1999 Miracle Yearbook

FALL BIt &stair shares his thoughtr on,the Christian,life with/the CedArville Collegefamily during the Fait Bible conference. 34 CHAPEL erence I n the courseofeightsermons,AlistairBegg setthe tone for the 1998-99 school year,encouraging students to rest in God's care while striving to know Him better. Begg opened the Fall Bible Conference with comments from a collection of personal thoughts he had recorded in the flyleaf's of his Bible. During the morning sessions of the conference, Begg delivered messages covering the theme"My Times Are in YourHands."Ascomforting asthe morning sermons were, the evening services were an exhortation for students to take action. Begg spent three nights encouraging students to say to themselves,"I want to know Christ." Begg hoped students would take different thoughts with them from the conference."Obviously in the morning we would just learn to trust God for everything. There is no issue too large for God," Begg said. In the evening, however,he wanted people to learn that growing closer to Christ is a process rather than a goal. He said, "It is the whole notion that we want to see knowing Christ as some- thing that is not static but progressive." At the annual convocation service,Begg addressed the issue of particularity in the Christian. Although he encouraged theembrac- ing ofsome areas of tolerance, Begg believes that particularity is inescapable in the Christian life. "If you don't want to be thought of as narrow, I don't know where you'll go. We are inevitably narrow. It is the scandal of particularity." Begg closed his time at Cedarville with a message on Psalm 31:15. He said,"We're not tossed about on the ocean of chance. There is a responsibility to be faced. There is a humility to be fostered. There is a security to be found." Concerning the student body,Begg said,"I've been struck bythe vibrancy of the group, the care with which they have apparently listened to the talks, and the depth of the questions they have wanted to ask in private conversation. There seems to be a seriousness in the desire to follow Christ." When asked what he mostenjoyed about the conference,Begg said,"Being for the first time in this new auditorium and being struck by the tremendous impact the college is having on so many young people. It's nice to be part of that." Step !mks