Christ said it: "You are the light of the world." As His followers, we have a mandate to be the church that Jesus has commanded us to be, the cities on a hill that brightly shine His glory and radiate His love to a lost and dying culture.
What does it mean for the church to be a city on a hill? We live in a relativistic culture that believes there is no absolute truth. In a very real sense, the church has lost its moorings. It no longer proclaims the truth. It reeks of narcissism. And it seems more concerned with making its congregants feel good about themselves than it does with telling them the truth.
But Christ's call is still clear. Christians are to shine as lights in the darkness. The church must be true to its calling, even when that calling is repellant to the world. Even when the world says truth is what you make of it, not an absolute standard of belief, of practice, of living. Even when many who purport themselves to be "Christians" teach, and live, in direct opposition to the classic claims of Christianity.
What does a church that lives up to Christ's calling look like? And how do we teach, and live, in such a way that Christ will pronounce His blessing upon us, calling us His "good and faithful servants"?
We are excited to devote the 2009 Quakertown Regional Conference on Reformed Theology to the matter of the fullfilment of the church's calling. Our desire is to reclaim that calling by proclaiming the biblical truths about the church's purpose. City on a Hill will delve into topics like expository preaching, corporate worship, discipleship, fellowship, and evangelism and missions - things that Jesus declares make the church that city on a hill that whose good words bring glory to our Heavenly Father.
