Day two of Missions Conference 2025 dawned with worship from orchestra and a medley of global voices singing praise together.
SESSION FOUR
Yasmin Pierce from Circuit Riders spoke on the importance of living as a Christian called to daily ministry compelled by love instead of duty or obligation.
“Living the daily gospel looks like preferring others above yourself and reaching out,” said Pierce. “For, as Romans says, ‘How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?’”
In a short interview afterward, Yasmin explained the importance of the Black Voices Movement — an organization evoked to raise up black leaders and missionaries. “The great commission is about reaching all people and the Black Voices is about empowering all people to join in that great commission. Less than 1% of missionaries are black so it’s about empowering minorities to take part in the missionary movement.”
SESSION FIVE
Ed Stetzer’s sermon on John 20:19-21 emphasized the transformative power of Christ’s peace in the lives of believers. There are Talbot students in Ukraine who endured air raids yet leaned into God’s presence amid the crisis. Stetzer also shared personal reflections with having just conducted his father’s funeral early this week, underscoring the brevity of life and the eternal significance of Christ’s resurrection. He gave some points on Christ’s peace that triumphs over fear:
- Fear is the opposite of faith
- Peace is the Christian response
- The cross is our hope and motivation
Tim Keller once said when facing terminal cancer, “If the resurrection is true, everything is gonna be okay.” Stetzer challenged students to believe, “I’m gonna put my yes on the table and let God put it on the map,” because the safest place is to be in God’s will. The session ended with a liturgy led by Diane Vincent, a professor in the Torrey Honors College.
SESSION SIX
John Mark Comer, author of “Practicing the Way,” addressed what he called a “crisis of discipleship” in the modern American church, which he believes may account for the high number of individuals walking away from the church as well as those who have accepted Christ but don’t practice their faith. Comer cited the heart of this crisis as the separation of baptism and obeying all that Jesus had commanded. Of the 70% of American Christians, only 4-8% actually follow Jesus in their daily lives. Comer hopes that more churches can move from the standpoint of “part gospel, part person, for part of the world” to “the whole gospel, for the whole person, for the whole world.”
In order to increase the number of individuals properly living out discipleship, Comer named four shifts that would need to happen in the American church:
- From salvation as a transaction to salvation as transformation
- From information to formation
- From formation as optional to formation as the driving motivation of every church
- From self to community
Comer then answered some questions from students directly in a Q&A session and participated in worship.
SESSION SEVEN
Day three of Missions Conference 2025 closed with a heartfelt message and worship.
Pierce challenged Biola with a loving yet persuasive call to be desperate for Jesus’s voice, serve those in need and share the Gospel, asking the question, “Do you believe that Jesus is the prize of your life?” She emphasized how the cost of God’s calling “pales in comparison to see people torn out of torment and brought into life.”
Pierce reminded students that their calling is not in merit-based activities but Jesus Himself, stating, “The greatest injustice of all [is that] there are over 3 billion people who have not heard the Gospel of Jesus … and sometimes following the call of God looks and feels irresponsible.” Pierce’s final remarks were, “Today is an opportunity to say, ‘Jesus, take more,’” and ended by reading 1 Timothy 9:10.
The Circuit Riders Music band led the closing worship. Student Missionary Union’s Missions Conference Directors Isaac Owen and Abraham Chu walked up on stage, gave closing remarks, extended gratitude and played a recap video of the conference.
