A week has passed and I can still hardly believe how well our first conference went! Sean and I want to thank everyone who came, and everyone who helped make it happen. It was an experience we will definitely keep with us for a long time to come. For those of you who couldn’t make the trip, here’s how it all went down:
[Note: we’ve whittled down the size the mp3s from the previous post so that they’ll take up roughly half as much room on your hard-drive.]
On Thursday evening April 3rd, we convened at St George’s Episcopal Church for the official Mockingbird Commissioning Service. Paul Walker, our board president, preached a powerful sermon about our mission. If you’ve ever wondered what Mockingbird is all about (I know I have!), take a listen here. And if you’ve ever wondered what Paul looks like, wonder no more:
Friday morning, we had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Mark Mattes speak to us about the theology of the cross, using Martin Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation as a guide. To get the full effect, download his talk, his outline and a copy of the Disputation.
Next, we broke up into smaller groups for breakout sessions, including one on Preaching and Worship, lead by Paul Walker, Alex Mejias and Jacob Smith, the audio for which is available here. Check it out!
After lunch, Dr. Paul Zahl, aka Dad, spoke with characteristic passion on the subject of The Gospel and Reality. It was truly a talk for the ages – be sure to get your copy here, and don’t forget to grab the accompanying handout. Dr. Zahl also treated us to an important, enlightening Q&A, which further fleshed out the themes of his talk. We then enjoyed some much-needed down time…
…before dinner!
Saturday morning Dr. Mattes somehow managed to top himself, giving an inspired lecture on the distinction between Law and Gospel. And the Q&A that followed was brilliant! Do yourself a favor – here and here. We also have his outline, as well as both the handouts he referenced, one and two. Many, many thanks to Dr. Mattes!
To close the Conference, we held a short worship service, where Sean and I gave our closing remarks, which you can download – you guessed it – here. If you’d like to download everything in one big file (115mb) click here. Before we left, we also made sure to take the first official photo of the Mockingbird Board and Staff:
Thanks again to everyone! And praise God! I think it’s safe to say we’ll be doing another one next year. Stay tuned for a post about the book-table…
COMMENTS
6 responses to “The 2008 Mockingbird Conference: God’s Grace in a World of Glory”
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Just fixed the links for Dr Mattes 2nd talk and his 2nd handout – sorry! I’ll have the Disputation and PZ’s handout up tomorrow.
Everything is up!
“OK. That’s it.”
Wow Dave. You look really… thin.
(And the conference looks awesome.)
Hahaha. Thanks Will!