Listen to the Retreat Messages here.
Redeeming Grace Church hosts a men’s retreat every two years to encourage men to know Christ and to live out their faith in community with other men. This past weekend, 140 men from Redeeming Grace Church and Christ Community Church in Olney Maryland gathered for the 2019 Men’s Retreat.
Josh Wredberg, pastor for preaching and leadership development at Redeemer Community Church outside of Raleigh North Carolina challenged and encouraged us to be ‘counter cultural’ disciples.
On Friday night Josh encouraged us to be disciples who mourn over the wrong in the world and the wrong in ourselves so that we will live lives together that cast a ‘cross shaped shadow’ over the community in which we live.
On Saturday after breakfast the men paired up for a ‘Prayer Walk’, when we prayed for one another. After the prayer walk, Josh continued to call the men to hunger and thirst for righteousness and mercy. He made the observation that when we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, we will want to share him! Accordingly, mercy should be our native language!
The retreat finished with Josh reminding us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the story line of the Bible that makes living lives as counter cultural disciples possible. He also called us to be humble gospel peacemakers in our community.
Before the teachings the men met in inter-generational small groups to discuss the messages, the Word, how they were thinking about their walks with God, and how they were applying Scripture in their day-to-day lives. Men were encouraged by the opportunity to hear from different men.
Testimonies of men who attended the 2019 Men’s Retreat:
It was encouraging to see men of all ages, and in some cases fathers and sons, attend the Men’s Retreat. One of the main things that stuck with me was “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom in heaven”. Christ takes people who aren’t normally viewed as blessed because they are the ones who have the eyes to see that they really need him. It’s the spiritually blind that are to be pitied because they are unaware. A poor person knows what they need. People who aren’t poor are liable to be comfortable and think they don’t need anything. It’s the same concept when it comes to our relationship with Christ. We have to know that we are always “spiritually poor” because we always need him. We can’t fill that void on our own. I thought more about my going in and out of spiritual blindness when I don’t make time to read my Bible or when I become sharp with my wife or kids for something they have done. Overcoming that blindness is knowing that you need Christ all the time.
-K. Mawuli Vodi
I am glad I went to the Men’s Retreat because it was a challenging and refreshing reminder of what it means to live as a counter-cultural disciple of Jesus Christ. I learned that following Christ is not about power and leadership expertise but about daily humble submission to Jesus Christ. A disciple of Christ is meek, gentle, merciful, humble, and hungry for righteousness. “Blessed are those who mourn.” This beatitude stuck out to me the most. Josh said “You will never feel the comfort of God’s mercy until you feel the crushing weight of your own sin.” and “Resist the temptation to tweet about the world’s sin without looking in the mirror and weeping over your own.” As I grow in my relationship with Christ, this Men’s Retreat has challenged me to weep over my own sin and to live in humble submission to God every day. -Michael Deck
What I got out of the weekend was a closer sense of community with the fellow brothers in our church. Across generations of the church, I felt there was fellowship, sharing of experiences and stories, and laughs galore. I also appreciated how multi-ethnic our body of brothers are; I believe this truly reflects the kingdom of God. As much as I liked the amazing food, and the hilarious of jabs by Gary to other men; it was the teaching this weekend that I got the most out of. Josh really brought a passion to the Sermon on the Mount, that emphasized the counter-cultural nature of Jesus’ call to discipleship. It can be easy to drown out the familiar verses, but that was impossible with the way Josh came to the Word. I appreciated his examples and passionate teaching that made clear that Jesus calls us to live life differently than how the world may tell us to.
-Matt Craft
Please join us as we follow up on the retreat our the Men’s Breakfast scheduled for April 27th from 8:00-10:00 a.m. in the Basement Auditorium.