Session 1 - Efrem Smith

The hosts for the conference again are Bob Stromberg and Efrem Smith - they bring a great touch of humor. Efrem is a pastor at a church in Minnesota, and was also the main speaker at Session 1. Bob Stromberg is positively hilarious. I always enjoy him. See if you can find some of his comedy clips online!

“Ashmont Hill” is the music group that led the worship time. They are from Boston, Mass.

We also heard an interview featuring David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, authors of the book Unchristian.

For the opening message, Efrem Smith spoke on “Advancing God’s Kingdom in the Valley,” and he began by sharing the story from Ezekiel 37 - the story of dry bones. These days it feels like a valley - layoffs, struggles, family troubles.

We cannot paint the valley as the enemy. Do not forget that God’s hand is upon you - even if you are in the valley. You can be in the valley but still led by the Spirit. This is a great time to be church, to test if we really believe transformation is possible.

He told of hearing a country preacher preach and basically only said one thing - “Jesus is alive.” The sermon seemed silly to him, but as you stop and think about it, that is the news we need to share, that Jesus is alive!

We also need to be prepared for a shift, a change. The message in the Scripture is that God will bring the separated back together. Could it be that we too need to become “one stick” overcoming the walls of separation, building bridges of reconciliation, becoming ONE church with ONE mission.

It’s not how big our church is. Are we healthy? And are we missional? Healthy - means stories of transformed lives, people who have met Jesus. Being missional - are we about publicly pursuing the Kingdom.

Could it be that you are limiting what God has placed within you?

Consider the African impala. Can jump 13 ft high in a standing jump. If on the move, it can also jump 30 feet outward. But - contained with a 3 foot wall. “We train them when they are young that they can’t jump over the wall - so they don’t realize they could clear the wall. Fortunately they don’t know what they can do naturally.

What is keeping me from going higher and further? What is my three foot wall?
“I dare you to jump!”

Ken Medema shared the closing song. Ken is an astonishing artist. He is blind, a keyboard player and a singer. He also was here last year - I have heard him several times over the years. He sings following a presentation, and ties together themes in his song - originally written “in his head” on the spot. If you ever get a chance to hear him live, DO IT!