IBS 2008 - February 8-10, Gospel Freedom: "Ancient Words, Modern Wisdom"
Speaker: Dr. Stephen Um

Friday, February 8, 2008
Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall on the Cornell Campus.
Free and Open to the Public

“Freedom to Live” 7:30pm
Exodus 19:1-9 We by temperament are either attracted to the Law or repulsed by the Law. Our culture shows us that we all have law structures which we must obey. We have the ten commandments of fitness, career, relationships, and parenting, and we are told if we don’t meet these standards then we will end up in body, status, relational, or parenting hell. How is God’s law different? We have always thought that these laws would make us free and happy and that God’s law would condemn and choke, but in reality, we will see that it is God’s law that does not crush but liberates us to live.

Saturday, February 9, 2008
Bethel Grove Bible Church, 1763 Slaterville Road, Ithaca

“Freedom to Love” 9:00am– 10:15am
Exodus 20:13 What is the power that will unlock our bitterness, in
difference, and irresponsibility? Does the power come from within us? Is it a matter of just trying harder to be morally good? The resources are not in us, so where do we get this power? We are free to love when we recognize that God was the only one who rightfully should have harbored bitterness to those who were hostile to him, but that he refused to be indifferent by giving his life.

Break Book Table Available 10:15am-10:45am

“Freedom to Rest” 10:45am-12pm
Exodus 20:8 We cycle between the two idols of comfort on the one hand and power/influence on the other. We are usually caught in the cycle of work in order for us to gain comfort. Life seems like a grind and we end up either being bored to death by our work, or choked to death by our work. We will be freed to rest when we look to the King of the Kingdom.

Lunch Book Table Available 12:00-1:00pm

“Freedom to Worship” 1:15pm-2:30pm
Exodus 25:8-40 The church is able to be fully known by a holy God, but not rejected. When the God-man, the True Temple (John 4:20-24), was crucified, his body was torn and blood shed in order to pay for our sin. It was ‘at that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom’ (Matthew 27:50-51a). The church has been emancipated from bondage and enabled to freely enjoy our God, who is Spirit, in order to worship Him in Spirit and in the reality of the True Temple.

Saturday Evening, February 9, 2008
Women’s Community Building, 100 West Seneca Street, Ithaca
Free and Open to the Public

The Great Divorce 7:30pm
The Institute of Biblical Studies is pleased to present Philadelphia actor Anthony Lawton’s adaptation and performance of The Great Divorce, based on the novel by C.S. Lewis. The Great Divorce is the story of Clive, a hapless professor, and the motley band of discontents who join him on a very curious bus ride. Journeying between Hell and Heaven, Clive crosses a surprising, wildly inventive landscape drawn by Lewis’ philosophical imagination. Satirical and comic, The Great Divorce is a wondrous ride filled with dazzling insight and language.

Sunday Morning Worship, February 10, 2008
Bethel Grove Bible Church and New Life Presbyterian Church,
1763 Slaterville Road, Ithaca

“Freedom to Fail” 9:00 & 10:45am
Luke 15 We tend to run away from home in order to find another refuge because we forget that we are members of the father’s home and citizens of his land. We want to pay our own debt through self-salvation by trying to get ourselves out of the situation in which we have put ourselves. We fail to realize that our heavenly father is waiting to receive us even in the midst of our failure because we do not believe that our God is more gracious than he really is. Arnold Toynbee has summarized history by saying, “Nothing fails like success”, but the Gospel responds by saying, “Nothing succeeds like failure.”

IBS 2008 Speaker: Dr. Stephen T. Um
Senior Minister, Citylife Presbyterian Church of Boston

Prior to coming to Boston in 2000, Dr. Um served as a pastor for several churches in Connecticut, Rhode Island (at Brown University), and New York City. He is the author of The Theme of Temple Christology in John’s Gospel. He received his Ph.D. in New Testament studies from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and for the last seven years has been teaching New Testament studies as a faculty member of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary, and Emerson College. Dr. Um is a member of the Board of Directors for The Gospel Coalition, for which he serves as the Secretary. Dr. Um is married and has three children.

“Too often God has been misrepresented as suppressing rather than promoting freedom. He has been viewed as the heavenly despot who is the model and sanction for oppressive regimes on earth. It is clear that this is not the biblical God. His kingship liberates from all human lordship and enslavement. This is because the divine Master himself fulfills his lordship not in domination but in the service of a slave (Philippians. 2:6-11). But what kind of freedom is it that the biblical God promotes?”

Dr. Stephen Um

IBS OBJECTIVES:

The Institute of Biblical Studies began in 1992 with the goal of stimulating Biblical thinking in our local community. Each year a distinguished theologian is invited to Ithaca to teach from the Scriptures, challenging participants to deepen their knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. This is accomplished through lectures, informal discussions and question & answer opportunities.

The stated objectives of this annual Institute are:

• Deepen your understanding of Scripture and enrich your intimacy with God.

• Integrate your faith and scholarship in an informal setting.

• Build a solid foundation for thoughtful faith and informed activism.

• Interact with a distinguished theologian and man of God.

Past Institutes and Speakers

Many of the following lectures are available to borrow on cassette in the Bethel Grove Library.

• 2007 "Afraid? Of What? The Fear of Failure, Death, and God" -Dr. Drew Trotter - President of The Christian Study Center in Charlottesville, VA.

• 2006 "Christ and Culture: The Good, Beautiful, and True" - Dr. William Edgar - Professor of Apologetics and Coordinator of the Apologetics Department at Westminster Theological Seminary.

• 2005 "Communicating Grace And Doing Justice: Being the Church in Every Culture" – Rev. Paul Borthwick – Gordon College Wenham, MA and Development Associates International; Mr. Stephan Fairfield – CEO of Covenant Community Capital, Houston, TX

• 2004 "Soulcraft" - Dr. Douglas Webster - pastor of First Presbyterian Church of San Diego, CA

• 2003 "Designed For Dignity" - Dr. Richard Pratt - Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL and founder of Third Millennium Ministries.

• 2002 "Who Is This Jesus? Studies in John's Gospel" - Dr. D. A. Carson – Trinity Evangelical Divinity School , Deerfield, IL

• 2001 "Wrestling With The Difficult Issues Of Life: Themes From Ecclesiastes"- Rev. David Deuel - Educational Ministry Consultant in Tampa, FL

• 2000 "What Controls The Future" Rev. Dick Keyes - L'Abri Fellowship, Southborough, MA

• 1999 "Yearning For God: Reading The Psalms Today" - Dr. Iain Provin- Regent College , Vancouver, B.C.

• 1998 "Portraits Of Grace In The Gospel Of Luke" – Dr. David Fisher – The Colonial Church of Edina, MN

• 1997 "The Spirit And The People Of God" – Dr. Gordon Fee – Regent College, Vancouver B.C.

• 1996 "The Sovereignty Of God In Matters Great And Small" - Dr. Walter Kaiser - Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA

• 1995 " Mission In The Marketplace: Studies in the Acts of the Apostles" - Rev. David Prior – Public Preacher in the Diocese of London, UK

• 1994 "Living Wisely In An Age Of Foolishness" - Dr. Bruce Waltke - Regent College , Vancouver, B.C.

• 1993 "Understanding The Word" - Chris and Marli Brown – International Students Ministry, Ithaca, NY

• 1992 "The Authority of Scripture" - Dr. Roger Nicole - Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL