I will first have to apologize for the pictures this evening. For some reason, they did not come out very well. But, I will post on here what I have that is at least somewhat clear.
This afternoon kicked things off with a teen Bible Quiz. A number of different churches met here at North Baptist to compete in the quiz covering Hebrews Chapters 10-13. Yours truely was honored to be one of the quiz masters. Unfortunately, because these rounds were timed, I could not get away with a good Regis Philbin/game show host inpersonation. Brian Reid was our host. He and his father Richard were the ones responsible for bringing the quiz to NBC and making it all come together. They both did an excellent job as things ran smoothly. Well, there was one wrinkle, the NBC teens didn’t do as well as we had hoped… Instead the winners of the day were the teens from First Baptist Church of Groton, MA.
During the quiz, Dr. Heller gave the teens a challenge out of I Corinthians 9:24-27 concerning “Running A Race.” The outline, though rushed for time, gave practical points and was as follows:
1. Work Hard
2. Prepare Today for Tomorrow
3. Pick Wise Companions
4. Plan to Be Accountable to A Mentor
5. Provide Leadership for Others
6. Understand Your Gift
7. Forget the Past
8. Press Toward the Future
After the quiz was a fine dinner prepared by the ladies of North Baptist. We had all had a long day and the meal was exactly what we needed. Maybe a little too much, for we had another service following. I have to admit, with all that found inside of me, staying awake was difficult. Yet, Dr. Heller helped us out be delivering another excellent message. This sermon was entitled, “What the Lord Wants to See” and based in John 17:11-26
I. The Truth Lived Out (vs. 14)
II. A Transformed Life (vs. 15-16)
III. A Testimony before the World (vs. 17-20)
IV. A True Unity (vs. 21-26)
Visiting with us at the conference tonight was veteran pastor Dr. Wendell Mullen. Dr. Mullen first began his ministry here as a church planter in Hartford, CT back in the late 1950’s! He’s considered by many to be the dean of New England pastors.
Well, it was a very eventful day and my bed is beckoning me. I’ll see you here again tomorrow night was the final blog of the conference.
