This summer, our team hosted a series of conferences for pastors and ministry leaders based on the book of the Jude, where God commands us to not only proclaim the truth, but protect it. As Western culture becomes increasingly hostile to the Faith and embraces postmodern relativity instead of truth, the duty of the Church becomes all the more vital. The culture Jude wrote to was riddled with individuals infiltrating the Church and perverting “the grace of our God into a license for immorality” while denying Christ’s lordship (v.4). Jude’s answer was for the people of God to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people (v.3), build themselves up through faith and prayer (v.20), keep themselves in God’s love (v.21), “be merciful to those who doubt” (v.22), and “save others by snatching from from the fire” (v.23). What does it look like for the church to do these same things today? We hope the videos below will give you practical answers.
Contending for the Faith: Part I Video
In Session 1 recorded at the Contending for the Faith Conference at Oak Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Professor Wagner teaches a challenging message from the Book of Jude, laying a foundation for the conference. The day of the conference, there was a terrible storm that left the venue and much of the city without power. You will hear Professor Wagner reference the storm and the analogy of why we must run head-on into the storm.
Contending for the Faith: Part II Video
In Session 2 recorded at the Contending for the Faith Conference in Grand Rapids, Professor Wagner takes questions from pastors and ministry leaders giving practical answers about how to protect ministry while contending boldly for the faith. Check our Policy Guide for Churches & Religious Institutions and Religious Liberty 101 book for more practical tools that can help you guard against lawfare attacks and other issues.
Contending for the Faith: Part III Video
In Session 3 recorded at the Contending for the Faith Conference in Grand Rapids, Pastor Andy Shaver talks about how to pack your bag and prepare your heart to stand firm in difficult times. The bag Pastor Shaver is holding is the bag he packed when threatened with arrest for not closing the church when ordered to do during the pandemic. Choosing to obey God rather than men may come at a cost, but that cost does not change our calling. Instead, we need to learn how to lean on the Lord and His all-sufficiency, even in turbulent times.
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