Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 13, 2016

It will be here before you know it. The question is, “Have you signed up?”

On March 18-20, Cornerstone Pres. in partnership with New College Franklin will sponsor our second pre holy week conference. The title of the conference is “From Death Unto Life,” and as you might imagine, we titled it that for a reason. We believe that the gospel is not only the center message of the Bible and the Christian faith but of all reality. That everywhere we look we see, “Christ plays in ten thousand places” as Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote. That the “God-revealing Christ is behind and in all this living,” to quote Eugene Peterson, and that as image bearers of God and Christ followers, it is our delightful duty to trace in every realm of knowledge and every aspect of life, the glory of the gospel.

To that end, we’ve designed this conference to be a playful foray into those glories. Using books, music, art, movies, and other mediums as windows into the death experiencing and defeating, life losing and receiving reality of the gospel. This conference is for anyone who wants to grow in knowledge and appreciation of the gospel, and desires to spot the glory of the Lord in all of life.

Now, if you were unable to attend the conference last year, we thought you might benefit from a little sneak peak. This is why we’ve invited one of our keynote speakers for the conference, Rev. Russ Ramsey, to preach this morning as a foretaste of what’s in store next weekend. Let me tell you a little bit about Russ.

 Russ grew up in the fields of Indiana. He studied at Taylor University and Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM) before becoming a pastor. He and his wife and four children live in Nashville, Tennessee. Russ is the author of Behold the Lamb of God: An Advent Narrative (Rabbit Room Press, 2011), Behold the King of Glory: A Narrative of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Crossway, 2015), and the forthcoming Struck: When Affliction and Faith Collide (IVP, 2017).

 I’m pleased to call Russ a partner in the ministry of the gospel and a friend, and I’m so grateful for his willingness this morning to come and minister to us. After the service, you’ll find a table in the back with more information about how to sign up for the conference. Please do not miss this amazing opportunity to immerse yourself in the beauty of the gospel as together we prepare for the death and resurrection of Jesus.