Student Ministry
Our Student Ministry ' s Winter Retreat ' 18 was held February 9-11 at White Oak Conference Center just above Columbia , SC . Our theme this year was " Without A Doubt " and taken from 1 John 5:13 . The four talks paralleled the four paragraphs of Chapter 18 , " Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation " from the Westminster Confession of Faith . I taught the first lesson on " Assurance – Attainable , Powerful & Unique ," teaching primarily from Romans 8:14-17 and Galatians 4:4-7 . Dennis Boatright taught the second lesson on " How to Have Assurance " where he detailed the promises of salvation offered in the work of Jesus , the confirming role of fruit and the inner witness of the Spirit . I taught the third lesson from Hebrews 3:12 , detailing how believers can lose their assurance . I identified how sin
takes us from natural doubt to unbelief . Four aspects of sin we discussed were ( 1 ) sins of the mind where we demand an intellectual certainty that is not biblical faith ( 2 Cor 5:7 ); ( 2 ) sins of the heart when we are pridefully self-absorbed instead of self-forgetfully keeping our eyes on Jesus ( Hebrews 12:1-2 ); ( 3 ) sins of the flesh where we commit behavior that reveals idols of the heart and infidelity to / straying from God , ( 4 ) and sins of the will where we omit or neglect spiritual growth and the means of grace . Dennis wrapped us up in the fourth talk , discussing the proper response of a believer to assurance as fueling and motivating holiness of life and " diligence to make our calling and election sure .". Forty-seven students signed up for the Winter Retreat , but due to illness fortythree were able to participate .
Notes about Upcoming Events for the Student Ministry are :
– Due to the upcoming Missions Conference ( March 8-11 ) we will not have our mid-week ( 7 th – 12 th ) gathering for the high school students or our Sunday night ( March 11 ) Middle School Emmaus Road or High School Small Groups .
– Friday , March 30 , students will be asked to serve the Children ' s Ministry as we hide eggs for Saturday ' s hunt . Lunch will be provided at Point Pleasant . After we complete our work , a recreation time for youth will be held in the afternoon . Whether this recreation will be held at Point Pleasant or elsewhere is not yet determined .
– The Youth Choir Trip is scheduled for April 13-15 .
– Paul will be attending a ReThink Conference , April 20-22 , at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham , Alabama . This conference is an apologetic ’ s conference for Middle and High School students as well as college students .
Paul Rodgers
PAGE 4 MARCH 2018 IPC