Maryland and Worship God 2011

I feel like this past month has flown by since Abigail and I were in Texas for almost two weeks and then nine days after we returned home, our little family drove to Maryland for five days to attend the Worship God Conference at Covenant Life Church (where Josh Harris preaches). It was such a wonderful time for us! We thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and getting to meet a couple bands and songwriters. Each day we all met together for group worship and sessions, then on two of the days, there were breakout sessions to attend.The times of singing in worship were AMAZING as approx. a couple thousand (not sure the exact count) lifted their voices in praise to God.

 Main Session

My church back in Texas sent their worship team to the conference and so we joined them for the week and enjoyed eating dinner each night with them and sitting with them during the main sessions. We really enjoyed their company! I miss them!

Before the start of a main session.

We had the joy of meeting and talking with Bob Kauflin and his super sweet wife, Julie, at the end of the conference. They are so gracious and down-to-earth. A true joy to get to know briefly!

Maryland is gorgeous!

 This little walkway was by the restaurants where we ate each night. Daddy enjoyed showing Abigail the ducks and water. :-)

 My handsome hubby and I enjoying the beautiful scenery!

The nice train conductor let us sit on her little mini-train for a picture. :-)

Not only was this trip work related for Kyle, it was also our first ever "family-of-three" vacation! (Not counting traveling to see family!) It was so wonderful to just get away from daily life and to enjoy spending time together at the conference, growing and learning together! I LOVE going to conferences and traveling and I must say, Kyle is becoming quite the traveler/conference attender as well! :-) I think it is so very important to take advantages of amazing opportunities like these to hear great preachers and teachers as they encourage us in our love for the Gospel!

The last evening of the conference, Friday night, they (Sovereign Grace Music) recorded a live album. They are hoping it'll be out near the end of this fall, I believe. It'll be called "The Gathering." The music is Wonderful!!! We are so excited for it to come out and can't wait to get our copy!

 

This conference is held every two years and we are already excited to, Lord-willing, go again and take more people with us! So if you're interested, mark your 2013 calendars! :-)

Small Groups

So grateful this is NOT what our church community group is like! We love our group and have really grown to value living life with these dear friends. Enjoy this funny video and if your small group/community group is like this video, please, come join ours! :-)

To view this video, you may need to click the title once the video begins to open it in YouTube if it is only displaying part of the video screen. Sorry.




I found this video on the GirlTalk blog.

The Rolands & CJ Mahaney

Today in chapel, at Southern Seminary, where Kyle works full-time and goes to school, we were blessed to hear one of my all-time favorite preachers: CJ Mahaney. I was first introduced to Mahaney's teaching and ministry back in 2005 when some good friends from Criswell College, where I attended at the time, told me about Sovereign Grace Ministries. Ever since hearing him, I have soaked up his sermons, books, and conferences. His preaching, while rich in theology and centered on the cross, is so applicable and in his teaching he is so transparent. I have heard him laugh and weep while preaching and when you talk to him, his gentle, quiet, and humble spirit is so evident.

Here are a couple of my favorite sermons that he has preached:

God as Father: Understanding the Doctrine of Adoption in God's Word 

The One To Whom I Will Look  from his series on Humility

The Suffering Servant 

Check out his books and sermons (that you can download for free!) at the Sovereign Grace Ministries online store.

His wife, Carolyn, and three married daughters all write at their blog entitled GirlTalk. This has been another huge resource for me in my christian walk. I have gone to their site for encouragement as a single woman, a newly married wife, and now even as a new mommy. I would encourage all you ladies to take advantage of this site. It's well worth your time! Check out their resources page to find posts on various topics.  

Here is the video of Mahaney's sermon from today in Chapel. It's entitled "Deflating the Puffed Up Church." Hope you enjoy!