Nearly a month into the semester, students and faculty alike enjoyed a break from classes and classwork for PCC’s 46th Bible Conference. Each day offered messages packed with truth from God’s Word.
Monday night, Bible Conference opened with two new speakers—Pastor Tim Butler of People’s Baptist Church (NC) and Dr. Kenny Baldwin of Crossroads Baptist Church (VA).
As the first speaker of the conference, Pastor Tim Butler set the tone for the conference with his message from John 12, where he encouraged audiences to see Jesus for who He is—the Son of God and the Redeemer of fallen man.
As Bible Conference progressed, each speaker seemed to build on what the previous one preached about—whom Jesus is, what He’s done, and how to find joy in Him. Dr. Baldwin encouraged audiences to take hold of a reaching God, to keep a clear testimony, and to know God brings deliverance from daily sin. Dr. Scott Tewell, pastor of Rosedale Baptist Church (MD), preached messages that showed how Luke 4 demonstrates the impeccability of Jesus, encouraged audiences to live while being grateful for God’s perfect provision, and to have a God-centered joy. Pastor Butler reminded audiences that the fight against one’s sin nature was won at the cross, and that a focus on God will shrink the daily fears.
Dr. Jon Lands, former pastor in West Virginia, has spoken during Bible Conference before, but this was his first time since joining PCC’s administration team. In his two-part messages, he reminded audiences to build their spiritual lives with Jesus as the foundation and to individually see Him as a personal Savior.
College senior Jeremiah Calica (CA) took advantage of the break from classes and spent time reflecting on the messages during Bible Conference. “Conferences such as this one are important because they allow us to stop and take a few days to reflect on God’s Word. It also gives us the ability to implement some of the lessons learned before going back to our everyday schedules,” he said. “One thing I was reminded of is the importance of being thankful. Dr. Tewell’s message tonight has me more mindful of the things in my life that I have not been actively thankful for.”
“I’ve enjoyed [Bible Conference] a lot. I’ve liked all the messages. It’s kind of neat how they kind of all go together in a way, but they’re all their own unique messages,” said Hannah Hall (Jr., CO). “I like how, if we want to listen to this sermon again, we can go back on the podcast.”
Over the course of Bible Conference, livestreams of the services saw thousands tune in from across the States and around the globe from locations such as Uganda, Honduras, Guam, and Mexico. Jarrod Van Gundy (Jr., FL) was thankful that his family could be part of Bible Conference over the livestream. “My dad called me this morning and talked about Kenny Baldwin’s message last night and what a blessing that was to him. And that just blesses me to know that God’s Word, it really does prevail like it says in the book of Isaiah. God’s Word does not come back void. It reaches past our campus,” he said.
On Wednesday afternoon, students enjoyed an event that rainy weather nearly derailed—the Bible Conference Picnic! The theme, Western Roundup, was punctuated by pastimes and “fixin’s.” With the theme as the backdrop, several PCC music groups performed folk songs as students roamed among the booths and games on Eagle Field. In addition to a prepared picnic box, students enjoyed corn dogs, chili and cornbread, tea and lemonade, and baked beans made from Mrs. Denise Shoemaker’s own recipe. After filling up on vittles, students tried their hand at several games like panning for gold, shooting and archery, lassoing a bull, and bottle toss. Many frequented the marshmallow roasting pits, rode the hay rides around campus, and dressed as cowboys and bandits at the photo booth.
“[The picnic] was a great way to just kind of have time to relax and free our minds from how much we’ve been thinking about the messages,” said Joshua Atkins (Sr., TX), adding that his favorite part was the corndogs.
After a time of sitting under pointed sermons and hearing powerful music specials, students returned to their usual schedules for a shortened week of classes. The reminders of God’s provision will continue to be felt in the weeks ahead.