The Gospel Coalition

Liberate 2013 from Coral Ridge | LIBERATE on Vimeo.

Last February, over 1000 people from 31 states and 3 countries gathered for 3 days in Ft. Lauderdale for the launch of LIBERATE. I, along with some of my friends (Mike Horton, Scotty Smith, Paul Tripp, Elyse Fitzpatrick, David Zahl, Darrin Patrick, and Rod Rosenbladt), considered the nature of unmeasured grace and the reality that “while our sin reaches far, God’s grace reaches farther.” It was a three day grace-fest where our minds were informed and our hearts were enlarged. I met so many amazing people and made so many new friends. We had so much fun. I was sad when it was over. (Read a Recap here).

Immediately after the conference, we started planning for LIBERATE 2013. We couldn’t wait to do it again. And this year we’re taking it up a notch.

Real life is long on law and short on grace—the demands never stop, the failures pile up, fear sets in. The idea that there is an unconditional love that relieves the pressure, forgives our failures and replaces our fear with faith seems too good to be true. Longing for hope in a world of hype, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the news we’ve been waiting to hear: God sent Jesus to set sinners free. Jesus came to liberate us from the weight of having to make it on our own, from the demand to measure up. He came to emancipate everyday people from the burden to get it all right, from the obligation to fix ourselves, find ourselves, and free ourselves.

That, of course, is the best news imaginable. But it sometimes feels a little high-flying—an idea floating like a blimp above our heads but never quite landing where we live. Our hope and prayer is that this conference will help to get this good news on the ground of everyday life. We want you to see and savor this radical one-way love so that it impacts your family, your church, and your relationships–trusting that hearing grace proclaimed will lead to experiencing “grace in practice.”

Join me, Bryan Chapell, Elyse Fitzpatick, Mark Galli, Ray Ortlund, David Zahl, Paul Tripp, Sally Lloyd-Jones, Steve Brown, Tony Merida, and the White Horse Inn on February 21-13, 2013 at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale for LIBERATE 2013: Grace in Practice. We will take a close look at grace in the Christian life, personal failure, families, the church, pop-culture, and more.

The experience of grace landing right where we live promises to be a bit unnerving, but God is in the habit of rattling cages so that the captives can go free.