One of the greatest testimonies to the gospel is a healthy marriage. August 9-10, 2019, Providence Church and Shadowbrook Church hosted the “Rooted! Marriage Conference” facilitated by Dr. John Street.
Dr. John Street is professor and department chair for the graduate programs in Biblical Counseling at the Master’s University & Seminary in Santa Clarita, California. In addition to his many accomplishments and his pastoral experience, he is currently serving as president of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).
This event was truly one of my favorite things that I’ve been a part since moving to Georgia. There were so many things that I loved about it.
Here are a few personal highlights that I wanted to share.
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I got to work with a great team of servant-minded people. This whole project was a joint effort between Providence Church in Duluth and Shadowbrook Church in Suwanee. Shadowbrook provided the facility, designed the graphics, put together the conference notebook, put on the music, and handled all of the audio/visual needs. Beyond that, their men’s and women’s ministries served the food and handled the parking lot, greeted people as they arrived and did all kinds of random things.
Providence provided the speaker, content, books, and childcare volunteers (over 20!). The entire “Rooted! Marriage Conference” team was a dream to work with. Everyone that I interacted with served with excellence and joy.
- Praying with Pastors Jerrod Rumley, Ty Blackburn, John Street and the staff beforehand. Everyone was working to impact the marriages of those in attendance.
- Seeing a full room. There were 300 adults and over 100 children. The room was comfortably full despite the difficult timing that mid-August can be for some families.
- The fellowship of 20 different churches. There were people from 20 different churches in attendance. What a blessing to see God’s people come together from all over this area. May Christ be exalted in our marriages and in our churches!
- Getting to work with my father-in-law. I’ve known Dr. Street since I started dating his daughter in fall of 2000. Back then, I didn’t really know him for being a pastor, counselor, or professor. I just knew I needed to go through him to be with Melissa! Over the years, my appreciation for his character and wisdom has only grown. This conference was the biggest project we’ve worked on together and I felt so blessed to be a part of it.
- The Content. The one thing that stands out is that Dr. Street taught us to hate our own sin more. Our own sin is the biggest problem in our marriage and I should be more concerned about that than personal differences. I also learned that God’s grace changes how I view myself and my wife. It changes how we deal with each others sins and weaknesses. There were many more lessons I could repeat – but you can just go watch the conference yourself!
To all of you who served to make this possible, thank you!
By His Grace,
Pastor Jess
Part 1 – Getting off to a good start
Part 2 – Pacing to finish well
Part 3 – Handling the hurdles
Part 4 – Running with a blended team
Part 5 – Passing the baton
