Jeff Bogue wrapped up Wednesday at Access2019, the national conference of the Charis Fellowship, with a challenge to do hard things.
He noted that it was one of the values of his congregation at Grace Church, Bath Campus, in Akron, Ohio. “We do hard things.”
He explained, “When given two options, we will choose the one that no one else wants to tackle and we will intentionally go where hope is hard to find,” noting that most of us would rather take the path of least resistance.
“Why would you put that in as a value?,” he stressed. “If I don’t anchor that on my life, I won’t naturally choose it. I’ll choose not to do hard things.”
Citing 2 Timothy 3, he called upon the conference to take a stand for strong doctrine and doing what is right, even if you take a hit.
“We are people of faith, and the people of faith that God gave us to teach us with skin on did ridiculously hard things,” he said. “They did things that nobody wanted to do.”
The Tuesday evening session included Mike Sciarra, pastor of Grace Church, Orange, Calif., who talked about raising up next generation leaders. (Watch the complete service here.)
It concluded a full day of activities at the conference, which was held at the Auburn Grace Community Church, Auburn, Calif. (Phil Sparling, senior pastor).
During the morning session, Don Shoemaker was honored for his service to the Charis Fellowship as the chair of the Social Concerns Committee. He stepped down from this role at this conference.
Also at the morning session, Bob Wriedt, pastor of Grace Community Church, Seal Beach, Calif., spoke on the unique role we have of listening to one another. Jordan Bakker, pastor of Grace Church, Simi Valley, Calif., spoke about the experience of helping restart the Charis Fellowship church in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. and the importance of partnership in the Fellowship. (Catch the Tuesday morning speakers here.)
Wednesday morning included a variety of cohorts and workshops. Recordings will be made available in the near future and will be posted here.
At breakfast on Wednesday, the ministry of GraceConnect and BMH Books was presented. Church planting ministries in the Fellowship were highlighted at lunch at the nearby Ridge Golf Club. The ministry of the Grace Brethren Investment Foundation and reports from Charis Fellowship military chaplains were featured at dinner, also at the Ridge Golf Club.
See additional photos from Wednesday on the GraceConnect Facebook page.