Mark Mullery
Hebrews 10:19-22 - Christ Our Access

Since we have Christ, let us go to heaven today!

“Objectively, what brings us into the presence of God is the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”  D.A. Carson

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This is the first installment of some of my favorite pictures from the retreat. These are in no particular order.

Click any of the pictures below for a larger image. Enjoy!

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I’m going to be posting quotes from the retreat sermons over the next few days.  Here is the first installment.  Enjoy!

Mark Mullery
Hebrews 1:1-4 - Consider Jesus

Jesus Christ is more excellent than you can imagine and God wants you to know it.

“Jesus Christ perfectly shows all that is knowable about the Father.”  Donald Guthrie

“That the Son has been exalted to God’s right hand means that he lives and rules with the authority and power of God himself.”  William Lane

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My highlights are too many to list. But a couple of them include:

1. All the teaching was excellent; I don’t know how I could pick a favorite message.  But hearing God’s Word preached was definitely the very best part of the retreat.
2. Watching the display of humility each morning as y’all encouraged one another for God’s grace at work in each other’s lives.
3. Pastors’ volleyball team record: 2-0.
4. James O’Donnell saves the day!  Thanks for the sound system, James!
5. Hearing your excellent insights into Isaiah 40.
6. 140 retreat registrants.  63 of them were parents.  Wow!
7. Looks like an M&M.  Shaped like an M&M.  Color like an M&M.  Tastes like a paintball.  Yuck.
8. “Where My Peeps At?”
9. Daniel, Aaron, and Melanie’s testimonies.
10. Worshiping the Savior together.

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We’re back. What a wonderful retreat. What was your highlight? How did God meet you?

Stay tuned for message quotes and outlines, photo galleries, and more highlights…

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I’m going to pick up Seita, then quick stops at the bank and Smoothie King, and then we are on the road.  The blog will be silent (posts and comments) until we return Saturday afternoon.If you are staying behind (and thus able to read this message), please pray for us!  Not sure how to pray?  Scroll down…

To all the rest: see you at the retreat!

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Sara emailed me, wondering what to pack as snipe bait.

Great question, Sara. I’ve always heard that snipe are scavengers, so most anything you take out in the woods with you will prove useful in the end. Best bet: just bring along what you like to eat.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about hunting the common snipe (gallinago gallinago):

“Some snipe species have been hunted for food and sport since the invention of the shotgun. They can be extremely difficult targets, confounding even very skilled hunters with their erratic flight, their unexpected flushes, their excellent natural camouflage and the treacherous and difficult terrain they typically inhabit.”

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When you think about the retreat that starts in just over 48 hours, what are you looking forward to? Back-to-back-to-back volleyball games? Maybe getting a chance to tag your youth pastor in the chest with a paintball? Staying up late? A new t-shirt? Good snacks?

So many times, I’ve arrived at conferences or retreats, only to realize that I had been looking forward to the wrong things. This retreat isn’t one big four-day slumber party. God is going to meet us. Did you catch that? Let me say it again: God is going to meet us. Think about this truth for a minute. Let it sink in. The God of the universe, the Creator of all things, is going to meet us in personal and meaningful ways in Yellow Spring, West Virginia.

While it is wonderful to look forward to (and enjoy) games, friends, and fun–the biggest thing happening on this retreat is the presence of God. Where do you need God to meet you? Are you weary? Discouraged? Disappointed? Angry? Anxious? In conflict? Confused? Something else? Pray now–and tomorrow, and Wednesday–that God would meet you. Pray that God would meet your friends. Pray that God would meet your parents. Pray for the gift of prophecy; pray that God would fill us with his Spirit.

Let’s prepare our hearts so that we can say with the psalmist:

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
(Psalm 42:1-2)

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The best thing you can do to prepare for the five15 Retreat is to pray. How do I know this is true? Simple:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:7-11

God is not at all reluctant to bless us on this retreat. These verses describe him as a Father who delights to give good gifts to his children. Ask and you shall receive! You can start by thanking God…

• …that we get to go on a retreat.
• …for the time and money to go.
• …for parents who are either coming with you or sending you on this retreat.
• …for the friends and family with whom you will experience grace.
• …for such an ideal location as Concord Retreat Center.

Here are some ways I would like to ask you to pray for the retreat. Please pray…

• …that all the administrative details would come together smoothly.
• …that God would meet us through preaching, singing, and fellowship.
• …that God would fill us with His Spirit again. Please invite God to be active to bless through the worship and ministry night Friday night.
• …for your parents and your friends, that God would minister his grace to them.
• …that God would grant us the grace of humility to serve others, encourage others, reach out to others.
• …that God would give you at least one person whom you don’t now know, who you could be reaching out to.
• …that God would illuminate His Word to our hearts, giving us ears to hear along with the gifts of conviction and repentance.
• …that the name of Jesus would be sweeter to us by the end, that we would be more aware of our wretched sinful condition, and more grateful for God’s provision of a Savior in Christ Jesus.
• …for Mark Mullery and Aron Osborne as they preach God’s Word to us. …for Seita and the five15 Band as they lead us in singing songs of worship to the Savior. …for me as I lead the retreat.

What would you add to this list? What are you praying for about the retreat?

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I’m looking for some help from humble people. I’m looking for some random facts about my friends (all of you) that you wouldn’t mind me sharing at the five15 Retreat for the entertainment of our friends.What unknown facts about yourself are you ready to disclose? Here are the kinds of things I’m looking for (all of which are true):

• I have double-jointed thumbs.
• I used to be so good at basketball, my friends in high school called me “Airball.”
• I have lived in 7 states and moved 14 times.
• My great-grandmother wanted my parents to name me Herkemer. (How humbling is that?)
• I once dove off our sailboat to save my sister from drowning in the Chesapeake Bay.

Want to play? Prizes for the winners that I select. Email me your random facts no later than midnight Sunday, and you’re in the running. Spread the word.

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