by Paul Lu

When Pastor Rocky invited me, along with our pastors, to register for the Shepherds’ Conference, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. I’d heard of it, but never had the opportunity to attend one. A few months passed by, and March 9th came. Pastor Mako had found a nice Airbnb for us. Just the thought of being able to spend three days with the pastors was enough reason for me to get excited about.

If you thought this conference was all about excellent sermons and spiritual nourishment, you’d be only partially correct. Sure, there were plenty of take-aways that equipped pastors to be who they are called to be, but it was much more than that. Grace Church made sure we were well-fed and well-read – not only did they feed us well, we also received an entire box of free books! In addition, there were two bookstores on campus, plus a huge book fair to read and buy to your heart’s content.

One of the highlights for me was the times for praise and worship. Bob Kauflin from Sovereign Grace Music was not only leading worship, he was worshiping with us. Although his voice and piano skills were outstanding, they didn’t matter as much as the way he exuded a spirit of worship. Throughout the three days of corporate worship, I learned that you don’t need a large team to have good worship. In fact, the team was just Bob and his piano. It was the multitude of voices rising out of worshipful hearts that stirred my soul — 3,500 men from 83 countries around the world singing praises to the one God and King — a preview of the Day we all look forward to.

I went to the Shepherds’ Conference expecting to be changed by the messages. Instead, it was the experience of brotherly love that spoke to me the most. On the first evening, brother Stuart Jung graciously treated us to a nice dinner as we enjoyed conversations around the table. When we arrived at the Airbnb, I noticed several pastors volunteering, even insisting to sleep in the living room instead of the comfortable beds. If you got there late, you had to sleep in one of the bedrooms. After we had all showered, I saw our pastors calling their wives and children, spending as much time as needed to care for them and pray with them. On our last day, as we prepared to leave, several of our pastors spent their gift certificates to buy presents for their wives and children. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

There’s much more to be said about the 2022 Shepherds’ Conference, but suffice it to say that the love shown to us by Grace Church, the power of corporate worship, and the brotherly love shown by our pastors far surpassed any knowledge or wisdom that was preached to me. “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (I Cor. 13:13).