Reflecting Deeper Still Part 3

After Kay finished preaching we broke for lunch. At 1:00, Beth, Kay and Priscilla returned for a question/answer session that included everything from "the critical hair moment" to marital advice and child-rearing. Priscilla's a total cut-up. She's so funny. They all are, really.

Then it was Beth's turn to preach. But before she got started, she felt very impressed to have an altar call in light of Kay's message. This wasn't just any altar call, however; she was really speaking to those who have been struggling with something for so long and who wanted to finally have a definitive moment in their lives to remember that this was the day they once and for all laid it at the foot of the Cross for good and received forgiveness and redemption. The altar filled up with women, many of whom were just weeping. You couldn't help but be moved and affected by it.

During this time, some glass partitions that had been placed in various areas around the arena were brought up on the stage while Travis and the worship team sang. Throughout Friday night and Saturday morning, people had filled these partitions up with prayer requests, praise reports and just things that were on their hearts using a white paint pen. During the altar call, a gentleman came up with paint cans and started to paint over the heartfelt words that had been written. The camaras were zoomed in close enough to read the words as he did this. Again, I was so moved to read prayers from people praying for a touch from the Lord, the salvation of loved ones, travel safety, healing, for loved ones in Iraq, praise for God's hand in various situations. These were people's hearts poured out all over these partitions. This picture was the end result and some of the scriptures being displayed on the tv screens included Isaiah 60:3 and Colossians 1:17. Click on the picture to enlarge it to see it better.

Then Beth got up to preach. Her primary verse was John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Her goal was to help 19,000 of us remember it. She did this by teaching us, section by section, various hand motions to go along with the words of the verse and, of course, expounding on each section of the verse.

Ok, confession time: I was so tired by this point in the conference after such a full day (and after staying up late the night before talking with my sister) that I know I left a lot out. Hopefully, my sister will help me fill in the blanks. heh, heh :D Check back again, ok? Here's what I've got in my notes...

1) The Word - Logos - Divine reasoning/expression. She said that we need to pray about our desires and ask God to heal and change our "want to's. Determination alone won't cut it. I've heard Beth speak about this before and from experience I can say that God has always honored that prayer. When I've been honest with Him that in myself I don't want to change so and so but if He wants me to, then I want to want to, He has changed my heart over the matter. Praise His Name.

2) Became Flesh 1 John 4:1-3

3) Made His dwelling among us - skenoo - Means to tabernacle 2 Cor 5:1; Rev 21:22. Christ was the "tent" on earth. In eternity, He will be the temple.

4) We have seen His glory (John 1:18; 1 John 1:1) Shekinah. The name dwelt between the cherubim - the divine manefested.

5) The glory of the One and Only.

6) Who came from the Father (vs 18; John 13:22-23)

7) Full of grace and truth (vs 16; John 2 - wedding at Cana) Fill the jars. Our jars are one of three things: Either empty, filled with water or filled with wine. In the spiritual sense, the "new Wine". "I don't want to be fine, I want to be full."

At the end, the praise team came back and absolutely jammed. I got the video below from Lifeway's All Access blog (there's a link for this on the right) You may be familiar with Kay Arthur but I bet you've never quite seen her like this before! To see even better pictures and additional recaps, I suggest going over to the All Access blog. The Lifeway photographer did a beautiful job. Hope my recaps have blessed you even a little bit. No matter whether you were there or not, God's Word never returns void.

Be blessed.
Melanie


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