Conference 2026 July 1st-6th

Laurelville Church Center

Mount Pleasant, PA

Conference Schedule Conference Poster

"Jesus and the CGBCI"

How are you doing on your chart of the 7 churches of Revelation 2-3? Have you searched out what the commendation, condemnation, counsel and comfort of Jesus was to the church in Smyrna?

The church at Smyrna was one of two churches in Revelation 2-3 which did not receive any condemnation from the Lord. The other church is Philadelphia. Why doesn’t the church at Smyrna receive any condemnation? On the one hand, the answer is simple – there was nothing to condemn! On the other hand, what brought about the Lord’s praise of this church? It was their understanding of God’s purpose for adversity and their biblical response to it. The first thing that Jesus says to this church is that He was dead and is alive. Death is not the end for Christians. These believers who faced persecution knew their Bibles. They understood God’s purpose for suffering and adversity. If we were to categorize the purposes of God in allowing suffering and adversity, we would come up with at least 5 categories. Now, each category could have a number of subpoints, but there would be at least these 5.

1. God is glorified in our suffering and adversity – John 9:3; 11:4; the believer who has cancer and says, “pray for me to honor God through this trial” glorifies God. Think about the blind man in John 9.

2. We live in a fallen world – Romans 8:22-23; we get colds, sweat, have allergies like everyone else all around the globe.

3. Personal sin has consequences – Deut. 29:19-21; Prov. 16:18; Acts 5:3; there is a story about a skylark who didn’t like to dig worms for food. One day, he saw a man hollering “Earth worms for sale!” He asked, “What’s the deal?” The man traded 2 worms for a feather. Great deal the skylark thought until the day came when he couldn’t fly. Sin and Satan deceive us into “deals.” If I just look at pornography once…God will forgive me for…

4. God is making us like Jesus (sanctification) – Romans 8:29-30; Psalm 119:71; Proverbs 12:10 reads, “A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the compassion of the wicked is cruel.” Are you becoming kinder because you are a Christian? Do you think more about God’s Kingdom as life goes on? How are you becoming more like Jesus? Are you more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kinder, more faithful, gentler, have more self control?

5. Satan and demons – Job; Job’s suffering glorified God as God Himself testifies in Job 42:7.

Jesus says the believers in Smyrna were rich. Being rich spiritually is, hands down, far better than being rich monetarily (Matthew 19:23; Luke 12:13-34).

CHILDREN’S CONFERENCE – Pastor Terry Reese

“WHY WE GO TO CHURCH”

“Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.” (Eph. 5:25b, GWT). In concert with the adult theme for this year’s National Conference, we will be seeking to impart unto the young people various key aspects of God’s Plan for the local church,

1. idenfying its unique characteriscs and

2. stressing the importance of regular aendance and commitment—as well as

3. clarifying the means of entrance into the God’s church (i.e., salvaon by grace through faith in Christ).

ACTIVITIES: Aside from games, crafts, songs, special presentations, etc., we are suggestng a family-outing time at Living Treasures—a nearby (10 miles) children’s zoo with terrific animal displays and opportunities for young people to interact with God’s fabulous creation. It is our personal experience that some of the attractions in this peaceful rural zoo even outshine those found at the mighty Pittsburgh Zoo!

We will need parents to help transport the children. There is a fee and parents can register for this on Thursday, July 2nd during the Conference check-in and registration.