On April 30th through May 2nd 2021, Word of Grace Bible Church in Battle Ground, Washington hosted their bi-annual Reality Conference. Reality is an extension of Word of Grace Bible Church’s college and young adult ministry, TwoTwenty. In 2007, the conference was established and has been hosted every other year since then. It has become a great opportunity to meet new people, build relationships, and most importantly, profess the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those around us.
At Reality 2021, the topic was “The Gospel in Everyday Life” and the speaker was Dr. Austin Duncan. Austin serves as a Professor of Pastoral Ministries at The Master’s Seminary and as College Pastor and Elder at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, CA. Throughout the course of the weekend, Austin led the congregation through five sessions of sermons and talks to address the topic of “The Gospel in Everyday Life.”
The youth from Grace Avenue Bible Church in Sacramento, California attended this conference. We had the opportunity to drive out to Washington and learn from Austin, while also meeting fellow brothers and sisters and fellowshipping with them. The eleven of us drove out at 4 AM, Friday morning, to spend some time adventuring through the beautiful landscape of Oregon before making it to the conference by 6 PM. Upon arrival at Word of Grace, we also ran into a fellow PCSBA church youth, the youth from Grace Family Church. It was encouraging to see some familiar faces and to see others who love Jesus and are willing to drive hundreds of miles to be in fellowship.
The first session of the conference began on Friday night. This session answered the question – what is the gospel? Austin walked us through the definition of the word itself – it is a proclamation of good news – and he explained how this good news related to Jesus. Nowadays, the term “gospel-centered” is something that is being so overused and used so lightly, that it’s starting to lose its meaning. It’s being added to titles to make them appear holier – the gospel-centered ministry, gospel-centered funeral, gospel-centered adoption, gospel-centered productivity. We need to recognize exactly what the gospel is and its magnitude in our lives. The gospel call is both for me and for the sinner who heard it for the first time. This call is to repent and believe in Christ Jesus.
The second, third, and fourth sessions of the conference were held on Saturday and were followed by a Q&A at the end. The second session addressed the topic of discipleship. Discipleship is not a program. It is not easy and is not forced or controlling. It also is not optional; it is required in every Christian’s life. A definition by Mark Dever was given to sum discipleship up in four words – helping others follow Jesus. The third session covered Hebrews 2:1-4 and was, in my opinion, the most convicting of all the sermons. This session was geared towards those who are already believers. It was a warning message to us as we are prone to wander from God. Jesus is supreme and I can not be drifting in my faith and in my actions as His follower. The fact that I grew up in the church and have been exposed to Christian teachings gives me even more responsibility to heed the warning of drifting.
Session four covered Ephesians chapter 3, and went over the heart of the Apostle Paul, and his heart for evangelism. In Paul’s writing, we see of his commitment to the ministry of Christ. We see of his understanding of the mystery of Christ – “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6). And we see that he, and we, are privileged by the mercy of Christ.
Following these three sessions was a Q&A. Throughout the course of the weekend, everyone had the opportunity to text in any questions they had for Austin and he answered these questions on Saturday night. After the Q&A was a big social event for all the attendees that included a barbecue, sports, bonfire, and fellowship to end off the night.
Our group was unable to stay for the final session on Sunday night, as we had a long drive ahead of us that day. However, we were able to attend Word of Grace’s morning service on Sunday and worship our God together with the church one more time before heading out.
Throughout all of Friday and Saturday, our brothers and sisters at Word of Grace Bible Church were extremely loving and accommodating to all the guests. In between each session, they provided food, coffee, smoothies, and great conversations. A raffle was hosted at the end of each session where fellow youth won prizes. For anyone who needed housing and lodging, members from their church opened up their homes to accommodate us. We were able to meet new people and share our lives with one another in joy of our faith in Jesus Christ.
Yevgeniy Belous,
Youth leader at Grace Avenue Bible Church
