Harry Reader at the Campus Outreach Milwaukee New Years Conference
2012 NYC - Infinite Mercy
Kempton Turner at the Campus Outreach Milwaukee New Years Conference
In his second message at the conference, Kempton challenges us by asking how we will respond to Jesus. Returning to the text in Isaiah 6, we observe Isaiah’s response to an encounter with God. In the presence of Jesus, Isaiah can no longer focus on the sins of others, but he is utterly broken and devastated at the reality of his own sinfulness in the presence of a holy God. As for Isaiah, the perfect holiness of God exposes our own sinfulness.
Further in Isaiah 6, the beauty and glory of the gospel emerges when one of the seraphim flies to Isaiah to cleanse him and his sin is atoned for. Out of love and mercy, God chooses to fly to us to cleanse us of our sin. Jesus came to this world on a mission fueled by love. He flew to us, died for us, and he alone can make us clean and right before God.
2012 NYC- Infinite Possibilities
Harry Reader at the Campus Outreach Milwaukee New Years Conference
Harry Reeder’s final message at the conference is focused upon our message and mission as followers of Christ in this world. The message is the gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ. The mission is the Great Commission - to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20). This mission must be Christ-centered, gospel-driven, and Spirit-filled in order to fulfill God’s purpose for the world.
Harry uses several examples from the book of Acts as the apostles began building the church of believers by carrying out this mission. A portion of Acts 17:6 “…these men who have turned the world upside down have now come here also” fuels Harry’s plea for us to do the same thing again for the Lord - to shake the world once more through consistent evangelism and discipleship that is centered on Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and driven by the good news of the gospel.
2012 NYC - Infinite Love
Harry Reader at the Campus Outreach Milwaukee New Years Conference
Harry Reeder begins his first message of the conference with a thorough explanation of the gospel. Drawing from several verses from the book of Romans, we learn that our sin nature renders us helpless, as our sin record makes us hopeless. Harry emphasizes the key factor that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions - that hope is found in nothing and no one else but God himself through Jesus Christ.
Using a passage from Romans 8, God’s sovereignty in our salvation is clear - it is foreknown by God as he predestines, calls, justifies, and glorifies us through the life, death, and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. Ultimately, it is God who initiates to us and draws us to himself. Contrary to every other religion, Christianity is rooted in the fact that God came down to us through Jesus, lived and died for us, so that we could have new life in a right relationship with him.
2012 NYC - Infinite Need
Harry Reeder’s second message at the conference centers upon the ultimate need of the world - salvation through Jesus Christ. The gospel message is a royal proclamation that the King has come, and he has given Christians a new record, a new heart, and new life. He calls us to surrender our lives completely to his mission for this world. We are each a mission field before we are saved, and immediately declared missionaries after we are saved through Christ.
Using the gospel account from Mark 5 of a man who had been possessed by a demon and healed by Jesus, Harry teaches us the principles of Jesus’ mission to seek and save the lost. There is no place Jesus will not go and no power he cannot overcome to seek and save the lost. Harry ends his message with the reality that there is no person so lost that Jesus cannot save, and no person he’s saved that he will not use to seek and save the lost.
2012 NYC - Infinite Satisfaction
What captures your attention? What do you go to great lengths to pursue in order to be satisfied? Kempton’s final message begins with the premise that we are made for God’s glory; we were born to experience captivation, fascination, and delight. But rather than seeking God for that happiness we were created for, we chase after empty pursuits that always leave us wanting more.
Using the Biblical example of King Solomon, Kempton shows us that even the richest man who ever lived was not satisfied with what he had. Solomon pursued all the same things we do - wealth, accomplishment, pleasure - and yet after he gained everything he wanted, he concluded, “all was vanity.” The only true, lasting satisfaction comes from Jesus Christ - our eternal pleasure. We will never be satisfied until our hearts are satisfied in him alone.