For the first time in the history of Mars Hill Church I am getting to do my job. With the great team of Executive Elders architecting the church and our six campus pastors leading their elder teams, I feel like the weight of the world has been taken off my back. As a result, by God’s grace, I am getting more time than ever for study, writing, preaching, teaching, and, best of all, snuggling with my wife Grace a.k.a. "Beauty" and playing card and board games with my five young children who crush me continually—especially my six-year-old "buddy" Calvin. So far 2008 has been filled with tons of preaching in addition to the five Sunday sermons I preach live, with much more to follow. Last week I preached Thursday night at the University of Washington to some six hundred students who all showed up through Facebook connections. I got to hang out and meet a ton of students and was incredibly encouraged—it seemed every other person I met either came to Jesus or came back to Jesus at Mars Hill in the last year or so. Friday I preached to the Northwest Assemblies of God church planters network and got to see some old friends. The pastors there were fantastic, and Grace and I spent some time doing Q&A for the church planters and their wives. Saturday morning at our Ballard campus we had an all-day Boot Camp for men who are new to Mars Hill Church. I got to kick off the day with a sermon that included roughly two dozen guys coming forward to repent of sin and give their lives to Jesus—it was a great way to start the day! Next week I will be in the Chicago area. The trip will include signing pre-order copies of my book Vintage Jesus, which comes out in a few weeks, along with some preaching. January 29–30 I will be preaching on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in conjunction with their church planting week and our Acts 29 Church Planters Boot Camp. You can check out the event schedule here or below and register here. Tuesday, January 29
- 8:00 - 9:00 am Registration
- 9:00 - 9:30 am Worship - TEDS Worship Band
- 9:30 - 10:45 am Session #1: "Leading the Mission" - Darrin Patrick | Lead Pastor and Founder of The Journey | St. Louis, MO
- 10:45 - 11:00 am Break
- 11:00 - 12:05 pm Session #2: "Preaching the Mission" - Mark Driscoll | Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church and President of Acts 29 Network | Seattle, WA speaking at TEDS Chapel – free session open to the public
- 12:00 - 2:00 pm Working Lunch provided by A29 (Workshops & meet a church planter)
- 2:00 - 3:15 pm Session #3: "Missional & Biblical Church Planting" - Ed Stetzer | Director of Lifeway Research
- 3:15 - 3:30 pm Break
- 3:30 - 5:00 pm Session #4: "Kingdom-Focused Church Planting " - Ed Stetzer
- 9:00 - 9:30 am Worship - TEDS Worship Band
- 9:30 - 10:45 am Session #5: "Church Planting Evangelism" - Mark Dever | Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church | Washington, DC
- 10:45 - 11:00 am Break
- 11:00 - 12:30 pm Lunch provided by A29
- 12:30 - 1:45 pm Session #6: "Gospel-Centered Theology" - Mark Driscoll
- 1:45 - 2:00 pm Break
- 2:00 - 3:15 pm Session #7: "Vision for Church Planting" - Scott Thomas | Pastor of Global Church Missions | Mars Hill Church & Director of Acts 29 Network
- 3:15 - 3:30 pm Break
- 3:30 - 5:00 pm Question and Answer
- 8:00 am - Continental Breakfast
- 9:00 - 10:00 am - Session #1: Preaching The Word To A New Generation, Part 1
- 10:00 -10:30 am - Break
- 10:30 - 11:30 am - Session #2: Preaching The Word To A New Generation, Part 2
- 11:30 - 12:30 pm - Lunch
- 12:30 - 1:30 pm - Session #3: Preaching The Word To A New Generation, Part 3
- 1:30 - 1:45 pm - Break
- 1:45 - 3:30 pm - Q & A
