This year, at our annual teen’s conference (hosted once again by the gracious SGC), we had a blessed time, from the opening sermon, to the closing Q&A. 

The conference began with worship done by SGC youth, and with the reading of Hebrews 12:1-3, the main text of Scripture for the conference.. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us all lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (Hebrews 12:1-3; ESV).

The first sermon, by Ilya Vasilevskiy, was an evangelistic message calling the Teens to repentance and a turning away from sin towards the living God. Ilya preached on the fine line between hell and heaven, asking the question to everybody in the room, “Are you born again?” He spoke on the truth that there is no process, but rather “you’re either a saint or you ain’t… There is no purgatory… you either have a first class ticket to hell or you’re going to heaven.” He preached a fire-hot, gospel sermon to begin the conference, dealing with the primary issue of salvation in the individual hearts of each teen before the main message about following Jesus Christ by fixing our eyes on Him and running with endurance. 

Andrey Babin preached the following, main sermon of the conference, in which he asked the question, in light of the past and present Martyrs of the Christian faith: how could one remain a Christian in the face of death and die for the faith, and be glad to do so? The answer: “Fix Your Eyes on Jesus”.

Following the main message, the teens played an activity solving puzzles which would give them a task to complete before they were to head off to lunch.

After lunch, the conference Q&A panel took place, in which Pastor Andy Ivantsov, his wife Katie, Andrey Babin, and Ilya Vasilevskiy answered questions from the teens. The questions asked by the teens covered a wide range of topics, from Christian living, to video games and TV. 

It was a blessed conference, with 300+ teens in attendance. 

All thanks and glory be to God for all that took place in the conference; for every heart that gave their life to Christ that day–and we pray and hope there were many, and many more to come from the implanted living Word of God in their hearts sprouting into fullness, that they may be led to truly fix their eyes on Jesus Christ, our Lord, and our Saviour, for the rest of their lives.

Roman Kuzmych, EQUIP Staff

All the Glory Be To God