The Gospel Coalition's 2013 national conference will be a five-day event running April 6 to 10, including a weekend world missions conference and three-day main conference focused on the mission of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Both events will be held at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida, and we encourage you to attend them together, but you may also register separately. Overall the event features 80 speakers from around the world aiming to stir your affections for Jesus Christ, equip you to live faithfully in this world, and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
World Missions Conference
God's Love Compels Us (2 Cor. 4:1-5:21)
Starting April 6, we'll gather to hear from missionaries, theologians, pastors, and other church leaders on how we can play our part in the Great Commission. Three plenary addresses will expound the compelling love of God from 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:21; another three will directly address select topics of urgent concern to international outreach. Numerous workshops will explore special subjects in missions. We are asking God to bless this event by spreading passion for global missions among those who attend. We dare to pray that many will respond by committing themselves to cross-cultural outreach both at home and around the world.
Plenaries
Workshops
National Conference
His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke
What grander theme than Jesus himself! Eight plenary addresses and one panel will re-introduce us to Jesus as recounted by Luke. Beginning April 8, we'll explore together the dramatic progression from Jesus' birth to ascension. Throughout we'll be looking for how Jesus embodies and explains the gospel to a diverse collection of baffled disciples, joyful outcasts, and skeptical rulers. We'll marvel at Jesus' miracles, puzzle over his parables, and count the cost of his compassion on the Cross. Jesus will teach us how to behold him in the Old Testament and commission us to proclaim his name to all the nations. Clothed with the same heavenly power that raised Jesus from the dead, we bear witness to the one true gospel as revealed in the Gospel of Luke.
Plenaries
Workshops
Focus Gatherings
Faith at Work Post Conference
Session #1 - Redefining Work - Tim Keller
Panel Discussion #1 - Redefining Work - Tim Keller, Bob Doll, Katherine Leary Alsdorf, Greg Forster, Dave Kiersznowski
What is work, and how do we see it through the lens of Holy Scripture? From Genesis to Revelation we can trace a gospel-centered vocational theology. Yet a biblically faithful theology of work is often overlooked, misunderstood, and distorted in our churches. If we are going to better integrate our faith and our work, we must reframe and wholeheartedly embrace a faithful theology of work.
Session #2 - Reframing Pastoral Work
Bob Doll - What Business Leaders Need (Part 1 - 15 minutes)
Tom Nelson - The Pastoral Vocation (Part 2 - 25 minutes)
Panel Discussion #2: Reframing Pastoral Work - Tom Nelson, Tim Keller, John Yates, Bob Doll, and Crawford Loritts
How does a pastor help his congregation better understand the ways God is using work to refine and shape the people in his church and how God is using his church to bring the shalom of the gospel into the world? A robust theology of work will reframe the pastor’s priorities and practices, in preaching, liturgies, and missional priorities. Sermons can be crafted and illustrated with work in mind. Sunday liturgies may honor the calling of congregants to specific spheres of culture. The church’s mission will expand to support the equipping and nurture of congregants for faithful presence at their places of work throughout the week.
Break
Session #3 - Rethinking Work
Katherine Leary Alsdorf (Part 1 - 15 minutes)
Dave Kiersznowski (Part 2 - 15 minutes)
Panel Discussion #3: Rethinking Work - Tim Keller, Tom Nelson, Dave Kiersznowski, and Katherine Leary Alsdorf
What are the primary ways a good theology of work practically changes the church and its mission in the world, including: evangelism, career decisions and choice of vocation, approaches to leadership and power, and stewardship of opportunity and influence. Our speakers will talk from experience about how their own lives and the lives of those they’ve helped equip have changed as a result of deeper theological grounding and gospel application.
Conference Close
Auxiliary Events
Monday, April 8
Reformed Theological Seminary Panel: Having Confidence in the Scriptures - Justin Taylor, Bruce Baugus, John Currid, Mike Kruger, and Chuck Hill
While walking with those two disciples on the Emmaus road Jesus, “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45 ESV). Christians affirm the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of God’s Word, but sometimes struggle with confidence in Scriptures. The Scriptures are attacked from outside the Church and are oftentimes minimized within the Church. This panel will strengthen our confidence in the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments.
Tuesday, April 9
BibleMesh: Rediscovering the Importance of Biblical Languages for Faithful Ministry - Albert Mohler, D. A. Carson, Tom Schreiner, and Peter Williams
This panel discussion will address how a reading knowledge of Hebrew and Greek can strengthen comprehension, exposition, and proclamation of the Scriptures.
Zondervan Panel: How to Engage and Study Doctrine in the Local Church - Kevin DeYoung (Moderator), Michael Horton, Justin Buzzard, and J.D. Greear
Grab your lunch and join us for a lively conversation on the purpose and usefulness of studying doctrine in the local church. Learn how other churches are teaching and equipping their leaders and members through both formal and informal theological training. Participants include Michael Horton, whose just-published Pilgrim Theology seeks to equip those on a path of theological understanding; and pastor-theologians Kevin DeYoung (University Reformed Church, East Lansing, MI), Justin Buzzard (Garden City Church, Silicon Valley), and J.D. Greear (Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham, NC).
Reformed Theological Seminary Panel: Seeing Christ in the Old Testament - David Mathis, Mark Futato, Scott Redd, Derek Thomas, and Miles VanPelt
On the road to Emmaus Jesus was helping two of His disciples see Him in the Old Testament, and beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27 ESV). Christians affirm that all of Scripture points to Jesus, but often have difficulty seeing how the pieces fit together. This panel with show us Jesus in each part of the OT and how there is a crescendo that builds in God's plan of redemption leading directly to Him.