My first St Michael’s Church Day conference – and what a conference to be a part of! Seeing the gathering of our whole church community, worshipping together and hearing from God’s word; it was definitely a great day out!
There were so many highlights of the day, I’m finding it hard to pinpoint only a few! Worshipping, singing and being together in community was fantastic; hearing so many voices join together to praise our Lord sends tingles down your spine and gives a glimpse of what our eternity in heaven with our Father will be like! Meeting members from other congregations and having discussions with new people I’d never normally chat to was great; it reminded me of the importance of community and gathering as Christians, to not only be encouraged, but to learn from those more experienced and the wisdom they have to share. I was also encouraged by how our church community is full of so many who are so willing to serve, from our band members, our many speakers (and interviewees) up the front, volunteers in the kitchen and kids programs, to those who serve in unseen ways as well, the cleaning and tech guys and those who played a part in making the day run so smoothly!
Our speaker for the day, Simon Flinders, opened God’s word on the topic of the ‘Fear’, which we delved into in a number of ways. I found the talks both challenging and encouraging. In talk 1, I was challenged about our fear towards God; we know our God is such a loving God, which is so very true, just how much love he has for us, his children. But often we tend to focus on that aspect of our Father and unfortunately we forget to fear and acknowledge God in the way He deserves. We emphasise how much our Father loves us, but (if you’re like me) don’t come trembling before Him as we ought to. I was reminded of the mighty power and authority our Father has and how He is in control of all things. Another point that has stuck with me is the fear we should have for those we know who are yet to be saved (talk 3). We need to remember that our time on earth will come to an end, we, God’s children will be spending eternity with Him. However, our loved ones and so many who haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour will spend eternity suffering; this has definitely challenged me to pray about having opportunities to share God’s word, being bold when given the opportunities, and importantly asking our Lord to speak through me, as it is not my words but only the Father and Holy Spirit who will challenge and change hearts.
If you were unable to join us for the day, ‘fear’ not, our talks have been recorded, join me in going back and listening to these challenging and encouraging talks again! (Scroll to the bottom of this page to find links to the talks on Spotify, or look up ‘Wollongong Anglican Talks’ on your favourite podcast app!).
If you weren’t able to come, please make sure to come next year. If it’s anything like this year’s conference, you won’t want to miss it!
Tash
7pm
Day Conference Photo Gallery
