Tim Keller, John Piper, Albert Mohler to Kick Off 2011 Gospel Coalition
Prominent evangelical pastors and theologians, including Tim Keller and John Piper, will kick off the fourth annual The Gospel Coalition national conference on Tuesday.
Some 5,300 people have registered for the conference where Christians that seek to uphold and live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ can learn and network. The three-day conference, held in Chicago, will feature more than 70 speakers and focus on the theme "They Testify about Me," about preaching Jesus and the Gospel from the Old Testament.
On Tuesday morning, one of the GC speakers James MacDonald, senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in the Chicago suburb, retweeted Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick's tweet: "Let the text shape the sermon. Let the text shape the sermon. Let the text shape the sermon."
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The Gospel Coalition launched in 2007 as a fellowship of evangelical churches that are "deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures."
Members of GC, according to the group's website, are distressed by theological and moral relativism, which have led to the "easy abandonment of both biblical truth and the transformed living mandated by our historic faith."
"We have committed ourselves to invigorating churches with new hope and compelling joy based on the promises received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone," reads the preamble of The Gospel Coalition.
The focus of this year's conference will be to help Christians study and teach all of God's word by focusing on preaching Jesus and the Gospel message from the Old Testament.
There are nine plenary sessions and many workshops on topics including business, leadership, inner-city church planting, counseling, as well as sharing the Gospel with Muslims.
Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., will speak during the first plenary session on "Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus" based on John 5:31-47. Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan will lead the second session on Tuesday on "Getting Out" based on Exodus 14.
Keller will also join John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn., and other Christian leaders for an evening session taking the form of a panel discussion on preaching from the Old Testament.
Other prominent speakers at The Gospel Coalition conference include Joshua Harris, Matt Chandler, Tullian Tchividjian, Kevin DeYoung, and Mark Driscoll.
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