2014 Thriving Frequency Conference with Eric Mason, D.A. Horton, Jerome Gay and more at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA from October 17-18
Last year, some folks from Emmaus City had the privilege to spend a weekend in Philadelphia at the 2013 Thriving Summit, hosted by Epiphany Fellowship. This year was just as powerful and they added in some breakout sessions as well. And Thee Apprentice, a spoken word poet, was the MC, and Doxa, Epiphany's worship in song band, led the music. The 2014 conference as a whole proclaimed Jesus as King in cities every which way. Here are links to previous posts:
- 2014 Thriving Frequency Conference | Thee Apprentice "Who Am I?" Poem
- 2014 Thriving Frequency Conference | The Anthem by Planetshakers performed by DOXA from Epiphany Fellowship
- 2014 Thriving Frequency Conference | Leadership in the City
Thriving in the City | Discipleship through the Church
Speaker: Jerome Gay Jr. is a member of the Acts 29 Network and Lead Pastor of Vision Church in Raleigh, NC. He also serves as a board member of Thriving along with Eric Mason, Blake Wilson, Doug Logan, Byron Burke and Leonce Crump. Text: Titus 2
Theme: Discipleship is through and with the family of God – Jesus' church
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and His apostles and disciples use the language of family in relation to the church. So we can and should use the same language despite the break up of families in our cities and the dysfunction of the family inside and outside of the church.
- We receive the gospel of Jesus that He has reconciled us to God the Father.
- We taste and see that this gospel is good for our lives.
- We are compelled by His Holy Spirit to share His gospel with others so that they will join God's family.
We are to be missional with this message of good news: We take the good news of Jesus to every aspect of culture in community – discipleship through the church is a family endeavor.
Our relationship with Jesus is personal, but it is not individual.
1) Discipleship through the church accurately reflects God's community. If you have been made in the image of God – Father, Son, and Spirit – how can you accurately reflect Him in isolation? Those who have followed Him faithfully with His church for years (i.e. older men and women) show us that faithfulness is possible. They reflect the steadfast love of God. "Down through the years, the Lord has been faithful to me." You can't love Jesus and hate His bride. Our works don't save us, but they reveal who we are and whose we are.
Thriving in the City | Counseling in the City
Speaker: Dr. Sarita Lyons is a
psychotherapist and highly sought after speaker and trainer specializing
in individual, couples and family psychotherapy. She
maintains a private practice in Philadelphia, PA and is the
founder and CEO of Uplifting People, LLC. Dr. Lyons is also an adjunct professor at Drexel
University's College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Theme: Mankind is the first part of creation that God speaks to. God is men and women's first counselor.
Mankind was created to be dependent on outside counsel. Though God was humanity's first counselor, soon another "counselor" began to speak into men and women's lives. We are always being counseled and giving counsel. Godly or ungodly, we are changed by the counsel we choose to receive, for life or death. So we can regularly ask ourselves:
- What kind of counsel am I getting?
- What kind of counsel am I giving?
Biblical counselors must be committed to conforming their counsel to God's Word. When we don't we will continue to be enslaved to lesser words.
"Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High." – Psalm 107:110-11
God is the Counselor. The human counselor is a conduit for God's Word. The problem is the doorway Jesus means to walk through. And the person being counseled is who God's Spirit means to counsel.
- “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding." – Job 12:13
- "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." – Psalm 32:8
- "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." – Hebrews 4:13
- "Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors." – Psalm 119:24
- "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." – Proverbs 11:14
- "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all." – 1 Thessalonians 5:11-4
Our lack of ease is often the door of opportunity for wise counsel. And God can and does use difficult circumstances to bring glory to Himself. See the life of Job (Job 33), the blind man at the pool of Siloam (John 9), and Jesus with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (John 11:1-44).
- "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word." – Psalm 119:67
- "Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." – Hebrews 5:8
- "For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced ... For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." – 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
God is after our thoughts, our affections, and our behavior and He wants to counsel them all. New thoughts and new affections often come before new actions.
- Thoughts: What we think affects how we feel and act
- Affections: How we feel affects what we think and do
- Behavior: What we do affects how we feel and act
Stress is a fundamental precipitating factor that causes us to seek counseling. And our environments (i.e. family, neighborhood, city) impacts how we function in our circumstances. We need to be thoughtful, talk about ourselves honestly, encourage one another, and see how the tune of our hearts needs to change.
- Discontented heart – lust of the eye
- Carnal heart – lust of the flesh
- Hard heart – pride of life
Grace comes to destroy idols. "God will save a man ... but He will not save him and his idols." – A.W. Tozer
Next post: 2014 Thriving Frequency Conference | Mission to the City and Discipling in the City
– Sully
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