A speakers' panel with Gary Wilkeson, Carter Conlon, Claude Houde and Tim Dilena.

Are you willing to let your plans and agendas for your life die? In this session, Carter Conlon discusses how we hear clearly from the Spirit, hear the voice of God and finally identify the groaning in your soul. Most people say that they want to know what God’s will is and hear him speak, but almost just as many people find that God’s ideas and words don’t fit within our estimations of what life should look like or who we want to be. If we want to come into agreement with Spirit in our heart, we must overcome our own will and plans.

Life is difficult and often leaves us deeply wounded. In this session, Tim Dilena discusses some of the reasons why God allows us to go through horrific circumstances. Out of the lives of Joseph and King Hezekiah, he illustrates the purpose God has for his servants as wounds heal into scars. Lord builds character and the fruits of his Spirit quicker in a wounded heart that has been surrendered into his hands than in anyone who is strong, competent and skilled in their own right.

Nothing can stand in for the power of God truly being present among God’s people. In this session, Carter Conlon appeals to believers to not settle for knowledge about the Lord when they could have the Father’s living presence among them. In the book of Acts, people were coming from the temple where they had received accurate biblical teaching, but they were not transformed until they encountered the Holy Spirit moving powerfully through the disciples. The same holds true for believers and the church today.

What does it mean to be a leader in submission to other leaders? In this session, John Bailey examines the story of young David as he worked under King Saul and how this season prepared David to be a humble leader. Leadership can be lonely business, and leaders can come under so many blows in the service of the Lord. When we feel as if no one around us cares for our soul, it trains us to rely on God in an unusual way.

How do we ensure that our passion for and awareness of the Lord doesn’t dim? In this sermon, Claude Houde points out how men and women of God almost always fall into despair or compromise when they are isolated. Prayer dwindles and zeal for heaven dies when leaders are alone for too long. Nothing is more vital for maintaining for spiritual fire than making sure we have godly community and accountability.

At some point in our lives we all get labeled by others, and some of us carry those labels until the day we die. Once applied, labels are hard to remove. They become self-fulfilling prophecies that affect how we live our lives. Jabez, from birth, was called “pain” but he didn't let this label direct his life. Instead, he asked God to give him a life contrary to his label. Let God give you a life that lets you live contrary to the negative labels that have been applied to you.

The account of King Saul, the prophet Samuel and young David has important implications for modern church leaders. In this session, R. T. Kendall discusses the lessons that God has for pastors in this particular historical account of Israel’s leaders. Believers, especially leaders, must come to terms with the fact that we all have a measure of faith and limits on our giftings or anointings. It’s a humbling recognition that every leader must return to repeatedly throughout their career.

Sometimes our convictions from the Spirit are turned into uncertain questions in the middle of trials. In this session, Tim Dilena examines John the Baptist’s declaration “Here is the Lamb of God!” which turned into a question about if Jesus was the Messiah after John was put in prison. God loves when his children are honest with him about their fears and doubts, and he wants to straighten our question marks into exclamations once again.