I was privileged to take 4 students to Founder’s Week at Moody Bible Institute this year. If you are unfamiliar with Founder’s Week, it is a weeklong conference that takes place at Moody Bible Institute every year. They bring in some of the most well-known speakers from around the world to bring the truth of Scripture to students, faculty, donors, as well as the public. The conference is made free to the public and is a phenomenal event.

I thought that I would provide some of my notes on the challenges that were given to us by the different speakers that we heard. All of their messages can be accessed here: Founder’s Week Messages. I have also added a link to each individual message in the section in which I talk about it.

Francis Chan spoke on Wednesday night and was the first speaker that we were privileged to hear. We arrived an hour early because we were anticipating a large crowd. We barely got a seat in time. It was packed. All of the overflows were filled up as well as a few off-site overflows. I heard that there were about 8,000 people in attendance!

Francis Chan did not disappoint. He seemed to discard whatever message he had planned and preach directly from his heart. He is so passionate and genuine, it is hard not to like him. You’ll see what I mean if you watch his talk (Francis Chan).

I will list some of the main points that I drew from his message…

-”It’s a fight to be a “doer” of God’s Word” – Ezekiel 33:30-33

-He talked a lot about the idea of “popping out of the Bible.” He asked if someone would ever describe us personally, or our churches as “looking like we popped right out of Scripture.” That was definitely a challenge to me. Do I live like Christ called me to live?

-”God does powerful, crazy things in the lives of those who know Him intimately.”

-He also talked about evangelism and how we should be sharing like crazy. He admitted that his tendency is to not share his faith, but he has purposed himself against that leaning and has made it his purpose to share his faith. That was a challenge to me as well.

-He mentioned 1 Corinthians 9:19 and encouraged us to be servants to all people in order that we might win their souls to Christ. When we serve with this in mind, it makes it so much sweeter! Knowing that we are serving to win people to Christ. He admitted that unbelievers are not easy to serve, but that is was God has called us to do.

 

The next speaker that we had the privilege of hearing (twice) was Mark Bailey. He is the president of Dallas Theological Seminary, which is a very well-known and well-respected seminary.

In his first message, he emphasized the importance of forgiveness and gave a very powerful challenge to us. His text was Matthew 18:21-35.

-”Forgiveness is a beautiful word… until you have something to forgive.” – C.S. Lewis

-This text is the story of the unforgiving servant that I am sure most of you are familiar with. It is a very powerful one when looking at forgiveness.

-Here are his application points.

1. I have offended God infinitely more than anyone has ever offended me.

2. Forgiveness is rooted in compassion, which releases the person and cancels the debt (v.27).

3. Forgiveness is an act of the will to extend mercy to the asking (v. 30).

4. An unforgiving heart transforms the offended into the offender (v.32-33)

5. The failure to forgive will result in the failure to be forgiven.

-”The will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.” – Corrie Ten Boom

 

We were then extremely privileged to hear James Meeks. He is the Pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Chicago and he is a State Representative in Illinois. He was one of my favorites. His message was entitled, “There is a Mission in Trouble.”

-He challenged the church to determine whether or not the church’s mission is clearly defined. When our mission is not defined, it is really difficult to accomplish the mission.

-He used the illustration of a kids’ television show called, “Wonder Pets.” It was a very humorous illustration, but his point was, that their mission is clearly defined. The Wonder Pets exist to help other animals who are in trouble. In every episode, they help another animal who is in trouble. They accomplish their mission, every time.

-He asks if we, as the church, are talking about soul winning. He says that if we aren’t there’s something wrong!

-The first thing Jesus says after His resurrection is, “Go ye therefore and make disciples.” The last  thing He said before His ascension was that we would receive power to share the gospel.

-He used a great illustration about fishing (listen to his message, you won’t regret it) to illustrate the idea that the job of pastor’s is to teach believers how to share their faith.

-His main points were:

1. The great commission is in trouble and we need to save it.

2. Soul winning needs to be trending in our lives and churches.

 

Thursday night we listened to Don Sunukjian. I had never heard of him before, but he did a really nice job! He is teacher and writer of homiletics (preaching). He is currently a professor of teaching and preaching at Talbot University.

-Don talked about what heaven will be like. He talked about Mark 12:18-27

-Don expounded on some really deep issues that I found very interesting. I just wish that he would have had more time to go deeper. The notes that I got from him were more personal reflections. If you would like to hear more, please listen to his message in its entirety.

 

Mark Bailey’s second message was another really good one. He spoke on the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. His text was Matthew 20:1-16. His message was entitled, “Hope in the Context of Uneven Faithfulness.”

-Mark emphasized the fact that God is just, sovereign, and generous.

-Salvation is impossible with man, but possible with God (19:26).

-He emphasized his message with a very solid illustration (watch and see).

-Two lessons to be taken from the message are:

1. I need to be faithful since God rewards proportionately

2. I need to be thankful

 

Dr. George Waddles was the next speaker. He is the pastor of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago.

The main thing that I drew from his message was that I need to analyze the way that I treat other believers. I need to make sure that I treat them as brothers and sisters and love them in that way.

 

The final speaker was Ravi Zacharias. It was such a blessing to hear him. He is a well-known apologist for the Christian faith and has written many books. I need to listen to his message again because 1. He is so smart and 2. We had a crying baby in front of us that was very distracting the first time! His message was entitled, “The 4 Gardens of Truth and Relevance”

-Truth and relevance are very important when talking to anyone, especially skeptics.

-The 4 Gardens

1. Garden of Creation

2. Garden of Context

3. Garden of Contest/Grief

4. Garden of Hope

I hope that you will take the time to listen to some of these messages. I hope that you hear them all and are blessed by their ministries and messages. I definitely was. These are great men of God and it is such an honor to have heard from them.