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