is willing to voice respect for Jesus, but the Jesus it respects is not the God-man of Scripture. More often than not, the Jesus in view is just one among many saviors, a man who is nothing more than our brother and friend. In this session, Dr. Steve Nichols will remind us that although Jesus is indeed our brother and friend, He is also the King of kings and Lord of lords. Calling on God to restore us to a high view of the biblical Christ, Dr. Nichols will present the biblical view of Jesus’ love and majesty that we must lift up as the only light that can overcome the darkness around us.

As long as people have a low view of sin and the law of God, they will be unable to grasp their enslavement to the darkness of rebellion against our Creator. Seeing the true glory of the gospel requires us to see the darkness through which it shines in all its fullness. In this session, Dr. Russell Moore will help turn us away from a low view of sin and God’s law, reminding us of the heinousness of sin so that we might see the riches of divine grace.

Narcissism and egotism take our eyes off of the Lord and put them on us, but in so doing, they actually lower our understanding of ourselves, because we are made in the image of God. Without an understanding of God’s image in humanity—without a right focus on the Lord as our highest end—human beings are degraded, and all manner of destruction ensues. Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. will explain how a right view of the self, enlightened by God’s Word, leads to blessedness, and he will direct us away from wrong views of ourselves to a right view—as creatures made in His image.

Scripture tells us that the church is the body of Christ, the entity through which God works to proclaim His gospel to the world. In our day, this magnificent calling for the church is often neglected, and the good news of the gospel is exchanged for a sales pitch that fills seats at the expense of the clear preaching of the one message that can save us from sin and darkness. Dr. Godfrey will show how the church is a community brought into being by the living God for the purpose of bringing His light to the nations, and He will beseech the Lord to revive us from a low view of the church.

Passing your Christian values to the next generation is a significant accomplishment. But how do you realize that goal? Steve Baker, attorney and senior planner with Barnabas Foundation, will share ideas that reflect biblical principles of stewardship and the importance of wise planning. Learn how tax-wise decisions can help you provide for your individual and family needs, and become a model of discipleship for those who follow you.

The Apostle John warns us not to love the world, and our fallen tendency to view the world as an ultimate end in itself means that we must fight against our dark inclinations to set our hearts on this age and its pleasures. But God created the world to glorify Himself, and as we make Him our ultimate end, we can identify the sins that manifest our love for the world and enjoy the Lord’s creation in an appropriate way. Rev. Kevin DeYoung will call on the Lord to restore us to a high view of the world as the arena of God’s glory, and He will describe how Christians, in pursuing the light of God, can identify and fight against sin in the world while loving our enemies and blessing those who curse us.

The darkness of this present age is particularly clear in the low view of life that classifies the weak as unfit and not worth preserving. Yet the light of God’s truth tells us that life is precious in the Lord’s sight and that those who are weak, overlooked, or who have no voice in our society are the special objects of His concern. Dr. Ferguson will consider our Creator’s high view of life, calling upon Him to restore us to a right view of life in the church and culture, and describing how Christians should help and protect those weaker than us, whether they are unborn children, orphans, widows, the aged, the infirm, the suffering, or the lonely.

The Word of God is living and active, the lamp for our feet that not only guides us in righteousness, but also creates new life in fallen people as the Holy Spirit brings it to bear on our darkened hearts. We are pressured, however, to downplay Scripture as the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and to treat it as a helpful moral guide that is just one book among many. Dr. Godfrey will look at the power of God’s Word to overcome the darkness, and he will call upon God to move us from a low view of Scripture to a high view that understands that the Bible is entirely trustworthy and alone provides the message of salvation.

Ultimately, only a comprehensive and biblical view of the light of God’s holiness can rescue us from the darkness. As we recognize who God is, we will recognize who we are and what we have become, and the Holy Spirit will use that knowledge to revive in His people a renewed zeal for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and a boldness to proclaim that although human beings are great sinners, there is a greater Savior who can rescue us through the gospel. Dr. R.C. Sproul will conclude our conference by calling us back to a right view of our holy God that prompts us to repent of our sins and trust continually in His forgiveness through Christ.